EXPLORING NAOUSA

Monday, November 19^th, 2007 Another rainy day……

We actually slept in until after 7 am after a restless night with storms coming and going throughout the night. Jim definitely has a cold and has started taking the Sud-a-fed that we have with us from home.

By morning the sun was out and although cool, Jim enjoyed several walks in the surrounding hills while I readied my photos and journal for a trip this afternoon to Naousa and the Internet for the sending of Journal # 9. I’m also busy reading my current book as it’s so good and I want to finish before we leave tomorrow afternoon.

Our supply of food is nearly consumed and we’re having the last of it for dinner tonight, with a rice base we’ll toss everything that’s left in the pot; a bit of this and a bit of that! We’re going to miss our house on Paros but look forward to getting to Mykonos by way of a night on Syros. We leave at 7:30 pm for Syros tomorrow evening where we will search for a nights lodging; everyone assures us that it will be no problem even at that time of night. Do hope the weather is mild. Then on Wednesday we will leave from there to sail to Mykonos at noon. Our family of cats is going to miss us as they've enjoyed a nightly feast of a full can of cat food. The last can shall be opened tonight. Then they will have to find another family who will continue to feed them.

Looks like rain out there right now; its noon on Monday and we’ll wait until about 2 pm to head into Naousa. Jim is hoping for another serendipity journal up a strange road to a monastery that we can see at the top of a hill along the coast from our window.

Written later in the day:

This afternoon proved to be an adventure. First we started up the mountain to see if we could reach the monastery on top. It started to rain and then we found that we’d have to hike the last portion up a very steep hill. Backed the car down a very precipitous narrow road to a spot where we could finally turn around.

We then went on to Naousa for the Internet Café. Arrived at 2:30 and found a note on the door that it would not be open until 3 pm. Spent the time walking around the port and over to the ruins of a Venetian castle. We waited from 3 to 3:30 and no one came to open up the café so we headed towards Parikia and explored the ruins of the Frankish Castle there before getting gas for the car and heading back to Naousa and the known Internet Café since we couldn’t locate one in Parikia. Arrived to an open café and while I went in to use the Internet, Jim walked around taking video shots of the village and the mushroom storm clouds in the sky. We had storms off and on all day so the clouds were truly magnificent. Suddenly, Jim came into the café and announced he’d locked the keys inside the car. They only provide one set of keys so we borrowed the café telephone and called the number on the car of the rental agency that was posted on a sticker on the car. Nick, the owner of the company arrived within about ten minutes and shortly afterwards I finished downloading journals and emails. Thank goodness for small islands!

We did take the time to email our friends and family a send wishes for a Happy Thanksgiving next week as we never know when the next Internet Café will happen. But, as the years pass they do seem to happen much more frequently than five years ago.

LOST ELECTRICITY

Sunday, November 18^th, 2007 Heavy storms today caused lost of power…..

Restless night with lightening, thunder and rain off and on; Jim awoke with a scratchy throat and the beginnings of a cold. Took it easy in the morning and started a new book that I’ve found here in the house: “Aegean Summer” by Mimi Lafollette Summerskill; a family odyssey about a summer spent sailing in the Greek Islands in 1965. Very interesting and well written, a true story based on a handwritten journal from the trip.

This afternoon I was reading in my new book about the Greek men and their lack of response to women; it hasn’t changed a bit since 1965. The author was divorced and traveling with her five children ages 24 to 10; a business women who owned and ran one of the largest travel agencies in California at that time. She could not get the captain to listen to her directions and soon realized that she had to give her decisions to her 24 year old son to tell the captain in order to get anything accomplished. They weren’t being rude that was just the way it was then. Today when I was trying to get some information out of the fellow that we’d rented the car though, he looked like he wasn’t hearing me at all. Suddenly Jim walked in to the office and he lit up like a Christmas tree and there was a total change of attitude and demeanor. Me thinks I’d have a difficult time dealing with that attitude on a long term basis!

About noon we had a loud clap of thunder as the lightening struck nearby and all the power went out for the whole area. The storm would stop, sun would come out and then the storm would return. But, we did have a beautiful rainbow in the sky at one time. About 3 pm we got in the car to find a telephone to call Aristo who is our property manager, to see what was happening. First we stopped at the local restaurant on the main road where we’d eaten last Sunday. I walked in to a smoke filled room with all men and told them we were staying up the hill and had lost our electricity. They all pointed to the light bulb that was burning and said that it had just come on that minute! No, I don’t think any of them knew how to speak English but we understood each other. Back in the car and up the hill and sure enough, the power had returned!

Decided to head north to our Internet Café for emails and to check the weather reports; and then continued around the bend to Paraika in hopes that they would actually have the 5 pm Mass that was suppose to happen according to the November issue of the Paros Life, the local newspaper for foreigners.

Arrived and went into the travel agency first and purchased our tickets for Tuesday and Wednesday for our trips to Syros and then on Mykonos on Wednesday. Walked around to the church and found the door locked. Since it wasn’t quite 5 pm yet we walked around town until quarter after five before deciding that they’d canceled the Mass probably due to the bad weather. It wasn’t raining right then but has been most of the day.

Stopped at the car rental office that was open to check on the return times for Tuesday and then headed back towards Drios and home. We were looking for a place to eat dinner and didn’t find an open restaurant until we reached our road and the little Travena that is located nearby. We were the only foreigners but they were very gracious. We enjoyed baked cheese, bread, beer, fries and delicious lamb fresh off the grill. Jim said that it was probably some of the “freshest” meat we’ve ever eaten; whatever, it was great!

We’re home now, the electricity is working and the lightening is far to the north of us.

And so we’ve ended another day in paradise after circling the entire Island this afternoon. It’s not a big place and we really feel like we’ve gotten to know the nooks and crannies.

THE BEACHES OF PAROS

Saturday, November 17^th, 2007 Driving the coastal beaches…..

Jim has decided that I should spend a day in bed. He keeps bring me coffee, hot lemon juice with honey, and breakfast in bed. Wow, am I going to be spoiled. But I do hope this helps the body mend as I am still having troubles with the cold. It’s rather nice as I sit here in bed and type as I can look out the window and see Naxos across the water. Jim has gone to the store for more Kleenex and coffee before heading over to the well for more water. The weather is clear, some clouds on the horizon but contrary to what the weather reports on the Internet said yesterday; it doesn’t look like its going to rain.

Well, my bed rest lasted until about 1 pm and then I just couldn’t stay down any longer. But I do feel better; I think that the extra liquids have helped me as I don’t drink a lot during the day because of the problems of finding the W.C. on a regular basis when we’re out traipsing around the countryside. After Jim fixed us lunch we did some laundry and then headed for a drive to see if the Internet “hot spot” he found during his morning drive was a secured or open spot. On our way to the main road we clocked the distance from the Villa to the road and it’s a distance of 1.3 kilometers; not too far and it’s all downhill but then there’s the walk back up afterwards.

Down by our local beach we found a pole with five different DSL boxes along with several satellite dishes. I fired up the laptop and it spotted the servers but all of them were secured so that ended that possibility. We did stop to watch several young men who were wind sailing on Golden Beach. Using a large comma shaped “kite” it was amazing to watch them use the wind to basically water ski as though they were being pulled by a fast speedboat. The weather is beautiful today but they were wearing wetsuits as I’m sure it was cold out there in the water.

We continued to drive along the coast until the road brought us back to the highway and then we took the next road back to the coast and a very pretty little town called Piso Livadi. The protected harbor held many little fishing boats and piles of large nets were drying along the docks. As we were leaving we pulled over to let two vehicles go around us; Jim does this because he hates “tail gating”; but, that’s just the way the Greeks drive so he’s always pulling over. The second vehicle stopped and backed up after passing us; it was Aristo, the gentlemen who takes care of our Villa and had helped us when we first arrived. It’s a small world, even on “our” island.

Our next adventure today was, you guessed it, back to Naousa and the Internet. But, we drove a completely different route to Marpissa and headed for Kostos in the hills for another route into Naousa. Jim is determined to drive as many back roads as possible while we’re here. On this one we found another stretch of the Byzantine Route with a Byzantine Bridge for a Kodak moment. The weather is becoming overcast so that storm may arrive tomorrow; but for now, we were able to sign on, get our emails and do some research on the ferry boat routes for next week. Arrived back at the house just at dusk and had another home cooked meal. Jim gets very frustrated driving at dusk as they generally don’t turn their headlights on until it is totally dark; some do use the small running lights and that help a little bit.

ISLAND OF NAXOS

Friday, November 16^th, 2007 Off to visit the Island of Naxos…..

Woke early, heater worked all night; we’re learning how to work the electrical system. Jim says that instead of a 10 amp breaker it should be at least a 25. Looks like another beautiful day outside. About 9 am we loaded the car, including the trash bag, and headed down the hill to the main road. Found the trash dumpster on the highway and then headed south through Drios towards Parikia. When we arrived we found parking for the day; walked to the port and purchased our roundtrip tickets to Naxos for the day at the price of 7 euros each way.

We now had two hours until sailing time so we first walked around to find the Catholic Church where we will go to Mass on Sunday evening. Then we entered one of the most famous churches in the islands. It is called the Holy Shrine of Panaya Ekatontapiliani, built in the fourth century somewhere around 379 AD by St. Helen, the mother of Emperor Constantine. She had stopped in Paros as she traveled to Palestine to search for the Holy Cross. She prayed in a small temple on this site and promised to return and build a big Temple if she was successful in her quest for the Holy Cross. Some say that she built the temple and others say her son built if for her. She found pieces of the Holy Cross in Palestine and also other relics including the steps to the house of Pontius Pilate that now have their own church in Rome.

This is one of the oldest and best maintained Christian temples in Greece; of course like everything in Europe this is not the original building but has been repaired and reconstructed on this site over the centuries as fires and earthquakes required. The inside is truly one of the best of all the Greek Orthodox Churches that we’ve seen on this trip. There have been larger ones but this one definitely causes one to stop and investigate all of the nooks and crannies. One special spot is the Chapel of Osia Theoktisti that includes her tomb. Her story is very interesting and a part of the history of Paros and this church. They celebrate her memory on the 9^th of November each year.

I then found a spot to sit and read my novel near the pine grove and Jim headed over for the Archeological Museum of Paros. Small but he found it very interesting he said when he came out half an hour later. Purchased a bag of popcorn and then headed to the dock to await the ship that will be stopping here; it left from Piraeus (Athen’s Port) this morning and stops here before going to Naxos and then it continues on from there to Santorini.

The ship took about an hour to go around the north end of Paros Island and over to Naxos. Departed the ship and walked up the inside walkways to the top of the Venetian Fortress. There was a large Roman Catholic Church but it was locked. We found the Naxos Archeological Museum but Jim passed on that one. We finally found the Venetian Museum that we wanted to visit but it is closed for the season. Winding our way down in a different direction, we ended up at the same place we’d started from near the port. The inside pathways were probably created both as safe passages in the winter storms but also because of pirates in the ancient times. Actually, I was reading a story one day about some modern day pirates that have attacked Corfu enough times that they actually increased the number of soldiers on the island to deter possible attacks.

We then walked back towards the port and on to the tip of the bay where the Archaic Temple towers over the town and has become its symbolic icon: when you think of Naxos you think of the romantic skyline arch of a ruined temple on the causeway-linked islet at the edge of the town. The books say that the temple-topped rock provides a beguiling promise to arriving ferry passengers of things to come. We found it a Kodak moment and I shot a photo of Jim posed just so that it appears that he is holding the column apart. We also set up the mini-tripod and did some timed photos of the two of us blowing in the wind that is coming in off the Aegean Sea.

It was nearly 3 pm and we walked till we found an Internet Shop with wireless access. There were several to choose from because of the rage with Internet Gaming that we’re finding all over Greece. Yes, I’d brought my laptop with me; it’s so small I find it easy to slip into my daypack. Signed on and enjoyed a very fast connection. We then headed downstairs and into an outside restaurant for an early dinner. We ended up staying at the table for almost two hours reading our novels; the place wasn’t crowded and we were not the only ones using this as a waiting room for the return trip at 6:15 pm.

Back on Paros about 7:30 pm we decided to take the northern route home through Lefkes to our house in Drios. I was very diligent in working with Jim to watch for cows on the road; we didn’t want a repeat of the other night. A nice day but it was good to be back in our snug little home at the end of the day.

CATHEDRAL IN LEFKES

Thursday, November 15^th, 2007 Good weather today as we toured Paros sites….

Last night was a light show as God provided massive sheets of lightening followed by loud claps of thunder for most of the evening. The cats were snuggled up close to the windows and the power kept going on and off. By 8 pm I decided to shower before we lost power permanently as the water heater is electric. We found lots of little tea candles and some citron candles in the cabinets along with some flashlights.

Just as Jim was getting into the shower we lost all of the power downstairs, but the power was okay in the upstairs. Probably a short somewhere in the walls as the downstairs has two walls into the side of the hill. Piled all the blankets we could find on the beds and tucked ourselves in for the night.

Have I mentioned the electrical systems in Greece? Every business and home has an electrical panel built inside the building with switches and breakers for everything. The upstairs air conditioner/heater is totally separate from the downstairs. We do the power switches for the stove and hot water heaters as needed. Most of the others stay on full time. We saw this system for the first time in the brand new home, “Rooms for Rent”, that we stayed in several weeks ago on our way to Corfu. Today in the restaurant in Lefkes, we saw them using the same system, except because it is an old building the wires were visible on the wall instead of being buried inside the wall. These probably exist all over Europe but I’ve never noticed them before.

By this morning we had power back but decided not to run the television and downstairs heater at the same time as they are on the same breaker and give us the most problems. The sun was out and it’s a beautiful day outside. We went for a walk up the hill behind the house in shirtsleeves it was so warm. We saw high on the hill above us the Monastery of St. George that we’d driven towards on a dirt road while looking for the water well on Tuesday. It is a huge building but I don’t think I want to make that climb again in our little car; a four wheel drive would be perfect for getting there.

Drove into Drios to the grocery store for some things and then down to the beach in town. We turned at the sign for The Lake Restaurant and headed down a stone canyon to the beach. They have built a narrow road of stone with high walls of stone on either side. Near the beach we spotted a parking lot and walked from there. There are several hotels and many restaurants along the water. Packed with tourist during the summer; today we are the only people there. Everything is closed and even the few fishing boats at the end of the promenade looked sad at their moorings. There were lots of Kodak moments but lacking a certain amount of flavor in their emptiness.

Back on the highway we headed towards Marpissa where we were told that there was a pharmacy where I could purchase some cough drops. No medicinal supplies are sold in the grocery store. Not only found cough drops but also a jar of Vicks Vapor Rub. I’m still fighting the chest rumblings especially at night so this should help.

In Marpissa we easily found the road to St. George’s Monastery and only one kilometer later we were at the well. We filled all of our empty bottles before heading back to the main road. We then headed north to visit the village of Lefkes again; we’re going to hike to the church today.

