Across the Big Pond

Alright. So, Greece was really great and the food was even better. Loved it. Now we’re off to Barcelona!

Getting to our place was pretty painless. We were able to buy a round trip ticket to the airport on the Aerobus. When we got off at Placa de Catalunya we jumped on the Metro which took us right to Barceloneta. (That’s the name of the station, as well as the part of the city we stayed in.) We got to where we needed, and after a burger and some wine, we met our host Maria, settled in and got down to business! We have our maps and tourist books out so we can plan out our must-sees and must-dos for our time here.

Our list of things to do included the church, Sagrada Familia, Antoni Gaudi’s swan song. He didn’t plan to die – the man was hit by a bus or something like that – but the work that he put into this church you would think he somehow had a sense that this would be his final show. Check out the details on the facade! It’s really remarkable. No one can convince me that this man wasn’t obsessive-compulsive; in this instance, it worked out. Look what he created. He left a mark that millions of people travel to see yearly.

We also saw another one of his buildings. It’s called Casa Batllo. Looks funky, right? If you look even closer you’ll see that the balconies are skulls and the columns are bones, like femurs and tibulas. See what I mean about this Gaudi cat? He wasn’t afraid to make his imagination run wherever it wanted. I guess that’s one of the things that made him an artiste.

What else? Oh! Like Paris, Barcelona has an Arc de Triomphe. Here, folk come and hangout throughout the day. We ran into people rollerblading, cartwheeling, dancing. It was cool. At the other end of the Arc de Triomphe is the Parc de la Ciutadella. (I hope I’m getting the spelling of these places correctly. Too lazy to double-check right now. Sorry.) Again, you got a feel for people. At the park, there are groups of people sitting around on blankets chatting, drinking, smoking. Love that. I don’t really see folk chillin at the park just because anymore. Maybe it’s where I’m at when I’m home, though. I suspect you’d see that more in places like High Park. Anywho, that’s that.

Maintaining the Greek Myth: A Real Tragedy

Alright. So, when the boat pulled into port in Athens I was speechless. The place really is dirtier than I’d expected. Way dirty. And, Athens has more graffiti – some gorgeous, some not – than NYC in the 80s. It was disorienting, actually. Really really dismal. The financial situation that’s going on right now helps none at all. Seeing people lining up to withdraw their money out of the bank is commonplace – so much so that the the government has instated that one can withdraw a max of 60€ per day. Prior to this rule millions had been withdrawn by citizens across the nation in fear that their money would be lost as a result of the crisis. A real-life tragedy.

I haven’t any pictures of what I’m talking about above. At first, it was because I was just so stunned with what I was seeing. Then, it was because somehow I didn’t feel it safe to do so. I mean, I put myself in their circumstance: if I was all stressed financially, news about my nation defaulting on billions of dollars, and the probability of us being “kicked out” of the EU wouldn’t make me amenable to tourists coming in to document me. It just felt disrespectful in a way. Can’t explain it.

Maybe subconsciously I didn’t want to bust up the image of “Greece,” but this is Greece too. I don’t know. I needed more time.

Despite what is going on, we tourists are here and more keep coming. Acropolis was packed. And, the scene there would give no indication that the nation is in dire financial straits.

Alright. So, I already told you the the scene here is mainly about the beaches. Still, there is history, too. Granted, I don't find that it's a part of the selling features of the island, but I saw sparks. For instance, the windmills. Aren't these pretty? And they look really historical, too right? Like, I want to know what it's about. What's their story? Guess I can Wikipedia it if I really want to. See? That's my point, though. There was little information in the air about the windmills. People stopped, took pictures, and like me, they can say "We saw the windmills in Mykonos." Great.

Most fascinating to me, I think is that these structures as a source of mining alternative for energy is something about which the modern world seems to be getting wind. I see them when I'm driving from US to Canada via Port Huron/Sarnia, and they seem to be such a modern marvel. Little do we know, eh? Mykonos. And, don't these look ancient? They're not functional anymore, and I didn't see any new ones. Wonder what's the deal.

