God bless the Dutch!

Greetings from Meteora!

We are in a little town at the base of these incredible rock cliffs, and perched atop them are various (very old) monasteries. But more about that in a bit...first a quick summary of our travel day yesterday.

It involved:
-3 buses
-3 games of cribbage while waiting in a hot, smoky bus station, all of which Lo won handily. Luckily my perfect blend of competitive yet gracious spirit made the games fun still. :)
-hours of staring at not very nice scenery through the bus windows...
-and all in temperatures hovering around 100 degrees. (Thank goodness the AC on the buses mostly worked well.)

When we finally tumbled off the bus around 4 pm here in Kalambaka, we were very focused on finding a swimming pool. And we did...after getting slightly sketchy directions from our hotel proprietor, and walking a few km. As we approached, we heard loud music, and thought someone was listening to it in their house. Nope! The pool was actually a club, with bumping music that could be heard far and wide. And, it was full of Greeks smoking, drinking, swimming, and thoroughly enjoying the atmoshpere. Not another American in sight. But, we hopped in, swam a bit, read our Homer, and enjoyed being cool for the first time that day. (Picture to come as soon as we can find a place that will let us upload them...)


As for today...hiking to these monasteries was something we both had been anticipating as a highlight of this trip. We were not to be put off by the weather, although I must admit that as I looked up at the sheer rock faces I was inwardly a bit dismayed. Loretta forged ahead, we decided to hike through the mountain trails instead of on the asphalt road...which was mostly great. Butterflies floated by, we saw two tortoises trucking along, and the scenery was really beautiful. But oh...so...hot.

the first tortoise, the second one i actually heard rustling in the brush to our right and got a little nervous, i put my arm back and stepped back and said "what's that?" i learned that loud leaves rustling and no apparent movement from that direction probably doesn't mean threat, but tortoise

Erin on the hike...we weren't there yet
Lo on the hike (re-enactment actually), but this was after and I was still pretty enthusiastic, except for passing this very SKETCHY looking cat, I thought it might be feral, Erin graciously offered to go first.

My memories of this hike will always include looking ahead at Lo, looking up at the clifftop monasteries, and wondering how on earth we were going to get there...but we finally did.

this lovely depiction of a young priest taking the stairs and an older guy taking the ramp, this sign was where the two paths split at St. Nicholas' Monestery the orginal, I know you're all wondering where it could be is actually inside St. Nick's.
This icon may look familiar to those who read sharon's blog, it's st. nick.
this is about 2 km into our hike (actually more like 4 b/c someone (me...loretta) led us out of town the wrong way...oops, well it's only 44 out. I'm pointing to St. Nick's Monastery.

We even made it to two of them, peeked inside at all of the amazing icons from centuries past, rested, and then decided to try for public transporation back to town. No such luck, though...buses were done for the day (at 3:00!), and we were too cheap to call a taxi. I was marshalling my last reserves for the hour+ hike back down when a couple nearby who had overheard our transport discussion said, "You going down? We'll take you."

Friends, words cannot express our delight at this ride...neither of us could stop smiling or thanking them...they were a lovely Dutch couple, driving around Europe in their camper van, and they were funny and kind...the woman even offered us a lemon drop once we got in the car. They drove past their campsite and brought us straight to our hotel. As we waved good bye I may even have called them angels. And, by the way, the thermometer in their van said 44 celsius. That's 111. Phew!

The view from the road into the valley.
One of the monasteries.

Tomorrow, off to Thessaloniki on the 7:42 train!

Sleeper in Every Group

so the long awaited (3 days--geez you guys are impatient!) post by lo. so of course it will contrast a little to erin's, i'm a ranter at heart and so i think i might be a ranter blogger...here we go.

i have come to discover, or i guess rediscover i do not like these guided tours (most esp. when people are wearing matching red hats that say "license to travel" on the back - no pic sorry, but true story).

today erin and i were eating our clif bars in the shade with a couple other tourists, they left. It was quiet just the cicadas clicking (or whatever that noise they make is called). then rolls up a woman with a huge leather purse, floppy white hat, white flowing shirt leading a string of tourista's. then the lecture began, they set up camp right in our pic-nic area and actually i had to move my bag to accommodate one of them. my problem is not so much the guided tour format it's that a large group of people looking at something old tend to become completely insular, they have no thought for the lone tourist who may want to stop in shade except can't because they (the group) is taking up the whole area, or may not want to stop right here to listen to a guide in a language they don't understand, they clog up the whole walkway so they can all listen to their guide, this is annoying to EVERYONE else, but they don't even know it b/c they're so self absorbed (the corporate self). As you can see by the pics we saw some more real old stuff today in old delphi,

apollo’s temple,


an arena and
the best preserved stadium including the locker room (i think it was mostly just a bench to leave a pile of clothes since they were nudie racers) erin and i did a little re-enactment, but left our clothes on ... sun burn you know.

