Road Trip to Katerini

Kind of a quiet couple of weeks here at home in Thessaloniki, which has been a nice change of pace considering all the traveling we did in August and early September. We’ve spent lots of time with family, like going shopping with Runia and the kids and attending a modern dance production that was part of the City of Thessaloniki’s 3-month-long Ma Dimitra celebration. We were also able to meet up with our friend Sofia when she came up from Athens for a couple days on a business trip.

Bill also plays soccer games once a week with Aki’s league team and joins him and his friends for pick-up basketball on Friday evenings, and Amanda loves hitting the outdoor farmers’ markets during the day and then cooking at home at night (and we occasionally take Thia Eugenia and Thio Manoli up on the offers for dinner at their house…). It’s been nice settling into a routine and living like Thessalonians.

The latest highlight, though, was our little excursion with Aki and Maria last weekend to the area around Katerini, the town where Maria’s mother grew up. We first went to Pallios Pantelimonas, a small village about an hour southwest of Thessaloniki. Maria explained to us how Pantelimonas was completely destroyed by fire many years ago, forcing several hundred residents to relocate. Years later, younger generations of Pantelimonans returned and rebuilt the town in nearly the exact likeness of the home of their ancestors; for example, homes have no modern conveniences and no automobiles are allowed on the narrow, cobblestone streets. It was chilly and a bit rainy when we arrived, so everywhere you could smell the traditional wood-burning stoves that heat the homes in the village. We sat in a taverna that overlooked the town and had a nice lunch.

That night we drove to the small town of Aeginio to have dinner with Bill’s cousin Kostas and his wife Nitsa. Nitsa put out an unbelievable spread and we talked and ate and drank until the late hours. It was so nice to have three of the four male first cousins on Bill’s mother’s side all together again (we missed you, Steve!) At about 2 in the morning, it seemed Kostas was just getting warmed up. He wanted to show us Aeginio’s “nightlife” and took us to a night club that was still open (actually, the only one that was still open…come to think of it, it may have been Aeginio’s only night club, period) and we drank and danced until the sun came up. Literally. We did not get back to Maria’s family’s home in Katerini until 6:30 a.m.

We woke up a few hours later and had lunch with Maria’s grandmother, aunt, uncle, her three cousins and their spouses and all of their children (Amanda said it felt like being home in Ohio with all the little kids running around!). We then drove to Litochoro, the small town at the base of Mount Olympus. From there, we took the winding road up the side of the mountain as far as we could, where it ended at a restaurant overlooking Mt. Olympus National Park and the Thermaikos Gulf. There we sat and sipped hot chocolate, breathing in the fresh mountain air and recovering from Aeginio’s “nightlife.”

OK, enough for now. Hope all is well back home…sad to see the Cardinals slumping, but glad the Cowboys thumped the ‘Skins and may get T.O. back in time for the Tennessee game on Sunday…

Miss you all!

Love, Bill & Amanda

Santorini By Land

Saturday, September 9 – Tuesday, September 12: Fira, Santorini

We were sad to see our boat leave but Amanda was already in love with Santorini (so she quickly got over it). That morning we checked into a swanky new hotel just on the edge of Fira (thank God for John’s connections). It was good to be on land again even though Amanda was still swaying as if she was still onboard. We were going to take it easy the first day but we ended up walking into town, having lunch, and then renting a papaki so we could motor around the island.

We stumbled upon three wineries blessed with spectacular views and mediocre wines. After many wine tastings, we headed back to the hotel and then out again for more food. We randomly chose the Archipelago restaurant, where we ran into Len and Joanne, a couple of honeymooning Americans whom we had met the day before while shopping in Ia. They invited us to join them for dinner and we had a great meal, followed by some drinks at Fira’s famous Koo Club. We also made plans to meet at the cable car in the morning so we could all go down to the Old Port to catch a boat to the volcano island, Nea Kameni.

Kameni was formed when Santorini erupted in the mid-1600’s and is still an active volcano; it most recently erupted in 1950. As a result, the entire island is still composed of smooth, black, igneous rock, and there are craters where 90oC air is still escaping from the inside of the island. We hiked to the top to take in the great view back at Santorini, and later jumped off the boat into the hot springs that ooze out of Kameni’s cliffs. We ended the excursion with some grilled seafood on Thirasia, Santorini’s little sister island.

Len and Jo were so much fun. We spent the day exchanging rugby stories and Dewey Beach memories. They live in Philadelphia, just up the road from D.C., so we hope we can get together once we return to the States.

