LUNCH WITH THE GREEKS

 Steve and I did something fun today while our ship was docked at Zakynos. We joined Simone and about 10 others and we went to a small family business on the outskirts of town. It was a small family run Olive farm and another small business of a petting farm. During Covid people in these small towns had to get creative to survive not having tourists. This family that run the farm turned out to be a hoot! And fun was the order of the day! When we first got there we sat on bay bales and they explained how the farm had been in the family for generations and the kids also all help with olive harvest which, for them was done the old fashioned way of people climbing the trees and knocking down the olives. There were also animals to pet and trails to wander on and finally we sat down to a most magnificent Greek lunch made by the women of the family. They also served us their homemade wine. Things got friendly and jolly and the. “Grandpa” showed up with his version a grappa…. A very strong Italian liquor….but this was Greek and probably even more potent.  The party got lively with many toasts ….a lot of laughing, and loud! It was a perfect day and we had a blast….laughing and trying to understand their Greek. One of the best days yet!

DELPHI

 We left the hustle and bustle of Athens today and headed for Patras where we will board our small ship called CLIO. It was a long ride and we stopped at Delphi to see important Grecian Archaeological Museum there which houses so many really important artifacts and the Temple of Apollo! Wow! It was impressive! So much was from centuries B.C. When Greece was Pagan, and the sculptures and bronzes are unmatched.

We walked all around the sites and then Steve and I hot  footed it up a steep trail to the ancient stadium.  Hot  footed it because our bus said we had 20 min. Before the bus would leave.  Whew! After sitting so long, it was good to get out and hike but we did go fast!
We meandered into the real town of Delphi and lunch at a hillside restaurant…but by then is was 3:30-4:00 and we were starving and ate WAAAY too much! Was a sweet colorful hillside town it was and We would have loved to explore but it was getting late and the ship was waiting. Another 1/2 hour down the mountain and we were at the seaside town of Patras and our ship. 
Of course, we boarded…did the safely drill and THEN were treated to an open bar! Omg! Gluttony has begun. After the drinks, dinner was served and we could NOT do it justice.  There is a lot of eating and drinking going on right now, and I keep saying…the next day will be less! The ship pulled out of the harbor about 10 pm and we had a gentle roll  to the small harbor town of 
Zakynthos.

PROTESTING In ATHENS

After  seeing all the magnificent edifices that make Athens famous, we decided to walk back to the Hotel Titania. The streets were empty of cars because a big major protest was planned to start about 10 AM. We found out these protests are quite common in Athens and there is even a website to go to which explains the details for anyone interested in joining. But first we had to have Gelato! Haha. Lunch followed and the strolling of the tourists traps

and running into Rick Steves. Nan and Bruce broke away and decided to go back to the hotel, while Steve and I went on a walk about to discover more ancient trails. After all, Athens is completely built on all these ancient historic grounds.  As were were splitting up we saw the protesters walking and chanting down the main drag. A Greek gentleman noticed us and came over and said he would explain what was going on. It was quite interesting. He was very exuberant and a colorful talker, but he knew what he was talking about and we were grateful for the opportunity. 
After walking all over the place, I wanted to just go back to the hotel and relax a bit…. But we got swept up in the protester groups, so I decided just to do the protest since we were all going the same way. It was fun, peaceful, and interesting. The riot police are a big presence EVERYWHERE when these happen, and some people don’t like it. And some people feel safer with them there. As we approached our downtown hotel , we could see it was completely in lockdown with big metal doors and barricades surrounding all the windows and doors. All the rest of the businesses were the same. It looked like a war zone. And we couldn’t get in thru anything. Finally, after the thousands of people passed, the hotel pulled up the barricades and we got back in……
Just another day of fun in the land of democracy!

RICK STEVES SIGHTINGS

We had quite a crazy day today. A Big protest was planned in downtown Athens today, so we had to literally get out of town early so we wouldn’t be trapped,  because they close the streets. We took off about 8AM, which turned out well, because we went to the Acropolis and it wasn’t very crowded. We saw all the famous Greek and even Roman edifices and walked all over the area on a beautiful morning , which wasn’t very crowded. After we got back down to the parking lot, we took off to find Gelato with Nan and Bruce. 
We took off to explore the empty town and find a lunch spot. As we were walking thru a large square we saw a man smiling and looking at us and I felt there was something familiar about him. It was RICK STEVES, famous NW travel guru! Everyone was wearing one of his back packs! He loved it. He was in Greece, scouting out places for his new Greece trips and videos. He has a very nice guide with him and we all ending up chatting away and laughing at this coincidence! Of course pictures were taken…and posted!