It was a beautiful walk down the winding steps to the base of the village and the twin towered church with the unusual steeples. Located inland, Lefkes was the capital of Paros during the Ottoman rule when the pirates ruled the seas and forced the abandonment of the traditional center at Parikia, I’ve also discovered that it is sometimes spelled Paroikia. Lefkes is shaped like an amphitheater in the hills with the shimmering Parian Marble Agias Trias Cathedral as the stage at the bottom of the canyon. Unfortunately, the church is now closed for repairs and we were unable to see the frescos and mosaics inside of the church. A charming village with pristine alleyways and buildings that lined our route back to the top; along the way up we stopped at a small bar for cokes and the hard to find but necessary W.C.

Outside of Lefkes we stopped to view the five windmills on one hill; all in various stages of deterioration. Nearby we found olive trees that are hundreds of years old. We haven’t seen groves being harvested; only the occasional person out picking their own olives. We have seen a few nets on the ground but mostly they are holding a basket to put the olives into.

Turned around and headed out of the mountains to the northern coastal route for a return visit to Naousa and the wireless Internet. It’s like a magnet, drawing us back as often as possible. While I was online searching for emails and updated information; Jim found a shop for ferry boat information. We’ve discovered that there is a boat that leaves at 11:55 am for Naxos and returns the same day about 6 pm. Naxos is so close to us that we see the villages across the Aegean Sea on clear days and the lights at night. We won’t be taking the car with us as that would be an extra fifty euro each way. But, there’s a lot to do in the main port town per the guidebooks and it will be a nice change of pace. We also located the Roman Catholic Church in Naousa but this Sunday the priest is saying the mass on Sunday evening in Parikia instead of here, so we need to find the church there before catching the ferry to Naxos tomorrow morning.

Before leaving Naousa we turned down the rutted road that we’d found yesterday during the rain to view the “Tower of Hellenistic Period”; it was too muddy yesterday but today we bounced down the road with only a few problems. Yep…I was right…another pile of rocks about two feet high…but a Kodak moment for Jim.

We’ve had our dinner; Jim cooked and now I need to do the dishes. We’ll read our books and enjoy the electricity this evening.

ANOTHER DAY ON PAROS

Wednesday, November 14^th, 2007 Rainy day for driving to Parikia…..

Woke to storms this morning…electricity has been in and out all morning and the storms continued all day; but we were able to find an Internet Café in Naousa that offered wireless access. Made my day to be able to send and receive emails home.

Jim checked his stock market which seems to have bounced up today. We’ve both finished reading our books so yes, the television is on tonight. We fixed our dinner here at the house after we arrived back from our daily tour. We went from Naousa, on the northern tip of the island, across to Parikia. I pronounce that one like the spice but it actually has about four syllabus and is Pa ri ki a (me thinks); Jim is very tolerant about the way I massacre pronunciations.

Walked around between rain drops in Parikia and found a November issue of the Paros News; a monthly newspaper for the foreigners on the island. Gives up-dated information on the many things happening on the island; the local store in Drios was out of this months issue already. Back in the car we drove back across the hills by way of Lefkes to see the church again and see if we could figure how to drive down to it. Looks like we’ll have to hike and with the rain today we’ll save that for another day. Every town we drive through we’re looking for restaurants. Not finding very many of them open.

Back home again before 5 pm, I fed the cats and Jim fixed our dinner from the food we’d purchased at the store yesterday; delicious as always. Still raining so I think I’ll start another book. The owners of this house have a very nice library. We’re really enjoying the down time; Jim even said that if the house had wireless Internet he might consider selling Yorba Linda and living here part time. The operative word in that sentence was “might”…it’ll never happen; he just likes to dream.

EXPLORING PAROS

Tuesday, November 13^th, 2007 Off to the marble quarries….

Slept in a bit later than yesterday; breakfast was oatmeal again along with the rest of the hard bread. Hung up the clothes outside again, this time with clothes pins and then took them down again an hour later before heading for the grocery store after I’d sketched out a map from the main road to the house for Jim. He gets lost at the church corner.

We found Margarita and Haris’ grocery store by the name of Anoussakis Market, located in the center of town on the main road. We introduced ourselves and they remembered Julie and said, “such a nice lady”. And I was right, that was not “Harry” on Sunday!

Purchased about 60 euros worth of food that should last us until we leave; they had a good selection of American products. Found another Skippy’s peanut butter to replace the one we’ve been using, toilet paper, paper towels, nuts, bananas, eggs, etc. Even found some frozen shrimp. But, didn’t find any frozen English muffins for Julie.

We headed back to the house for a couple of hours to give the laundry time to dry outside before heading out again about 2 pm this afternoon to find the spring for water and see the marble quarries used by the Greeks and then the Romans. It is known for its translucent qualities and was known as Parian marble and was considered the world’s finest. One example is the statute of Venus de Milo carved between 150-140 BC; one of the most important works of art in the Louvre Museum in Paris France.

Took the laundry back inside before leaving, it’s nearly dry and it still looks like rain is a possibility. Headed north towards Marpissa to find the “spring water” that is free and drinkable; followed Julie’s instruction and turned off on the road towards the St. George Monastery. We followed this road all the way to the top of the mountain and didn’t see any wells. By this time we felt like a mountain goat as the road was the width of our car, deeply rutted (very few roads are paved we’ve discovered) and extremely steep. Jim reminded me that all of our weight and traction was in the back of the car so we could start slipping backwards at any moment! We finally called a halt to this quest and turned around. We’d decided to purchase our water at the store.

Near the bottom of the hill we saw another road and took that one. It led us into a canyon and we found the dam with water in the spillway; but definitely not drinkable. Back to the road…still not paved…past the turkey farm; here we stopped for a Kodak moment as I think this is as close to a Thanksgiving Turkey as we’re going to see this year. Nearly back to the paved road we spotted what appeared to be a water well. Sure enough, inside the well was a pump and over to the side was a faucet just as Julie said there’d be. And looking off the road we saw the Monastery that provides the free drinkable water for the village. We’d driven right past it on our way up the mountain as it was hidden from view on the way up by a small building. We filled our empty water bottles that we’d brought with us and should now have plenty of drinking water for the rest of our stay.

Headed back into Marpissa and took the road towards Lefkes; a town in the mountains near the center of the Island of Paros. There we had another Kodak moment of the magnificent Agias Trias cathedral; then we headed further down on the other side of the mountain towards Marathi and the ancient marble quarries that have now been abandoned. Jim’s sandal strap broke again as we walked up the marble path to the quarries; he shuffled along and we were able to see where the Parian Marbles were quarried in ancient times.

Back to the car and on down the mountain to the port city of Parikia where we hoped to find an open restaurant for an early dinner. Drove around and around and finally out of the city without finding anything. The Islands definitely do “shut down” after October. Decided to head towards the house and fix spaghetti for dinner after stopping at the store for fresh bread and the noodles that we’d forgotten this morning. Since it was only 4:30 and the store didn’t reopen until 5 pm we meandered here and there and ended up driving all the way down the road into Klyki. Found the beach with the boats moored in the bay and unexpectedly also found an open restaurant! Enjoyed a nice early dinner of pizza and then headed back towards Drios and home. It was dark by now and while driving along the highway we rounded a curve in the road and I yelled “COW”; much like Jamie in the movie “Twister”. Jim slammed on the brakes and stopped just inches before hitting the first cow whose eyes were looking inside our little car! There were three cows crossing the highway followed by an old man on a donkey and a very small dog trotting along side the donkey. Jim rolled down the window to apologize to the old man and he started shaking his long stick that he was carrying and yelling at us in Greek! We really were not speeding and I think we were more frightened by the experience that the old man….the cows hardly batted an eyelash!

Arrived home to all five cats crying for their dinner; guess they’re getting used to being fed. We’re going to enjoy our evening by reading our books. I’ve started a great little book that I found here in the house called “Tulip Fever” by Deborah Moggach. Jim is busying attempting to repair his sandal with our sewing kit just incase we don’t find a shoe repair shop tomorrow when we drive back into Parikia. And then he plans to read his book also. I can’t believe that the television has not been on once today! That’s a record!

EXPLORING THE ISLAND

Monday, November 12^th, 2007 Drove to Parikia….the port….

Washed my hair which may have been a mistake as the cold seems to have settled in my chest overnight; lots of coughing today and here I thought I was over it by now. Back to the Greek liquid medicine I purchased in Athens and rubbing the cream on the chest and on my feet per instructions from my friend Patti via email.

We were up early as sleeping in has not been a luxury we’ve enjoyed recently. Found a partial box of oatmeal, some honey that was going to sugar, our bread and juice and instant coffee that we’d purchased at the store yesterday, made a great breakfast. We hung some of our laundry on the clothes line outside before heading down the hill for today’s adventure.

We headed north along the coast towards the main port town of Parikia. There we checked on boat schedules for Mykonos. Opps, we learned that we have to sail first to the Island of Syros; that ferry leaves Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday only at either 7:30 pm or 4:45 pm depending on the day. Then we must stay overnight and the next day catch a different ferry to Mykonos. Another overnight stay and then return to Syros; stay overnight and then return to Paros. It’s called the winter schedules I think! So we’ve decided to stay on Paros until the 20^th, then go to Syros, from there to Mykonos and then back to Syros and the following day go to Athens (we hope). Everything depends on the weather. Island hopping is best done in the summer! Hot but predictable weather!

Today we drove around the city of Parikia before heading south to Pounda and the short ferry boat ride to Antiparos (sometimes spelled Andiparos). This is the island that the movie stars have started building homes on. Originally it was part of Paros until about five hundred years before Christ when an earthquake split it off. The sea is so shallow between the two islands that large ferry boats are required to sail around on the other side of Antiparos.

The ferry left every half hour in the morning and we arrived just as the noon boat was leaving. Half hour later it was back and we drove aboard for the fifteen minute ride in our car. The fee was only 6 euro for the car and 1 euro for each of us. Very reasonable and then we had the car to drive around the island. We found an open restaurant called Romvi in the port and enjoyed a nice meal before heading up the road to find “the cave” that is the tourist site of this island. Found the cave, but it was closed, maybe for the day, maybe for the season or maybe for repairs; bottom line we were only able to take photos of the entrance. Started to rain as we dashed down the hill to the car and it continued to rain for the rest of the day. Back on the ferry boat and home to Paros; we thought that the grocery store would be open by 4 pm but when we arrived in Drios, it didn’t open until 5 pm. Figured we had enough to eat this evening so we returned home in the rain and found the laundry had flown off of the clothesline (hanging hangers on the clothesline was not the swiftest thing we did today) so it was back in the washing machine for those pieces. We left it there overnight and hung it up this morning. Fortunately we’d only hung a few heavy pieces on the line before we left for town.

We enjoyed our tomato soup and bread that we’d purchased yesterday and also found an open jar of Skippy’s Peanut Butter that added to our little supper. Lost power a few times but overall enjoyed the evening watching CNN and CNBC for Jim and I finished reading my novel before going to bed about 9 pm.

PAROS

Sunday, November 11^th, 2007 Ferry boat to Paros and our little house….

Jim woke about 5 am and was dressed by the time I woke up about six. He went down to the ticket office and purchased our tickets. We took our things and boarded the ship about 6:45 am. Crowded but manageable, we found seats and purchased some coffee and chocolate to go with our apple pie that Julie had insisted we bring with us last night; made a great breakfast during our four hour cruise. I’ve been typing on my computer now for the past two hours and Jim has started to read my book, “The Kite Runner”. I’m going to bring it back to Julie at the end of our stay in Paros as she said she’d like to read it. Jim generally doesn’t like the same books as I do but he is thoroughly enjoying this one. Highly recommend you get the book if you haven’t read it. Amazing is all I can say.

I walked around while Jim was reading my new Journal and at the reception desk I found a card that said they had wireless Internet. I asked and it is ninety minutes for 9 euros. I immediately purchased some time and soon we were online for the last hour of our sailing time. This will be perfect for the trip back to Athens to send my journal and photos from our stay on Paros.

Arrived and Aristos was there to meet us. Nice man, younger than I thought he’d be; took us straight to the car rental place across the street and assisted us in renting a car. We took the mini compact, a Korean built Daewoo, stick shift; very basic but only 18 euros a day….a great price. We then followed Aristos for about a half an hour to the house. Can’t imagine how we would have found it without him. We’re located near the top of the hill just north of Drios; views to die for of the Aegean Sea and the islands along the coast. All white houses, flat roofs to catch the rain, and bright colors on the shutters, doors and fences. Water is very precious here on Paros and we need to drink bottled water unless we want to drive to a spring that Julie told us about last night.

The house is two stories on a hillside; you enter on the second story where there is a bathroom, bedroom, kitchen and dining room. Downstairs there is a living room, bedroom and second bathroom. The house has very spacious rooms, all tile floors, lots of windows but without screens and most importantly a washing machine. Each load takes over two hours as they are European machines. Jim is thrilled that there is a satellite TV with about a thousand channels! CNN is primary as many of the others are in Greek. The owner of this home actually lives in North Carolina and was just here in October. Julie has been using the house every year for more than ten years, usually during August. I must say their detailed instruction books are fantastic. Puts my little Big Bear book to shame!

We also have five friendly cats that were waiting to be feed as soon as we arrived. They don’t belong to anyone but the owners encourage guests to feed the cats while here. We purchased cat food at the store and watched them devour every bite. They’re sitting at the patio door as I type hoping that we’ll let them in but that’s not going to happen; Jim will tolerate my feeding them but not allowing them inside the house; says he’s allergic to cats. We do have a lot of houseflies. I’ve been working with the fly swatter and have them under control. There is mosquito netting over all the beds so I guess that’s a problem in the warmer months.

After checking everything out and starting a load of wash we headed out to get gas for the car, find some early dinner and the grocery store. Got lost at our first turn but soon turned around and wound our way down the hill to the main road following the “Dasco Villa” signs. There we found gas and next door a wonderful Grill Restaurant called Pateneth or something like that. Family run and very good food, again we were the only foreigners in the room. Someone told us that Tom Cruise is of Greek heritage: his cousin was sitting in the room today having lunch. At least he looked a lot him Tom Cruise. Jim had lamb that we watched the owner/chef cut up with a huge meat cleaver before grilling over charcoal. I had a Greek Salad and we both enjoyed baked cheese with spices. Two beers completed our first meal on Paros; a great meal and I’m sure we’ll go back again while we’re here.

Drove towards Drios looking for the market; saw one on the edge of town but it looked closed. Jim pulled into the parking area behind and there was a man cleaning corn. I asked him if this was Margarita and Harry’s market and when would the market be open? He motioned us to follow him, I said are you Harry? He shook his head for a yes and unlocked the door. He turned on some lights and let us purchase some groceries. There wasn’t a huge selection, no eggs or fruit; but we found enough for breakfast and lunch and cans of cat food.

Continued to drive and then found other markets that were closed because today is Sunday. We’ll come back tomorrow as I don’t think that we were at the store that Julie told us about. Checked her email again after we arrived home and found the name of Margarita’s store, I don’t think that was Harry that we met. Continued to drive around the area before heading home to check on the laundry and learn more about our new house.

ROUGH SEAS

Saturday, November 10^th, 2007 An extra day in Athens due to bad weather….

