January 15, 2004

The Hard Work Ahead

Terry writes from Los Angeles...Now it's all about moving.

We're spiffing up the house to get it ready to sell. New bathroom and fence, painted deck.

Here's the timetable as we've figured it out currently.

January: Clean out the garage! Enough said.
February: Continue working on January's goal. Ebay, Ebay, Ebay.
March: Pack Chris' stuff. Hold an election.
April: Take Skippy and visit Chris in SD. Leave Skippy.
May: Ebay, Ebay, Ebay.
June, July: Start serious packing, buy lots of bubble wrap.
August: Put the house up for sale.

September: Sell the house and put the money in the bank! I am going to Holland in mid Sept for a reunion of the folks who fought in the Market Garden military assault during WWII. My Dad was one of the pilots shot down over Holland, so I am going to honor him. I hope to take Chris and his girlfriend, Kristie, with me. After that, I will go on to Greece to find a rental so we will have a place to ship our stuff to.

October: House closes, Alan ships our household affects and leaves for Greece.

But before that we are planning a trip to visit our son, Chris, in South Dakota for his 21st birthday, take him his dog and a bunch of his personal belongings! We're also planning on seeing the Grand Canyon, I've never seen it and it seems like a good farewell kinda of trip. We will be going through Spokane, Portland, and San Francisco on the way back.

In the meantime, it's all about packing, packing, tossing out, selling, sorting, planning, researching, more packing and fixing up the house.

Fixing up the house is proving to be very difficult considering that we haven't kept the place up over the last 18 years. We just had the deck painted . . . twice 'cause we didn't pick the right color the first time. We also just had our small bathroom completely redone because of a leaking shower: new shower stall doors, floor, fan, light, fixtures, and paint. The brick backyard wall finally fell down after hanging on since the big earthquake and we're having it replaced.! All the house trim needs to be repainted, as does the inside. Do we repipe or not? Gotta fix up the "landscaping" which has run amok for 17 years (we had one good year of keeping it up, but that was a long time ago). The water heater just threatened to blow up, so that is being fixed. Put in a new doorbell, oh will it ever end??? And it all costs gobs of money.

My books are all going up for sale on Amazon, and my knick-knacks are going up on Ebay. It's a lot of photographing, web work and saying good-bye to things I have loved dearly for over 25 years. Each item I'm letting go is a jolt to my system. My favorite action now is handing everyone who walks in the door some item from my "collection." I don't really want to make money from these items as much as I want to be sure that they get into the hands of people who might want and enjoy them. Also selling two cars, and bought a new one.

I'm also researching all the issues that have to be considered when making such a move. Can we get Social Security if we become EU citizens. How is money transferred. What do we have to do to get a Permanent Residents visa in Greece? How to take a cat on an airplane. And the list goes on.

Alan is making a valiant attempt to learn Greek. We have a tutor once a week to help (he won't listen to me). It's very hard for him, but he is giving it his best shot.

We buy nothing these days that isn't going to be consumed in 6 months, or can be shipped to Greece. No more impulse purchases!

So that's where we are right now. I'll keep you informed and if you have any suggestions, please pass them on. We are like babes in the woods!

But we're doing it! One step at a time!

November 4, 2003

It's All Over But the Fly'n

Alan writes... Well, th.. th.. th.. that's all folks! If you're reading this we're home already 'cause we've been on two planes for the past 24 hours. There may be some photos but they'll have to come later.

Yesterday, Monday, was spent looking for a Greek Tourist office and it wasn't easy. The one near our hotel turned out to be closed for refurbishing. As we mentioned early on Athens is in quite a state of repair almost everywhere as they take advantage of their entry into the European Union plus get ready to host the 2004 Olympic Games.

Along the way we also looked for an acceptable internet café where I could take care of a few last-minute business details. Our Greek tour book indicated several located in our general vicinity but each one was either no longer there or was closed. We did find one on Stadiou, about eight blocks from Omonia Square, near our hotel, that said it would be no problem to hook up our laptop so we decided to come back to it later in the evening.

After two young Greek policewomen pointed us in the right direction we trotted off to the nearest metro stop to find the next available tourist office on the other side of town on Tosha Street near Vassileos Sofias, a main thouroughfair that runs south-west to north-east across the city. Terry wanted to get as much information as she could about moving to Greece and that seemed the best place to start, plus we needed to replace our lost Athens map. We got all the information we could at the tourist office and were directed to the U.S. Embassy just down the road about five blocks near the Athens Concert Hall for more details on making the move.

Getting into the U.S. Embassy was much easier than you might imagine considering what security is like all over the world these days. There were police all over the place and the street was very busy with both car, bus, truck and foot traffic but after a quick passport check, they hold your camera, and in we go. We received good information from the agent at the visas window, he explained the ins and outs of moving here and gave us everything in writing afterwards so it doesn't look too hard to do. Just lots of little details that need to be attended to.

It was about 2:00pm and Terry had one of her "ideas!" If you refer to my little cartoons of us in the logo of our travel log you'll get a pretty accurate picture of much of our trip. In this case, except for all the luggage, it's particularly apt, as Terry has her newly aquired Athens map in her hands leading me up, and up, and up numerous small streets. After stopping several passing individuals and asking for directions, in Greek, we arrive at a small set of doors leading into the entrance to a funicular. Her surprise is the Lykavittos (Lycabettos Hill), one of the highest points in Athens.

Four euros each and we arrive at the top where there's a chic restaurant, a small church and the most incredable view of Athens you're going to see. The restaurant is quite expensive (by Greek standards) but it was probably our one and only costly treat (besides airfare) of our trip -- two pasta lunches, one cappacino and one iced tea = 35 euros! If you remember, we paid only 7.50 euros for two really good gyros, fries a lemonade and beer last night -- my preference anytime.

It was a pleasant time at any rate, During our lunch at the top it began to rain causing several tourist to scramble for cover. I recommend this little side trip for anyone spending time in Athens, just be aware of the prices in the restaurant. Better yet, grab a bite at one of the great cafés down below before you go up.

We headed back to the hotel for a brief nap and by 6:30 we were at the internet café on Stadiou Street. It's a bit of a chore to lug the computer around but I didn't have much choice for the rest of the evening. We didn't want to go all the way back to the hotel and we wanted to pick up a few treats before we got on the plane so off we went to the Metro and a quick stop at Monastriaki (aka the Plaka), probably the major tourist area in Athens. You may remember it from our first day here (October 15) when we toured the Athens Flea Market and had lunch in the shadow of the Acropolis.

We were full from our late lunch at Lykavittos so we just browsed through the little shops along the narrow streets. It was a cool evening and threatened rain but there were quite a few people out and it made for a nice evening walk in the big city. We picked up a few things and stopped for a drink, picking a table next to a sleeping dog (did we mention that dogs run loose everywhere in Greece?), to watch the people go by.

We were back at the hotel by 9 and got ourselves ready for an early morning and the road home.

Tuesday, 10:00am -- We're in the airport this morning, we got here around 9:00 am, and we're waiting for our noon flight into New York. We were up early, had a few cups of coffee in the hotel and trotted off with our luggage through a slight drizzle to the Omonia Square metro that would take us two stops to Syntagma Square. There we caught the E95 Airport Express bus for the 50 minute ride to the airport.

If you plan on spending some time in Athens it's a good idea to purchase a 24 hour metro pass. This allows you easy on-and-off access to busses and subways for quick trips around the city center. It's really on a honor system, though, as we were never asked for our ticket at anytime during our time in Athens.

It's a bitter-sweet time. I'm excited (well, as excited as I get about anything other than Laker's basketball) to be heading home, but, at the same time, this has been an extraordinary trip; full of wonderful experiences, friendly people, beautiful country and lasting memories. I'm sorry to leave but encouraged that moving here is a real possibility, not without some hesitation, mind you, but a reality nevertheless. Stay tuned for more on that as the months go by.

So, it's toodle-ooo from Athens. Next stop L.A. Let's hope the home fires are NOT burning.

Terry writes...Now it's my turn to wrap up this part of our adventure. We're on the plane now, looking forward to an 11 hour flight to New York. We just scarfed down, like starving dogs, what passes for food in some Russian survival packs from the 50's. And we watched a movie that was so mind numbing dumb that I forgot who and where I am (The Italian Job) which means it served its purpose. I think they have another movie and meal in store for us in a few hours. Now they are playing sitcom reruns. For joy!

So it's goodbye to Greece. At least for a while. It's not the best country in the world, I'm sure. But I will miss it and look forward to the life that it promises for us. There are definite pluses and minus, but a decision like this can only be made from the heart. And the heart of Greece is so open that it overwelmes everything else. Here are some of the images I am taking home with me:

We were walking down the busy streets of Athens last night and saw a shopping bag filled with stuff with a wallet resting on top and no owner in sight. The owner had stopped into a store to talk with a friend, knowing that his stuff would be right where he left it when he came out. I have seen this all over Greece. In the airport today, I saw suitcases and personal items left on tables and chairs and knew some Greek (no American would do that) had wandered away, but would be back soon.

Yesterday I saw a woman backing through a busy, narrow intersection! Backing up through an intersection.

As we crossed one of the main streets around Sintagma (a major, major intersection), I noticed a large car double parked on the curve, double parked on the corner! When we came back an hour later, it was still there with trucks and buses manuvering around it. At least it had its hazard lights on!!

Dogs and cats roam free. Although they do scurry from one shelter to another, they don't seem to be afraid of people. I have seen a taverna owner try to get a dog to move on by feeding him. "You're fed, now go away." And I have seem people hand feed the strays with great care.

I've learned that a few bugs here and there won't kill me. That milk that comes in boxes is perfectly fine. That a car can come oh so close to you, and not hurt you. I was even hit by a side mirror on a narrow street and survived. That I can deal with used toilet paper being put in a bag and not down the drain. And that it feels great to be in a place where everyone says Good Morning to you every day and really means it!

No one has been rude to me. Maybe a bit uprupt in the tourist areas, but they quickly melted when I made them suffer through my horrid Greek. That always brought a smile and a bit of chatter.

Nobody has tried to rip us off (except the owner of the first timeshare, and he didn't try very hard). Honesty and helpfulness are the rule. Although I am sure that I will be singing a different song when trying to buy a house in Greece. But daily life is safe and pleasant.

The country is a mix of beauty and dumb ass ugliness. It's not all vistas and deep blue seas. There are trash heaps in the most unexpected places. And, there are wires and poles in front of some of the most spectaular views. Seems like half of the houses are just shells (old and new) waiting to desolve back in the earth and the lack of planning and respect for laws is certainly very foriegn to us.

Can we do this? Can we turn ourselves inside out and completely reinvent ourselves? The future does not look good for us in the long term in the States. The financial aspects look a lot better for us in Greece. It turns out to be a great place to move to. But what of all that we have known, the life we built in the US, the friends and family?

At this point, all I can do is say, please come visit us, 'cause we'll be just around the corner.

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November 2, 2003

Back to Athens

Alan writes... A lazy morning with our new friends, Frosso & Pierre -- too lazy, I'm afraid as it made us a little late getting into Athens.

We took our time getting ourselves together today. We hung around Galaxidi for lunch with Frosso & Pierre until after noon and didn't get to Itea and our internet café until after 1:00pm. The work I needed to do took well over an hour on the internet plus we had lots of travel photos to upload so we didn't get on the road until after 3.

The road from Itea to Athens is pretty good with the exception of several mountain twists and turns along the first half of the route. Because the road is in such good shape, relativly speaking, we found that the drivers are traveling at a much higher speed and taking more chances with passing. It's not unusual to witness four or five cars passing at the same time and we saw several near-collisions during the 2 and a half hour drive to the outskirts of the city.

It was dark by the time we got to the Athen's city limits and the road finally went from two-lane to a multi-lane expressway. We had misplaced our Athens map and were relying on memory in order to find the Alamo/National Rental Car agency. We had been promised that if we turned the car in there we would be driven to our hotel in Athens, but we had to deliver the car before 8:00pm.