EATING in GREECE….and other things…

We had a restful sleep next to the water in this seaside town, and left early in the am to ride back to Athens.  We all decided we wished we could stay a couple more days in Nafplion and skip the big noisy city , but alas, it did not happen.  We returned to the Titania Hotel in the heart of Athens and said  goodby to our local guide, Nancy. She was an archeological major of a  ancient history and really knew her stuff…. But as stated before….it all came at us very fast and was hard to put in order.
We arrived about noon in Athens, but since our rooms were not ready until 3, Steve and I  stored our luggage and took off exploring the city on foot. We saw a nice mens shop and Steve, desperate for new pants, entered like a calf at slaughter. Of course the owner loved having americanos to put his special charms on……so Steve bought really nice new pants but they had to be altered. So while that was happening we continues on our search for good gelato! We didn’t find any, but I swear there is a coffee shop in every other store front! Greeks love their coffee! I mean exceptionally so…..we also found a yummy bakery which had sandwiches and beer and grabbed a lunch to eat outside on the hustle and bustle street where motorcycles and cars were making our lunch nice and noisy! We love walking around towns, seeing the locals and getting a gist of how the world of other cultures works. We found a nice restaurant to go back to have dinner and hope Nan and Bruce will go with us. 

NAFPLION

Today we set out for a small coastal town of about 20,000 people called Nafplion. Along the way we stopped at Mycenae, another world UNESCO site. This one, perched on a big hill was significant because it is supposedly where Homer and his tales of war existed. And we’re speaking of the Bronze Age over 1700 BC.  But it mysteriously vanished after the Trojan war. Then it was rediscovered in 1874 by a German Archeologists as he uncovered a treasure trove of golden masks and artifacts.  Imagine! 
It was a beautiful day and we all decided to hike a short way up to the top of the ruins.  We could see forever, and could imagine  why this hillside was so important for defending the people at this time.
As I said before, we are getting a load of Greek history in a short period of time, and it’s hard to keep up with it all.
We entered Nafplion in the later afternoon and got settled in our very quaint and old hotel which had been remodeled with modern features. The view was spectacular. But the rooms were very tiny. Very. After a fun walk around the mail part of town and seeing even more hilltop forts, we returned to the hotel for a nice dinner of rolled pork. I keep wondering where is the lamb? I didn’t even know the Greeks loved pork so much.

OLYMPIA GREECE

 We never skip dinner, but after curly roads and a hearty lunch at a Highway rest stop, somewhere on the way to Olympia, we just could not Rally for the buffet dinner at the hotel. We relaxed and the next am we’re up bright and early to go explore Olympia. It was quite magnificent! It’s a huge unearthed complex and one needs a guide  to really get the most out of all the crumbled ruins. This area in Greece was where everything notable happened. This is where the “gods” ruled, the games began, and the stadium held thousands of MEN to watch the beginning of the Olympic Games and other physical endeavors, and sacrifices. Many earthquakes in the past have toppled the giant building blocks of stone, but one can still “imagine” the magnificence of the Huge area. We walked over 3.5 miles just covering and exploring the vast complex. Then an educational tour of a fabulous museum which houses thousands of pieces of relics and statues. Some of the statues are still fairly complete, while others are pieced together. Of course, Zeus, Nike, Hermes, and all the big legends were prominently displayed. Everyone is naked, until the Romans showed up and  up and began sculpturing clothes on the statues.  Women were not allowed in the “games” as the athletes were always naked when they competed.

After a long morning of walking and learning we adventured into the small town of Olympia and had a nice Greek lunch and tried to practice a couple of Greek phrases. The locals are friendly and love it when we try and eek out a few phrases.
I would like to say at this time, that Greece is fairly affordable. Meals and wine, beer, etc and very reasonable priced as are grocery items and gift shops. Food is….well…Greek food and most people know it’s heavily based on vegetables, yogurts, anything with olive oil and lots of olives. We haven’t had much lamb, but I have been surprised on how much pork is served, and rarely do we see beef. At least in the inland areas.