Up by 5 and down for the taxi that we’d scheduled for 6 am. The weather was cold and blustery, but we didn’t think too much about it. The taxi driver taught me a new word as he greeted us with a hearty “kalimera” and a few minutes later as we settled into the ride I said to him a hearty “good morning” and he repeated back to me his original greeting that sounds like “calamari”. Ah, new word for my vocabulary, easy to remember because it sounds likes the octopus when it is cooked.

We arrived at the port of Piraeus and he dropped us at the ticket office for the Blue Ferry Line. It was even windier here, and within a few minutes we discovered why the guide books tell you not to count on the ferries always running! They were shut down tight because of the brewing storms rolling in from the southeast. We looked up at the flags and they were standing at attention fulltime!

Dawn arrived and they unlocked the waiting rooms near the ship. We hadn’t purchased our tickets yet and at this point no one was selling any tickets. The rooms and dock were full of people arriving, leaving, and staying and generally in a quandary as they continued to hold out hope that if the storm let up they would sail. In the past, this type of storm wasn’t an issue and they sailed in all types of weather. But, because of several ships going down in the last few years; now they do not always sail in some types of weather. Jim is sure that it’s because we’re in an off season and this way they’ll be able to fill the ship tomorrow. About 8 am I found a telephone booth and called Julie to let her know that it looked like we were not going to Paros today. I woke her up and she suggested that I wait awhile before calling the gardener/property manager, Aristos, in Paros to let him know not to meet us at the port today.

Suddenly we saw that the rain was eminent and we had to make some decisions. Up to this point we’d only had the two tiny croissants and three cookies to share that I’d tucked into my pack yesterday at the restaurant where I’d eaten my lemon pie. I thought we might need them this morning and also; they were placed on every table with a pitcher of water when you ordered something to eat. It was about 9 am and we rushed to cross the bridge over the street that took us to the Metro Station. Yes, we could have easily ridden the Metro to the port and saved about fifteen euro; but that is now hindsight. There we found clean rest rooms and a coffee shop where we purchased cokes (for caffeine) and a large buttery croissant for each of us. That entitled us to use the table for a couple of hours. The rain poured as we entered the station and the wind was ferocious as it turned umbrellas inside out and knocked over the newspaper stands! I was amazed that the flags were not ripped from their standards. I found the telephone again about 9 am and called Aristos in Paros; he said he would meet us tomorrow.

Jim left me at the coffee shop and headed out to find an inexpensive hotel in the area for the night. It’s a rather seedy area so I didn’t hold any great hopes for something super; we’re looking for cheap and clean. He found us one two blocks away for only 50 euro for the night. We waited for a break in the rain and took our bags over to the hotel and then headed into the city by Metro. It was nearly one o’clock when we called Julie again to let her know that we’d contacted Aristos and had a room for the night. She said she’d emailed us this morning to invite us to stay at her place but we hadn’t been online. Just as well; we’ll be close to the ship in the morning and not have to get up quite so early.

She invited us to her home in Ano Glifada for dinner about 6 pm. Because of our schedule they’re dining very early and also it’s possible because Dimitris works outside and will be quitting early because of the rain.

So we had four hours for walking the city. We’d already walked the Monastiraki district, the old bazaar in the city of Athens, but decided to start our walk there. It butts up against the Plaka and Acropolis and has been there for centuries. Many antiques, we saw one open air shop with dining room chairs, definitely used, and one of a kind; out of about thirty we didn’t see any two that matched.

Headed over towards the Adams Hotel that we’d found last week and seemed like a good value. We’d emailed them and the Carolina Hotel last night on the Internet inquiring about rooms for three nights before we leave Athens after Thanksgiving. Couldn’t find it and ended up walking to Vitro’s where we’d eaten dinner twice. It was really getting cold and we’d left our sweatshirts back at the hotel.

We had the use of the WC and shared a baked feta cheese dish with our chocolate and coffee. After half an hour we headed back out into the street. One of our quests has been for a Christmas ornament from Greece for our neighbor Mary whom we met in Corfu. Now the stores are busy putting out the displays of Christmas decoration but we’ve been unable to find one that symbolized Greece. We stopped at a particularly nice store in the Plaka; the staff was very busy unpacking all their Christmas stock. I asked about an ornament that had “Greece” written on it and WOW…he had some! We were able to select from four different balls and so now we have fulfilled another quest. We also purchased a very small bottle of the Tsipouro Liqueur for us on Paros and another larger one to take to Julie and Dimitris for a gift when we go there for dinner this evening.

By this time we were both freezing and found beige wool sweaters that zipped up for a nice snug fit around the neck. Nothing special, mine is a little large, and we got them for only ten euros each. Jim showed the fellow how to tie a single and a double Windsor knot for his friend who was in need of a tie. I don’t think he made much money on us but enjoyed our company. Finally warm, we headed out towards the Adams and Carolina hotels that we now knew how to find. The Adams was very nice for the price and located in the Plaka. We made a tentative reservation with them for Nov. 24 -26. Then we headed towards the Carolina near Sindagma Square and found it was even nicer but a little higher in price. The desk clerk would not negotiate on the price. We’ve since received an email that gives us a great price so we’re in a quandary as to where to go when we return to Athens after Thanksgiving.

From there were walked to the Parliament building and the tomb of the Unknown Soldier to watch the guards as they strutted there drills. They’ve now changed into winter uniforms of black wool jackets and black, instead of red, tassels on their shoes. Then we went into the Metro Station. Looked for a WC but since we couldn’t find one we headed out to the McDonalds where we had our first coffee that early morning several weeks ago when we arrived. Used their facilities and then back to the Metro and a stroll through the art exhibit of photographs. Very beautiful and expensive, the price sheet was from a low of 700 euros up to 1500 euros for the most expensive.

The Metro ride to Julie’s area wasn’t too long. We’d had wind all day but no rain since arriving in town. She lives south of Athens along the coast and when we came up from the Metro Station it was pouring. We opened our umbrellas and headed for the taxi stand per Julie’s instruction. Had a bit of a wait in that people were very aggressive and pushed past us in line; finally found one and handed him Julie’s address. He punched it into his GPS system and we were off for a short ride to her house; arrived right on time at 6 pm.

Julie lives in a very nice flat on the second floor; she’s been there about five years. We were worried about Dimitris doing the BBQ in the rain, but the patio was covered with a tent (awning) and it was no problem. Julie is definitely used to entertaining. Being in the travel business she hosts many cocktail parties during cruises for her clients and tonight was excellent. And with next to no notice as we’d expected to visit them after we returned from Paros, not before we left! She had caviar for us, Jim had red wine and I enjoyed shots of Vodka with mine. Then it was shrimp cocktails. Dinner was a delicious asparagus soup, steak, Greek style hamburgers, baked potatoes, salad and apple pie for dessert. So enjoyed our evening, ate too much but sure enjoyed every bite. Great place with lots of family photos and mementos from her twenty plus years of travel; just before leaving Jim asked about the skull on the wall and she’d actually purchased it many years ago in California at the Bowers Museum.

Dimitris, that’s Greek for James so we also called him Jimmy, put us into the car and we thought he was taking us to the Metro Station. When he asked what street our hotel was on we suddenly found out that he was taking us all the way back to the port and our hotel. Hadn’t expected that and enjoyed the ride through the streets to our hotel. We arrived back at the hotel about 10 pm and after showers hit the bed. The sheets were very clean but the blanket smelled of smoke; but we were dry, clean and ready for the morning.

ANOTHER DAY IN ATHENS

Friday, November 9^th, 2007 The sun is shining and all is well…..

Woke before 5 am, finished packing and headed for the dining room for an early breakfast before six. We left the ship about 6:30 and headed for customs; a breeze since we were able to handle our own luggage and the ship had cleared customs for us before returning the passports last night. Found a waiting room with benches that was full of taxi drivers waiting for people to retrieve their luggage; they all smoke constantly. Jim couldn’t handle the air in the room so while I watched our luggage he continued to walk outside to check on our driver who was scheduled for 7:15. He arrived right on time, the same driver who had taken us to the airport for Istanbul. Or should I say, Constantinople, the Greek name; and of course it should really be the Ellinas’ name as the Greek citizens don’t refer to themselves as Greek but as Ellinas. That would be roughly translated in English as Hellenes. Have I confused everybody enough? It’s all Greek to me.

We drove straight to the President Hotel and they had a room waiting for us. This one was a triple with three single beds so we had room and beds to spare. Put everything down and headed for the Optical store across the street that the desk clerk had pointed out when we registered. It was still closed so we went back to the hotel to wait for 9 am. Then Jim went across the street and she said he would have to leave them overnight. He explained that we were leaving at 6 am and he had to have them fixed TODAY. She gave him an address in the center of the city for us to go direct to the repairman.

By then it was 9:30 and they were serving breakfast until ten so we decided to have brunch before heading to the Metro. I had to read all the maps and directions (which I generally do anyway) but we found the shop without too many detours. At one point a gentlemen stopped to help us with perfect English. He’d lived in Santa Monica for several years and easily pointed us in the right direction. The shop was upstairs and couriers were going in and out the whole time we were there. No way to redo the screws that he drilled out but since the wing was not titanium he was able to use super glue to affix the wing to the lens. Twenty minutes later we were walking out with glasses repaired. Jim called our successful quest today: “The Great Greek Optical Odyssey”.

We were about eight blocks from the Archeological Museum that we’d visited earlier and Jim wanted to return again so we headed in that direction. I found a nice outdoor coffee shop and stayed there for an hour as Jim went back into the museum to see more of their artifacts. I had a new book that I’d brought from home on the recommendation of my sister called “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini. Cracked the book and enjoyed reading while I slowly consumed lemon pie and coffee. It’s cool outside but the sun is shining and it was a great afternoon for enjoying the outdoor. After about an hour, I used the facilities and then walked over to the stone steps at the entrance of the museum and found a great, but cold, perch on the marble entrance; sitting on the map, I continued reading for another half hour before Jim arrived and we walked back to towards Omonia Square and the Metro Station. As we neared the square we noticed that the streets were block by police and when we arrived we stood and watched the university students (we assumed) march with huge signs down the main street named 28 Oktovriou - Patission; there were hundreds of them but very orderly, almost like soldiers matching as they chanted their slogans of protest for something. We have no idea what they were protesting but it was also on the Greek news stations in the evening. Back at the hotel we purchased an Internet card and signed on to send our emails, journal and photos from the Cruise from the comfort of our room using a wireless connection.

About 5 pm we walked to the Doukissa Restaurant that we’d so enjoyed before going to Istanbul last week. The owner was very glad to see us and after dinner stood and talked with us for about half an hour while he also insisted on giving us dessert and several shots of a 41% proof Greek Liqueur called Tsipouro. (pronounced Chiporo). It is made after the grapes are pressed for wine…they take the skins and continue to process them to make this high content liqueur. You drink it in small shots much like tequila, all at once. We had a special treat as he brought out the homemade bottle made by his father-in-law. He also told us never to drink on an empty stomach. Did I say, we were the only English speaking guests in the restaurant? We talked also about the Greek dining hours: Breakfast is about 10, lunch is 2 then a nap from 5 -7pm and dinner never starts until at the earliest 10 pm up to 2 am. The tourists are an anomaly in their eating hours. We asked if this wasn’t his naptime and he said yes, but they were short two girls so he had to forgo his nap and work. His wife called while we were speaking to remind him to come home to bed. He also talked with us about the Greek vocabulary and how we actually know many Greek words when we take apart the English words. Fascinating couple of hours before we headed for the hotel and an hour on the Internet before calling it a night, 5 am will come early in the morning; again!

ISLANDS OF CRETE & SANTORINI

Thursday, November 8^th, 2007 Last day of the tour…..

Jim decided to purchase the tour to see the Knossas Palace on the Island of Crete for this morning after we enter the port of Heraklion in Crete. So, yes, it was another early morning. I could have slept in but since I was awake I went to breakfast with him. We joined a priest from Wisconsin and a gentleman from Little Rock Arkansas for a lively meal starting with the traditional meal prayer by the priest. He is 76 years old and full of stories. We tarried longer than usual at the table as he regaled us with interesting tales.

I’ve been enjoying my time with journals and photos while Jim is out in the rain while visiting the magnificent archaeological site of the Palace of Knossos. I sent my camera along just in case there are some great Kodak moments. Yes, another wet morning. Crete is the largest island in the Greek Isles. We will definitely not be coming back here as it’s quite a ways south of the other Islands.

This afternoon we set sail for our last stop in Santorini. There we are going to tour this one together by ourselves. This particular island was formed by the rim of an ancient drowned volcano that exploded in about 1628 BC; many believe that this may have been the lost continent of Atlantis. We plan to ride the tram to the top for the spectacular view.

Jim returned in time for lunch; he’d had a good tour and had also taken several photos for me with my camera. We enjoyed lunch as we set sail for Santorini; and then headed for the room for some down time. Jim fell asleep and I went upstairs to get our tender tickets for this afternoon. When I return Jim was awake and very upset; he’d gone to sleep with his glasses on as he watched the television. Somehow he managed to break his glasses and for someone who never moves without putting his glasses on, this is very critical. Because they are rimless there is no way to tape them together. We’re hoping to find an Optical Shop in Athens tomorrow that can be creative…maybe with hot glue…and temporarily repair his glasses. Traveling light we didn’t bring any extra glasses.

By 3 pm it was raining very hard outside. The sun had come out by 10 am this morning and we’d had a beautiful sky when we sailed from Crete. Everyone kept positive thoughts and sure enough by the time we pulled into the huge bay of Santorini the sun was shining again. We had to board tender boats for the short ride into the port and then took the cable car up rather than walk or ride a donkey. The sunset was magnificent and we all spent the first half hour taking volumes of photos of this spectacular event. Then we walked around town before heading back down the cable car at dusk for our boat ride out to our ship that was sitting in the harbor. Jim was not comfortable without his glasses but he was a trooper and didn’t complain.

Dinner was served at 7 pm with open seating. We joined two California woman from north of Santa Barbara and had another very enjoyable meal in the dining room. After dinner we all went to the conference rooms to pick up our passports and then headed for the room to pack. Our taxi will be waiting for us at 7:15 am so it’s another early morning.

We’re cruising along at a fairly rapid pace and will arrive in Athens early in the morning. We’ve been told that we can depart the ship anytime after 6 am. We have one night at the President Hotel in Athens and then our next adventure will began: Our trip to the island of Paros where our Julie has arranged for us to rent a private home for a week.

ISLAND OF RHODES

Wednesday, November 7^th, 2007 Another early morning tour…..

5:40 am comes early but we beat the alarm clock and managed to get to the lounge by our appointed time. Heard this morning that the lady who had fallen yesterday was with the St. Paul group from Wisconsin and had to have stitches on her face from the fall. But, she is still with the tour and doing well.

The sun was shining brightly this morning; but it was still cold, especially when in the wind. Our bus took us around the city of Rhodes and then we did a walking tour through the old part of the city past the palace that was built for the Knights of St .John (after the Turks gained control they moved on and became the Knights of Malta) and museum before loading back on the bus for our main destination while on Rhodes. The city of Lindos is about an hour’s drive from the port city of Rhodes. We stopped midway for an interesting tour of a ceramics factory; watched a talented young man throw a lovely vase on the wheel during the tour. We were shown how they etch the design by hand, paint and then fire the ceramics. Interesting and several of the group purchased some pieces to take home.