Plus there was a real tough as nails woman with a whistle, who we learned knew enough english to yell "get off of there" "do not touch" (not at us we followed the rules of course we're ones), but could not inform your two friends where we might find the oracle of delphi. in fact the look the greek woman gave me when i asked looked a lot like "i have no idea if this person is even speaking real words, perhaps they are playing a trick on me".

Having summitted and claimed the picture of the view ...

we descended. I had seen some of the pic-nic spoiler group, they had a certain look to them hard to say what, but the guide definitely was speaking some sort of russian or slavic type language. at any rate we hadn't come across the guide, there were three levels to this site, and the stadium was a haul. hence the wet down

we took, down below the arena (not so far up) here was the long lost guide, looking quite hot and speaking animatedly with another older woman.

then it all became clear. the guide sat them all down and told them the whole story then as they approached the arena level her sleeper (in red ellipse) in the group says...ooohhhh i'm so hot could you please escort me down, and so the faithful guide cannot complete the tour with her compatriots but must escort their compadre down, so she does...

and then basks in the shade awaiting her crew, note this spy-pic...i had to hide the lens behind my water bottle, i didn't want her to become suspicious that i had discovered her ploy.

however the day of roasting in the heat was worth it as we sat back and enjoyed “a very nice slushy” as described by the greek patron selling them, anyone who walked by "everyone, people a very nice slushy," at the slushy concession as we headed back to new Delphi and our hotel.

off to dinner friends,

here's the view erin and i will be enjoying tonight as we soldier on w/ the high stakes cribbage tourney...current score erin: 3 lo: 3, it's really heating up look for us on espn next.

Lotsa Old Stuff

The Parthenon, in all its mid-reconstruction grandeur

Our second day in Athens has concluded. We had a rather inauspicious beginning...overslept by over an hour and ended up rushing to the Acropolis at 9 am to avoid the crowds. No such luck. Yes, the Acropolis is an amazing place, but experiencing it while jostling in the midst of a sticky, sweaty crowd full of Spanish tour groups was not so fun sometimes. In the end, though, the view of Athens from up there, the grandeur of the crumbling Parthenon and other structures was obviously worth the hassle. Our day also included fumbling about town trying to get a sim card to get Lo's phone working, which was pretty frustrating, and then a trip to the Archaeological Museum....see photos below!

props to the young man who took this lovely picture for us

some very famous ladies...

Loretta: "This just looks like kids' tin-foil art" (It's ancient gold Mycenaen treasure)

Okay this is for my mom and Sharon: don't these look like knitting needles and cable stitch holders???

Erin peeking around a real big vase...

Lo peeking through Zeus :)

The must-see food photo of the day: This was the BEST meal yet...delicious pork souvlaki with creamy yogurt sauce, tomatoes, and red onion (Erin), same thing minus the pork plus french fries (Loretta). What made it ESPECIALLY good was the price: 1.70 euro, and even less for Lo's. We paid more for our after dinner ice cream than that!

Sights and sounds around town:

*walking along the narrow sidewalks, hearing the buzz of motorbikes and taxis coming up from behind and scrambling to get out of the way. (today we actually saw a taxi squeeze down a narrow pedestrian street and hit a girl on the arm)

*dogs…they’re everywhere, laying in the shade and panting…I’ve never seen a major city with so many random dogs about.

*shops selling icons right alongside magazines of questionable repute…

*Greek Orthodox priests on their cell phones going about their business…they must be so hot in their all black robes.

A sampling of the many souvenirs we are somehow resisting buying....

Tomorrow, we leave early (7:30 am bus) for Delphi. Please send in any oracle-consulting requests....

Ah, Athens

We’re here! Athens is hot, noisy, but not nearly as dirty and crowded as some folks had warned us about…we think that the post-2004 Olympics Athens must be quite a different story than before. But first, to back up a bit…

Our plane landed at 12:45 a.m. this morning, and yes, by the time we got our luggage, the metro was long since closed. There was however, a handy bus (props to bus #95) that took us directly to the center of the city. Then, thanks to Google maps (which we’d used at Heathrow), and our Lonely Planet guidebook, we were able to walk to our hotel in just a few minutes. The streets were nearly deserted, but as we truged along at 2:30 a.m. we both noticed that it felt relatively safe. Can’t tell you how good it was to shower and go to bed once we were finally in our room…and then this morning, once we were up and walking about, we realized that the directions from the lady had been right on the money, if a little vague.

Today we did a walking tour that I found on Rick Steves website (nice to have him around, if only for a little bit). It was hot like…well, it felt less like walking sometimes and more like wading through the thick air. Certainly we’ll acclamate at least a little sometime soon….here are a few photos from the day.

This 12th century Byzanatine church is right in the heart of the shopping district. Niketown, McDonalds, etc. on the outside; full of icons on the inside. Also, we laugh when we see it because it seems like whenever we're a little lost, we turn a corner and voila, there's the little church again...