It was looking good at around 6:30 until we hit some major traffic, took a wrong exit, and had to double back on our route to get ourselves back on track. Keep in mind that it's dark, traffic is congested, police cars are zooming every which way, we don't have a map and all the signs are in Greek. Plus, all we remember from the instructions over two weeks ago is that we exit AFTER the first bridge and BEFORE the second bridge, go south about a half-mile and look for the Alamo/National sign.

At around 7:30 we were pretty sure we were in the right general area but it was mostly industrial, all the stores and shops were closed and there were no gas stations at which to stop and get directions. Terry had purchased a phone card in our first week and hadn't used much of it so when she finally spotted a phone booth on a busy corner she jumped out of the car while I tried to find a place to pull over. That was the other problem -- no place to stop along any of the streets -- so I kept doing "U-turns" in the vicinity until I spotted a small parking spot just around the corner from where she was phoning.

Terry was unable to get an answer at the car rental agency and started to return to the car when she spotted a security guard for the building near where I was parked. After a few moments of discussion she learned that we were just two blocks away from our entended target and off we went.

When we found the rental agency Terry hopped out and through the open doors of a brightly lit office - with nobody in it. Oh, there was a jacket over the back of a chair and other signs of life in evidence but no one in sight. Terry decided to try the elevator and pushed the button for the fourth floor. She doesn't know why she pushed it for four but that's where she went and -- would you believe it? -- the manager was up there, in the dark. No, she didn't ask.

He drove us into Athens and to our hotel with no difficulty, we unloaded and headed to our room to settle in, then out for a bite to eat. Terry had read about a nice little caféteria near our hotel and after a few minutes of walking located it among several others in one of the many little walkways that are common in central Athens. We orders two gyros, something we had not had during our entire trip, fries and I had a beer -- total cost 7.50 euros. Then it was off to bed after a long day.

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November 1, 2003

The Road Home

Terry writes...Some days are small and not so busy, today wasn't one of those. I will try to be concise!

We started of with great showers!! The shower heads were adjustable and at a sane height. Finally! What a joy.

I took some pictures out our balcony but the best view was out the bathroom window. They are doing an awful lot of building in Metsovo. But everything they are erecting seems to be in the local stylem wood and stone, no cement boxes here.

After we check out, we searched for breakfast. Most of the restaurants or tavernas were not open at 8:30am, so we had to hunt and peck for a place. When we found one, it had only early morning workman in it having their morning coffee. I asked if they had breakfast but the waitress just about rolled her eyes. Of course not. I could have coffee and maybe toast, and, oh yes, yogurt. So I ordered two of everything. The toast turned out to be a tiny ham and cheese sandwich and the yogurt surprisingly good with lots of honey drizzled on top.

Thusly fortified, we hit the road. I think I'm coming down with something like a cold so I wasn't as enthralled with the scenery today, and what could match yesterday anyway. But still the scenery screamed out to be photographed. So I did.

One shock to our poor little systems was turning on a very winding road, was finding a herd of sleeping goats, right in the middle of our lane. They seemed very happy and not inclined to move just for a speeding car. Luckily for us, there was no traffic on the opposite lane so were able to avoid making goat road pizza.

I had hoped that we could stop and see the monestaries of Meteora, and the timing and the weather worked out perfectly! We had a great time driving through the rock structures and visiting a monestary. It is very easy to get to a monestary these days. You don't have to be hauled up in a basket anymore. You just park in the parking lot, stroll past the souvenir stands and climb just a few easy flights of stairs. The pictures show most of the story. We couldn't take pictures inside the church itself. It is a very small church, and every square inch is covered with paintings of the most fantastic kinds. Old, old pictures of saints and gods, but also of people have the most horrible things done to them like being skinned alive. Some people still come to the church for religious purposed, so cameras and talking are not allowed. The stores on the site sell replicate icons and silverwork for the benefit of local old folks' homes.

Next we took off for Lamia. We were finally down on the flat lands. It is quite ugly but it is the agricultural area and attracts a lot of tractors and farm equipment and junk car lots and dump sites. Reminds me of Bakersfield. Not the prettiest of countrysides. But soon we are back in the mountains and over to Lamia.

I got terribly lost in Lamia because what I thought was the seaside on the West side of town turned out to be a fortress on North side of town. But once we figured it out, we got out and found a great truly Greek restaurant where we had stewed lamb and roasted chicken for the same price we paid for our sorry little breakfast in Metsovo! Go figure.

Then we decided to drive back to Itea, which is the town just up the road from Galaxidi, so that Alan could be sure of good internet connection. So we toddled on back to our favorite internet café and checked in with the outside world. While Alan was working, I put in a call to Frosso, our friend in Galaxidi, and she insisted that we come stay the night with her. So at about 7pm we were back in what could be our future home having good times with old friends! We will spend the night in their basement in an old double bed in the middle of the arts and crafts room Frosso uses for teaching and will wake up to see the view of the sea through the open double doors right at our feet.

It was quite a day, all told!

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October 31, 2003

A Long and Winding Road to Ioannia

Alan writes... It was quite a tiring drive today. Last night we passed out around 8:00pm and, as usual, Terry was up before light. Our room was right over a very busy Igoumenitsa street and the noise persisted late into the evening and started early but I didn't arise until around 8. We checked out and walked down to a nearby restaurant for a breakfast of eggs and a couple of capaccino's(sp?).

We were on the road out of town and headed east toward the high mountain town of Ioannina. The main road, while well maintained, carries all the traffic from the Igoumenista/Corfu ferry east over the mountains toward Thessaloniki and Turkey. As such, there is a constant flow of car and large truck traffic over the entire route. The road twists and turns following, for the most part, the river as it climbs some 1,500 kilometers and down again the the valley below.

I should take a moment here to mention a little bit about Greek driving. The mountain roads in Greece are not particularly wide, there are frequent hair-pin turns with shear drops and few guard rails, especially during this part of our trip. As a rule the road is marked as "no passing" along it's entire length. None of this, however, discourages the typical Greek driver from going 10 to 20 kilometers per hour over the posted speed limit and passing on a curve, going uphill, in the rain, around a big gasoline truck and three other cars. I've experienced this behavior several times during the past 10 days or so and this particular time is no different - with the following exceptions: 1. it's wasn't raining today, and 2. this time the road was 1000 kilometers up. Even though I was 5 or 6 cars behind a slow gasoline truck I found myself pulling off the road several times just to let the rest of the line behind to go by and give myself a breather. The twists and turns of the road, coupled with the stress of cars wanting to pass us at every un-opportune minute was very tiring. Since I do most of the driving (Terry does the navigation) I'm usually pretty well done for by the time we stop for the evening.

Anyway, today was one of those days.

At around 10:30 we stopped in the small village of Vronisa for a coffee and to eat the sweet we had purchesed before leaving Igoumenitsa. There was a small river along the road and we found tables acrosss the road from a café near an old stone bridge. The rain from the night before had caused the river to be pretty full and we had a nice relaxing 30 minutes or so enjoying the view. Terry took a few minutes to speak with the café owner about the area and explained that we were searching for nice places in Greece to make our home. If wasn't long and we were being led high up in the hills for 12 kilometers (just around the corner, they said) to meet the owners of a newly built hotel in the small village of Kallithea (meaning "Good View" in Greek). Sometimes Terry's Greek saves our butts, sometimes it just gets us in a deeper mess, especially when there is some mis-communication. In this case everyone thought we were looking for a place to stay for the night rather than a house to rent for a year or so. Whatever, it was just a way to get us off the main road and explore the country side for about an hour. An hour of more twisting, turning moutain road with absolutely no other human being or car to be seen for the entire time but some of the most extrodinary views you can imagine.

These small country roads in the hills are more like one-lane roads that some local government official decided would look better with a white stripe down the center - the better to help keep passing cars (and donkey carts) seperated. The rains from the previous days had caused quite a few rock slides so it was prudent to be cautious at every turn in the road. It was slow going but the weather couldn't have been better. After a wrong turn, or two, we made it back to Vronisa and the main road. We were off again toward Ioannina and about an hour of mountain driving (refer to paragraph three, above).

We arrived in Ioannina around 2:30pm, found a parking space near the lake and walked down to the harbor. There is a small island in the center of this high mountain lake with several shops and a restaurant where Terry was looking forward to having lunch. For one Euro per person a fleet of small ferry boats leave at the top of the hour to take passengers to and from the island. This gave us just enough time to go over, eat, and return in time to get back on the road in order to make the mountain-top village of Metsovo (about 1,600 kilometes aboe sea level). Terry says the views during this part of the trip were astounding. I have to take her word for it because my focus was elsewhere, mainly on the road in front of me. Here again, I refer you to paragraph three above, only this time I would increase the stress level by double. I can only imagine that this might be, in some small way, similar to driving through the Colorado Rockies BEFORE Interstate 80 was built, IF the road was only two lanes and had no guard rails for much of the trip... AND you're being passed by crazy Greek wanna-be ralley drivers!

We pulled into Metsovo just as it was getting dark (much to my relief) and found our way to the hotel Terry had picked out from one of her travel books. The Apollon is quite a nice class-B hotel, very warm with a friendly staff. Our room is not large, but no Greek hotel room has been, yet. Once again we have twin beds pushed together (no doubles or even queens available, sorry) and the typical hand-held shower set-up. But, it has a carpeted floor and the room is toasty warm. Plus, the hotel has an internet café right here in the bar. It's ISDN, which I've had trouble getting a connection with, but at least it's handy for getting our emails. DSL, which does work well for connecting with our laptop, has only been available in Greece for a few months and it's not available everywhere as yet. Both types of services are being offered by OTE, the local phone conglomerate, which seems to have a monopoly on internet services throughout Greece.

We'll spend a little time here tomorrow before heading off to our next stop - wherever that may be.

Terry writes...I just had to butt in here. Since Alan was doing the driving he didn't see what I saw! He has no idea what he just drove though. I have been around in my day and seen different parts of Europe and the US, but I have never seen vistsa like the ones we drove through today. The mountains go on and on, one layer behind another behind yet another. Valleys what go up and down and fade into the far distance. Road side drops that are so deep, you could skydive off the side of the road. If you didn't know what country you were in, you would think it was the biggest country in the world. Maybe part of it is because the air is so clear and clean. You can see details on mountains that should be shrouded in a distant mist. Also, although the vistas are huge, the country is gentle. The mountains are vast, but not harsh. They all look inviting and somehow familiar. Neither pictures nor words can do it justice, you just have to do the trip yourself. It takes my breath away, it is so spectacular. And Alan hardly saw any of it.

We are so high up and it is so far to down, that I kinda dread the trip out of these mountains tomorrow. One false move by some nut on the road and it's all over. There is no safety net and you never know what is just around the next corner. Could be a landslide, two trucks side by side or a herd of crossing goats. We just saw a bus pass a tractor cross a double white line up a hill before a bridge and on a narrow road. Go figure. Alan wouldn't dream of letting me drive this part of the journey (and probably not any other part for that matter), so I sit and make ooh and aah noises.

Another thing I think he doesn't do justice to is our hotel. It is the best in Metsovo (at $50 a night, $80 if you want the suite with the jacuzzi). And rightly so. It is lovely and toasty warm, 'cause it is cold up in these mountains, very cold. There was a fire in the fireplace and a great bunch of guys to greet us. Many of them were Vlachs and I got to hear a bit of their language which is a throw back to ancient Latin since they are the decendents of the Roman soldiers who were left to defend the Egnatia Way from Rome to Constantinople. When the Roman Empire fell, these guys were left to fend for themselves and started their own culture which remains to this day. Metsovo architecture and folkwork both reflect this cultural difference. But the Vlachs are fiercely Greek and their decendents were some of the last hold outs against the Ottoman Empire and later the German invaders.

By the way, if our spelling is atrocious, it's because we're doing this without a spell check program!!!

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October 30, 2003

A Corfu Goodbye

Terry writes... Well, we made up our minds last night that we would leave today depending on the weather. It had been raining all day yesterday and last night it really came down in buckets. We can get weather reports from CNN and EuroNews on the tv. They give weather reports for the entire world. So by judging what the weather is in Italy and North Africa, I predicted a great day today, and it is!