Otherwise, there are signs of the old and the new throughout. Lovely shops in Old Town. And, day and night it's pretty tight in the lane ways. If you look, though, you see signs of regular folk living their lives. For me, laundry lines or people painting walls are telltale signs that even though we are walking the same paths, different people are experiencing different things. See?

I also tried to capture some of the inconspicuous prettiness. There's lots of it, too. It's just that if you don't look for it, you might miss even though it affects your experience of the place. Check out the pic of the pink flowers against the backdrop of the white building with a blue door. Or, the cluster of houses framed by trees. While everyone may not look for these things, I'd say it all affects our sense of the island.

I wonder how living amidst such beauty affects the locals? I mean, if this is their norm what are the things to which they tune in as they go through their days?

I wish I spoke Greek.

Finally, I wanted to show you something I thought interesting. While driving around the island I noticed that the houses in the hills had little churches on their properties. I mean, there were a lot. One of our drivers explained that each family or sometimes a small community puts together to build a church and all functions happen there: weddings, funerals, baptisms, regular worship. Other things happen at church; I'm a church girl through-and-through, so I know. Like maybe drinking. And, I'm not talking the wine that we take as the blood of Christ! Apparently, indulging in the spirits by the church happens here too.

I still say that church on the property is a good idea for folk who may not live in close proximity to one. So smart. Also, mustn't it form some sort of legacy and/or rootedness when you know that many people in your family held their special functions there? Some might take comfort in knowing that their grandmother was eulogized at the same altar where one takes his/her vows. I know I would.

Alright. So, getting around in these small parts is pretty easy. We take the bus to the beach or to various sites or we walk. The bus depot is a little bit more harried here than at home. You have a man yelling at people directing traffic – and there is traffic as there are people who rent vehicles ( eg cars, ATVS, scooters) and insist on going both ways on a one lane road. Add the buses that pull up and then reverse into their designated spots to the mix, and you understand why the man that directs traffic is forever blowing his whistle and yelling at people (most of whom are tourists and don't understand what he's saying, by the way).

All of that to say, when in town, the best way to get around is with the two appendages that end where the good Lord split us all. I've been paying attention to what people are wearing on their feet. The streets, particularly in Old Town, are all cobblestone. Yet, you wanna look cute, right? You wanna do the damn thang! The variety in footwear you see here demonstrates that you can, in fact, do the damn thang and still keep the dogs quiet. We're talking about the perfect blend of function and form, people.

Except for one lady. Can you guess which one? Hint: She's got a few cracks in her heels.

Now that I think about it the best way to have demonstrated what I mean here fully, I ought to have taken more shots of the outfits that went with the foot gear. Oh wells. Next time.

Take a look at what I got.

Makes me feel good because I brought 4 pairs of shoes and they are all I've needed! You'll see versions of what I brought here. They include, flat sandals, sandals with a platform, Birkenstocks, and a pair of kicks. Everything works. It's all good.

Alright. So, Mykonos. We're spending the most amount of days on this island. There are many beaches and each one provides a little something for everyone's tastes: fancy-schmancy, laid back, quiet, party-scene. I stuck with the laid-back and quiet options.

My goal for this segment of the trip is to relax on the beach, and get scenes of everyday life in the midst of this tourist haven (as per usual).

The beach. I remember the first time I did a beach in Europe. It was in the south of France. I was stunned by a couple things. The first was the pebbles in place of the sand to which I'd become accustomed to associating with the term "beach." I got over it, but I still can't say I like it. The second thing is the ease with which folk show their upper regions. This is usual for men, so clearly, I'm talking about the women. Everyone was doing it, and well, you all should know how comfy I am with standing out from the crowd -- especially when I'm with myself. I picked a woman, mimicked everything that she did and none was the wiser. Sure I couldn't wear a bra for 3 days, but I did it, and what's more, I liked it.