Lunch. Greek salad and spankopita. The feta was so delicious...

A very unlikely sign that proved to be 100% true!

This little path really did lead up to the acropolis, through a little village of whitewashed homes, made to look like the island homes of the original inhabitants...all right in the heart of Athens

Lo's dinner (mine was unremarkable): fried cheese and fried zucchini balls! v. tasty!

Tonight, we topped everything off with a few games of cribbage on the rooftop terrace of our hotel. The view of the well-lit Acropolis is amazing from up there, and the breeze finally picked up a bit. Sadly for me, the current cribbage score is Lo 3, E 2.

view from the roof, and location of the cribbage tournament this evening

Tomorrow we make our way early in the morning to the Acropolis to try to beat the heat and the crowds…today we walked all around it but didn’t actually go all the way up the hill. And, finalmente, a picture of some new finery we are sporting…

Hurry up and wait

A one word summary of our travels so far: Delayed As in, our Virgin Atlantic flight out of SFO was delayed for an hour right off the bat, then further delayed coming into Heathrow. No problem, we told ourselves, we have plenty of time to catch our flight to Athens, since we scheduled a 3 hour layover instead of trying to rush to catch an earlier flight. But alas, when we checked in for the Athens flight, we got the delightful news that the flight is delayed 2 hours, which finds us here, sleeping on benches in Heathrow’s lovely Terminal 2. We won’t arrive in Athens now until around midnight, which means our plan to take the metro to our hotel will not work, since the metro stops at 11:30. We have been assured by a woman at the information desk that we can take a bus, and that we should then “go to the Ermou Square, find the only street that is just only pavement, follow it to the church, and then the location of our hotel will be behind the church.” We think we’ll probably have to ask for directions again when we get there.

If I do say so myself however, we are in quite good spirits. We are both exhausted, but have many diversions to keep us entertained, including our newly inaugurated high-stakes cribbage tournament (score so far: Erin and Loretta tied with one game each), a fascinating National Geographic article about malaria, and of course ipods, books, etc. On the plane, we had the additional diversion of two blond, pig-tailed girls sitting in front of us, about four and two years old. They weren’t angels, but they did delight in making their dolls dance on Lo’s head, the oldest one telling us about visiting her Grandma in London, the younger one, Lily, just smiling and saying mostly unintelligible things, but in a charming British accent.

We were given 5 pound voucher by the airline to spend at the food concessions here as a “We’re so sorry you’re stuck here for an extra two hours” gift. The airline (Olympic) is so low-tech that it’s just a piece of paper with “L 5” written on it. The security guy joked that we could just take a pen and add a “1” to increase our dinner’s value…hmm. Tempting. 5 pounds doesn’t buy much.

Cheers for now…
E

Time to GO!

We're packed and ready....for me last night, packing was like cramming for a final. I don't know why I do it this way, but I procrastinate and procrastinate until I'm almost out of time. Early this morning, around 3:30, when I was reading a book about Greece surrounded by piles of clothes and still-empty Big Mama waiting to receive them, I did realize how ridiculous I was being. So finally now I've got myself together, slightly worried about how heavy Big Mama is already, and now my sister is on her way to take us to SFO.

Here's the plan:
4:30 p.m. flight to London, 10 hrs., arrive at 10:30 a.m. local time.
wait in Heathrow for a bit
4:35 p.m. flight to Athens, arrive at 9:30 local time.

Greece is 10 hours ahead of PST, so...by the time we arrive at our hotel that night, we will have been traveling for 19 hours, give or take. I suspect it will feel like a little bit more than that, however. :)

Ciao for now...
E

9 days and counting....

On Tuesday, June 19th, Loretta and I head out for 3 weeks in Greece, with a few days in London thrown in at the end. Here are some questions that some of you might have, along with some thoughtfully provided answers.


Who is Loretta?
A good friend from church, proud owner of my first ever hand-knit pair of mloves.


Why Greece?
Neither of us has ever been there. The islands beckon, the ancient cities abound with wonders to be discovered anew, blah blah blah. :)

Why London?
We are meeting up with some good friends on their way back from Scotland. Plus also, I still have a few things left on my "To Do in London" list from the last time I was there.


What happened to Gretchen?
Nothing! We have separate travel plans this summer, but we still remember fondly our various adventures and we spoke of them wistfully on certain very difficult days at work this year. Also, we'll be having our own adventures working together in the little red room next year as we both plan to be out of the classroom.

Is the trip all planned?
Well....nope. Our current one-line answer is that this is the most unplanned trip I've ever had, and for Loretta it's the most planned. We know where we're staying the first 3 nights in Athens and the last 4 nights in London...and that's it. We have a rough idea of what shall happen between then, but other than that, we'll be surprising ourselves! You can read along on the blog and be surprised along with us...

More soon!