So we got up early, had a big breakfast of potatoes and eggs, fresh bread and jam, and two kinds of coffee and packed ourselves up. We had inhabited every little corner of our suite, especially the kitchen. It was hard to leave the pepper and the olive oil and the bread and butter, but no reason to take it to Athens.

While I puttered in the kitchen making another picnic lunch, Alan took a walk up a windey road next to our complex to see if we missed anything that way. But he reports that up the hill are just more large villas. No little town tucked away in the pines. At least not that he could see.

We then packed the green bug and checked out. Lefteris, the owner/manager, has been very helpful, giving suggestions on where to go and solving our little kitchen problems. We had even gotten into quite a long political discussion comparing our two countries. He thought our country was the model of democracy!! I let him know what the actual voter turn out is -- among other things. But, you know, I get carried away.

From here on out, we are not sure of anything. Weather being one of the big factors that we will have to work around. Here's the general plan: Drive across the most mountaineous part of Greece - the North - in the beginning of winter (Greeks only have two seasons: Summer and Winter or more commonly known as the Season and Off Season). We have no hotels lined up and don't know if we will stop by Galaxidi one more time or take the coast route to Athens, or how many days it will take. But we do seem to know that we will be coming back. There's no reason to investigate the possibilities anymore. We know that there are homes to rent, lease and buy at reasonable prices. The people are friendly, it's safe, it's quiet and it could be home for us. Our only problem has been making up our minds between Corfu and Galaxidi. I'm almost afraid to look at any other area (we were going to check out Epiros, the mainland) and have to add another contestant to the race. It's all too perfect and very possible.

So we're in discussions. North Corfu, Galaxidi? You've seen the pictures and read our experiences. Do you have a suggestion? Later on, I will start listing all the pros and cons. But I think we have made up our minds, kinda. Stay tuned for decisions.

We drove to Corfu town and our favorite internet café so Alan could take care of some business and then we took the ferry back to the mainland. The drive was beautiful and we were feeling so adventuresome that on the way we took a mad turn off the road to see was down a little side street leading to the seaside and low and behold, we had already taken that exact same road before!!

Corfu Town is always a difficult experience. Parking is crazier than Athens. We drove round and round in circles through narrow one-way streets searching and searching for a space. There was one parking lot near the center of town, but it had a line of at least 10 cars waiting at the paybooth for a space to become available! And then, while we're looking this way and that for a parking space, who walks by our car but Lefteris, the manager of the Corfu Residence! He was going the opposite direction on foot and we were stuck in traffic so we could only wave and pass like ships in the night!!

We did finally get the tinyist parking space not far from the city center and considered ourselves blessed! I then left Alan purched in front of his computer at the internet café and took off to see what I could see. (I didn't take any pictures because everything is exactly the same as when we first came to town except in reverse.)

One of the things I love to do on a trip is have a problem to solve. Nothing bores me more than sitting at the seaside looking at the waves. I want to do something. Slay a dragon, even if it's an imaginary one. Today's dragon was medical. I had miscounted the number of capsules I would need of some prescription medicine I'm taking. It's not a big deal, I would survive quite well if I missed a day or two, but here was my dragon! So I went to the pharmacy and asked if they could issue me a few more caps to tide me over. The first pharmacy absolutely could not, but the second said I should see a doctor who could figure it out for me. So the pharmacist TOOK me to the doctor. A short walk and a flight of stairs later I was speaking, in Greek, to this very nice, old and, it seemed, very wise man in a white coat in a small office. He wanted to check my blood pressure and took me to his exam room which was the space behine his bookcase. Everything was on the up and up in spite of being examined in front of an open window! The doctor was very nice and helped me get the additional meds I needed. When I went to leave his office I was hoping that it would be another of those free visits but it wasn't. He asked for 40 euros, which seemed fair but when I showed that I had only 30 he immediately lowered the price. Don't worry, he said, that's fine. Yeah, like that would happen in the States!!

The meds turned out to be about a third less in cost than in the States even considering that I wasn't getting the 90 day supply I usually get. So those are good signs about growing old in this country: cheap doctors and cheap drugs.

I went back through lots of narrow busy streets and met up with Alan. His work went fairly smoothly, considering, and we were ready for our next step - the ferry to Epiros and the Mainland. (Just run the previous pictures in reverse.)

We had another picnic on the ferry and made an uneventful passage to the busy town of Igoumenitsa. It is one thuggish town. What with the ferries dumping hundreds of cars into the center of town every half hour, the streets are the noisiest I have experienced in Greece. It also seems to be filled with a lot of surly teenagers with lots of cussing and loud motorcycles all around.

We did take some time to walk around and see what the stores had to offer. Igoumenitsa has one heck of a lot of stores and many of them upscale. We looked at what refridgerators and televisons willl cost. And saw heaters and mattresses. After we wore ourselveds out walking up and down the main drag, we settled into a little taverna for dinner. The waitress brought us two menus as usual and after a while came back for our order, which we had really worked on perfecting, only to find out that they didn't have everything that was on the menu. Only these two columns, please. Which meant back to the drafting board. Why she couldn't have told us that up front is another question. We are staying in one of only two or three hotels in town and I can't can't say much for it either. The lobby reeks of cigarettes and looks like something from a Raymond Chandler book. The elevator seems even smaller than usual. We could barely fit the two of us and our two bags in it. And the elevators here don't have the double door structure that we're used to. The outside surface goes right past your nose. But at least it's only 35 euros a night and we will only be here one short night. I can't wait to get out of this hotel and this city. I had hoped that at least the shower was going to be decent because I saw the shower nozzle positioned at above shoulder level. But I was wrong, it shoots over my head and directly into Alan's face, with no way of adjusting it. I'm not sure that the shower was much better in Corfu -- that one was aimed directly at my mid-thigh.

Tomorrow we are off to the high mountains, the monestaries and the old, old villages of the mainland, just around the next corner.

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October 29, 2003

A Day Without Sunshine is a Day Without Photos

Alan writes... This will be a quick entry.

Today turned out to be quite overcast and rainy so we hung around the apartment for most of the morning until the sky started to clear up a bit. Then it was off to Acharavi on the north end of the island to see if we could connect with a real estate agent Terry found on the internet before we left home. We browsed through a few books listing village homes for sale and picked out a few that seemed interesting. This particular agent specializes in typical stone houses that need some restoration. Many can be purchased for under 100,000 Euros, and some as low as 55,000 Euros, and are in various stages of dis-repair. We don't think we want to deal with that but at least it gives us an idea of what's available and at what price. Of course, it's our idea to rent first for at least a year before we even consider buying something. Plus, we're still not sure what area of Greece we're going to want to live in.

It turns out that this part of Greece has become quite a hot spot for celebrities from the U.S., such as Nicolas Cage and Madonna. Therefore, real estate prices have been shooting up recently as word gets out and new, multi-million euro villas get built. As we drive up and down the coast we see several new villas and resorts in various stages of construction. It's hard to imagine what this area must be like in the summer months since there is almost nobody around now. Most of the tourist areas are virtually deserted and many shops are closed for the winter. I'm sure it's crazy with people and traffic from April through September.

We decided to head off to take a look at one of the houses on our list that was close by. The village wasn't hard to find but the house took a little doing. Using the photo from the sales sheet provided by the agent, Terry asked a few of the locals if they recognized the house and we were directed to a little grocery near the road. The owner took us through her store and out the back and there was the house. The shop owner yelled up for the homeowner but there was no answer. Then, a woman from across the alleyway informed us that our homeowner was away for the morning. We couldn't see the inside but it was a pretty large building, two stories, and shared one wall with another home. This property was listed at 55,000 euros and seemed a bit rundown but it gave us a good idea of what we could get for the money.

Terry had packed another picnic lunch so we headed back to the harbor at Roda and sat on a stone wall on the beach while we ate.

Another quick stop in Kassiopi to the "Out of the Blue" internet café to check email and buy a little bakery goodie for tomorrow's breakfast and we were off to home for the rest of the day and another great home-cooked meal (now I realize why I gain weight at home - Terry's cooking!!!).

Sorry, no photos today. Too wet.

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October 28, 2003

Catching Up is So Hard to Do

Alan writes... Wow, a couple of days go by pretty fast around here. We thought Sunday would be a rest & relax day and maybe a chance to catch up on things, but nooooo... off we go in what has become an almost daily ritual of the "great internet café hunt." If this wasn't a working trip I'm sure we wouldn't be so anxious to find an internet connection that would be compatable with our Mac laptop. Mac's are not popular here so there is no one who knows anything about them or how to connect one to their systems and some even think it's going to damage their computers in some way. Fortunately, we can still take care of email and some work-related tasks on a PC connection. Anyway, as a result, it can be several days before we can upload our trip diary not to mention the time it takes to write and coordinate all the photos.

So, up the Corfu coast we go. Our resort sits to the north of Corfu Town amost directly across the Ionian Sea from the coast of Albania. The drive up the coast takes us on a twisting two-lane road that winds it's way up high over luxurious sea-side resorts then down through the harbors of tiny villiages. Every view is more breathtaking than the one before, each turn in the road is perilous and takes the car close to the edge of a several hundred foot drop.

We stop in one tourist trap after another on our internet café search. Almost every stop produces a result but not one café can get the Mac to work with their setup. Our tour takes us around the north end of the island to Sidari and back again. Probably the prettiest area was Kassiopi located just at the top of part of Corfu that extends out closest to the Albanian coast. It's a beautiful little resort and tourist area that still seems to have that old-world Greek charm. We learned that many ex-patriots from various countries have homes in that area and often congregate at a local bar. We took time out for lunch at one of the cafés near the harbor.

On Monday we decided to take a short trip to the south. The manager at our resort told Terry we might have luck finding an internet café in either Barbati or Dassia, maybe Gouvia. Turns out we ended up going all the way back into Corfu Town and making a day of it. Corfu Town is about as close to being in Athens as you can get in this part of Greece. It's a very crowded city complete with speeding drivers on tiny streets, traffic lights, one-way roads, and.. well, you get the idea. Corfu is lush and lovely and has bred poets, painters and writers. It has also bred an AquaPark, Paintball Center, and Club Med!

After a few wrong turns we were finally able to locate the café we needed and without hesitation our host hooked us right up. I was able to take care of some business and upload our latest trip diary installment and we were off for a quick early dinner and relaxing walk around the area.

Tuesday could have been another chance to relax but not us. While Terry was up early, before sunrise, I did manage to sleep in for a change. We had a leisurly light breakfast in our room and we were all prepared to sit around for the day but the weather was looking so nice we decided to walk down to the beach. The beaches here are all rock and in some places they've made concrete sunning areas for resort guests to use. Our resort is located on the inland side of the road but on the beach side there are single cottages that various resorts rent out to guests. Each of these cottages has it's own little driveway and a walkway down to the beach. We trekked down and through a few of these on our way to and from the beach.

When we came back up from the beach Terry stopped in a little liquor store that's just by the road to our resort to purchase some homemade brandy and ending up having a long conversation with the owner about various locations and rental availability in the area. She got a few suggestions for places to see and off we went.

Our trip this day would take us west over the mountains through several hilltop villages. Terry had packed a lunch of ham & cheese sandwiches and bannanas so we stopped along a narrow road in a grove of olive trees to have little picnic. The only sound to be heard was from the birds in the trees.

From one narrow little road to another we drove until we arrived at Paliokastritsa and the far western side of the island. A brief stop for coffee and we're off again up over the mountain range to the north until we reached Sidari on the northern most edge, our stop from Sunday. The day was cool but the sky was clear and the sun shone brightly as we started back retracing our route from Sunday. Terry wanted to stop at Kassiopi and the little internet café, Out of the Blue, we had visited two days before to check her email.

If was there we met Elizabeth and her young son, George. The café has two computer stations and the young woman sitting next to us was having trouble sending an email with an attached file. We lended a hand and learned that Elizabeth and her husband had purchased a very rundown cottage in nearby Gimari about two years ago and had it restored. They use the cottage frequently as a vacation retreat from their home in Wales and offered to put us in touch with the agent that helped them negotiate the entire ordeal. We were invited to her home to see what they have done and it was quite impressive. Unfortunately, it was a little too dark to take photos but they have done a superb job restoring an old stone building adding a new roof, turning what was a basement into a great first floor kitchen and living area with hardwood floors and beamed ceiling, plus a second story with three bedrooms, bath and nice view of the harbor. The sun was setting fast and these roads are not particularly pleasant to drive after dark so we exchanged email information with Elizazbeth and headed home.