Now I'm in Mykonos, and here it is again I'm confronted with what to everyone else is the norm, but what to me is surprising. I'm not talking about just bared upper regions. (If you've been looking at the pics carefully you might have already picked out a lady who shows that the sun and her boobies are old BFFs.). This time I'm talking about the baring of all. Check out the man above. Now you tell me ... He's got a certain je ne sais quoi. What would you call it? And, if you look closely enough you'll see the man was slangin, if you know what I mean. I'm talking about no shrinkage. Or, maybe that was shrinkage! Lord. Well, let's just say the man was proud, and if I might say, with good reason.

You're welcome. Happy to share with you what Im seeing. I heard it's kinda cold over there in TDot; I hope you can feel the heat I'm feeling too.

Oh! Food. Tonight we ate at a joint called "Pepper." We had plain old souvlaki with salad and wine. The food was good, the people were nice, and the vibe was right. Can't go wrong.

What to do after good food? Walk; that we did. The night shots are of a part of town known as "Little Venice." Pretty. At night this place really is alive. Everyone is out and about. It was a good day.

Environmentalists

I am happy to see that Greece too, is a part of the water conservation movement.

Ordinary People

I'm always interested in ordinary people. That's true for me at home; it's true for me when I'm abroad too. I don't know why. If I think about it I'd say that somehow I think it's one way for me to stay grounded. Maybe it's because the folk aren't as interested in performing in the way that many of the tourists are. Maybe the natives aren't performing because they don't see me looking. I guess that's true for any of us. I know it's true for me that I'm my truest self when I'm unaware that anyone is looking.

If I don't think about it too hard -- which I'm most inclined to do -- I'd say it's just because.

In this post I wanted to highlight some of what I'm seeing -- not the beauty of the land, but the beauty of the people that regularly inhabit the land. I want to remind myself, too, that there are natives in all of the places that I visit. Doing so reminds me of a line in one of my favorite documentaries, Life and Debt that says something like, every native of every land desires a chance to get away from their norm some time. Keeping this in my mind reminds me that I'm blessed.

As I look at the people in the pics I wonder where do they go to get their break? To sit at a neighbour's table over a coffee for an hour? To see a sister or an aunt in another town across the island? Maybe to a church service once a week? Maybe as they go about their quotidian activities? Maybe they close their eyes and go somewhere in their minds?

Alright. So, I showed you a view from our hotel at night. Above you see a shot of outside our room. (Second red door from the left.). So pretty!

On our last day on the island we aim to hit the black beach, and see the sunset from Oia (pronounced "ee-ya"). First, the beach. The sand is black. Thus, the title "black beach." Honestly, I have trouble calling this "sand." These are pebbles, and the mess hurts when you walk on them with thin flip-flops. Next time I'll wear full on shoes. You can see my view to the right, here, as well as the ocean in front. The water is lovely. Took a dip and dried off every time, it's so hot. It's also very breezy so that helps.

After a few hours we head to our room to get ready for dinner.

You know the scenes of Greece in the movies The Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants and Mama Mia? It's Santorini, and more specifically, it's Oia. The town is at the northernmost part of the island and has the most magnificent sunsets. As you can imagine then, everyone comes from all over the island to have dinner at sunset in Oia. I tried to give you sense of the way that the place is built. Some hotels have pools that jut out from the side of the hills. These pics don't do the place justice really, but I tried my best!

We had dinner at Kyprida. Food was, you guessed it, deelish. I had fish steamed in parchment paper with veggies. Pretty tasty. I have to say the best part of this meal for me was dessert particularly the orange pie. Crazy, star. No joke. You can't tell, but the cake is soaked in some sort of honey and water concoction. Should be illegal, really. The other dessert was good too -- and it actually went well with the orange cake -- but since I can't remember what I was, you already know which one was the star for the night.

Santorini Day One

Which do you prefer: a little milk with your coffee or a little coffee with your milk?