Because Santorini is such a tourist’s island, its restaurants offer many different cuisines. After over a month of a strictly Greek diet, we decided to go to dinner at Senõr Zorba’s, Santorini’s lone Mexican place. The fajitas were actually not bad and our view of the sunset was, as it is everywhere in Santorini, marvelous.

On Monday, we decided to have a beach day. We jumped on the papaki and headed east to Perivolos beach, with its famous black volcanic sand. After a couple hours there, we motored south to Kokkina Paralia (the “Red Beach”), aptly named for the red clay cliffs surrounding the water. Had a nice nap on the beach before heading back to the hotel and then out to Koukoumavlos, a restaurant that featured some tasty and really creative cuisine—our moussaka was completely wrapped in veal carpaccio!

We spent the morning on Tuesday doing a little shopping and wondering if we were actually going to be able to leave the island. Rough seas had forced many of the ferries to the mainland to cancel their departures. Luckily, we were scheduled on the Naxos, the largest of the Blue Star ferry fleet. It was able to make the trip despite the huge swells, and we made stops at four other islands to pick up stranded travelers before pulling into Piraeus at 2 a.m.

The entire trip was wonderful and all too short, but it was great to see Iro and Dimitri again (John was traveling to soccer matches in Milan and Krakow) for a couple days before driving home to Thessaloniki. We looked forward to settling into three weeks of living in the city before our next trip to Italy and France in October.

Hope all is well back home…we miss you all and hope you are enjoying this blog!

Love,

Bill & Amanda

Would My Donkey be the First?

Friday, September 8: Ia, Santorini (Bill)

Santorini has two major harbors: the Old Port near the main city of Fira, and Port Athina, the new port built south of Fira for large cruise ships that now frequent the island. To our benefit, we didn’t sail into either of them. Instead, Thomás took us into a small cove on the northern section of the island. It was a fantastic choice. As we sailed into the cove, the deep blue indigo water contrasted with the towering red clay cliffs, upon which sit the white buildings of the beautiful city of Ia. We dropped anchor, ate lunch, and had a swim. Thomás and Sini took us in the motor dinghy to drop us off at the base of the cliff and we made plans to meet up later for dinner in Ia.

In the meantime, we wanted to do a little sightseeing and shopping in town. Had we been at the port in Fira, there would have been an easy tram ride to get us to the top of the cliffs. At Ia, there was no cable car; our choices were either to hoof it, or, quite literally, to hoof it. In other words, either walk or ride a donkey. We opted for the donkeys.

[Amanda’s Note: So we get to the donkey stand and the man asked us if we want “taxi”. Bill and I said Yes and waited for the donkeys to make their way back down the cliff from their last drop off. When they returned, one of the men directed me to hop on. But they just got back, I thought, it seems like the poor donkeys never got a break. As we started up the steep and narrow mountain path, I got a little nervous. After all, just one step to the left and the donkey and I were going bye bye. As I looked down over the cliff, many thoughts started going through my head: What was my donkey’s life like? Was he a happy donkey? Did he have a drink of water today? Has a donkey ever decided to jump because it just wasn’t worth it?]

In Ia, we made our way to the westernmost tip of the city (which in fact was also the western most tip of the island) and took in one of the sunsets for which Santorini is famous. We then met our crew for dinner, followed by a walk back down the cliffs and a dinghy ride back out to the catamaran. It was about midnight, and the large moon we had been treated to over the past couple days was finally at its fullest. It lit up the entire sky and made the white buildings of Ia look like snow caps on a mountain top. We spent half of our last night on the boat lying in the hull’s trampoline, just staring at the city.

In the morning, we said our goodbyes to Thomás and Sini. Thomás fired up the dinghy again and took us to the dock at Amoudi so we could catch a real taxi to our hotel in Fira. Our cab pulled up as we were watching the catamaran sail northward back to Paros.

Of Course It Couldn't Have Been Matthew McCaughnahey On Vacation

Thursday, September 7: Ios (Amanda)

We set sail Thursday morning along the coast of Amorgos. Thomás found a large protected cove that was filled with many other sail boats. We went for a swim and then had a nice lunch onboard which, of course, included more saganaki. As I was sitting there enjoying my fried cheese I noticed a much older man hanging out on a nearby sailboat…. and when I say “hanging out” I really mean it! He was walking around his boat aimlessly in his birthday suit. Generally, much less modesty here….

After a long afternoon sail, we arrived at a very small harbor in Ios. It was another crisp cool night in the islands. We drank a nice bottle of Greek wine with Sini and Thomás on the boat and then headed to a nearby taverna for more great food, very much looking forward to our arrival in Santorini the next day.

