PLUS CA CHANGE

Update from yesterday: I had a little technical difficulty over at the kayak.com site and have not yet successfully entered my Virgin Territory itinerary, for the trip to London. I will try, try, try again and trust that my entry will go through without a hitch by the sweeps’ May 15 deadline. I will also get around to riffing about my rug dealer and my hometown’s long reach into my travel template when things quiet down here at the ranch.

In the meantime, I’ve entered a sweeps for a cruise of the Greek Islands. It’s kind of an exception to my “no cruise” rule in that it’s not a place like Antarctica or the Galápagos which is only accessible by boat. But I have nostalgic reasons for wanting to go. I was supposed to go on a cruise of the Greek isles when I went to Europe with my French teacher when I was sixteen, but there was a war in Cyprus, and we ended up cruising the Adriatic, leaving from and returning to Venice, and going to Malta and Sicily.

I kept a travel journal, and boy, was I an unschooled, unformed writer. “Today I got up at about 11 and went to look at Malta,” I wrote in my journal. “We are docked in a port which is a cross between a lumberyard and a dump. This cruise is going to some poor places.” I describe a walk that same day, of what presumably was the port of call of Valetta: “There are no ladies from 10 to 30 years old, the guys were GROSS and it was do hot! We sat at a bus stop for about 15 minutes and then went back to the ship. It was so boring this afternoon and tonight I thought I’d go crazy!” Oh, the seeds of a curmudgeonly traveler had already taken root.

Another motive is, surprise, surprise, my son. We’ve been studying Greek mythology together, and I think he’d love Athens and then a week of island hopping. Another feather of a fantasy in my cap.

To enter, I registered with the folks at Friendly Planet In exchange for my entry, I’ve agreed to receive their Hot Deals newsletter. Here’s the detailed itinerary.