Once home Terry prepared our first home-cooked meal of the trip consisting of pasta with sauted mushrooms, tomatoes and sausage, a salad of fresh greens and tomatoes, and fresh Greek bread. I topped that off with a cold Amstel. What a wonderful end to a great day.

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October 25, 2003

Chasing Rainbows & Police Cars

Terry writes... Well, that's it for Galaxidi. We are sooo sorry to leave it. We really felt as though we had found home. We have people waiting for us to return now. People who care about what we do in this great country.

Yesterday, we checked out of our lovely hotel, but not before the old man who is the owner tried to rip us off for $40. He tried to charge us for 4 breakfasts that we never had! Well, I put an end to that!! After a goodbye to Tatianya we toddled over to see Madame Frosse who was waiting to show us yet another house-- one that will be ready to rent a year from now and would make us her neighbor -- something she has decided is a foregone conclusion! Frosse offered us coffee, gifts and more memories to take with us.

Frosse handed Alan a small fruit that looked like a tomato. It had a light reddish-orange color and it's outer skin was soft and slightly sticky to the touch. Frosse sliced off the top of the little fruit and asked us if we had ever seen it before or knew what it was called. We hadn't and didn't so Frosse took a spoon and dished out some of the soft, jam-like inside. We took a taste. Wow!!! It was like a sweet orange or peach marmalade. She described the fruit as the "Lotus," as in the Lotus Eaters Odissius encounters in Homer's, "The Odessy." And, we always thought Lotus meant the flower.

We hated to leave Galaxidi. Can the rest of our trip live up to the wonderful time we've had here? Corfu is going to have be really, really special. If anyone out there wants to join us, we can show them some lovely and cheap places to stay in Galaxidi, ready to move in for less than $300 a month!! (Plus around $75 for internet, phone and cable, plus power and food. It's almost hard to get the costs up to $1,000 a month).

As I write this we are on the ferryboat that will take us across the Ionian Sea from Igoumenitsa, far up the northern coast, to the island of Corfu (sometimes referred to as Kerkira). I just felt the ferry start moving so we should be arriving in Corfu Town in just under 90 minutes !

Yesterday, Friday the 24th, we drove north along the coast to Preveza. In the rain it was about a five hour drive, filled with beautiful cliffside views and fantastic villiages --- and rainbows. I had never been so close to a rainbow and for several miles, almost an hour of driving, the rainbow seemed to be not more than 100 yards ahead of us with one end disapearing right into the ground in front of us. Almost as if to say, "Here is you're pot of gold."

Onward we drove through Nafpatkos again and, then, on to Messolongi where, in 1824, Britain's Lord Byron died while trying to whip up support for the Greek Independence movement. He is now a national Greek hero and many locations, hotels and even some men carry that name. Messolongi is a new and beautifully laid out town with many streets that don't allow cars. We stopped to have another coffee and to take a few moments to watch local life go by. Our rest stop wasn't long as we still had several miles of twisting road to go before reaching Preveza and the sky was rapidly filling with dark rain clouds.

The drive north was long and through incredible countryside much different than the landscape around Galaxidi. The land here was much greener -- tall evergreens and olive trees populated the nearby hills. The pictures from our little digital camera do not do it justice but each turn presented one spectacular view after another as the rain began to descend on us in torrents.

Traffic was getting pretty heavy at various points of this trip and at one such time Alan pulled to the side to let some cars pass. The last car in the group was a white and blue Greek police car with all it's lights flashing. Four or five cars where ahead of it and not one made a move to let the police car pass. We pulled back out onto the road several car-lenghts behind and followed this procession for most of an hour on twisting narrow roads and through a small village where traffic even stopped for a few moments. Not one driver ever pulled over to let the police car pass. We finally had to make a turn and the police car, with it's flashing lights and the cars preceeding it, went off in another direction.

Further on we passed into Actio, another historic site. It was there that Octavius defeated the naval forces of Anthony and Cleopatra. On the other side of Preveza is a ruin that once was Nikopolis, the city that Octavius built as a monument to this victory. He moved people into Nikopolis from the surrounding countryside to populate it. It is still quite a sight/site to see.

We only stayed in Preveza one night. The room was clean and neat and had the best shower arrangement we have had in Greece to date!! Hot water at adjustable levels with a showerhead holder that actually worked!! Our view from the third floor over the harbor included a three-masted schooner and majestic skyline. Sleep here wasn't the most relaxing we've had. Our room was next to the elevator and neither trourists nor Greeks are particularly quiet by nature. It was also a night of heavy rain, loud thunder and lightning that seemed particularly close.

Before retireing for the night, though, we once again made what has become our daily search for an internet café that would provide us a connection with our Mac laptop. It is becoming more and more clear that a Mac will probably not be in our future if we do decide to make the move to Greece. While there were two Apple stores in Athens the Mac is an unkown entity here in the hinterlands so any type of support or repair would be virtually non-existent.

It was still early evening in Preveza as we tramped to two seperate internet café's in the pouring rain. And I do mean pouring!! Alan kept muttering as though it was MY fault that we didn't have umbrellas. I mean, really!!

While we were racing from overhang to overhang, the most incredible site appeared in the rain: a marching band in full uniform was heading toward us! A nice lady from what appeared to be a fabric shop invited us in out of the rain and explained that we were watching a funeral for a 38 year old man who died of heart trouble. There were lots of umbrellas in the procession.

Finally, two blocks from the hotel on our return trek, soaking wet, we found umbrellas for sale!!! Mine is bright yellow and Alan's is a lovely Scotch plaid. The umbrella salesman said that the plaid one was a feminine style. I said the rain didn't know the difference (the masculine umbrellas were $10 more!!)! Anyway, Alan looks good in plaid. He just grumbled. Our clothes are still drying out, two days later.

It was a clear Saturday morning in Preveza when we arose. The sun was just peeking above the mountains to the east across the bay. We showered and went down for what has become a typical Greek-style breakfast of bread, cheese, sliced ham, hard boiled egg and filtered, or French style, coffee.

The drive from Preveza, north to Igoumenitza, was beautiful with clear blue sky and warm weather. Damage from the heavy rain the night before was evident. Rock slides were a common sight along the roadway and in several places part of the road was washed away.

We stopped briefly in Parga, a major tourist area, to find an internet café. While Alan took care of some business I took a little walk around the town. Parga is a beautiful village with streets and buildings typical of Greek design.

After Alan finished his work we hiked down to the harbor then up to the ruins of a fortress on the hillside where we met a couple from Denver taking photos of the bay. Mike David is a professional photographer (www.mikedavidphotos.com) currently traveling around Greece looking for great photo opportunities. Not hard to do, I think.

We wandered back down to the village center for lunch and then explore the town a little more. After I purchased a small coin purse from a local leather goods shop we got back on the road toward Igoumenitsa and the ferry that would take us to the island of Corfu.

Today, back here on the ferry, it's crowded but civilized. To get onto the ferry auto passengers must exit the vehicles and walk on while the driver backs his car or truck into the deep hold where the air is full of the smell of automobile exhaust. Several ferryboad personel yell out instructions to drivers as they back into place and the noise is deafening. On the upper decks passengers scramble for seats, either at cushioned window-side recliners (similar to tour bus seats) or at little tables where they can eat, play cards or just converse. Others race to que up to the on-board concession for drinks and snacks. It is hot and stuffy inside the cabins and cold and windy outside on deck, so I keep going in and out while Alan sits at a table inside working a crossword puzzle and reading one of the English language newspapers we bought yesterdeay. This was one of the few times we got to be next to Greek families in such close quarters. Let me just say this, for the most part, the little kids are brats. Absolute whiney, shrieking, rude, loud-mouthed brats!! Of course it's the parents who have created these monsters, but, the kids do grow up, most of the time, to be interesting, outgoing, giving adults, so go figure.

Approaching the harbor at Corfu Town I became slighly carried away with picture taking. Corfu does have a different look than most Greek towns. More from an Italian and Spanish influence than from Greek and there is the ruins of a large fort at the top of the hill.

Before we left Los Angeles I had made a printout from MapQuest.com that would help us find our next timeshare. Bad idea. Consequently, we drove back and forth from one side of Corfu Town to the other through narrow one-way streets looking for our resort. We finally figured out that the MapQuest map was wrong and our timeshare wasn't even near the town, it was 30 minutes up the coast in some remote dot on the map -- Nisaki! At the most there must be just 5 buildings here, not counting our timeshare complex, which is pretty big, and several other resort-type structures spotting the cliffs along the shore.

Our apartment at Cofu Residence has a tiny kitchen (about the size of a sailboat's galley) that it shares with a sparce living room and a veranda overlooking a big beautiful bay. Corfu Town is to the south and across the sea to the east is the Albanian coastline and high mountain range. The kitchen as a small electric stove with two burners and a small refrigerator. We've had no facilites for washing clothes on this trip so I'm hand washing things every few days. Turns out almost nobody has a dryer which is why you see laundry hanging from most Greek windows -- somthing I will be doing again tomorrow.

There's a seperate bedroom with a double bed, but as with most beds in Greece it's not long enough for Alan, and it's not particularly soft. It is very quiet here, however, and the bed has just enough room to cuddle up comfortably.

Also, get this, hold your breath, the little TV in our room gets CNN!!! and Euronews from the BBC!!! English language news! There are very limited stations here showing things like: a Greek version of "Who Wants To Be A Millionare?", re-runs of old American sitcoms, Greek psychics, talk shows and music videos, cartoons, and non-stop news shows with arguing Greeks, especially now while there's a garbage strike going on across the country (trash is piled high everywhere).

After settling into our room at Corfu Residence we drove down to the local grocery to stock it up on some food so we could prepare some things at home and save a few Euros. Again, it's like camping. We had to get dish soap, a sponge, coffee (instant-which isn't as bad as it is in the US- and Greek coffee -which I like with cream like my good friend, Helen, makes it in Studio City), bread (large french loaves), eggs (with large orange yolks), cream in little boxes, and milk in little bottles. I'm trying to buy locally made products, but what with all the multi-national brands available it's hard to tell most of the time.

The view from our ballcony is fantastic. Albania is right out there across the sea and I can see village houses along the shore. There's not too much boat traffic -- you would think there would be all kinds of shipping and ferries -- and the sea is very calm with only a ferry or two visible in the distance.

We stayed up late getting our fill of old Hollywood movies and CNN catastrophes (fires back home in Los Angeles have us concerned for our friends & relatives, bombings in Iraq have us concerned for the world). We hope to take it easy on Sunday and gather our forces before we attack some of this island on Monday and Tuesday.

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October 23, 2003

Terry writes...Today we spent most of our time in Itea, the next biggest town up the road, a 15 minutes trip by car. We found out about internet connection - $33 a month for isdn and separate phone connection. Satillite connection for TV costs about $500 to install and $33 a month for the service. Maybe more, maybe less, to be exact! We went to the Police station to find out about the legalities of staying in the country on a permanent basis and there seems to be no problem about that, especially if we buy a house and/or work here (bringing in money to the economy!) And I'm doing all this in my broken Greek. It is quite a challenge, believe me. Sometimes my brain just shuts down from overload! And even now my English, how you say, stops!

We also wanted to know about renting a place in town. This is much more hit and miss. It's all up to who you know. Information is spread by rumor. One person knew another person, who knew some guy who has a place for rent. Just go down to the coffee shop around the corner from the tourist shop and ask for Costa, the waiter, who isn't in right now, but hold on I'll call him and see when he's coming, you wait here! etc.

Turns out Costa has a wonderful four story house with an apartment on each floor. He built them for his sons when they get married. But the sons aren't ready yet, so he's willing to rent out the first floor. It's a dream: two bedrooms, livingroom, large kitchen, large bathroom and a patio in the back to die for. Pomegranets, grapes, basil, mandarinan oranges, all kinds of things are growing back there ready to be picked and eaten off the vine, tree, whatever. And there are chickens are running around in a back pen. He has 30 now, but soon he will have only 5. Guess what happens to the other 25!