He Would Have to Be a Very Short Priest

Wednesday, September 6: Amorgos (Bill)

Amorgos turned out to be my favorite island on the trip. We docked at Ormos Aigialis, the newer port for smaller sailboats and yachts. The beach there was a nice way to cool off, and then we took the bus into Chora. Chora is an old town that you can drive up to, but you cannot drive in. The bus drove up the side of the mountain to the stop at Chora, did about a 12-point turn to swing about, and then dropped us off. From that point on, the only way to get around town was on foot through winding alleys and flower-canopied walkways. We walked around until we found Agios Fanourios, the smallest church in all of Greece—it had just enough room for Amanda and I to kneel inside, plus maybe a priest if we wanted to renew our vows…

We then walked the 3 km through blustery winds down the back side of the mountain to Panagia Hozoviotissa, a beautiful monastery built into the side of the cliff. We walked up the steps to the monastery alongside a Greek couple, whose two little sons proudly counted the steps as we made our way up: 575! At the top we were greeted with cold water, a glass of rakomelo (a sweet honey liquor that is an Amorgosian specialty), and a breathtaking view of the Mediterranean Sea. We liked the monastery so much that we stayed too long and missed our bus back to Aigialis; we had to call for a cab and then hurried to meet Sini and Thomás for dinner.

After dinner, we went to a nearby bar for more rakomelo and to find a television so we could help Thomás cheer the French soccer team on to a 3-1 victory over Italy. It was a long, fantastic, tiring day and we slept very, very soundly that night.

Zeus vs. Pepe le Peu

Tuesday, September 5: Donousa (Amanda)

How did I get stuck with Donousa?

Actually, it was a great day. Before we made it to Donousa we stopped in a little cove off the coast of Rinia, Dilos’s sister island. Beautiful turquoise waters that looked much different than the deep blue indigo everywhere else. After lunch and a swim we (they) pulled the anchor and we set sail for the six-hour trip to Donousa.

Donousa was a very charming little island that isn’t often visited because of how small it is. We sailed in just in time to watch the sunset. Later a huge moon rose from behind the island to light up the harbor and all 3 boats that were there.

Sini took us to a taverna on the beach for dinner. She has been hostessing on sailboats in the Cyclades for over 12 years, so even on the tiniest of islands, she knew someone. When we got to the taverna, there was one other table occupied. Sure enough, Sini knew one of the men because they were both from Piraeus and he treated us to a great bottle of wine...the benefits of sailing with a Cyclades veteran.

We enjoyed a great dinner with more arguments about Greek vs. French contributions to society (as usual, Sini offered mythology, philospohy and the Olympics, and Thomas replied with croissants). We turned in somewhat early to recover from our long day (and long night in Mykonos).

Old Friends in New Islands

Monday, September 4: Mykonos (Bill)

Our trip to Mykonos was perfect and so relaxing; we slowly "raced" a French sailing skiff almost the entire time. On our way into Mykonos' new harbor we sailed past Dilos, one of the small islands just southwest of Mykonos. Dilos is a dry, completely uninhabited, and highly protected island due to all the archeological sites there. We snapped a few pics (see above) and made a mental note to wake up early in the morning to catch a ferry there to see the ruins.

Mykonos is exactly as you always hear it described: tons of partiers from all over the world up until the wee hours packed into clubs with exotic drinks and thumping music. After dinner we went to Caprice with Sini and Thomás, where they were playing great music and serving huge drinks garnished with iceberg-sized chunks of fresh pineapple and watermelon. After that we went to Club Semeli and met up with our friend Deanne, a good friend and fellow Greek-American on vacation in the islands. We hadn’t seen Deanne since she moved away from D.C. almost five years ago, so it was fun to catch up over drinks with her and her friend Sharon.

We all left Semeli and sought out Club Astra (on Sini’s suggestion) where we sat down, talked over the loud music, and drank some more. Deanne and Sharon had had a few nights in row like this, so they turned in around 3 a.m., but Amanda and I went back to Semeli, which was completely packed and playing fantastic dance music. We danced for awhile, and by the time we caught a cab back to the harbor where the catamaran was docked, it was well after four in the morning.

Needless to say, we never set the alarm and only saw Dilos again as we sailed past it on our way to Donousa...

Wedding Crashers

Sunday, September 3: Syros (Amanda)
We made it to Syros only after persuading Thomás that we could handle the rough seas. Maybe we should have listened to our skipper? Actually, it wasn’t too bad and it put us on track to hit Mykonos later in the trip.