Alright. So, I’m not a fan of boats. I mean, they’re nice enough to look at, but riding on them, though? No. Just not an idea I find very appealing. But, I can’t say that I think about it much. It’s a good thing, too, cause going between … well, any of the islands, actually, we travelled by b-o-a-t. Great.

Surprisingly, it was all good. Pretty smooth and overall, pretty. After this experience I can honestly say, I’m still not a fan. Sue me. My feet are my chariot and since Moses I haven’t heard of any successful ventures between chariots and water.

We took the Tera Jet from the port of Heraklio, the capital city in Crete and headed to what many say is the most beautiful of all the Greek islands, Santorini. It’s beautiful, yes, but I have to say I didn’t enjoy the vibe on this island that much. Why? Couldn’t feel the culture. It’s very cosmopolitan (i.e. lots of people from lots of places). And, not just the tourists; the same is true of the shop and hotel and restaurant owners. You’re more likely to have a proprietor from Russia or a waiter from Australia than a Greek here. Even though it’s very cosmopolitan, one thing is clear: North American culture rules. As we walked we listened to the tunes of little known folk like Beyonce. Y'all heard of her? Kidding. You get my drift, though. Santorini is very much a town that caters to a cosmopolitan clientele, not really Greeks.

This made me think of the coffee-to-milk question. Some may like more coffee than milk; others may like more milk to coffee. Depends.

It’s still beautiful, though. Stunningly, so. And, we still got to see stuff. We went to the Prehistoric Town of Akrotiri. Apparently, in 1967 a professor discovered this town that had been buried in the ash from the volcanic explosion in the Neolithic Era, 17th century BC. Translation: A long-ass time ago. Seriously, guys. I have no concept of how long ago that is. What I know is that we are in the AD ( After the Death of Christ) times now, and that when Shakespeare wrote it was in the 1500s AD, and that when Chaucer wrote it was in the 1200s AD, and that this town was in the 1600s BC (Before the Birth of Christ. See what I’m saying? Long ago. Anyways, Professor Curious Smart - Diggerpants discovered the town, and with 3 Euro we checked it out. I tried to show you the expanse of the place above, as well as a room. See the pots that they’ve unearthed? Really, it blows my mind.

Isn't it interesting that an unearthed pot or a knife can tell you so much about a culture during a particular era? Think about it. That's what they're digging this stuff up for. They want to see and learn more about back then. Me and T (I crossed paths with one of my besties in Santorini so we all spent the day hanging out) talked about it and the concept is fascinating to me because normally we see history as being carried only on a piece of paper. But, no, that's not only it. History is carried in things -- the very things that we use without thinking about it on a daily basis. That's where history lives. And, it's the story that these things tell that peaks my interest.

Not that I'm a nerd or anything. Check out my outfit above. Cute, right?

The Red Beach behind me is pretty banging too. You had to hike on the side of the mountain that you see in the background to get to that beach. Clearly, from where I'm standing you know I didn't go there, cuz hiking and gold sandals don't mix for me. And, did you see my dress? The red rock is created from the lava of a nearby volcano that erupted centuries ago.

After Akrotiri and the Red Beach we headed back to Fira, the city in which we stayed in Santorini. We sat, had a coffee, chatted and people-watched. After that, dinner at sunset. Check out the pics above. The scenery is the best thing on the island. That's why there are no pics of food tonight. Also, cuz I forgot. But, the view, though!

It's freezing, by the way. During the days it's hot, and in the evening it cools down. Way down. Too down. It's cold.

This is a pic at the entrance of our hotel at night.

Day and Night

Alright. So, bout to leave Chania now and wanted to show you some pics of what the Venetian Harbour looks like during the day. I also realized that although I talked about what was inside the Agora (the market) I forgot to show you a pic of the building itself! I got it at night. And, then you see a street at night, looking left and then right. These are taken from the balcony at the front of our hotel. The motto here is "The Heart City Hotel." Given where it's located you can see why!