Back on the tour bus we continued to Lindos where we visited the Acropolis of Lindos. Our guide informed us that in Greece “The Acropolis” only refers to the one in Athens and any others must be referred to with their name: Lindos Acropolis. The city of Lindos has been designated as a historical site and all the buildings in the village must conform to a particular style; no more than two stories and all white-washed in the typical manner that these islands are known for. The small village is located at the base of the Acropolis; a very large fort like structure at the highest point in the town. From there one has magnificent views of the Aegean Sea, St. Paul’s Bay, and the pristine beaches down below. They are rebuilding the temple of Athena and the Hellenistic Portico of the Acropolis. We had the option of taking a donkey ride up the steep steps or walking; we walked. The Danish government was one of the first to start excavating this ancient area and as a result all of the statutes and main works of art are now in museums in Denmark. Someone asked the guide if they were attempting to recover any of these artifacts as they have gone after the Getty Museum in Los Angeles. She said that first they were attempting to recover the Elgin Marbles from Great Britain and then maybe they’d try for some others if they were successful in Britain; probably not in our lifetime.

Long ride back to the medieval city of Rhodes, known as “the island of roses” because of an extravagant display of rock roses. Arrived about 1:30 pm and had a quick lunch up on the Lido Deck in the cafeteria line so that Jim could return to town and visit the museums before they close at 3 pm. Tonight is our “elegant” night. Jim has a sport’s jacket and I have a jersey knit pants suit so that will have to do. It’s hard to pack for elegant and light at the same time.

The cocktail party was very nice. Had an opportunity to extend a greeting from our Julie to Liz, the Cruise Director and also met the captain. We enjoyed the company of a new group of people from Florida along with a drink and tasty treats. Then off to dinner that was concluded with the parade of waiters holding Flaming Baked Alaska. Grigorios joined the festivities and sent his regards to Julie again.

EPHESUS & PATMOS

Tuesday, November 6^th, 2007 Back in Turkey…..

We woke to overcast weather so we packed our umbrellas and dressed warmly for our excursion today to Ephesus and the House of the Virgin Mary from our port city of Kusadasi. We hardly knew that we were in Turkey. The cruise ship has all of our passports and handled all of the paperwork for our visit today. Our tour director was a lovely young Turkish girl who said we could call her Rose as that was the meaning of her Turkish name. She was very animated and knowledgeable about the sites we visited.

Our first stop was at the House of the Virgin Mary. Located up the mountain about ten minutes from the town of Coressos, this is where the Virgin Mary, Mother of Christ spent her last years. A chapel now stands where her house once stood. There are always four nuns and two priests (one Catholic and the other Orthodox). The Muslins respect and honor Jesus Christ as a prophet and his mother is also revered as the mother of a prophet. Therefore it has been a religious site ever since it was discovered in 1891 following the detailed description given by a German bedridden pious lady who claimed to have been shown this neighborhood during visions of the Virgin Mother. Many Popes have visited this holy place over the years. There is also a spring which is considered “holy” similar to the waters of Lourdes and Fatima. Yes, we drank the water and collected some to bring home.

From Mary’s house we took the buses down the mountain to the ancient city of Ephesus. This is actually the third location of the city as it was rebuilt several times for various reasons. The very first city was built some two thousand years before Christ was born where the modern city of Coressos now stands. Ephesus was originally a sea port but over the years the Kucuk Menderes River that flowed into a bay of the sea silted the valley until the seashore is now about seven miles away.

Built on the north slope of Mount Pion and extending southward to the slope of Mount Koressos, this ancient marble city was home to about 250,000 people. They were skilled artisans and rich merchants; extensive water pipes have been discovered underground. They had a hospital, theaters, temples; Ephesus was one of the seven wonders of the ancient world. After its decline, Ephesus was abandoned and forgotten for a long time. About a century ago the excavation of this ancient city began and continues to this day. It is probably the largest archeological site in Turkey. It has much religious significance to the Christians in that St. Paul wrote his “Letter to the Ephesians” to the citizens of Ephesus. Saint John lived here and was buried here in the St. John Basilica; and of course, the proximity of the house of the Virgin Mary.

By the time we finished our walking tour through the archeological site we had not only had a woman on the tour slip and fall but also rain coming down hard enough to get out our umbrellas. The ambulance arrived for the woman but no one has said as of yet how badly she was hurt. Ironically, her slip and fall took place right next to the site of the ancient Hospital!

Two interesting facts that we were told were (1) the while marble in the long road down to the sea port had white pieces of marble strategically placed on the road to act as guides when the torch lights would reflect on them at night. (2) There was a hole directly in the center of one large piece of marble that held a large torch that acted as a lighthouse to guide the ships into the port at night. The rings used to security the torch are still embedded into the marble on four corners surrounding the torch hole. One wonders sometimes how they come up with these facts?

The very large theater is still used for special performances including many of the well known performers of today. One of the most impressive views was of the Library. It reminded me of our visit to Petra in Jordan, smaller, but still very impressive.

Back to the cruise ship by bus and after navigating the shops between the bus and the cruise ship we were on our way to Patmos, approximately four hours away. We enjoyed lunch again in the dining room and then walked the ship later in the afternoon; stopping in the Stars Lounge on the top deck for the special drink of the day: “Turkish Delight”, a rum based drink that wasn’t bad but not as good as we’d expected. But, the view was spectacular as the sun had come out in between the dark clouds shining down on a brilliant Aegean Sea.

We signed up for the tour of Patmos, a small island with several very historic religious sites. First we drove in the bus to the cave of St. John where, according to tradition, he wrote the text of Revelation, the last chapter of the New Testament, in 95 AD while he was banished there by the Roman Emperor. It is a small cave that has been slightly enlarged by breaking through the wall and adding an adjacent chapel. There are many religious symbols: a hole in the wall where he rested his head while sleeping, another smaller one where he would place his hand to help himself up, a painting based on a dream of St. Johns, cracked ceiling in three sections (the trinity) caused by the loud voice of God telling him what to write plus a few more. Many steps down into the cave and then back up those same steps to the bus for our trip further up the mountain to tour the famed Monastery of St. John the Theologian. It was built in the eleventh century with permission from Constantinople who granted the entire island to the Theologian Hosios Christodoulos to be used as a Monastery with many conditions one of which was that no women were allowed on the island. The original document hangs in the Museum of the Monastery. The Monastery is a very large fort style edifice that dominants the entire island, a museum full of old manuscripts and religious artifacts, and fresco covered walls. This Monastery was built by the monk that discovered the cave based on researching the writings of St. John. It’s also a very cold place as the wind was blowing at full speed while we were there, no rain but we still had a spectacular sunset with pink clouds.

Dinner tonight was assigned seating. Julie had arranged for us to have a table near the window at the first seating and we were seated with a couple from Corona, California. A very nice couple in their forties, two children both actively involved in the sport of swimming, she is an operating room nurse and he is a graphic artist with Disneyland. They have traveled extensively and we really enjoyed the hour that we spent with them. During dinner the Maitre D’Hotel, Grigorios Triantafilou, stopped by the table and asked who knew Miss Julie. He is a personal friend of Julie and was surprised when we said we’d known Miss Julie since she was a child. As a tour director she makes many trips during the season with her groups on this particular cruise ship.

After dinner we headed for the room and an early closing to another full day. Our alarm is scheduled for 5:40 am again tomorrow as the tours start early in Rhodes.

CRUISING THE GREEK ISLES

Monday, November 5^th, 2007 Greek Isle Cruise….first stop: Mykonos

Woke before the wake up call and dressed for breakfast. Checked for our cruise tickets as I was repacking and could not find them! After a frantic five minutes I found them on the floor between the wall and the luggage rack; I was sure they’d disappeared at the airport. About 8 am we walked across the street and waited for the Pharmacy to open and purchased cold medicine. No Dayquil, but I did get a bottle of homeopathy Organic Syrup with Echinacea and Propolis? Have my doubts on the effectiveness but will continue with the Sudafed and this new stuff. Also found some ointment with Eucalyptus and Echinacea that I’ll put on my chest tonight, similar to Vicks Vapor Rub. Sure do hate getting a cold on a trip.

Taxi arrived right on time and took us to the port city of Piraeus and the Cristal Cruise Ship; part of the Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines. Lots of tour buses expelling volumes of tourists for the four day cruise. Many of the guests are American so English is probably the most common language spoken on the ship. We have a nice inside cabin on the third deck; gives us the opportunity to climb more steps throughout the day.

The life boat drill was held at 11 am and then we departed for our first destination: the island of Mykonos. After looking at the different tours available we’ve decided to only pay for the shuttle bus into town and explore on our own. We arrive at Mykonos about 5:30 pm and will be in port until 9:30 pm.

We have decided to take the time to eat our meals in the dining room instead of the causal food on the pool deck cafeteria style. We walked to the dining room early and introduced ourselves to Spiro, the manager in charge of the La Scala Restaurant on Deck 8. He has promised to attempt to find us seating during the early dinner; especially since Miss Julie’s name was mentioned in our conversation. For today since it was noon we stayed for the wonderful lunch. We were at a mixed table of Americans: mother/daughter from Texas, two young single girls who met on the tour they are a part of and a husband/wife on a Grand Circle Tour from North Carolina. It was a very pleasant lunch with lively conversations about travel. Two of us at the table were suffering from colds. After lunch we submitted our credit card at registration and also registered for the tours that we are doing. Right now we only selected three tours but may also do the one in Crete.

The only access to the Internet on board ship is on the three computers in the main lobby. You purchase an hour’s worth of time for ten euros and wait till one becomes free. Surprisingly, the wait is rarely very long, and we’ve been able to connect to aol.netmail.com through the web fairly easily. Not quite as good as wireless and using our own computer but we’re able to read emails and send a few.

Arrived in Mykonos at dusk and by the time we departed the ship it was already dark. The famous windmills on the hills could barely be seen and definitely not photographed. We took an hour and walked through the town and back to the bus for the return trip to the ship that was parked in the new port. We plan to return during the day next week from our next home away from home on Paros. At that time we will also go see the nearby island of Delos, an archeological site. Mykonos is full of shops and many restaurants. We were surprised at how many of the people stopped and ate instead of returning to the ship for the dinner provided as part of the cruise.

Dinner was at 7 pm, open seating and casual. Since we’d eaten on the upper deck for lunch we enjoyed our dinner on the lower deck at the Caruso Restaurant. Then off to bed early as the alarm is set for 5:40 am so that we can finish breakfast before our 7 am departure in the morning in Kusadasi; we will sail there through the night.

My new medicine seems to be working well; I definitely am feeling better.

CROSSING THE BOSPHORUS STRAITS

Sunday, November 4^th, 2007 Finding Mass is not easy in Turkey!

Woke about 5:30 am and took more Sudafed for my cold. By seven Jim was up and we went to breakfast about eight; not nearly as crowded as yesterday morning. Sun is shining and it looks like a great day for seeing more of Istanbul. The air is still cold.

By nine o’clock we were checked out, luggage stored at the hotel and off to the tram stop located a block from the hotel; headed across the Bosphorus Straits to Kabatas, like a suburb to Istanbul. Along the way we crossed over the Galata Bridge and watched the shoulder to shoulder fisherman with ocean type fishing poles all across the bridge. We also had a great view of the new Unkapani Bridge that reminded me of the golden gate bridge in San Francisco except it was steel colored.

Kabatas was the end of the line and then we paid another token to ride the Funicular up the hill to reach Taksim Park. Kodak moment with the War Memorial and then after reading our map we starting walking in the direction of the Catholic Church; when we arrived it was Greek Orthodox and we decided to stay for the rest of the Mass that was in progress. There were less than a dozen people plus the priests that were officiating.

fter Mass we got our map back out and continued to look for the Roman Catholic Church. Up and down and around we went. People were wonderful and seeing our map would stop us to give directions. Met one fellow who was catching a bus to the French Catholic Church; he was originally from Philadelphia and also had lived in Los Angeles and San Diego. Now retired he lives here in Istanbul. He gave us directions also. Most of the foreigners who live in Istanbul live on this side of the bridge we’ve discovered.

After many more dead ends and directions we finally found St. Anthony du Padua, a beautiful Roman Catholic Church in the heart of the newer part of the city, one of the few that is not hidden in back streets. But, the ten o’clock mass was just ending and there wasn’t another one until noon. We paid a visit and then found our way back out to the pedestrian mall and walked back towards the funicular. Saw the McDonalds next to the Turkish fastfood place named Pud. There were also Pizza Hut, Burger King, etc. etc. etc. Saw a 1958 (I think) Chevrolet car, turquoise and white, fins and all in a restaurant. They were using it to attract customers and several young men were having their photos taken by friends as we passed by. Arrived back in the area of our hotel by noon but we stayed on the train until we reached the Beyazit stop.

Jumped off the tram and walked through the University area and over to the Suleymaniye Mosque. One of the most beautiful in the city; not quite as large as the Blue Mosque but very beautiful and the complex also housed the Tomb of a Sultan. There are so many that I have no ideal which one! Just know we had to take our shoes off to go inside the tomb; and again we had to take the shoes off to go inside the Mosque.

Back to the map and the tiny streets that wound their way down towards the Bosphorus. In some areas the shops were closed and the next street the shops were crowded with customers. Like many European cities, the names of the streets are rarely the same for more than two blocks. A detailed map is essential. Our destination was the old spice market or better known as the Misir Carsisi, a marketplace since 1664. We knew when we’d arrived as it was chaotic; the Grand (covered) Bazaar was a breeze compared to this one. I immediately took my backpack off and hung on for dear life! Everything imaginable was for sale in this area; and probably at a good price but all we wanted was the experience of walking through the Istanbul Spice Market!

Out of the market, we stopped many times with our map to find the directions to our hotel. Our last person was a young policeman and an old man; between the two of them they got us on the correct street and before we knew it we were back at our hotel again. Had some lunch across the street as it was now nearly 3 pm and we’ve still got a few hours to kill before going to the airport.

I decided to stay at the hotel to work on my journals and use the free wireless Internet while Jim went to find the Archeological Museum. Two hours later he returned after walking the entire time! The entrance to the Archeological Museum was not where we’d thought but a much further distance from the hotel; by the time he’d arrived it was due to close within minutes. The winter schedule was in effect and so he spent the rest of his walk returning back to the hotel; alas without having enjoyed any of the artifacts that are so special to this particular museum.

By 5 pm we were ready to go to the airport; a bit early but you can only sit in a hotel lobby just so long. Jim took some time to negotiate with a shuttle service and had them down to a fantastic price until he realized they thought he was talking about 6 am the next morning. They didn’t want to reduce their price for 6 pm this evening. So back to square one and we had the hotel call a taxi cab for our journey to the International Airport. He really wanted to try taking the tram all the way to the airport but I just wasn’t up to the challenge.

Don’t remember if I’ve mentioned it or not but two of the novels that I brought to read on the trip were unusually timely in their subject matter. Both were common romance novels but the first one that I was reading in Athens had the characters exploring archeological sites and the one I finished last night was set mostly in and around Istanbul. Who would guess when I picked these books up at the church rummage sale last August to read and leave or exchange with another tourist along the way that they would dovetail so nicely with our trip.