Clean, neat, fully furnished, and he wants $300 a month! A month! And that's probably high. We could probably get it for $200 for all we know. And we would gladly pay $400 for all he knows! Two bedrooms! So start packing if you want to be the first to stay with us!!

We were anxious to find out more about available rentals in the area but at 2PM everything, everything closes down. So we went down to the harbor and sat on the dock to have a picnic. Then it was back to our hotel for a bit of a rest.

After a little nap it was back down to the village of Galaxidi to gather some more information about houses for rent. We went back to the little Yellow house, which I have taken a ton of pictures of. The old men sitting in front of it told me that it is currently rented to people who come down just on the weekends. But we think it's still worth looking into, who knows what the situation will be in a year when we finally get our act together.

Then we went to meet Nella at the Philoxenia hotel who had the details about the little Yellow House. We sat and talked for a long time. She's been in Greece, from Bulgaria, for 12 years and her husband is currently very sick. She was so very helpful and friendly and we have just met her! She's bending over backwards to help us and when we left she wrapped up a bottle of red wine and gave it to us!

While we were with Nella, K. Frosse (The Frenchlady) called to say that she had found yet another house and we should come tomorrow morning and see it! She wants us as her neighbor! So we arranged to meet at 9AM on Friday morning, which is the day we leave Galaxidi and head for Prevesa on our way to Corfu.

At end the day we strolled through the town once again stopping here and there to have a drink, buy some pasties, investigate satillite tv connections, peek into little stores and come to the conclusion that Galaxidi is the most friendly, beautiful place on earth, and even though it is hot in the summer and doesn't have the trees I want, that it is THE place, end of story!! What could any other place offer that is not already here. The entire city is welcoming us with open arms. It is so just too much that we almost feel like we're in the twilight zone and everyone and everything is programmed to be perfect to trap us for some unknown reasonl. It is too good to be true.

And to top it all off, they are installing new sewer pipes so maybe some day we can put the paper down the toilet!

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October 22, 2003

Alan writes... Terry and I are sitting today at what must be the most beautiful place on earth, at least that I've seen so far in my almost 60 years on this planet.

We drove into Galaxidi at around 11:00 AM to have lunch with "The French Teacher" and her husband. We didn't know exactly where she lived, only a general idea, and had to ask several times where "the French teacher lived." Down toward the beach we drove as the road narrowed and became twisted and turned into gravel. We reached the last house on the lane and parked. "This must be it," Terry exclaimed. "You're kidding," I said.

We entered through the gate and up the steps. The house was two stories with a balcony that circled the entire top floor. The house faced out onto the beautiful blue bay with a view of Itea on the far side and Delphi above. The photos we took do not do it justice. It was breathtaking.




Below us was a small rock beach with the clearest blue water where several bathers floated leisurely. There was a clear sky, the weather was warm and the only sound you could hear were the voices of the swimmers below.

We were introduced to the landlady of the building directly behind. She has several apartments for rent. The one that will soon be available has two bedrooms, a very small kitchen, and small veranda that overlooks the bay. It's renting for 250 Euros per month (just under $300) on a 5 year lease. I wouldn't want to obligate myself to 5 years but it would certainly work as a starting point for about 6 months to a year.

"French Lady" (she still won't devulge her name) made a wonderful lunch that included a salad of butter lettuce and mini cheese pies followed by shredded chicken with rice and small pieces of pistachio nuts. All to be washed down with a nice Greek beer as we sat on her porch enjoying the view of the bay.

After lunch I strolled down to the water's edge and around to the boat dock. There I found a little bench where I could sketch the harbor for a few minutes. I hadn't had time to do any drawing since we've been in Greece and I appreciated the time to enjoy a few moments of relaxation.

Three o'clock and it was time to take our leave for awhile. Our host had students coming but we were instructed to return at 5:00 so she could take us around to other rental places she knew about so we could compare. Galaxidi would probably be a little too hot in the summer for Terry's preference but it certainly has all the other features that make it quite appealing; low cost, friendly people, quiet and peaceful, and beautiful scenary. Galaxidi has a population of about 1,400 with 24 churches. As I sit here in the car next to a little outdoor kiosk the activity has picked up. Eveyone seems to know everyone else. Several dozen cafés and tavernas line the two harbors and cars, motorscooters, walkers are constantly going by waving and shouting greetings to each other.

Terry is off wandering, exploring. She brought back a small free sample bottle of Ouzo. Free sample? Tastes like schnops or maybe sweet gin. Wouldn't want too much of that, I think.

We've finally learned "The French Lady" is known as Frosse and we reconnected with her at around 5, as requested. Frosse wanted to show us a few places she knew that were for rent so we would have an idea of the prices in the area. Frosse has been teaching various arts to many of the villagers for so many years she's now teaching their grandchildren so she knows many people in town. We've learned that there are always nice places for rent at this time of year and that the going rate is anywhere from 250 to 350 Euros per month for something quite nice. Then, just as we were about to take Frosse back home we met a friend of hers who manages a local hotel. It turns out that the owner of the hotel has a small place for rent just a few feet from the water's edge near the boat dock at the mouth of the smaller of Galaxidi's two harbors. He's asking 200 Euros per month! Frosse knows the place and we drive over to take a look. It doesn't look like much from the outside and it's all locked up so we can't see inside but it seems very interesting for what it is. And, you can't believe the location. Take a look at the photos to see for yourself. I can't describe it any better than that. So, we decide we'll at least get the email address of the owner and plan on getting in touch with him when we get back home.

We said our thank you's and goodbye's to Frosse and Pierre and headed off the town for a little lite dinner. Frosse had suggested a couple of places but only one of them was open. Turns out it was just across the street from the pharmacy where Terry had purchased my medicine on Monday so she brought me inside to introduce me to the pharmicist who, by this time, had become very intimate with my earlier condition.

After that embarrassing moment passed we walked the five steps across the street to the most charming little restaurant called Bebelis. Inside were ten or twelve tables, nicely appointed bar and no diners. The room had a pub-like decor in a masted schooner motif with heavy beams and wood paneled ceiling, fireplace and winding staircase up to a second floor balcony. We introduced ourselves as friends of Frosse and were greeted with a warm smile of aknowledgement. We chose a table near the front door looking out onto the narrow street and in a short time the customery basket of fresh bread along with small carafs of red and white wine and a small plate of Greek olives appeared at the table.

After the manager read off a long list of house specialites we chose the chicken fillet and the stuffed onions to split. Both items were delicious and the proportions were just right for a late dinner. After we finished our meal the waiter brought two small shot-sized glasses of a deep red liqure called Tanthura (sp?). It was a sweet aparatif with the flavor of cinamon and cloves. Incredible! Then, out came a small plate of a Greek version of apple pie; a slice of apple over halva, heated and sprinkled with cinamon. Another delightful surprise. Of course, in a Greek restaurant you won't get a bill unless you ask for it so you might find yourself sitting there all night if you don't say something. So, the bill? Under 20 Euros, including tip. And, get this: I asked if they accepted American Express. No, sorry no credit cards yet. I handed him a 50 Euro note. He says, "Oh, if you need your cash tonight you can come back and pay me tomorrow." Say what? Didn't we hear this same line the other night at the internet café in Itea? We're tourists for god sake, what is he thinking?

Of course we paid for our dinner then since we certainly didn't need the cash for the rest of the evening. As we left the owner shook our hand and several men who had stopped in for a drink rose to their feet as we left, each wishing us "Calle Nickta", good evening.

This is Greece. A most amazing place.

We stolled down the narrow street to the harbor. It was a quiet, balmy evening. We stopped and bought a recent English language Newsweek and two ice cream bars for the walk along the waterfront and back to the car parked in the village square.

What a delightful day.

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October 21, 2003

Alan writes... It seems I'm back in business today. The Wrath of Zeus flu (or maybe the Delphi Diahrrea is more apt) has apparently passed (pun intended) although I still feel a little worn out. I apparently continue to have some jet lag as no matter how late I go to bed or how tired I am from the day's activites I still awake around 2 or 3 in the morning and can't get back to sleep again until 4 or 5.

My sick day on Monday gave Terry the opportunity to go off on her own, something she loves to do. She would have made a great explorer in an earlier time. Terry's Greek language skills have been a life-saver many times. I continue to be impressed by how she handles so many of our encounters with the locals. My advice: take her with you on your trip to Greece.

Today was "Excusion #2". We're a little behind schedule because of my sick day but I think we've ruled out mountainous terrain as an option based on Sunday's outing. We were up early and headed down to Galaxidi for a little breakfast.

Galaxidi is a very small villiage with a beautiful harbor. The town center consists of a small round-a-bout with eight or 10 narrow streets jutting out like spokes on wheel. There are several stores that border the square including a grocery, a bakery and small café. I decided to stay off coffee for today so we stepped into the café. There were several older men inside smoking, drinking and watching TV, as well as a group of younger men at a table outside. The café is very simple, almost as though someone took an empty store, added a few tables, a counter and some cooking equipment, hung out a sign and called it a day.

We ordered tea and coffee, and since the café didn't offer breakfast food Terry walked across the street (road) to the bakery for a couple of sweet rolls while I waited at a table.

Most coffee served in Greece comes in a large thimble-shaped cup. It's very strong and meant to be sipped slowly and enjoyed. You can order "filtered" or "French-style" coffee which is more like American coffee, however, you only get one cup - no refills. The concept of the "bottom-less" coffee cup is unknown in Greece. Typically, Greeks make a cup of coffee, not a potm and they makee it fresh, to order, with the accompanying wait.

After a bit to eat we started to head out of the square for Itea. Just then an older lady, maybe in her late 70's, waved us down. "Remember me?", she shouted at Terry in heavily accented English. "You go Itea? You give us ride, yes?" Terry didn't remember her at all but aknowledged to me later that she may have met her on Monday when she was searching for the pharmacy. We made room in the back seat and she and her husband piled into our little matchbox car while all the men at the café looked on with amusement.

The couple is French but has lived in Galaxidi for 40 years. She said they missed the 7 o'clock bus to Itea this morning and the next, and last, bus left at 11, Greek time, which meant 10:30 or 11:30. The last bus back from Itea was at Noon and it's at least a 30 minute drive.

We asked the woman her name. "I'm known as 'The French Lady," she replied, "My husband is Pierre." She explained how the road to Galaxidi didn't exist in the '70's, the only way to get in and out was by boat. There was no electricity, no running water, and... no tourists. She and her husband came here from the Sudan, I think, and she's been teaching the villagers for years. She offers room and board to anyone who is willing to spend two hours per day teaching the village children for free. In appreciation for our providing taxi service this morning she insisted we come visit her for lunch tomorrow. Never one to refuse a free meal I readily agreed.

The area around Galaxidi that we're in this week is on the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth, west of Athens about 4 or 5 hours drive. Galaxidi sits at the beginning of a large bay. Imagine the letter "J", flip it backwards and turn it upside down. Galaxidi would be at the tip of the short curve, or west side of the bay, facing the east. Itea is at the upper, or north end of the arc. The road is winding and narrow and at one point rises more than 500 feet giving a spectacular view of the bay. It's also the main road to Athens so the traffic is heavy with both cars, tour busßes, and large trucks. The 15 mile trip takes at least a half-hour.

This morning, as we made the turn that brought Itea into view, we were treated to a new site: a huge, white cruise boat was moored in the harbor. Little speed boats were creating white trails of foam on the deep blue water of the bay as they ferried passengers to and fro. It was quite a site from the road high above.

Our trip today would take us on past Itea, across the penninsula to Stenos and Antikira, then up the mountain to Distomon. From there we would swing west and stop at the internet café in Delphi again late in the afternoon so we could take care of some internet business.

Before that, though, we decided to take "The French Lady" (she wouldn't tell us her name, it's too complicated she said) and her husband on to Amfissa, inland from Itea about 13 miles, their intended destination so they wouldn't have to hitch another ride. Pierre, the husband, needed to buy a new mouse for his computer.