Syros is the administrative capital of the Cyclades so it seemed more developed than the rest of the islands we visited. The highlight was stumbling across Agios Nikolaos, probably one of the most beautiful churches I have ever seen. Just as we were snapping some shots of the front of the church, we heard accordion music coming down the street—a wedding was starting. Like all weddings here in Greece, it began with the groom, his family, and all the guests waiting outside for the bride to arrive with her family and attendants. She was then escorted up the steps to the front doors, where the groom handed his bride her bouquet, and then they all go into the church for the ceremony. It’s a very beautiful tradition that I think we should start doing for all Greek weddings in the states…unless it’s a winter wedding in Ohio :)

Weddings in Greece are very casual and guests tend to mill around in and out of the church, even while the ceremony is being performed. So we took the opportunity to walk in and watch the wedding for a while. Later, we joined Sini and Thomás for dinner near the capitol building. It was a great start to our island hopping adventure and we looked forward to a fun night on the party island of Mykonos.

First Day in the Islands

We arrived back in Thessaloniki last week after 10 days in the islands. Only one word to describe the island trip and it’s not even a real word. Trelákala. It’s a word we made up out of two Greek words and literally translated it means “crazy good.” No one here says it yet, but we’re doing our best to start a grammatical trend.

Anyway, our trelákala trip through the Cyclades Islands began on Saturday, September 2. Each of these islands is absolutely phenomenal in its own way, with its own feel and its own sights to see, and each island made a slightly different impression on each if us. If we tried to describe all of it, this blog would be way too long (and probably pretty boring). So instead we’ll give each island its own little post, and we’ll take turns giving our impressions.

Saturday, September 2: Paros (Bill)
We caught an early morning ferry from the Athenian port of Piraeus to the island of Paros, where we were scheduled to board our catamaran for a week-long sail. On the ferry, we started talking to the girl sitting next to us. Her name was Sofia, and though she lived in Athens, she visited Paros often because her father retired there. Knowing we had a full day to kill on Paros before our cruise activities were to begin, we asked Sofia if she had any sightseeing suggestions. She told us to drop our bags off at our boat and then go to a nearby café for breakfast where she would call our cell with some suggestions. Next thing we know, she swings by in her car and spends the entire day driving around the island with us! She took us to Panagia Ekatondapillani (an elegant 1,000-year old cathedral), the plaka for some great shopping, beautiful beaches, and a little fishing village named Naoussa for lunch (I convinced Amanda to eat three maridakia, heads and all!). Paros is a gorgeous island and we would never have experienced it the way we did without Sofia’s generosity. She’ll be in Thessaloniki on business later this month and we look forward to returning the favor.

At 5 p.m. we boarded our catamaran and met our skipper Thomás and our hostess Sini. When we asked if we were the first to board, they told us we would be the only ones to board. It turns out the other cabin scheduled for the trip canceled at the last moment, leaving us with a private catamaran cruise for the next eight days. Thomás and Sini took us to dinner at a fish tavern on the paralia, where they engaged in the first of several great debates about which society contributed more to the world, the French or the Greeks. We had a great meal and called it a night.

We're Gonna Sprinkle It on Our Kids to Make Them Fast

Tuesday we left Athens for a trip through the Pelopponese, the southernmost region of Greece. I wanted to take Amanda to Nafplio since I liked it so much when Rex and I went there earlier this month. Plus, I wanted to show her the old amphitheatre at Epidaurus, which I haven't seen since I was 9. Beyond that, we had no plans, three days, and a full tank of gas.

Back over the canal at Korinthos and then south along Aegean Sea to Epidaurus. Epidaurus is the location of an archeological site where the remains of an old asclepion (ancient hospital and healing spa) were found. Though the archeological sight was impressive, the amphitheatre was by far the highlight. Architects somehow designed it so that its acoustics were absolutely perfect; that's Amanda standing at center stage, where she could practically whisper and I could hear every word sitting a hundred rows up and nearly 200 yards away.

We drove the rest of the way to Nafplio to spend the night. The good news is that Amanda liked Nafplio even more than I did; bad news is she wants to move there permanently. We spent the evening drinking our frappes, playing cards, and walking around to all the shops. Our hotel was just steps away from the paralia, so we were able to take in a beautiful sunset and get some nice pics.