Arrived at the airport and had to wait for the counter to open for check in; when it did we soon realized the flight was full. They spotted our mini backpacks and required us to check the larger backpacks as luggage. Hadn’t planned on this and as soon as they were gone we realized our tickets for the cruise tomorrow as well as my packet of important information including extra credit cards were both in the backpack. A nervous two hours while we waited for the flight and then the hour plus of flying. A good flight and when we picked up the luggage everything appeared to be unopened. A bigger problem were my ears because of the cold; don’t remember when they’ve hurt so much from the pressure of going up and down. It was so nice to find our driver waiting for us outside of customs for the ride into Athens.

By the time we’d checked back into the hotel, picked up our extra luggage and arrived in the room it was midnight before we’d showered and hit the bed. Our wake up call in the morning was set for 7 am as we had scheduled a taxi to pick us up at 9 am to take us to the port to board the Cruise ship for our four day cruise of the Greek Isles.

HAGIA SOPHIA & BLUE MOSQUE

Saturday, November 3^rd, 2007 Exploring Istanbul Museums and Mosques…

Woke with the start of a head cold so I took some Sudafed that I had fortunately stuck in the backpack for the weekend; do hope it’s mild and Jim doesn’t catch it from me. Breakfast at 8:30 was in the roof top restaurant that is enclosed in glass so there was a view in every direction. The best one was of the Hagia Sophia that rises above the other buildings in all of its grandeur.

By 9 am we were out on the street and walking to our first destination. The weather is dry but very overcast and cold. With our trusty new map we located the Hagia Sophia easily and entered one of Istanbul’s oldest surviving monuments. The site has been a church over the centuries; the current building was erected in 1065 after an earthquake destroyed the previous one. This building set the standard for Mosques in the Muslim world. The remains of many mosaic floors and frescos on the walls, especially one of Christ, the Virgin and John the Baptist were very impressive.

From the Hagia Sophia Mosque Museum we walked across gardens to the second most impressive site in Istanbul; the Blue Mosque also known as Sultanahmet’s Mosque. This Mosque is still used as a place of worship and so we had to take off our shoes but they did not make me cover my head. We were each given a plastic bag to put our shoes into as we entered. The name reflects the mainly blue Iznik tilework decorating its interior. It was built around 1600 and has six minarets and its architecture rivaled the architecture of Mecca.

Our next venture was to the state run carpet store in the former Baths of Lady Hurrem across the street from the first two sites. Amazingly preserved and every room is now used to display carpets for sale. I wonder how many they actually sell as everyone we saw in there appeared to be viewing the site and not the carpets; but no one asked any questions of us or attempted to persuade us to purchase a carpet.

On to our next quest: The Basilica Cistern. Built near the Hagia Sophia, this huge cistern founded in 527 is called a sinking palace because of the great number of marble columns arising out of the water. It is 140 meters by 70 meters and you descend 52 marble steps to view the vast underground cistern that has the capacity to store 100,000 tons of water. We walked over platforms built over the water to view the 336 marble columns and watched the fish in the water. At times we found ourselves under water dripping down from the ceiling into the cistern. Two special columns have the head of Medusa on the base for the column: but the face is on its side on one and upside down on the other. According to legend the blocks are oriented sideways and inverted in order to negate the power of the Gorgons’ gaze. For more information on what a Gorgon is check the following website: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gorgon

Our final quest for today was the Topkapi Palace. A huge place, we entered from the lower entrance and didn’t realize we needed a ticket until we’d passed through security. Jim went back out and purchased the tickets. Walk, walk, walk; couldn’t believe how huge this place is. In the Treasury we saw jewel encrusted helmets, swords, and jewelry; one was the Kasikci Diamond that is 86 carets, drop shaped, faceted and surrounded by 49 large diamonds.

By this time it was nearly two o’clock and we headed back to our hotel; only a short walk but did find a small souvenir of our visit to Turkey on the way home. It will easily tuck into the luggage so Jim is very happy that I passed on the leather hassock that can be stuffed after you get home. Just couldn’t think of a place to put it.

As we walked along the street we purchased a large pretzel to share, only fifty cents so we really did get ripped off yesterday; and some water and cokes. We enjoyed a couple of hours of rest in the hotel before heading out for dinner.

Our dinner tonight was down the street at a place called Ozler Restaurant. We stuck with water and I had vegetable spaghetti: peas, carrots, mushroom base covered with spaghetti and cheese….delicious. Jim had peppery kebab on pita bread, roasted lamb meat and vegetables, plus a side dish of green beans. I went straight back to the hotel as it was cold, but Jim walked for half an hour…without the map…and managed to find his way to the hotel again!

Internet followed by making plans for our last day in Istanbul filled the evening. Of course the television has many English stations so Jim has been enjoying that also.

ISTANBUL/CONSTANTINOPLE

Friday, November 2^nd, 2007 flight to Istanbul, Turkey….

Awake before the alarm and wakeup call; we were downstairs and waiting for the driver by 5 am. He arrived at 5:15 as scheduled and we were whisked to the Athens Airport in a beautiful new Mercedes. A big difference from our bus that we took in from the airport several weeks ago; the tour company set the transportation up as part of our package for the cruise. It’s nice to be spoiled at times.

Easy flight that lasted just over an hour; the pilot apologized for taking off a little late due to two passengers arriving late at the gate. Nice surprise to find that we were served a light breakfast on the plane and it was a smooth flight to Istanbul. The pilot referred to our destination as: Constantinople instead of Istanbul. We were on Olympic Airlines and the Greeks may prefer that name; don’t know for sure.

Arrived at the airport about 9:30 pm; paid our $20.00 USD each for our Visa Stamp and proceeded through customs without a hitch. Found a change machine to get some Turkish money…the machine ran out of money as we were using it. We put in a twenty euro bill and received Turkish coins valued at only five euro. A nice tourist, either Greek or Turkish…don’t know…took us over to a booth and explained our problem. He immediately went to the machine and gave us another fifteen Turkish Lira. Then we found an ATM machine. Jim tried first and it didn’t accept his card. We went to another machine and tried mine and this time we received some Turkish Lira. About that time a gentlemen kept asking us if we needed a Shuttle Bus? Jim finally talked to him about price and got him down from twenty-five Lira to twenty Lira for two of us to our hotel. We had to wait about ten minutes while they tried to get a few more but it ended up to be three of us in a van. The third person was a young thirty year old fellow from Southampton England who had a few hours between flights on a business trip so he was going into the city to see some of the sites. We all enjoyed our ride into the city even though it was raining.

Our hotel is the Yasmak Sultan, a four star hotel that is located very near to the Topkapi Museum and is extremely busy we found out. They said that our reservation was made for only for one person and they had no double rooms available. While waiting I had overheard a couple that were switching from another hotel to this one because they liked the rooms better. I said to the manager “how did you have a room for these people without a reservation and you don’t have one for us?” As I suspected they were getting a suite; but I figured it wouldn’t hurt to mention the fact. They wanted to switch us to another “first class” hotel but I wanted this one.

So, I said to the manager that I wanted him to contact the tourist agency who had set up our reservations before I would agree to change hotels. After about five minutes the managers came back and said our agent would not agree to a change of hotels and that they would assign us a room and move some other guests to the other hotel. We didn’t get a view room, but it’s a very nice room and we’re happy campers. My thought is that the agency puts enough business to this hotel that they had some pull in making sure we stayed at this hotel. Best of all; I have free wireless Internet in the lobby.

By 11 am we were checked in and ready to roam the streets. We headed out with umbrellas and headed towards the Grand Bazaar, had to ask directions several times but finally saw it up ahead. Just before entering we passed a mosque where men were washing their feet before entering. We will have to take our shoes off and they may require me to cover my head when we go tomorrow??

So glad we found the bazaar because the rain started to come down in torrents just as we entered; it was body to body most of the time. One could spend days inside and since it was covered it was a perfect place to get out of the rain. We walked the width and breath of the place several times and finally felt we’d done the deed so after spending a fortune for a large pretzel (the kid knew we didn’t understand the money) we headed out into the rain for our trip home. Opps…we were completely lost. We kept asking directions to the hotel and each time they would send us off in a different direction. We had our Turkey Eyewitness book with us but that didn’t help much. We’d asked for a map at the hotel but they were out of the free ones. When we finally returned I had Jim purchase a map for five Liras but at least now we know where we are when we’re outside of the hotel.

After two hours of walking Jim was actually ready to pay for a taxicab to get back to the hotel but we were walking against traffic on a one way street when we finally spotted the hotel two blocks ahead of us. Jim went back out and found several nice restaurants close by for an early dinner. So, by the time we both went to read the menus posted out front the waiters were sure they had a ready diner and worked hard to get us to sit at their place. We chose Pasazade – Ottoman Cuisine. We ordered stuffed chart leaves that were called Pazi Dolmasi in Turkish: rice, pine nuts, currants, parsley and minced lamb rolled into a chart leaf. We had a soft cream cheese or plain yogurt sauce to dip the rolls into before eating, really good. Our second plate was Su Boregi; Turkish cheese and tomatoes baked in filo dough. That along with bread and Turkish Beer (EFES Pilsen) filled us up so much we didn’t even get the ice cream for dessert that we’d talked about.

Walked around the area for a while and then headed back to the hotel for some Internet time before calling it a night. We decided to sit in the bar instead of the busy lobby for our Internet time and Jim made the grand gesture by ordering me a drink: Chives Regal on the rocks. Little did he realize that he’d ordered one of the most expensive drinks offered; it was 22 Turkish Lira…that’s a little more than $25. USD for about a shot and a half….I could have purchased the whole bottle at Costco for less than my one drink cost. I savored every last drop. Later we read in the travel book that alcoholic drinks are very, very expensive in Turkey. The beer at dinner was 5 lire so we should have known something was different as that was twice the price that we paid in Greece.

A grand first day in Istanbul with lots of experiences or as we say when we’re traveling: “That’s a journal entry!”

ATHENS

Thursday, November 1^st, 2007 Another day in Athens….

Last night I finished my journal and photos; went downstairs to purchase time for the Internet and spent the next three hours trying to get on line in my room. It had always worked in the room before so I was sure that I’d screwed up my computer when I had the Internet Café in Corfu put in an ISP address so that I could connect with his DSL line. Very frustrating; went down to the desk clerk once but he didn’t know any more about computers than Jim so I knew that he wouldn’t be any help. He offered to refund my three euros but I said “no” and that I’d continue trying different things.

Finally gave up about 10 pm and read my novel for a bit before calling it a night. My mind was whirling with possible solutions including spending time at a computer shop in the morning to make my wireless work again. I could connect with “limited access” but could not pull up the web page to enter my password for the service. It kept telling me to connect with a DSL line but that wasn’t possible in the hotel. I woke up about 6 am and took my laptop into the bathroom and tried again…no luck. Jim woke up about 7:30 and we headed down for breakfast. I knew that the woman would have arrived by now and she seemed to understand computers so I took my laptop to breakfast with me. I explained the problem and booted up to show her what I was talking about so that she could help me if possible.

And God blessed me with a sign on screen; apparently the room that we have now does not receive a clear signal so during breakfast I sent Journal #5 and everything else! I was a happy camper and ready for a day of touring with Mr. Jim.

We checked out after breakfast, packed the car and headed for the President Hotel across town where our tour had made reservations for us during the cruise portion of our trip. The traffic was heavy but we found our way without too much difficulty; we’re definitely getting to know Athens. Dropped off our luggage at the hotel and returned to the Acropolis area and the Budget Car Rental office; arrive right on time at 10 am. A dirty but accident and ticket free car was returned with an additional 1,905 km, about 1,200 miles.

We then walked across the Plaka, one of the oldest residential areas, all the way to the Stoa of Attalus that was restored by the Rockefeller Foundation. Then we investigated the old Byzantine Church next to it before walking through the Ancient Agora ruins all the way up the hill to the Herakleidon Museum. Found our way around to the Keramikos, the ancient cemetery, over to Hadrian’s Library, the Tower of the Winds and then back through the Plaka to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch. Those were the first two things that we took photos of at 4 am on the morning of our arrival.

Now we can honestly say that we’ve seen all of the Acropolis! Our feet were tired and we were ready to call it a day after non-stop walking from about 10:30 am to 2:30 pm. Four hours and today was one of our hottest days of the trip. We were carrying umbrellas and jackets in our backpacks but what we needed were hats! Found our way back to the Acropolis Metro Station and jumped on the train for one stop, switched lines and then headed out towards our new hotel that is located very near to the American Embassy.

Spent an hour repacking our bags so that we could travel light to Turkey with only our backpacks for the weekend as the hotel will keep our larger suitcases for us as we will be returning for one night before we go on the cruise. By now the weather had changed and it was looking rather threatening outside but we headed out to a restaurant recommended by the hotel for an early dinner.

This was another great Greek dining experience. We were at Douicissa on a small side street, which appeared to be family run. Owner was very involved with guests the whole time we were there. I had another Greek Salad as I do love them. The tomatoes are so firm and delicious; the best description is that they are “meaty”. Michael, a classmate from Indiana who is receiving the journals said that he remembers the tomatoes in Greece were the best he’d ever eaten outside of Indiana. I must say I totally agree with him. Jim had a hamburger with Greek cheese that the owner guaranteed to be the best he’d ever eaten. It was really good, Jim talked to the owner afterwards and he told him the family ingredients that are used…including lemon juice, fresh tomatoes, fresh parsley, and three drops of Tabasco sauce that Jim didn’t taste. It was delicious! When they served us our bread basket it came with fresh cream sauce with leeks and bell peppers and some other favors that was so good we ate way too much bread just to keep eating the sauce.

Headed back to the hotel with a stop at the phone booth to leave a message for Julie and just then it started to rain. Walked very fast and reached the hotel before the rain really started to come down; we’d left the hotel without jackets or umbrellas.

To bed early after an hour on the Internet, phone call and fax from Julie regarding our cruise and our ten days after the cruise that she has arranged for us. Tomorrow starts at 4:30 am; so we hope to get a good nights sleep. See you in Turkey!

MONASTERY OF OSIOU LOUKAS & PARTHENON

Wednesday, October 31^st, 2007 Heading south to Athens

One would never know its Halloween; I don’t think that they celebrate it here in Greece. We woke about 7 :30 this morning and headed down to breakfast about 8:30…should have gone down earlier as the large tour group that arrived late in the evening last night had depleted most of the food before we arrived. But, we did find plenty to eat. After breakfast we checked out, took the elevator down two floors into underground garage to get the car. Then we worked at finding the shoe repair shop that our desk clerk had mapped out for us. Jim’s sandal strap needs repairs. Around and around we went and finally Jim parked the car and walked. Sure enough the street we were looking for was about six feet wide and looked more like a sidewalk. The fellow was great and now his sandal is just fine. That took about an hour.

Headed out of town with overcast weather and sprinkles every once in a while. We went down the mountain for about half an hour until we found the road to Distomo. We were headed for another monastery with a side stop on the way.

Our first stop was in Distomo, a small town that has a war memorial built by the German government in 1996. The memorial is to honor the 200 people in the village that were killed by the Nazis in June of 1944 in reprisal for a guerrilla attack. Sits at top of a hill above the town and is very stark but beautiful.