We drove back to Itea and stopped in to our favorite internet café to check emails and to upload our latest trip diary. It was about 10:30 in the morning. I think we're finally catching up with the dairy. Terry also found a little restaurant that promised fried eggs, sausage and "filtered" coffee. The eggs were fresh and the sausage was, ah, interesting, but the coffee took forever, longer than the food, in fact, and it was only slightly warm. And, of course, no refills or warm-up available.

Itea was bustling with tourists from the cruise ship as we headed out of town. The drive to Stenos was uneventful. At one point in our tour we came upon some road construction at the edge of a town and the detour took us around. Because of that we missed the turn-off to Delphi and went many miles in the wrong direction up into the mountains before we realized our mistake. The error did provide us with an opportunity to see an interesting monument commemorating a WWII era battle that took place in the area.

Arachova is a beautiful little village nestled high in the mountains. All the buildings are facing south set against the rocks. A very narrow road not much more than 12 to 15 feet wide traverses through the tiny town with cars, trucks and tour buses going in both directions while villiagers and tourists are walking every which way. We stopped for a bit of lunch and to take a little walk. Since it's just down the road from Delphi, Arachova is a frequent stop for the tour buses and there were several here today.
We'd been to Delphi on Sunday but that time we'd come in from the west. This time we came in from the east and were passing the ruins that brings all the tourists. Now, archelogical ruins do nothing for me. I'm sorry, but their just a bunch of old rocks and I just can't get too excited about them. But, Terry really wanted to stop and take a look. Delphi is where the Greek kings and generals would come in order to listen to the words of the Oracle, or some such drivel, so it's this really big deal if you're into history like Terry is. Thing is, she's not into spending 12 Euros to get us into the joint so we just wandered around the outside a bit, took a few photos, and headed on to the town center and the internet café.

The Delphi city fathers have decided to resurface the road through town this morning so the section that's one-way east is all torn up. Because of this I miss the fact that it's one way and barrel right into it. Thankfully, a nice Greek gentleman gives a shout and we're able to pull into a parking space right near the internet café before things go really wrong.

Then it's on to the internet to take care of some work issues. The girls who work in the café are nervous that I'm connecting my laptop to their system. They don't know anything about computers and the boss isn't around. They're afraid I'm going to break something. Last time we were here we waited several hours before their manager came in and said it was okay. This time they said okay but were still a little nervous about it.

DSL here is not like DSL in the U.S. It's more like dial-up. Not fast at all. I can't imagine what dail-up would be like. We were on for two hours, me on the laptop, Terry on another PC and still didn't have time to take care of everything. It was getting late so we headed back home. Tomorrow, lunch with "The French Lady" and maybe we'll get on to "Exursion #3".

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October 20, 2003

Terry writes...

Monday, Monday. Sure doesn't feel like a Monday!

Well, I woke up today to find that Alan is sick. He's been kinda off his stride since the flight from hell, but now it's official. He's sick. So he's in bed and I'm acting nursey. First thing I had to do was get lots of water in him and then go down to the town, Galaxidi, and get help. The pharmacies here are frabulous! The other day he had a pain in his neck that was really worrying him, so we stopped at a pharmacy and told the woman his symptoms. She gave him exactly what he needed (anti-inflamatory), which fixed him right up and only cost $6.50 for 30 pills. She was spot on with her diagnosis! So I went into Galaxidi today, found the local pharmacy and explained Alan's symptoms. The phrarmisist called a doctor, got advice, sold me a thermometer and gave me medicine with instructions! All for under $10.00. What a deal!

I then wandered around town and picked up supplies. A special tea that the pharmacy recommeded (looked like regular old Liptons to me, but what the hey). I got a sponge to wash with from the mini market (Hotels don't seem to have wash clothes for bathing) along with a big bottle of drinking water. Two coffee cups from the knick-knack store (so we can make our own coffee and save a few buck here and there). From lthe bakery I got a fresh danish for Alan and a loaf of bread hot from the oven. I then went down to the harbor for a couple of English newspapers. Those put me back $6.00! I also wanted an electric hot water maker, but that store wasn't open for another hour. Then, it was back to the pharmacy for some asprin.

As you can tell, each item comes from a different store. And each store is about the size of your bedroom. All the while I am being watched by the men who sit outside the coffee shop and kibitz about the goings on in their town.

I also went to the Police Station to see if I could get some explanation on the rules of the road. You would think I was asking for nuclear secrets. They had to look in back rooms and bottom drawers. Even when the policeman found the book with the pictures and the explanations, he had to read the definitions carefully himself. Seems he didn't know them by heart. When he showed me the No Parking Under Any Circumstances sign, I told him that I saw cars parked under that same sign all time. He just smiled, nodded and shrugged his shoulders. What's a cop to do? IG.

I then needed to find a bank and got directions from one of the stores. Down to the harbor and to the right at the corner. So I trotted on down. All I found was restaurant after restaurant all set up with tables for the non existant tourists. The word for bank is very similiar to the word for table and I thought they had told me where to find tables, rows and rows of tables! But no, the bank was down the street from the store on the right, before the corner, not to the right after the corner!!! My Greek is not always so good it seems.

But the day was so beautiful, who cares! I walked the harbor and finally heard some Greek music. It has been so quiet here I've missed the sound of music. At the end of the harbor was a restaurant with a large group of Greeks having lunch and dancing. Dancing Greek dances right there in from of me! Not kids but middle aged Greeks having a ball! Dancing, eating, laughing and throwing plastic water bottles instead of glasses. What a wonderful site! I am sitting at the same restaurant now typing this up. Music playing, wind rustling the trees, flies galor, Greek coffee and a laptop. What could be finer?

It is a grand experience! This is what living here is all about. Just getting by on a day to day basis. Mingling, talking, learning, exploring. I am happy as a lark just staying in one place and dealing with life and the locals. Each encounter is an adventure. Will they understand me, will I understand them? Do they have what I want, can I complete the transaction and not look the fool? Each person is a gem, each store an E ticket ride. It feels so good to be here. It's home.

But the weirdest thing that happened was all about Alan's stomach problem. When I went back to the hotel with the first batch of medicines and took his temperature it was up to 38.5 degrees celcius (which is high). He's also been having terrible stomach convulsions you can hear from across the room and we're concerned about dehydration. So I went back to the Pharmacy and told them. They said he should see a doctor. Well, my mind saw dollar bills flying away. I knew he wasn't that sick. But the lady said I should talk to the doctor and gave me his number. Okay I thought, if Alan gets worse I'll call the doctor, but the Pharmist called him while I was there and handed me the phone. Could Alan come in to see him? Again I thought that too much was being made of all this, so I said no, he was too tired and sick. So the doctor said that he would be right over, would half an hour be okay? I was stunned. But by then I was in too deep. So I said whenever he wanted to see Alan would be fine. Half hour? Okay. So I went back to the hotel and sure enough, in an hour (Greek time for 1/2 hour) this kid with a backpack stuffed with medical equipment shows up, examines Alan, diagnosis extreme gastritis and possibly a stomach virus, prescribes some different medicines and leaves without taking a penny!! Yeah, like that would happen in the US!!

I can't help but remember the old adage: Careful what you wish for. . . This can't really be happening. I'm so happy I could cry! And this is only day four.

Here are some bits and pieces of how things are different here:

Toilets: There seems to be a major problem with all of the plumbing in the country. So they don't put toilet paper down the johns. Instead one puts used paper in a little trash bin that is in every bathroom, public or private, and it is emptied every day. At first glance it seems a horrible idea. But in reality, it's not so bad. Makes me realize that we put a lot of paper down the drain that doesn't need to go into our sewage. There is no smell, it's really pretty neat. Not a big deal at all.

Driving: The main highways are mostly two lane affairs, one each direction, with a substantial shoulder on each side. And that's where you drive, with most of you car on the shoulder!! Unless passing. It's scary as hell, but it works, I guess. When you pass a car you essentially drive down the middle of the road, over the double white line (which means the same here as it does in the States: don't pass. But who's paying attention to such small deals?) Buses, trucks, cars and maniacs all drive this way. It's a terror at night!

Trust: We stayed for 2 hours at an internet café in Itea (the next big town up the road) and at the end of the night we had a bill (including drinks and computer time for each of us) of over $20. When I tried to pay with a card, come to find out they don't take cards! While I fumbled for cash, the owner says, "Don't worry, you come back, pay tomorrow." Can you imagine that happening in the US, especially in L.A? What trusting place!

TV: All foreign movies are played in their original language with Greek subtitles. I bet Greeks learn to read quickly and early! It makes an interesting experience for me 'cause I am madly trying to read the Greek and still understand the movie.

Animals: Kittens everywhere, cute, adorable, wild and domestic. But no grown cats. Makes you wonder. - Surprise, folks don't curb their dogs, and I have yet to see one on a leash. HA. - Goats and sheep still have the right of way on the roads. But what worrys me the most are all the road signs warning of, not sheep, or goats, or even deer, but cattle! Loose cattle?

Stuff: Nothing works, everything is broken to some degree. The hand shower works, but has no holder to put it in, so you can't use both hands to shower. The tub is big and fancy, but has no drain stopper, so you can't fill it up. The romote for the TV has batteries held in with scotch tape and doesn't work. The remote for the heating system (yes, a remote for the heater) is out of batteries. The lights on the nightstand work but are focused so low you have be on the floor to read a book. The salt shaker has salt but also some other stuff floating around in it. The bottom drawer on the dresser opens but not the top one. There's a nifty soap holder in the shower, but if you put the soap on it, it slides right off. There's a paved road to the next paved road, but it ends 20 feet too soon. There's a curb, but no sidewalk. If you request cream for your coffee, you get whipped cream. And on and on it goes. It's a wonderful mess and what's wrong with whipped cream in your coffee anyway? To all of it, we say,"IG" - It's Greece!

Opposites: PM=AM and PP is PM. When writing out number amounts, "," = "." and "." = ",". Got that? A nod of the head is "no" and a sideways nod is "Yes".


Yesterday, Sunday, we did our first offical excursion into the country side. Please refer to your maps, the item listed as #2. So far we had only driven around the coast. Of couse that part is stunning, but I wanted to see what the interior of the country was like. Maybe there would be towns and villages that would be cheaper to live in, off the tourist track. Well we sure found "off the track"!! Oh my god! I was stunned by the interior! Mountains, mountains and more mountains. Vistas beyond belief. And roads that went straight up. I have never been so scared. There were no guard rails and nothing but trust between us and a thousand foot drop into history (NEWS FLASH: Two Americans were found dead at the base of Mt. Papadouploupoulos. The bodies had been there for over 2 years!) Alan says the car we're in, a Suzuki WagonR, is like a motorcycle with a cabin! It has tiny wheels and a small engine. He thinks the car rental agency did a switch-a-roo on us as we had expected a Hyundi Accent. Plus, it was raining! One turnoff (I admit, it was my idea to take a short cut) took us for miles up, up and up again the most horrible winding road through a town that had not a living soul in it, past olive trees and old graveyards for miles and miles and finally just ended. Dead. In a mud puddle. And I had thought that we would never see those heights and twists and turns again. HA. Back down we went.

The scenery was spectacular. It felt as though it had never been seem by a outsider. It was a path to nowhere. There were no cute little villages waiting to be discovered. Just more mountains and the occassional monestary. And rocks and ruins. But spectular rocks and ruins. It was a long drive and just taught us that the interior was not going to be the place for us.

Onward to the beach towns, and more dead end streets, but at least these were accompanied by laughs and "I told you so's!"

We had lunch in Nafpatkos, one of the cutest towns in the area. It is the Lepanto of legend where the Spanish finally pushed back the Ottoman Empire (I think that's the story, or is it where Marc Anthony was defeated by Augustus?) A lunch that was put off way to long and therefore scarfed down so fast we made ourselves sick! But the food was wonderful, a pork chop the size of the plate and tender as can be and chicken filets dripping with taste. And a beer that put Alan to sleep, so I drove back to Galaxidi.

The gate was closed at Villa Olympia so we had to use the intercom to be buzzed in. We were greeted by Tatiana, the main worker bee at the hotel. While Alan tottered off to bed (with the beginnings of his illness), Tatiana and I exchanged life stories. She's from a very rich Lithuanian family and had been pampered all her life to the point of madness. So she finally packed up and decided to see how the real world works and wound up in the Villa Olympia hotel cleaning toilets. She's a heck of a hard worker who's always smiling and helpful. She is the bright spot in the hotel as the owner's husband is a crochity old sort.