Someone told me that Greece would be about the food and largely nothing else. I don’t know if I agree with the nothing else part, but the food is crazy. I mean, I didn’t expect this. At all. I’m happy to say that with each bite my epicuriousness is vindicated anew.

For this night I hopped online and googled “must eat restaurants in chania, crete.” There were a few that came up, but the one that stood out to us was Tholos. It was on TravelAdvisor’s top ten list for 2014. It had well over 100 excellent ratings/reviews and only 2-4 poor ratings. What did we do? Looked at the poor ones, of course. Had to see what the few were complaining about. Can’t remember what they said… oh! Something about the service being bad and the food being horrible. What I really liked, though, was the response the restaurant folk gave! I think it was the line about you “hiding behind your screen” or the question/comment “Why didn’t you say anything? We would have dealt with the situation” that made me say, yeah, let’s check this place out. That, and the pictures of the place.

Finding the place was an adventure in itself. It was deep in old town. Absolutely gorgeous. According to Gregory – possibly the best waiter we’ll have in Greece– this used to be a rich man’s house that was bombed during WWII. Now, it’s been renovated into a stunning restaurant. It’s located in old town.

Alright, so, what you’re seeing is Cretan Salad – I already talked about that here – mushrooms with some crazy sauce – don’t know what it was of other than deliciousness – stuff eggplant with tomatoes, and lamb. The lamb dish is called “Kleftiko.” As it turns out this was the least expensive place we’ve eaten this far, and it just so happens to have been the best.

Coming out here? Check the place out.

Kolibari!

That’s the name of the little town that makes up these beauts. The thing about Chania, it’s the “big” city on the largest of Greece’s islands. I say “big” because to most of you reading, Chania would not a big city make. The population is a whopping (wait for it, wait for iiit!) 7,000 people. That includes children. Prolly a couple goats, too.

Small as the big city may be, it’s still a city, and chances are these are not the images you had in mind when you imagined Greece. Me neither. Thing is, a few minutes to the west (and east and south, too) you’ll find small villages. Kolibari is one of them.

After a night’s sleep (and a good portion of the morning – we missed breakfast) we got ready and headed down to the front desk in search of direction to the nearest beach. (We were directed to a couple of places, but swiftly learned that we missed the bus for the day AND travel time was about 2 hours, anyways.) Kolibari was it by process of elimination.

As you can see, the day was anything but ideal for the beach. I didn’t break a sweat. In fact, it was a little chilly. Did that prevent us from having a little fun on the beach? Nope. See?

We walked around the place, sat, chatted over our afternoon coffees, picked out a spot for dinner, which for me was “Fish in the Oven.” Again, deelish. Forgot to take pics, or should I say, I remembered after I’d already devoured a good portion of the dish? Either way, no pics of the “Fish in the Oven.” Remembered to take a pic of the Cretan Salad. So, I learned that Greek Salad is not the only sort of salad served in Greece. Apparently, every island has their own traditions and then in each village they may do their own spin on things too. The salad above is different in that in addition to the cucumbers, tomatoes, red onions, and olives, there is goat cheese (instead of feta); there’s also sundried tomatoes, potatoes, and bread. You might even find some green and/or red peppers in there too. Not sure what the garnish is, but I ate that too! Mmmm… Not a fan of the croutons, and could do without the potatoes. Still, good though because what doesn’t taste good with olive oil and balsamic vinegar?

After dinner, we caught the bus back to Chania and called it a night.

Have I told you how freeing it is to get to a town, jump on the bus and just go? Every time I do it, I swear I feel my spirit bloom. I just feel a part of something bigger, connected. Anywho, more on that another time. (Maybe.)

sometimes although you've met someone early in life, it's not until later that you really see her. that's what it is with me and anna. good converstation, great laughs--anna's good company, indeed. thanks for packing and insisting that i take the grapes and the clementines, ann. a) you were right, and b) your mommy would have been proud!