Then we headed further out into the mountains to find the Monastery of Osiou Loukas. This was founded around 944 AD by a monk known as Holy Luke. Different from St. Luke I think as he was nearly 1000 years after the death of Christ. But it is now a famous pilgrim site for tourists. The main chapel is under repairs but the inside was beautiful with many religious mosaics on the walls. There were two important things to find and Jim found the mosaic of the washing of the apostles’ feet and I found the crypt. Yes, there in a glass sarcophagus was the body of Holy Luke who died in the 10^th century. They had a veil over his face but you could see his boney hand. Creepy!

Drove back to the main road and continued on our way to Athens, finally arrived in Athens about 3 pm. Went back to our old hotel, the Acropolis View and they had a room for us for tonight. Unloaded and headed for the Acropolis so that we could see it without the rain that appeared eminent. We’d waited to see this with Brian but when he was delayed we decided to wait until our return today.

Walked all around the Parthenon, you can not enter the building itself and they are constantly blowing their whistle every time someone touches a piece of marble. There is also a lot of construction going on at this time.

After the Parthenon and also the Erechtheion with the virgin statues, we saw the Temple of Athena Nike, the Theater of Herodus Atticus that is still used for performances, and the ancient theater of Dionysos.

The sites were closing by that time and we headed over to Vitros for dinner. Tomorrow we will change hotels in the morning and then spend the day seeing the rest of the buildings in the Acropolis complex.

DELPHI & THE TEMPLE OF APOLLO

Tuesday, October 30^th, 2007 Walking the roads of the ancient gods….

Slept fairly well but woke with a headache; realized about 4 pm that it was probably from the wine last night. Dressed and headed out to find some breakfast; no food with this hotel room but at 45 euros for the night, that’s ok. We found a bakery and purchased extra large croissants that were filled with a chocolate pudding. Then over to the coffee house under our hotel for coffee for me, chocolate for Jim and water for both of us; it made a nice breakfast as we sat outside and watched the town waking up.

We then got my computer and walked back to the Internet Café; it was empty except for two employees and they were very happy to let me sign on using my own computer. After nearly half an hour of trying we couldn’t get it to work so I ended up signing on and checking emails on one of the computers. The boys were very apologetic that they couldn’t get mine to work. We talked a bit and he told me he lives in Patra and is here to attend the university. Ah, that explains where all the people came from last night. Also told me that his great, great, great grandfather (maybe even more greats) was a famous general in the War of Independence in 1821; he is named after him and he wrote down his name for me so that I can check it out on the computer website: Makrigionnis, he showed me a photo of him that he had on his computer.

In the meantime; Jim not only video taped the Museum; the Museum Curator closed the Museum and took Jim on the back of his motor scooter to see the site of the house that Lord Bryon died in 1824; only three months after his arrival in Greece. But the fact that he came rallied the world to support the cause of the Greeks in their war against the Ali Pasha, a Turkish Ruler. And, he’d found an English version of Time Magazine with a ten page spread on the California Fires. Told us most everything we needed to know about the fires and our future in California.

The weather today is overcast and windy; but by noon the sun was also shining through the clouds. We headed out of Messolongi about 10:30 in the morning. Headed the wrong way as I was busy reading the Time Magazine instead of the map; but the good news is that’s how we found the salt beds and hills of salt. Turned around and found the correct roads as we continued south and to the east this morning. By noon we were back in the area of Patra and that magnificent bridge that I sent photos of to all of you about a week ago.

Suddenly we realized that we were heading across the bridge! NO…STOP….we don’t want to go there! Also the fee to cross is 10.50 euro each way! Saw a parking area and went in there….I walked over and yelled to the nearest toll booth that we didn’t want to cross the bridge; how do we exit? She told me to go to the phone booth and press “2”. Sure enough, they had a telephone booth with three buttons only. They came on line and after I explained my problem they told us to bring our passports and car papers to the glass building on the other side of the road. We had to climb up the two story bridge, walk across and down the other side. There they completed a form that we had to sign and then back across the bridge to our car. We went through the toll booth, she smiled at us, and then immediately off on a service road that got us back on our route. I can tell from how easy it was; we are definitely not the only ones that have had this problem!

Back on the road to Nafpaktos, we are now on the same road that we drove last Tuesday after leaving Patra where we dropped off our grandson. Again, we could see that a large fire had burned the hillside behind the town. The road follows the coastline all the way to Itea, in and out along the base of the mountains. Mines dot the roads, fish farms are in many coves, long and broad beaches are empty this time of year; and of course: roadside memorial boxes on all the curves. We stopped at a pottery shop along the road and saw new ones for sale; now we know which the newest boxes are.

We finally arrived at our destination for today around 3 pm: Delphi, an ancient site for worship and prophecy. Located high in the mountains on the slopes of Mt. Parnassos and overlooking the Gulf of Corinth, it offers a stunning setting and inspiring ruins. The ancients regarded Delphi as the center of the world. According to mythology Zeus released two eagles at opposite ends of the world and they met here. First the French and then other countries have worked at preserving this site. Now it is a World Heritage-listed site.

First we visited the 4^th century BC Temple of Apollo, then walking up the theatre that is still in very good condition. From there we continued up to the top and the site for the stadium, the best preserved in all of Greece, even to the etched-stone starting blocks where sprinters began a race. We enjoyed walking this path with people from Texas and took turns taking photos for each other.

Back down the paths for a second look at everything and then Jim went into the Museum where he saw many treasures and especially important to him was the Charioteer; a bronze statue of the Charioteer, from the dedication by Polyzalos, the tyrant of Gela in Sicily 478 or 474 BC.

For more information click on this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Delphi

When he arrived at the car I had cleaned things up, purchased some sandwiches for dinner and was just about ready to start reading my novel. We ate and then headed further down the hill to the Sanctuary of Apollo. Walked down the hill for a close up view of what we’d seen from a distance on the hill. Very impressive and it is the photo used frequently on publicity pieces for Delphi.

It was just about dark as we drove into the mountain city, and ski resort area, of Arahova to find a hotel for the night. Ended up at a nice hotel called Hotel Arahova Inn, they are so busy we found the manager asleep on the couch and had to wake him to get a room. But it’s a nice place and we’ll enjoy spending the night at only 60 euros (because the high winter season has not started yet) including breakfast.

Interestingly enough…only one electrical outlet again, thank goodness we have that extension cord with us.

MESSOLONGI & LORD BYRON

Monday, October 29^th, 2007 Across the pond to Messolongi.....

We’re on the ferry boat right now. Last night we made it to the Internet Café in a blinding rainstorm. It was really raining hard and the wind caught Jim’s umbrella at one point; may have to purchase a new one for him. But we did manage to get the fourth journal off to all of you. (2007 was prior to blogging my journals!) The Internet café was very interesting; it is basically set up for gaming. The place was full of teenagers and young adults; each one had headphones on so since they were doing interactive games they were yelling at each other. There were about thirty of them and the place was full of smoke! Lots of cigarette smokers here. Jim waited in the car while I went in to use the computer. The wind caught his umbrella when he came in to tell me where he had found a parking place. But the good news is that they allowed me to hook into their DSL lines with my computer.

Drove back to the hotel and enjoyed our last dinner on Corfu at the hotel; one of the best that we’ve had here. Had to wait until 7:30 pm but worth the wait and much better than walking in the rain in old town. Even with all the rain; traffic was heavy and parking places were harder to find than during the day!

It rained most of the evening but by this morning the sun was shining again and we’ve got calm seas for our ride back to the mainland. It’s an hour an a half ride so time to finally get some of the postcards written to the grandchildren before we dock at about 11 am. Then we’re headed south for the day.

Saw many more roadside memorial boxes again today. Not taking as many photos of them unless they are really unusual. We stopped at Vonitsa and found a Super Market where we picked up some drinks and snacks. They were also kind enough to allow us to use their employee toilet. There was lots of traffic on two lane roads but no “real” mountain climbing today; only foothills, driving along the base of some high mountains and views of the Ionian Sea as we wound our way south.

Just north of Messolongi, our destination for today, we spotted three Monasteries out in the middle of nowhere along the highway. The largest was right on the road and there was a grave of a Greek Orthodox Priest that had died in 2005; very ornate and beautifully done. Then up on the side of the mountain was a smaller monastery but still good size. Then even higher and tucked into a cavern in the mountain was a brand new miniature monastery. It was all very surreal looking. Stopped for a Kodak moment and then went on our way.

We first checked at a hotel out by the water that overlooked the Lagoons. This area is part of the few remaining wetlands of Greece and famous for migrating birds; it has become somewhat of a pilgrimage sit for photographers and bird-watchers. They also have salt flats and manufacture salt. We then drove into the old center of town where we found a very reasonable hotel; somewhat smoky room and overlooking the town square. There may be a lot of noise in the square tonight but the price was too good to pass up. No Internet…I found a wireless site when I signed on just now but it was a protected site. The only café that has Internet is closed on Monday per everyone we’ve talked to…so I’ll wait another day to sign on.

We do have a TV with all Greek language. That is also the only electrical outlet in the room so I’m charging camera and computer while Jim is off to the town museum across the square. Tomorrow we want to visit the town gardens to see the statute of Lord Byron who died here when he came to help liberate Greece in 1824. His heart lies beneath his statue in the Garden of Heroes, his body is buried in Westminster Abbey in London and he is credited with motivating the Greeks during their War of Independence with the Turks. The only other thing I think we need to see here is the Exodus Gate that we’ve already driving through to get into town. So…hopefully….we’ll head to Delphi tomorrow for more Greek ruins.

There really is a lot of history here because this was an important military spot during all the wars over the centuries; especially the War of Independence in 1820s. Jim is back and says the Museum was so wonderful he gave them four euro even though it was free. The manager gave him a personal tour of the place since he was the only visitor and Jim promised to come back tomorrow with his video camera.

Started out of the hotel to locate a Traverna that was recommended in our guide book and when we asked the manager for directions he also gave us his personal recommendation. We decided to go there and VOLA…just across the street, and open, was the Internet Café. The dinner was reasonable and wonderful. We had our first Greek wine with dinner: I had beef and pork stroganoff with rice; the sauce was to die for; Jim had a lamb shish kabob. We were so full we decided to stroll about town on the way back to the hotel. The Internet Café was full of young people gaming again; decided to wait until morning. The town was becoming alive, couldn’t believe the number of people out in the square, mostly sitting in various coffee shops.

Back to the hotel and found that there was a Tom Cruise movie in English with Greek subtitles. Beds were good and the noise was not too loud; what more could one want.

More tomorrow….

SUNDAY IN CORFU

Sunday, October 28^th, 2007 Sunday in Corfu

Woke about 8 am and had breakfast at 8 am…yes, you read it correctly; we found a notice by the elevator that the Greek time change occurred at 4 am this morning! During breakfast we changed our watches and managed to get on the road by 9 am. Our first stop was at Mon Repos located a couple of miles from our hotel. This is an old estate that has a claim to fame in that Prince Phillip of England was born here in 1921. He only lived here for one year but we did get to see the room where he was born. The estate is now owned by the state and the main house has been restored and houses the Museum of Palaeopolis. Several of the rooms are furnished but most of them contain exhibits. The solarium was particularly beautiful with photos of plants as well as live plants native to the area.

We always ask for “senior rates” when going to a museum…sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn’t. Today was an exception; it is a national holiday commemorating October 28^th, 1941; the day when the Greek army defeated the Italy army in their attempt to occupy Greece. Later, the Germans did finally occupy Greece during WWII. This particular museum was free today to honor the celebration.

Drove down into town and found parking almost exactly where we parked yesterday. Walked across the square and into the old town to SS. Jacob (James) & Christopher Catholic Church, mass was schedule for 10:30 so we had half an hour to pay our respects and people watch before mass started. Pretty little church and even thought it is very small it is actually their Cathedral. Not too many Roman Catholics live here as most Greeks are Greek Orthodox; the mass was in Greek but they did have the readings printed in English for us at the door. During the sermon the priest became very emotional and actually was crying so hard he had difficulty continuing. Most of the people in the church were also crying. From what we can figure out; a priest from Corfu was killed in or near Athens yesterday. A sidelight was the little girl sitting next to me could have been our grandson Corey’s sister: she looked exactly like him when he was her age. Her mother was speaking both English and Greek during the service.

After mass we headed back to the square to watch the parade that was being held in honor of the October 28^th celebration; we found seats in the McDonalds, ordered a coke and had a great view of everything. There were two bands and they took turns leading the various marching groups. Each of the schools had a marching group in matching uniforms; they swung their arms in unison similar to the changing of the guard in Athens. It was a very festive occasion and I think everyone who lives in the area was out in their Sunday best to watch the parade. The weather is very overcast but so far no rain. It did sprinkle lightly during the night but for now we’re dry; it is much cooler than yesterday since we don’t have the direct sunlight.

Afterwards we headed across the old town to the New Fortress. Along the way we stopped in at the church of Agios Spyridon again. Last night we read in the guide book about the silver casket that holds his body that is kept in the church. They carry it in parades on Easter Sunday, August 11^th and the first Sunday in November. Shucks, we’re going to miss that one! But we did stand in line and touch the casket; the Greeks were all kissing it on several special places but we elected to only touch it.

Continued to wind our way through the narrow street until we found the New Fortress; it took about an hour to walk all the way through and climb to the top of the fortress. Had a great view of the whole town, the old Venetian Fortress, the ports and the surrounding hills. We could see the airport and even our hotel off in the distance.

Back to the car and a return to the Archeological Center where they have an active dig in progress around the ruins of a Byzantine church and on the grounds of the Mon Repos that we’d visited this morning. I read my book in the car and Jim reentered the Mon Repos where he hiked to the Adoric Temple, 5^th century BC, and Heraeum that was 4^th to 7^th century BC where he picked a rock to take home: he’s sure it’s marble!

We’re back at the hotel and plan to drive back into town and to the Internet Café to see if we can send this tonight. Don’t know when we will get our next Internet. Hope you’ve enjoyed our stay on Corfu. Tomorrow we head for the Ferry and back to the mainland where we’re head south and then east for three days before arriving in Athens again.

ACHILLION ROYAL PALACE

Saturday, October 27^th, 2007 Exploring Corfu & surrounding towns….

The hotel room was very quiet last night as the last airplane was at 11 pm and they didn’t start until 7 am this morning. Did have a couple of mosquitoes in the room from having the window open but once I put the “Downey Dryer Sheets” out they left us alone. That trick really does work! Before breakfast Jim talked to the front desk about the air conditioning; apparently something got lost in the translation…there is no air conditioning at this time of the year. Europeans are very practical in that sense when it comes to waste and the air conditioning is turned off this time of the year. The heater works fine and I’m enjoying the warm room; Jim is just too warm blooded. But we’ll leave the sliding glass door open this evening again and enjoy the cool evening on the balcony.

