Greece

Wow, the weeks are flying by. Three weeks ago, I was in Greece and although it had a some rough patches, my fellow travelers and I all really enjoyed it. The week was a busy one with travel by air, ferry, car, taxi, and metro. Ah yes, the metro. I've decided that the most dangerous way to travel is not by air, nor by car but by metro. This is because on our way into Athens, after our flight from Rome, John was pick pocketed in the metro. And for anyone keeping track, I was pick pocketed last March in the Paris metro. Lesson here: beware of all metros. And believe me, these guys are professionals. They pick the most congested areas, for example where there are a lot of people getting on and off to change trains. They pick the battle weary travelers, the ones with fatigue written all over their faces. The ones with the suitcases and backpacks that they are concentrating so hard on not forgetting. And voila, you have the perfect situation. You stand behind the a fore said traveler, and as he bends down to pick up his luggage to get off, you slip your hand into his pocket and lighten his load. Never pausing to think how incredibly awful it makes the traveler feel, how vulnerable, how stricken. However, as I know from experience, one eventually after a couple of days gets past it and lucky for John, he has a wife with him who has her credit cards.

After waiting one day in Athens for my mother and Moisha to arrive from Toronto, we flew to San Torini Island. This was definitely the highlight of Greece for me. San Torini is now an island in the shape of a half-moon. Way back before 1650 BC, it used to be a round island until the volcano in the middle of it erupted and blew the island into pieces. My guide book tells me that it was one of the largest explosions in the history of the planet, setting off a spew of ash 35 kilometres in the air.

Our villa, Kokkinnos Villas, was perched on the inner rim of the volcano on one end of the island and had a spectacular view of the caldera. Cruise ships came and went daily to bring tourists to the town of Fira. We had a lovely balcony and a rugged beach about 100 steps down. We have not been anywhere yet on this trip that we did not have to climb up or down to go somewhere. But I love it. We immediately opened a bottle of wine and had a picnic of local bread and cheese.

My favorite day on the island was our trip to Oia, pronounced Eya. Located at the extreme other end of the island, it is constantly bathed in sunlight and has the best sunsets. The architecture is stunning. White washed cement houses with blue domed roofs line the cliff. Many have been turned into little hotels and have small jacuzzi size pools looking out over the ocean. We wandered for hours through tiny lane ways and up and down hundreds of steps. The sun beat down on us relentlessly. I bought some delicious fresh figs that were in season.

The next day we took the ferry to Crete and then drove to Chania (pronouned Hania). A lovely city with a very Venetian port. We stayed in one of the nicest hotels on our trip, a boutique hotel that was lovingly finished and had antiques in every nook and cranny. A bottle of wine and bread and cheese in the garden refreshed us all after an afternoon of walking. There is a beach very close by and John and I ran down for a swim. It is the only sandy beach that we encountered on this trip. On of the highlights of this city was dinner in Tamam restaurant. A former Turkish bath, the restaurant is bathed in amber walls; tables were around the top periphery and in the sunken area. The place was packed as it is a favorite even with the locals. We were served by a very nice bohemian looking young man and enjoyed a delicious Greek meal with wine. Free ouzo was offered at the end, of which we partook of course!

Greece was amazing, quite different from the rest of Europe. Our days flew by and soon we were on our way to Turkey. But that is another story.