Sent from my iPad

GREECE

 Notes on other stuff:  We arrived in Greece at the tail end of Covid, and as another variant is taking hold…. The forth variety. Greece is serious and require masks anywhere inside. They also make us show our Covid vax cards at quite a few places. Even British Air would not let us board without proof of vaccines.

Since tourism is a HUGE monetary plus for Greece, they make sure the city is clean and easy to walk around. Lots of tourists here, even in  the “shoulder season “. We brought clothes for a variety of weather and may drag out our raincoats tomorrow as there is a 50 % chance. Otherwise it’s high 60’s now. I didn’t realize that Greece is mainly mountainous and even has volcanoes. It’s hilly, and lots of curved roads. Olive trees populate the land everywhere. 

EPIDAURUS and HOTEL EUROPA

After breakfast, we left the bustling city of Athens and headed out to the Peloponnese Region of Greece. Quite a loooong drive but we stopped at Epidaurus to take in all relics and sights. We all know Greece is covered in ancient  relics and antiquities, but getting to see them up close and putting the pieces of history together is a fun way to learn. We have a guide,  nicknamed Nancy, because we can’t pronounce her name, and she is keeping us on the path of learning Greek history. We stopped at fourth century theater on Epidaurus , reknowned for it’s near perfect pitch acoustics. One can actually hear a coin dropped in the denture of its 14,000 seat structure!
Added to a long drive was another 3 1/2 hr drive on some “curly” roads…. Greek term for car sick travel… and we lived up to that.
After a windy hill climb we arrived at the Europa Hotel in Olympia, Greece. We are skipping dinner as our tummies said so!

ATHENS…FINALLY!

 First day in Athens and we had 2 hours sleep before a trip to the Acropolis Museum. Steve and team Nan and Bruce rallied and went. Not me. I was a mess and decided to stay in bed…I even skipped breakfast! And coffee! I didn’t even know what day it was and my smiling face wasn’t smiling. They spent the whole morning getting schooled on great archeological finds, but when they got back..it was lights out! After a long afternoon nap, we joined some others and walked into town and entered a wonderful “tucked away restaurant” call F.   Tucked away in a narrow alley, but obviously a favorite of the locals…… it was an wonderful beginning to Greek food. Course after course was brought out on tiny sharable plates…. And it was fun to see people dive into dishes they haven’t ever experience. Big pours and beer helped with the mood and we just could NOT believe

…ANOTHER round of food. We watched 5 men in tiny kitchen cooking and bringing out course after course of fabulous food. A pleasant walk after and we felt like we were finally in the loop!

NOTE: As these fun coincidences happen in life….. before we wandered to the dinner ….we were sitting out on a street cafe eating gelato, when I saw 2 people I recognized. My seat mates on the long wait flight. They were a young couple from Manchester England that were so fun to talk to and we had discussed politics, child rearing, movies, women’s lib, and a whole host of other fun subjects…and here they were right in front of us. Hugs all around like we had just seen old time friends! Travel and strange bedfellows!  

FLYING …but NOT HAPPY

 So, our little adventure has a frustrating beginning…and maybe it’s all going to get better. We arrived at the airport for our first flt leg and found out the plane was about 4 hours late.  So….. a long wait began. We flew to London, and guess what? The next flt was delayed 3 hours, except the difference was we were sitting in the plane the whole time. No food, no drink…nada, just wait. Good thing I had interesting seat mates and we tried to make the best of it. We finally arrived in Athens about 4 AM and got to our hotel at  5 AM! We didn’t know if we were coming or going…loooooong flts, lots of waiting and getting crabby!

MEDITERRANEAN ADVENTURE

Looking at my last blog, on the trip to Morocco, I realized it was right before the Covid breakout. After we got home we got busy with some other trip idea and places we haven’t been, and decided on a small Mediterranean cruise along the coast and islands in the Med. The trip got planned and BAM! LOCKDOWN! After 2 more attempts at thinking we were about to go, we finally got the ok and this is the trip we’ve been trying to take for over 2 years.
Always a light at the end of the tunnel, and this trip became even more fun for us as our long time and good travel buddies, Nan and Bruce Burris decided to join us. We’ve has some fun adventures with these two, so here we go again!