The weather today was predicted as overcast and rain; it’s a beautiful day with lots of sunshine and actually hot. After breakfast and it was definitely a 5-star breakfast buffet, we headed south to the town of Achillion and the Royal Palace built in 1891 for Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) of Austria as a summer palace by her Uncle King Otto of Greece . The palace was dedicated to the warrior Achilles and is beautiful with many statues and original furnishings. It definitely has a feminine touch in the home and gardens. At one time it housed the Casino for Corfu; when it became a Museum the Casino was moved to what was the Hilton Hotel and now is named the Corfu Holiday Hotel where we are staying.

After touring the Palace we headed back down the hill toward the old town of Corfu passing Mouse Island and the International Airport on the way. We arrived back in town and found parking along the quay near the old Venetian Fortress and the restaurant where we were scheduled to meet George and Mary who were arriving today on their cruise ship. We checked out our “special parking place” but it was already filled with cars; guess we can mark that one off our list. We had half an hour to kill so walked the narrow shopping streets that were filled with tourists off of the cruise ships that were docked in the harbor. Finally decided to get a scoop of ice cream and wait to see if our friends would arrive. We’d sent an email and heard from them so we were pretty sure they’d meet us.

Within minutes of our scheduled meeting time they sauntered down the street and also had their traveling friends Maria and Emil who live in Pasadena. No one was really very hungry so we left The Rex and headed around the corner to the same place we’d eaten dinner yesterday known as The Liston, a row of tall arcaded houses that are now cafes that were built during the French rule around 1807. Across the street is the Platia Spinada that is a large grass lawn that was used for the famous cricket pitch and is still used today for cricket and also marching bands. When the Germans occupied the island in WWII it was used as the gathering place for Jews that were being deported to concentration camps; some memories are not so pleasant. The waiter suggested two platters of mixed appetizers to go along with our Greek beer and we spent an hour enjoying good food and wonderful company from home. The four of them had walked about forty-five minutes from the cruise ship to meet us in the old section of the city so they definitely needed time to let their feet recover.

We all agreed to tour the old Venetian Fortress since it was in the area, lots of walking and some climbing, especially for those that went all the way to the lighthouse on top. From there we could see their cruise ship in the old port and being Saturday; what seemed like hundreds of sailboats out in the Ionian Sea. After we finished touring the old Fortress we headed back across the Cricket Field and found the Church of Agio Spyridon that houses the mummified body of St. Spyridon aka St. Spiridon. The name Spyros is a favorite name for boys that are born in Corfu after their miracle working patron saint.

From there we headed to the Taxi stand after Maria found a doll for her granddaughter, Jim found a package of Saffron (much more expensive in USA) and Mary gave up trying to find a Christmas decoration. We promised to keep looking for a Christmas ornament from Greece to bring home to her when we return at the end of November. They found a taxi for only ten Euro that would take the four of them back to the cruise ship in time for cocktails before they depart and head for Dubrovnik in the Balkans.

We headed for the Museum of Asian Art that is located just north of the cricket grounds in the Palace of Sts Michael and George. Built in 1819 it looks like a Georgian English country house and was used for the British Lord High Commissioner’s residence. It contains an impressive collection of Chinese and Japanese porcelain, bronzes, screens and sculptures as well as several rooms of original furniture including a throne room for the British commissioners.

Afterwards we walked back into the shopping alleys and finally purchased the Greek worry beads that we’ve been inspecting for two days as a souvenir from Corfu. It is the men who use them; you see men of every age holding a set in their hands; sometimes mumbling prayers and at other times just fingering the beads back and forth through their fingers, much like tapping ones toes or jingling the change in your pocket.

We headed over to the Internet Café and signed on for about fifteen minutes to check emails before going back to the car and up the hill towards the hotel; suddenly saw the Mouse Island again and also spotted a Monastery that we recognized from post cards in town; but how to get to it was the mystery. They were located down below the cliff on the water. Finally after much driving we discovered a narrow road that led us down to the water and along the beach. The church was named Vlacherna Monastery of Panayia, built on a tiny island just off the beach and connected by a causeway with boats parked all along it. Many local people were fishing and we watched a fisherman clean an octopus by beating it was a stick and then pulling the black insides out. He said that it has to be white before it would be ready to eat. The beating with the club helps to break down the “black stuff” that has to come out and also helps to tenderize the meaty portion that will be eaten. He said this one would feed at least four people. He turned and smiled and said, “four Greek people”!

By this time it was nearly 7 pm and we headed for home at the hotel. We got out the last of our jam and bread from yesterday’s breakfast and enjoyed an evening supper of jelly sandwiches on our seventh floor balcony. Not too many planes tonight, one or two landing and a few leaving. Will be a quiet evening compared to last night. Weather report really looks like rain tomorrow. Jim is watching a French movie with Greek subtitles. It’s a documentary about WWII; ….it’s TV what can I say.

FERRY TO CORFU

Friday, October 26^th, 2007 Island of Corfu awaits us off the coast….

Our Greek owners came home about 1:30 am, after closing their restaurant; and, I could still hear them talking at 4 am when I got up to answer mother nature’s call during the night. But, you must realize that they don’t start eating their dinner until after 10 pm; we’re considered rather odd for eating between 5 and 6 in the evening!

Up about 8 am we went downstairs to fix our own breakfast. They had instant coffee and we’d picked up bread, jam and cheese at the store last night. Jim also had purchased a tin of chocolate mix for his coffee. While we were eating the owner came in and starting fixing Greek Coffee; very strong and sweet; served in a tiny demitasse cup. He insisted on fixing a cup for Jim. Jim took one sip and made me finish the cup. Not bad but think I’ll stay with the black American style coffee. By 9 am we were on the road and headed for the port city of Igoumenitsa. The weather was foggy as we left, but soon the sun broke through and we were happy to see it. As we drove we climbed the mountain and found that we were looking down over the lake (or so we thought) with fog over it. Even stopped to take some photos when suddenly we realized we were headed in the wrong direction! We’d missed a turn and had driven fifteen miles on the wrong road. We were looking down on fog over a valley; not the lake. Turned around and headed back towards town another fifteen miles to our missed intersection. Headed the right way finally, we drove for several hours over at least two more mountain ranges to reach the coast. A twisting, two lane highway that wound up and down and around the mountains. At one point we suddenly had extremely heavy fog; it was actually clouds and we broke through to sunshine at the top of the mountain. Drove for several miles overlooking the clouds; the view was like flying in an airplane. Lots of roadside memorial boxes today; on one curve I said to myself that because of the placement of the box they must have driven right off of the cliff. Sure enough, as we passed I saw the car at the bottom of the ravine about fifty feet below the road. I decided to pass on that Kodak moment.

We had our goats, sheep and dogs all along the highway again today. The dogs all run loose on the highways and in the towns. Very few of the dogs have collars and it’s unusual to see any dogs in fenced yards. It’s extremely rare to see a dog on a leash. We’ve seen several dogs running along the highway miles from the nearest town; you wonder where they’ve come from and where they’re headed? On Thursday, while walking to dinner in Meteora, we saw a dog grab a fur hat from a basket outside of a store and run away with it down the street. Seemed to know it’d done something wrong because it ran like the wind until it was two blocks away and then started to play with it like a ball.

At 11:30 we arrived at the port and found the Ferry Boat to Corfu. We drove onto the ship and they closed the ramp; we were the last vehicle on the ship. Not very crowded and we paid for our passage after we were loaded. We asked for round trip and they said that no, we could only purchase a one way ticket. We’d been told that we’d save 30-50% on our return ticket if we purchased a round trip. Well, by that time we were on our way so no way to negotiate on the price of 30 euro for the car and 6.50 for each of us. But, it was a quick trip over and by 1 pm we’d docked on Corfu and then tackled the challenge of finding our hotel. We knew it was south of the old town and when we followed the directional signs south we soon figured out we were not headed in the right direction when we started to head inland. So, out with the maps and a new plan; back towards the port and then on to Corfu city center and the forts. We knew if we could find these we could find the road that we needed for our hotel.

Traffic was packed and streets went from two way to one way without rhyme or reason. Double parking on very narrow streets was not uncommon. I was so glad that Jim was driving and I was only trying to find the names of streets. After about an hour we finally arrived at our hotel: Holiday Hotel and Casino in Kanoni. It’s just south of the old fortress on the peninsula right next to the airport. But it’s a 5 star hotel and at a very reasonable price of 80 euros per night; really good for this tourist resort. We have a room on the 7^th floor that overlooks the pool and the beach. We also get to watch the jets landing next door. But as soon as they get the air conditioner working it should be even better.

Unfortunately the Internet service in the hotel is down; something to do with the satellite connection. So, for now, we’re using an Internet Café in town. They were great and allowed me to hook my laptop into their system. Also, we have CNN in English at the hotel and have been receiving really good information on the California fires. Plus, when we were on the Internet we had several good emails from neighbors, friends and family that gave us additional information.

While we were in town we found The Rex restaurant where we are meeting our neighbors from East Lake for lunch tomorrow. George and Mary are on a cruise and their ship is docked at Corfu for the day tomorrow. Before leaving California we set up a meeting place for lunch here in Corfu; should be lots of fun.

This evening we had our dinner overlooking the old fortress and the cricket field from a restaurant in the old Venetian area that is full of building built during the 18^th century. I enjoyed a Greek Salad and Jim tried a Greek dish called Mousakais; a quiche like dish made with green beans, eggplant and ground meat. Also some fried cheese and of course Grande Greek beer. We sat at outside tables and enjoyed people watching as the tourist from the cruise ships hurried back to their departing ships. Then, we walked down the narrow alley shopping streets before checking out some of the sites that we want to tour this weekend. Headed back to the car so that we would arrive back at our hotel before dark; we’ve found a great little side street for parking this afternoon. It reminds us of one that we found, with the help of a friend we met in Florence, next to the Vatican. Always seems to be a space on that street when in Rome, so we’re hoping this one is as good for Corfu tomorrow and Sunday.

We enjoyed watching the airplanes landing from our room this evening while watching CNN and the horrific news on the California fires. We’re hoping for better news tomorrow on the fires as we keep everyone in our prayers as they return to their homes.

Speaking of fires; we really haven’t seen too much damage from the Greek fires of last fall except for last Sunday and Monday. Everything is very lush and green; especially here in Corfu.

BYZANTINE CHURCH

Thursday, October 25^th, 2007 A serendipity day in the Greek countryside….

Stayed up last night working on my journal and photos until about 11 pm; Jim went to sleep much earlier and since he wears ear plugs he didn’t hear the noise from the lobby area of our little hotel. I was tempted to go down and join them as they did sound like they were having fun. We’d heard the owner, Demetrius, giving directions to an English speaking guest that had been taken to the other (4 star) Hotel Meteora (same name as our hotel) earlier in the day. His English is very limited…as in we had trouble getting some soap for the room. But they arrived after we’d returned from dinner so we hadn’t met them. It sounded like a family with teenagers. By 11:30 pm they’d all retired and the place for very peaceful.

Woke up about 8 am this morning…it was probably about thirty degrees outside last night…dressed and down to breakfast by 8:30. We were enjoying our food when the other guests arrived; it was two girls and one was wearing a sweatshirt that said CAL POLY across the front. That’s the school in California that our grandson Brian attends. I immediately asked before they even sat down if they knew Brian. They were shocked, to say the least, and I had to repeat it twice and then told them that he was our grandson. Not only are they attending school with him in Italy; one of the girls, Rebecca, had traveled from California with him and another girl last August. Jen, the other girl, had arrived in July and so has been able to tour even more countries than Brian. It was a fun breakfast as we shared stories. They are traveling from Italy to Corfu, Meteora and on to Athens by bus and trains. Such an adventure they are having! Today they have arranged for a local guide to take them rock climbing. They told us to find a fantastic hamburger place in Ioannina called “Peter’s Special Hamburgers” as they’d really enjoyed their meal there the day before on their journey. After they left I realized that we’d been so busy talking I’d forgotten to take a photo of them! But I did leave them a romance novel that I’ve finished reading as a surprise when they return tonight to the hotel.

Packed the luggage in the car and headed out to find an old church in Meteora called The Church of the Assumption of the Virgin; built in the 7^th century. A Byzantine church with frescoes from the 14^th century; since I didn’t have a skirt…Jim went inside and said it was as impressive although not as restored as the Monasteries that we saw yesterday. I really didn’t mind not spending the 1.50 euros as I don’t get much out of frescoes.

On the road by 10 am; we were headed toward Ioannina; along the way we decided to take a serendipity trip to find an old church that we’d seen photos of on the walls of several restaurants. We knew it was located out in the countryside near the village of Doliana Krania and that we’d have to return by the same road to reach the highway for our destination today. But, why not, this is why we rented a car to be able to do these kinds of things. Off we went, up and down the mountains; from pasture land to pine studded mountains with unbelievable views. Oh yes, many, many roadside memorials dotted many of the curves in the road today. We drove for about 40 kilometers for an hour and finally found our 7^th or earlier century Byzantine church. Jim needs to research this one later to get more information. It was named Iepa Monh Timioy Etaypoy and has been recently restored and is probably a pilgrimage church for the Greek people. Locked up but we still enjoyed the outside as it was very different.

Took time for the Kodak moment and then headed back on the same roads to our main highway. One interesting section was a one lane bridge (and no, there was not another bridge for the opposite traffic) that was about two blocks long. But since we were one of very few on this road; no problem!

Returned to the main highway and watched the progress all along the route of the new major highway being built to shorten the time between Ioannina and Meteora. Very tall bridges spanning valleys and tunnels through many of the mountains; but still requires years to complete I would say. It will save many lives because now the traffic is extremely fast on a narrow two lane road that twists and turns up and down the mountains as it crosses over two high mountain ranges for two hours. Interesting note when we reached the higher elevations they have snow poles in place; not sure why but the poles have tape in several places on the pole and on the right side you see red and on the left side of the road yellow no matter which way you are driving.

Arrived in Perama, a village outside of Ioannina, about 3 pm and started looking for the “rooms to rent” that we saw listed in our Lonely Planet guide book. The first one we stopped at was on the main street and they were very excited…spoke no English…motioned for us to sit and they started calling on their cell phone. Soon a car arrived and a young woman who spoke limited English said we needed to get in our car and follow them. They took us out in the countryside to a brand new building that looks like a large home. Inside there is a common room with kitchen downstairs and upstairs we have a very large room with private bathroom. All brand new! They wanted 45 euros and we negotiated down to 35 euros if we only used the double bed and not the additional twin that is in the room. Agreed to the terms and paid cash.

Off to Ioannina for dinner and hopefully to find the girls “Peter’s Special Hamburger” place. We took photos of each of the turns so we’d be sure to find our way back to our home for tonight. Arrived in town and drove and drove. Finally arrived in an area that we thought might be right and parked. First we went into a small market to pick up food for breakfast…we have to cook our own tomorrow morning. The clerk tried to draw us a map to find Peter’s place…she recognized it. We followed her instructions but soon we were lost again as we walked all over the place. Asked a college age girl; she tried but just did speak enough English. We started off again and then turned around. Our girl was back with her friend who spoke more English and she tried giving us more instructions including that we should go back and get our car as it was further than we thought. Got the car and drove all around the area but finally decided we were not going to find Peter’s. Ended up parking and have a meal at Goody’s fast food restaurant. It was called the Grill, with three different meats, fries and a salad; very tasty and filling. Looks like rain but so far so good…it’s been a beautiful sunny day for driving in the mountains.