After breakfast, we decided to take John up on his recommendation to drive across the Pelopponese to Ancient Olympia, site of the ancient Olympic games. The drive was straight west over and through several Pelopponesian mountain ranges; the drive made the winding turns up to Meteora pale in comparison. I swear that must be where they filmed the Wile E. Coyote and Roadrunner chases...

We stopped in Langathia, a tiny village literally built into the side of a cliff. The pictures don't do justice to how vertical this town is. We walked into a local market and bought some honey, well-known in the region because the bees feast on the wild thyme that grows rampant in the area, giving the honey a very unique taste.

After more winding turns down the backside of the mountains, we rolled into Olympia along with a fleet of tour buses and walked through the ruins to the old gymnasium (the "stadium" where the original Olympic contests were held...our word gymnasium derives from the Greek word gymnos, which means naked--because that's how the original Olympic athletes competed). The place was truly magical; it turned middle-aged and even elderly tourists from all over the world into young children who wanted to sprint the length of the gravel track. It compelled Amanda to start limbering up (check out the photo). I suppose regardless of our age or our national origin, the Olympic Games are something we can all relate to and take pride in. It was really something to see.

One Canadian fellow even insisted on sprinting the track barefoot--"because that's how the Greeks did it." He had to send his wife ahead to hold their tour bus for him while he bandaged one of his mangled feet (I swear this is not an exaggeration). I'm just glad he stopped at barefoot and didn't decide to get all the way gymnos...

We were about to leave, but I had to go back and fill one of our empty water bottles up with dirt and gravel from the athletic field. Magic dust from a magical place.

Neither of us had ever seen the Ionian Sea, so we continued west to Kyparissia. Another great (and large) meal and yet another nice sunset. After breakfast we took a quick dip in the Ionian and hit the road to head back to Athens. Our trip back was slightly delayed when Amanda saw a sign for Kalamata, 34 km. We unfolded the map a little and realized how close we were to the southern coast of the Pelopponese. We made a spontaneous right turn and 20 minutes later we were walking along the Mediterranean, which made three seas in three days. We eventually and reluctantly turned Golfaki north, made a stop in Tripoli for a light lunch, and made it back to Athens yesterday afternoon.

Tonight, John, Iro, Dmitri, Amanda and I went out to dinner with our friends Costas and Kristina, whom we haven't seen since our wedding. It was wonderful to catch up with them and to meet their new baby Yanni. Check out the cute pic of Dimitri with his little friend.

We leave tomorrow for 10 days in the islands, and we promise to add a post and more pics when we get back. Hope everyone back in the States is doing well (and not dealing with as much flak as I am right now for Greece's upset over the U.S. in the world basketball championships...)

Yia sas!

Bill

Meteora

On Friday we were off to Meteora.... You don't need a map to know when you're getting close to this geographical phenomenon. We could see the rock formations from miles away.... or kilometers I should say. These formations are so impressive on their own and when you throw in a monastery perched atop of each of these peaks, well it's pretty darn spectacular to say the least. The word Meteora literally means "hovering in the air" (do I sound like a Greek?). Monks built these monasteries around the 12th century and some were only initially accessable only by climbing into a large hanging basket and being lifted by pulley over dangerous vertical cliffs. The monks still use these hanging baskets today but only for goods.... thank goodness!

After becoming totally nauseous from driving up the winding mountains in the "Golfaki" (our little Volkswagon), we finally made it to our first monastery, Agios Stefanos (St. Stephen). The moment I stepped out of the car the nausea was gone and I felt totally refreshed. These monasteries were by far the most spiritural, serine, revitalizing places I had ever seen or could imagine. We also visited Roussineau (St. Barbara) later that day and took in its breathtaking views. These are just two the six remaining monasteries in Meteora.

That night we stayed at the base of the mountain in the town of Kalambaka. Another charming town with lots of shops and tavernas. We hit a cafe to have our frappes (Greek iced coffee), play some cards, and have a few beers. We then walked to a taverna in the platea and had a terrific dinner, which we of course followed up with a stop for gelato. I wish I could say that we indulged that night.. but that's how much we have been eating.

On Saturday morning we hit Varlaam (pic with the hanging basket) and Megalos Meteora (Greater Meteora). These were two much bigger montasteries with lots of antiquities and historical museums to see.

We made a few more stops for pictures and then headed back down the mountain. To get from Meteora to Athens we had to drive through Larissa, which the Greeks claim is the hottest area in Greece. It was kind of like leaving heaven to drive through hell. Luckily Dimitri was playing with the hose when we arrived at John and Iro's house in Athens. We welcomed the spray down and Dimitri had a good laugh...

Until next time, antio sas.

-Amanda