Today has been spent going back and forth to Galaxidi. Our hotel is about a half mile out of town, so we are kinda remote. But I am getting good at finding short cuts and backroads. I have been here four times today. The first time was around 9:00 PM (AM) in the morning, all the shop owners and restaurants were putting out all their stuff on the sidewalk, and they have a lot of stuff to put out. Then at 2:00PP (PM) they haul it all back in for the lunch break and then at 5:00PP it all comes out again and back again late at night! And for what? There's nobody here. No tourists, nobody. They do the same thing every single day, twice a day!

I am amazed at how clean the town is, and really all of Greece. The streets are spotless. It's like they knew the biggest critic in the world was coming and they cleaned it specially for me! No trash on the streets not even cigarette butts. You could eat off the rubble! How do they do it? Although they do have the annoying habit of taking tons of trash out into the countryside and dumping it off any available cliff! No bulky item pickup here.


Well, I finished my lunch, had a Greek coffee and the Phrmacy should be open again, it's 5:30PP. So I'm off to get Alan's prescription filled and check on my poor baby who has been in bed all day while I've danced around Galaxidi!

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October 17-18, 2003

Terry writes... It's Saturday, October 18 and I am sitting on the marble varenda of our timeshare in Galaxidi. We made it this far! This is where we will be living for the next week. Compared to our last experience, this is heaven! Although there is no stopper in the bathtub (for a bath) and no holder for the shower attachment, the TV remote doesn't work, the heater is suspect and the rugs are an odd combination of brown and green! But it is huge, has a marble veranda overlooking a (Grecian) pool, has a bedroom and a sitting room and lots of clean air! We just finished our room service breakfast ($10 for 2) which consisted of ham and cheese, pound cake, filtered coffee, french bread, butter, honey, 2 kinds of jam, grapes, apples and hard boiled eggs. We're off to see about an internet connection today in Itea (they don't even have computers in the office of this resort).

Alan stayed up late and tried to catch up on Thursday's events. He was also downloading the pictures from the camera. I have over 100 in the camera and I fell asleep listening to him muttering... "I can't get the computer to read them, they're not here, I can't find them in the system. The pictures have all disappeared." Oh great!

We slept pretty much through the night so I hope we're over this jet lag thing. It hit me pretty hard this time. Guess it's cause I'm not 18 any more.

Speaking of 18, I saw my ex-husband yesterday for the first time in probably 20 years. But more on that later.

We began Friday in Athens. The car was brought to the hotel by Alamo National. All went as well as could be expected with us being all too tired and confused and the agent not speaking English. The last thing I asked him was where I could find a list or directory of the rules of the road since there are so many signs that are different than ours and the drivers seems to be driving by a completely different set of rules than we go by in the US. He just laughed at us. Rules? We don't need no stinking rules!!

Then he gave us the keys and left us to our own devises! Big mistake. It's a zoo out there and there are no keepers! We have driven down a one way street (in the correct direction) and had cars and bikes come tearing down the road straight at us. Driving in Athens is like being in a crowded elevator: you get where you're going but only after being very intimate with many complete strangers.

First thing we had to accomplish was to get our MAC connectable to the internet. Turns out MACs are an unknown entity here. People roll their eyes and back away when we try to get help. But there is a MAC store in the middle of Athens, so we headed off to get their expert help. We had walked to it just after breakfast thinking that it would be open at 8:30 - 9 am like all the other stores in Athens, but of course, it wasn't. I asked neighboring stores what was up with the Apple store and they advised patience. 9:45 came and went and since we had to get back to pick up the car at 10, we hussled back to the hotel. Once we had the car we tried again, and this time the store was open but there was no parking! So Alan got out and dealt with the MAC problem while I drove round and round and round the block (It's virtually impossible to find a parking space anywhere in downtown Athens). It's unbelievable how narrow and busy the streets are.

And all that for nothing. Turns out the girl in the Apple stored didn't know any more than we did and they didn't sell any adapters. He was told to go find an electrical store and buy the correct adapter for Greece -- which we eventually did. But, for awhile at least, I got to drive in Athens again.

Even walking here is an experience. The sidewalks must have been straight and even at some time in the near past, but an earthquake hit and shook every tile out of place and broke every piece of cement ever poured, but left the buildings untouched. Amazing! If you think we have problems with sidewalks in LA, come to Athens! We would be having hizzy fits in Athens! And many of the few spots that aren't broken are made of marble, pure, real marble and are slippery as hell. There are also cigarette butts everyone.

Everybody smokes! The waiter bringing your food, has a cigarette dangling out of his mouth. Ashtrays are everywhere, remember them? We don't see them much in L.A. anymore. Rooms smell of cigarette smoke. It's like going back to the 50s. Cigarette burns on plastic and wooden surfaces. Old ladies smoking, young girls. They say a Greek breakfast consists of a cup of coffee and 2 cigarettes!

Speaking of food, the food has been great. It feels very healthy and is not too exciting. Nothing that scares me so far. No fried octopus has come my way, thank heavens.

My Greek language adventure has been a mind boggler. It comes and goes in my head and out my mouth of it's own accord and I am sometimes amazed I what I can say and understand and sometimes so tongue tied that I wonder that I ever dare open my mouth. When it's going easy it's hard for me to remember that Alan can understand what others are saying since it's oh so simple. Sometimes I'm so hooked on it that I speak Greek to Alan and expect him to answer. Sometimes I can have long complicated conversations and sometimes can't get a drink of water! It is such a mental thing.

Anyway, back to our trip. Our last trick was to get a different plug for the computer so that we can charge it in the next hotel room (and, hopefully, not repeat that same flash bang boom trick with the socket!). This time Alan drove around the block while I turned the trick of turning an American/UK adapter (which is what they sold us the first time) into an American/Greek adapter. Missiion accomplished and we headed out of town, fast!
Our first stop was to see my ex-husband and his wife, Aspasia, in a little town called Kineta which is on the road to Corinth. They have a stunning restaurant on the beach. I mean right on the beach. Must be 15 feet from the last table to the water. It is a truely beautiful setting. John, the ex, and his wife weren't there when we got there. It was completely deserted. It's off season now and a weekday to boot. Sofia was in charge, a wonderful lady who gave me a run down on what John's been up to lately: 2 packs and one bottle a day!! And from the pictures I showed her of when I knew him she said he weights a great deal more now! She made beefstake along with coffee and beer for us while we waited for John to show up.

Which he and his wife did in good time. His wife is a delight, beautiful and talented, she paints as well as running the entire restaurant. John is completely different in his looks, but the same character I knew way back when. It is so nice that the pain has ebbed and I can just enjoy the soul that he is. I wanted to stay much longer, but we had to get to Galaxidi at a decent time and had a long way to go. So we said our goodbyes with promises to keep in touch and I'm sure we will if and when we move permantently.

The trip across the top of the Pelopinessi was okay, but it didn't speak to me. The country is still hard and rocky although the mountains are a spectacular background to the numerous beach communities.

We planned to take the ferry at Rio to get to the other side of the Gulf of Corinth. So we drove down to the harbor where there was ship after ship lined up with loading ramps deployed, ready to leave for someplace. We knew we had to be careful because this is also where the ferries for Italy leave from. We spied a man directing traffic and went to ask him which is the correct ferry and instead of answering, he just yelled at us to get on the ship in front of him. But was this right one? No answer, just more hand waving. So, being of good German heritage we followed instructions and low and behold, half an hour later we found ourselves across waters, exactly where we should be. It only cost $7 for us and the car. The ferries will soon be dealt a serious blow as the government (with EU money) is building the world's largest suspension bridge over the Gulf. For now though, the ferry is a wonderful way to travel.

The North side of the gulf definitely did speak to me. It just felt like home. And though we were driving like a bat outta hell, the road was much narrower, and harder to negotiate. We didn't reach our hotel until after 8pm. But is was worth it. It is a delight place, especially the parts that work. And the beds are big and the mattrasses soft(er).

We'll tell you about today, tomorrow!

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October 16, 2003

Delta Compacta, Athens at Last & Attempted Self-electrocution!

Alan writes... International air travel is like camping... without the bugs. Sleeping is cramped and uncomfortable and you'll eat any food they plop in front of you regardless of how bad it tastes. The first leg of our flight (L.A. to N.Y.) was uneventful. We were able to get emergency exit seats to accomodate my 6' 4" frame and arrived into JFK 30 minutes early. But, because the Delta agent arrived at the JFK/NY gate booth late we missed getting the deeper seats and ended up stuck in the back row with seats that didn't recline. Words can't describe how uncomfortable this was for 10 hours. Imagine two grown adults trying to sleep in the back seat of a VW Beetle and you'll pretty much get the picture.

We arrived in Athens around 10:00 am today. Thanks to Panos, a nice Greek man we met at the bus stop at the airport, we made it to the correct bus that took us to the beginning of the metro. We were advised not to try to pick up our rental car at the airport and drive into Athens and with the reputation of Greek cab drivers the bus is about the only option. The new Athens airport is located far out of the town center to the south-east. It's very spacious and clean but there is absolutely nothing in the way of scenic beauty. The road from the airport is new and very much like high-speed roadways in the US - as far as it goes. Some of the road is toll-way and the scenery is rather barren for the first several miles as not much as been built in the area. Road signs are in both Greek and English on this newly built strecth of road and there are large billboards all over the landscape.

Once off the tollway we hit a more inner-city style roadway that began to give us a hint of how Athens was going to look. Can you say "rubble?" Athens needs a sign on the front door exclaiming "Open During Remodeling. Pardon our dust." Construction, destruction, and repair seems to be going on everywhere. Piles of brick and debris appear on almost every block. Traffic congestion increased the closer we got to the subway but, once there, we found the metro to be clean and effecient on our ride into the center of Athens.

It was about 11:30 am and the metro filled up with each stop and was pretty jammed by the time we made our exit at Omonia Square, a central hub of the city with roads branching out from the round-a-bout in at least a half-dozen directions. The day was overcast so it was hard to get our barrings when we came out of the metro stop. We knew our hotel was north and slightly west but couldn't tell north from south. We finally found a couple of policemen on one corner and were pointed the right direction.

Athens has a reputation is being one of, if not the most, congested and polluted cities in Europe. Believe me when I say that is not an exaggeration in my view. The smell of deisel fuel abounds, especially in the central area where our hotel is located. The sidewalks present dangerous obsticals at almost every turn and one must be alert at all times for holes, broken pieces of concrete and unfinished construction jobs.

Pedestrians do NOT, I repeat, do NOT, have the right-away in Greece but they cross against the light and dodge traffic all the time. Traffic is constant and many streets are one-way. We're looking forward to Friday when we can get our rental car and head out to more serine parts of the country.

Our hotel room reminds me of what a $10 per night South Chicago flop-house might be like if it were tidy and well kept. Don't get me wrong, the hotel itself, while being in a very old building, seems clean and the staff is courteous and helpful. But, the room is quite small as is the bath. The tub resembles a large laundry basin just big enough for me to sit down in. It has a little seat and a hand-held shower but no shower-curtain.

The view from our third-floor room overlooks a construction site (see photo), an alley and several other unfinished buildings that tower above. Not a 5-star hotel but it will suffice for tonight.

We wanted to get on a local time schedule as soon as possible so, after a quick shower to wash off the last 20 hours of travel dust, we decided to head out for a late lunch. Along the way we stopped at a local electronics store to get an adapter to convert the 220 current to 110 for the laptop. Turns out the set I bought for the Mac didn't seem to have everything we need to make a successful connection.


From there is was just a quick metro trip from Omonia two stops to Monostrakis. We strolled through the Plaka which is at the foot of the Acropolis. The area is full of little streets and alleys with a plethora of vendors and shops in a flea market atmosphere, as well as numerous outdoor tavernas. We stopped at a little place called the "The 5 Brothers" and had a delightful lunch of Chicken Souvlikis (kabob with rice and, of all things, French fries), Pasttissio (a noodle and beef lasagna) and a Greek salad. I topped it off with a nice cold draft and we enjoyed the first real pleasant and relaxing time since we left Los Angeles some 20 hours earlier.