On the way back to Perama we drove down to the lakeside; Ioannina is located on the shores of a very large lake. Located on the edge of the lake is a very old and large castle. Probably the original town was located inside the walls of this castle. We drove inside of the walls for a bit but it was late and other than seeing a few very old building we decided it was time to head for our rooms for the night. We arrived back at the house in the countryside without any problems and have had a very pleasant evening. We were beginning to think we were the only guests but more arrived about 9 pm. Our room tonight has a television that receives one news station in ENGLISH LANGUAGE; so nice as we’ve only had Greek Language for many days. No Internet but lots of electrical outlets for charging the electronics! The TV reminds me of CNN in 1992 when we were in Paris; we’ve heard the same stories over and over as it’s continues to repeat every half hour or less. News of the fires in California is good; they say that the winds have died down and things are getting better.

Tomorrow we drive to Igoumenitsa and catch the ferry to the island of Corfu.

METEORA MONASTERIES

Wednesday, October 24^th, 2007 The Hanging rope baskets of Meteora….

I woke up about 7 am and checked on the Internet as we probably won’t have it tonight. Jim got up at eight and we were down to the breakfast room before 9 am. By 9:30 am we were in the car and on the road. A beautiful sunshine filled day for our short drive further north to the Meteora Rock Forest area.

This area is so named because of the very tall rocks that have served as a place of shelter for those seeking a peaceful haven from societies’ problems since the 11^th century. The earliest inhabitants were mostly monks and they slept in the natural caves in the rocks and reached them by climbing removable ladders. Over the years they began to build Monasteries on the very tops of these sandstone rocks that are so tall they are like mountains. Later, windlasses were used so monks could be hauled up in nets. These days the monasteries are accessed by steps hewn into the rocks in the 1920’s. Originally there were twenty-four monasteries but today there are only six of them remaining that have been restored and are still in use and also available for tourists to visit. And visit they do by the busload!

An interesting note is that shorts and sleeveless shirts are not allowed. Also, women are required to wear a skirt or dress below the knee. They provide wrap around and/or elastic waist skirts for all the women who arrive in pants.

We arrived in Meteora about 10 am and found a cute little hotel at the very reasonable price of 45 euros for the night. We have a bathroom and one electrical outlet…good thing I brought the extension cord for charging the electronic items. And, no, we do not have Internet or telephones but for two nights it’s great. Dropped off the luggage and headed up the mountains to see the monasteries.

Our first one is named Moni Megalou Meteorou (The Grand Meteora Monastery). This is the largest and grandest of all of them because of a Serbian emperor who turned all his wealth over to the monastery when he became a monk. It was very beautiful and had many exquisite pieces in the museum inside the monastery. It was a long hike down and then back up to reach the Monastery from the parking lot; but well worth the journey. I did notice that they had many cats of all colors and sizes wandering around who were very friendly. And yes, I was required to wear the skirt.

Our second one is named Moni Agiou Stefanaou (St. Stephen). One of the special pieces of art in this one was a large embroidered piece showing Christ on his bier and surrounded by tabloids of important events in his life. Very beautiful and I’m sure priceless. St. Stephens is actually a nunnery now and the sisters are very actively running the business for the tourists. This one was a very short walk and they had a bridge connecting the parking lot with the monastery as they are on two different “rocks”.

Our third one is named Moni Agias Triados (Holy Trinity). This one is very famous as it was used in a James Bond movie called “For Your Eyes Only”. We had a very long walk down and then a long climb up to reach this Monastery. They have a cable car that takes them over now. Originally they used the rope baskets and it still exists and that was featured in the movie.

Our fourth and last one is named Moni Agias Varvaras Rousanou (St. Barbara). We walked down from up above through a beautiful wooded section on a path with 225 steps made with railroad ties. (Yes, I counted them on the way back to the car.) Then up a short distance before crossing a bridge to enter the Monastery that is also a nunnery and run by the sisters. Not too much to see here except that the view was wonderful, they had well tended gardens and it’s hard for Jim to say “no” to anything named Barbara…that’s his sister’s name. We lit candles and said prayers at all four of the Monasteries that we visited today for our siblings.

On the way down the mountain we spotted a very large cave in the side of one of the rocks that was left over from hundreds of years ago. It is remarkably well preserved and made a great Kodak moment for our last experience.

Arrived back at the hotel just after 3 pm for some rest and then we walked to town for dinner at a very nice Traverna. We shared a meal of stuffed zucchini, lamb and potatoes; washed down with Mythos, a Greek beer, and fried cheese on the side. Looks like it might rain tonight but that’s ok; we had a great day today visiting a most extraordinary place, and one of the most visited in all of Greece (per the guide book). The weather is cool (about 50 degrees); so we’ve added our sweatshirts under our windbreakers tonight for warmth. Tomorrow we head further west.

DRIVING THE GREEK MAINLAND

Tuesday, October 23^rd, 2007 Long day of driving north on the Greek Mainland...

Up early, packed the car and arrived for breakfast at 7 am sharp; along with a hundred other people from the two tour buses at our hotel for the night! But, it was good and we shared a table with two ladies from Romania who didn’t speak any English and you know how good my Romania language skills are…nada nada…it was a quiet table.

Raining again by the time we left the hotel and headed back into Patra for some housekeeping details: ATM, gasoline, grocery store for small items and a Newspaper Stand to purchase a card with Internet time on it for dialup time. I could have signed on last night if I’d had the card so now I’m prepared.

Soon we were headed back towards the beautiful new suspension bridge that spans the narrow entrance into the bay of the Gulf of Corinth from the Ionian Sea between the cities of Patra and Nafpaktos. Ships sail under this bridge on their way to the Corinth Canal for a short cut to the Aegean Sea. For my Florida friends it reminded me of the Sky Bridge between Palmetto and St. Petersburg/Tampa. The fee to cross was 10.90 euros…but still cheaper than putting the car on a Ferry Boat.

Once across the bridge we headed into the old town of Nafpaktos and drove up to see the castle at the top of the hill. Unfortunately it was closed for renovations so we could only take pictures of it from the outside and as a plus add some more great views of the bridge that we’d just crossed. By now it was 10 am and by the time we reached Itea, it was nearly noon.

As we headed north we crossed two mountain ranges; saw snow capped mountains and many mines along the way. In the valley between the two ranges we brushed along another section of the Gulf of Corinth, saw herds of cows, goats and sheep. Farm lands, fish farms, and to our surprise acres and acres of cotton were everywhere. Harvest was well under way and the cotton that was picked was stacked like haystacks in the fields.

One of the things that we have seen everywhere except for in the cities are the roadside memorials placed by families along the road wherever someone has died in a car accident. On some curves, especially in the mountains you may see four or five different ones in the same spot. They do drive a little differently here; very close together (tail gating) and also they continually go left of the double lines when going around curves. We definitely won’t be driving at night in Greece. Many of the memorials are old and falling over but more are well tended and the newer ones look like little churches. So many varieties that one could make a study of photographs on them; we also saw a very new one that was very different from the others, shorter and more like a grave stone marker. Maybe the styles are changing.

By 3 pm we’d arrived at our destination for the day in Trikala. We walked around the square and found a beautiful and very modern hotel that was extremely reasonable after a bit of negotiating by Jim. And, we have DSL in our room for the Internet; made my day.

After signing on to the net and finding lots of emails from friends and especially news of the fires in California right now, we headed out to find our dinner at a Tavernas, a small restaurant, in the old section of town. Enjoyed lamb chops and Jim had veal.

We have enjoyed hours of sunshine today but also experienced the occasional shower; temperatures are cool but tolerable. Enjoying our Internet this evening and a nicer than average hotel room. Talked to daughter Jennifer on Skype this evening, sure wish more people had this service…especially since it’s free. Brian is her son and they were motivated to set the system up for communicating with him during his months in Italy.

Tomorrow we head out to see the Monasteries of Meteora; we’ll change hotels and move in a little closer to the area and spend both Wednesday and Thursday there. Me thinks we’ll be doing some hiking both days as some of them demand many, many stairs as they are located on top of little mountain peaks or something like that.

Take care and stay safe, Kalinihta (good night in Greek)

NAFPLIO & MYCENAE

Monday, October 22^nd, 2007 Nafplio Fortress and Ancient Mycenae Ruins

Packed and ready to go by 8 am…that’s when breakfast was served…we enjoyed another great Greek breakfast before hitting the road again. For those who travel; apparently breakfast in Greece is more like Germany than Italy or France…much more substantial. It’s easy to make it on two meals a day because of the big breakfast.

It’s raining heavily at times and then we have periods of sunshine. We drove to Nafplio first and enjoyed visiting the large fortress called Palamiti. Located at the top of a 216 m high rock outcropping, it was built by the Venetians between 1711 and 1714. Very impressive and covers a vast area; some restoration allows you to visualize the massive size of this impressive Military masterpiece. It’s big enough that we all got separated during our self-guided tour but finally managed to find each other in time to leave before the rains hit again. We did get to see a colorful rainbow as we headed down the hill and north towards our next destination.

We arrived at Mycenae by 10:30 am; our first stop was at the tomb of Agamemnon, an immense beehive-shaped chamber where they found a gold mask (per docent Jim) when it was uncovered they found flesh stuck to the inside of the mask…not just bones!

Then on to the Citadel of Mycenae entering through the Lion Gate we visited the various areas ending at the top of the hill at the Palace….all ruins so one needs their imagination to really enjoy this adventure! Jim’s biggest thrill was the Lion Gate; he remembers as a child of about eight years of age finding it in the Encyclopedias that his mother purchased for the family. The start of a lifetime of dreaming??? Whatever…it gave him a special thrill to see this particular site and with a grandson no less. I was thrilled that it was not raining at this particular time; very windy but no rain!

Back to the car we headed towards our destination for the day: Patra and Brian’s Ferry Boat for his trip back to Italy. We got on the Toll Road before long and headed along the coast towards Patra; opps…suddenly they were making everyone exit the Toll Road. Apparently there was some type of problem. The traffic was horrific! Bumper to bumper, stop and go and never ending; since we were on a narrow road paralleling the Toll Road after about an hour we could see that traffic was once again flowing but we had no way to return to the Toll Road. And to make matters worst, it was raining steadily by this time. We had to be in Patra by 3:30 pm for Brian to pickup his ticket. As the minutes and hours ticked by; we definitely had our doubts about making it there on time. It was just after 3 pm and about 30 kilometers from Patra when we reached a large town with on ramps and regained the use of the Toll Road. Jim used all of his driving skills and Brian read the signs and maps and we actually arrived at the Port by 3:50 pm. Brian picked up his ticket and we found a small Greek fast food place at the port for sandwiches before he boarded the ship for his overnight journey back to Amalfi in Italy.

Still raining we headed back up the road for about fifteen miles to our hotel for the night in Rodini at a place called the Rodini Beach Hotel; sits right on the water with wonderful views in both directions from our balcony. Continues to rain as I write this journal; tomorrow we head across the beautiful new suspension bridge to the northern shores and our trip to the Meteora area.

CORINTH CANAL & EPIDAURUS

Sunday, October 21^st, 2007 Corinth Canal & Epidaurus...our first day on the road!

Up early and down to the lobby by 8 am; our grandson Brian arrived by 8:30 with his luggage and we all had breakfast together at our hotel. The hotel said no charge for the extra breakfast and when we checked for the bill they had not charged me for any of the Internet time. So even with the early mix-up on the reservations; we were extremely pleased with the Acropolis View Hotel. If there was any complaint it would be for the ducting system that allowed the voices to carry from the room next door; and since they were speaking Greek we couldn’t even understand them! That’s no fun….

We left all of our luggage in the lobby and headed out for the Metro to go to Syntagma Square and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They have a very impressive “Changing of the Guard” hourly and we wanted to make it by 10 am. The 11 am one is much more impressive with music and extra pomp but we needed to get rolling on our journey. We arrived in good time and enjoyed the ceremony. Since we were within the hour of purchasing our Metro tickets we jumped back on for the trip back without purchasing additional tickets…not sure if that was entirely kosher or not.

Walked from the Metro Station to the Budget Car Rental office and picked up our mini compact vehicle: a 2008 Hyundai. Nearly new and in very good condition and most importantly it fit all three of us and our luggage. Had a bit of trouble getting from the agency to our hotel to pick up luggage; the police had closed the main street because of an annual city-wide bicycle ride. The riders were of all ages and many family groups; they closed sections of the streets in the city for about half an hour each to allow the riders to safely tour the city. Great plan; just not on this day for us. But we managed to return to the hotel after several dead ends that required backing down narrow streets. Brian signed online at the hotel to check on his Ferry ride for Monday before we left town.

By 11:30 am we were packed and headed out of Athens; following Julie’s expert directions we made it much faster than we’d expected and reached our first destination of Corinth easily. This city has a Canal that allows ships to pass from the Gulf of Corinth to the Ionian Sea; no locks but the sides are massive. We watched as a tug boat pulled a large freighter through the canal; it takes about an hour for them to cross and we watched until it crossed under the bridge that we stood on. They reverse traffic every hour on this four mile canal.

From Corinth we headed south on the local roads to reach our second destination of Epidaurus and the third century Roman Theatre that is still in use today. Very impressive and with amazing acoustics; it seats up to 14,000 people and they said a coin dropped in the center can be heard in every seat! Yes, we all climbed to the top for the views and then explored the small Museum on the site.

Back to the car; by the way the sun is shining and it’s a beautiful day after a very stormy night. Brian explored the city of Athens with other college students who were staying at his youth hostel last night and everything in his duffle bag is wet! I sat up a “Chinese Laundry” in the back seat attempting to get some of them dry…we finished drying them at the hotel overnight. It was worth it as he doesn’t seem to have caught a cold and we were so glad that he got to see most of the sights that evening. And, remembering that when you’re young walking in the rain can be fun; especially if you’re doing it with college girls from New York in high heels! Ah, to be young again.

Many of our friends and family were concerned about the many fires that Greece had this past fall; yes, we see many burned hillsides and I’m sure that many are having trouble with mudslides with all this rain. We’re staying to the highroad mostly so shouldn’t be too much of a problem for us. So sad to see how many acres are scorched and I’m sure we’ll see much more of them as the trip progresses.

Stopped for an early dinner as we continued south and arrived in Tolo at the Frini Hotel about 5 pm. The sky is getting darker by the hour and I’m sure we’re going to have another stormy night. Nice little hotel in a beach city; we walked less than a block to the shore and enjoyed the sights and smells of the water. Julie recommended this place and it’s very nice; off the beaten path but we see lots of tour buses arriving so it must be a popular place for the tour companies.

Brian and I headed out to the main street; there’s really only one street…and found the ice cream stand for our dessert. Jim found Formula One racing on television and was a happy camper staying in his room. After walking until we both ate our dessert and reached the edge of town we headed back towards the hotel and then stopped for a beer before going home. Jim said “that’s one he’ll remember…having a beer with his grandma!” Just as we returned the clouds broke and torrents of rain plummeted down sending the few tourists back to the hotels and leaving us with a quiet evening for peaceful sleeping. This was critical as our room overlooked the main street!