We returned to our hotel around 5:00 pm and pretty much passed out. We'd hoped to sleep untill morning but instead woke around 9:00 pm. I thought I'd charge up our laptop and tried to use the new adapter we had bought earlier in the day. It was then we noticed the plugs on the adapter (Greece uses a two-prong system) were too large for the holes in the wall plate. We took for granted that the salesman at the electronics shop had given us the correct adapter for Greece so I tried another wall socket located near the bathroom door. That one had three holes of equal size but two of them matched perfectly with the prongs on the adapter. I pluged the surge protecter we had purchased in Los Angeles into the female side of the adapter and began to insert the setup into the wall socket. Big mistake! Zap, flash, pop! Our room, the entire third floor and, from what we could tell, the whole hotel went dark. There was yelling in the hall as guests piled out of their rooms to ask what was going on. We stayed mum, of course. Who wants to have dozens of angry tourists pointing fingers? Well, what would you do?

Apparently management changed a fuse and lights were restored after a few minutes. We went to bed.

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October 15, 2003

Terry writes...It's 9:30 PM Athens time, 11:00 AM Los Angeles time, and I have no idea what time it is here. We're on the plane on the way to New York, somewhere over Missouri is my best guess. We've only been on the plane for three hours, with two more to go, but it feels like 3 days.

Tuesday we spent repacking and cleaning house. I tried to sleep from 3 in the afternoon to nine at night because that would be nighttime in Greece and I wanted to start adapting as early as possible. Boy, it is hard sleep for more than just a nap's worth. I would sleep for a half hour and then lay there for 2. It's a very tiresome way to spend 6 hours. But I did it! Then from 9PM to 4AM we piddled and worried and changed the sheets and folded laundry. We finally walked down to Denny's at 2AM and got breakfast.

Primetime picked us up and delivered us very efficiently to the airport and we got through all the check in stuff with a minimum amount of pain. But the lack of sleep hit us, especially Alan, just before we boarded this LA-NY leg of our trip. So he's been taking cat naps as he can, but I am determined to stay awake until the NY-Athens leg, because that puts me in sync with Athens. I thought maybe the inflight movie would help keep me awake, but I refuse to watch Charlie's Angels Dumbed Down or whatever their latest is called. Instead I've been reading Greek grammar and walking the isles like a waif. I want so badly to just close my eyes for just a few minutes. Not to sleep, honest, just to rest them. Just a few seconds,

But I'm going to stick it out and as soon as we board the flight to Athens, it will be midnight Greek time, I'm going to be out like at light!

I hope.

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October 13, 2003

Terry writes...Well, we've repacked yet again. If you remember, Alan bought the world's largest suitcase about a week ago in our continuing tradition of "new trip-new luggage." But fully packed, it can't be picked up. So we are back to two little rolly suitcases. For me, repacking is fun (must be some relation to shopping for women). For Alan it is just another reminder that he will soon be way way up in the air with no net.

Our plumbing problems have gone from, "Just give it time, it will be fine." to "Oh my god, what's all that in the bathtub?" So the plumber has been called for, yet again, on an emergency basis.

The strike in Athens threatens to go on and on. They even did a piece on it on The World (KPCC 89.3FM) this morning. What I can't find out is if the Metro and the buses are working, I know the taxis are out.

I just started reviewing the book I used to learn Greek over thirty years ago. Thirty years!! It's still a good primer.

Tonight will be the last time we sleep in our bed. Although we don't leave until 4am on Wednesday morning, I don't think I'll be sleeping that night. I'll be surprised if I even sleep tonight!

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October 11, 2003

Terry writes...You would think I had never traveled out side of the country before, I am in such a tither!


But I have. I have been to England, France, Germany, Spain, Austria, Italy, Belgium, Yugoslavia and even Turkey. I should be over this giddiness by now. But I'm not! I'm excited as a kid 4 days before Xmas.

The Recall election was a nice break in the wait. The house was filled to the brim during the day. And it was a long day: 6:30 am to 9:00 pm and then half of the next day cleaning the carpet. I watched people walk into the house and then wipe their shoes on the carpet!! At least 800 people tramped through the livingroom on Tuesday. The voting ritual sure took my mind off the travel plans for a while.

Alan has been anxioius to get a laptop that we could take with us so that he could do his work while we are in Greece. He manages a couple of web sites and one of the adventures will be trying to find internet connection in some of the areas in Greece that we will be visiting. If there isn't good, fast internet connection available we can't move there.

So after much fiddling around, he decided to just rent a good MAC G4 PowerBook laptop. We also went shopping to get all the accessories it will need. It's kinda like having a new car and you go out and get new mirrors, steering wheel covers, etc. We got an itty bitty mouse and a special little lap tray (that weighs way too much, but it's so cute). Also got an adaptor to use the laptop in the car (so I can keep you all up to date) and on the plane (so Alan can listen to his Greek language CDs and I can watch Never On Sunday yet again).

Did I mention that I finally got in touch with my ex husband in Greece? What happened to the hero I married when I was 17 (and divorced at 22)? He said he smokes two packs and drinks a bottle of whiskey every day. He has a taverna off the highway from Athens to Corinth and we will be stopping to see him on our first day on the road (Friday) probably for lunch. His taverna is called Captain John's and is right on the beach in a small town called Kineta. His voice sounds like Anthony Quinn's. I wonder what he'll look like, I haven't seen him in about 20 years. Don't worry, I'll take plenty of pictures!

Of course, everything that can go wrong is. . . The plumbing has backed up and threatened to be a major repair job. The California State Property tax bill arrived. Whoa boy. Money that was expected to come in, hasn't. And I haven't lost all the weight I wanted to have lost by the time we go.

No news on the strike in Athens. I'm hoping that if it is still a big deal that we will find out in time to make plans to go around it. But if not, if we wind up right in the middle, what fun!

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October 06, 2003

Terry writes... Our trip is being overshadowed right now by the California recall election. We are hosting the election in our livingroom, as we have done for over 15 years. Most of the time we have about 300 people show up to vote. This time I predict that we will see 2000 people tramp through our (not very big) living room. The election is tomorrow and today we will be moving furniture and cleaning house. Not my favorite activities. We need to get 8 polling stations in the space where there are usually only 4. The election goes from 7am to 8pm. Quite a long day!

As far as our move/trip, things are rolling along. Last Friday our friend Mavis took us to Venice Beach to look for new luggage. It seems that every time we go on a trip, Alan likes to have new containers. I was all packed in our two rollie suitcases that Chris and I used on our last trip. But Alan would rather have one big rollie and also wants a separate backpack outfitted to hold the laptop. So we had an adventure down at Venice Beach. Alan found what he wanted in the big rollie department, and when we came home we repacked everything and stored away the two old rollies. But he still doesn't have his backpack, so we are going off today to get THE backpack for the laptop and dog food for Skippy and Sheba.

A piece of good news is that we have a house sitter for the duration! The dogs are so happy. Sheba and Skippy were not looking very happy when we took them to our friend's houses as a test of how they would behave if we left them there while we were gone. Skippy looked pathetic and Sheba just howled the whole time. So now they can stay in their own home with all the old familiaer smells. It's a great feeling to know that the house will be looked after and kept alive while we're gone. Thanks to Phil and Pat.

Just got a call from a friend telling us that there is a nationwide strike going on in Greece. Oh great! Wonder what that will do to our trip? We leave in 9 days!! 9 days!!!

By the way, my son, Chris, and his girlfriend, Kristi, have both found jobs in South Dekota. So their lives should be looking up when steady paychecks start flowing in!

More books on learning Greek have arrived from Amazon, but they turned out to be on Ancient Greek! So now I have even more useless books to deal with! But since I have around 8 books on Modern Greek, I guess I shouldn't complain.

I am still hunting and pecking on the net to see if I can figure out how we can become EU citizens! If anyone knows anything about this subject, please let me know. I have been flirting with Bulgaria lately, but Alan has drawn the line at moving to Bulgaria and Albania is definitely out of the question! I did find out that Bulgaria will give full citizenship to any orphaned children. How decent of them!

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October 01, 2003

Alan writes... Well, Terry says I need to write something or the site will get boring. Yeah, that'll help.

Okay, here goes; Getting prepared and planning for trips like this (any trip, actually) gets me pretty anxious. I'm not a big fan of air travel, I'm too much of a control freak. I don't ride roller coasters and I don't like being a passenger in a car. I also prefer to be packed and ready for the trip at least two weeks in advance and I'm always ready to get to the airport 24 hours early. I know, therapy is in order. Suffice to say that going on a trip with me is not particulary fun for a person who likes to "wing it." Oh, say, somebody like my wife, for example.

Terry went to London with our son, Chris, about four or five years ago. They went with no hotel reservations!! That would freak me out but Terry likes the "adventure" of it. "It's when things go wrong that you creat the best memories," she says. Okay, I understand that but why increase the risk of disaster? I don't know, it's something in my genetic makeup, I guess -- gotta have a plan!

So, we've been planning for months now. Every since you-know-who came up with the idea of Greece it's been books, maps, internet, you name it. I had to make sure we had the car rental completed and hotel bookings for our days between time-share resorts reserved in August. And, I have to admit, Terry's doing her part, too, this time. She's been on the travel sites, took care of the airfare, and has worked out our itinerary for each day. She's even got me learning some basic Greek and her nose is constantly in the phrase book, even when we're out for a walk in the neighborhood.

What we don't know about, for sure anyway, are the ferries. Some of the taveling about will require ferry travel and getting any type of schedule for where we need to go appears to be a well kept secret. That will be an adventure to Terry's liking, I bet.

Another anxiety of mine (yes, I have more - public speaking, for example) revolves around driving in Greece. Now, I consider myself a pretty good driver (well, who doesn't) and after years of dealing with Los Angeles traffic (the Nation's worst according to a recent poll) I feel somewhat confident driving just about anything, anywhere. I've driven in England -- on the wrong side of the road. No, I mean "the wrong side of their road (Almost killed us coming out of a gas station!). It's the other guy I worry about. We've read that Greece has the worst record in Europe for deaths from traffic accidents, that as soon as a Greek gets behind the wheel he turns into a rally driver, dodging in-and-out of traffic, passing on the outside of a high-mountain curve (with no guardrails), etc.

Oh, well, what's wrong with adding a little death-defying danger into your life, eh?

We're off tomorrow to shop for a nice laptop backpack at a cheap price and things are starting to fall into place nice and early. Now, if I could just finish packing.

Okay, honey, how was that?

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September 26, 2003

Terry writes... We just had our 21st wedding anniversary yesterday! Time sure flies when you're having fun! We were going to do something to celebrate, but since we're both on diets, our choices were limited!

Also had a call from our son Chris yesterday. He was sick for a few days but now he's better and back to looking for a job! I remember being oh so young and on my own. Walking the pavement in 100 degree heat, going from office to office asking if they had any jobs. I recall one day wearing a tight yellow suit and high heel yellow shoes which would sink 2 inches into the hot asphalt with each step. Those poor kids. No jobs and sleeping on the sofa in her mother's living room. Ah, youth.

I ordered a bunch of books from Amazon the other day (don't tell Alan) and one of them came in today: The Colossus of Maroussi by Henry Miller. It's a delight and I should be through it in a day or two. He wrote about visiting Greece in 1941. One of his first stops is Corfu! Just think, that's before WWII!! But it's as bright and fresh as if it were written today


Alan is reading This Way to Paradise by Willard Manus as well as Culture Shock by Clive Rawlins (see pix). In This Way to Paradise Will tells of his experience living in Lindos on the Island of Rhodes for 30-something years. I had met Will and his wife, Mavis, in Lindos around 1973 and have just recently reconnected with them here in Los Angeles. What a joy to find them again. They are truly gentle, loving people!

We went off to Circuit City today and got a Tivo system! Turns out one of Alan's main concerns about going on a long trip, besides work, is missing the few TV shows he has become "hooked" on, like West Wing and ER. So now the poor man can have his cake and eat it too. Well, not really cake, we're on Atkins! But, I'm sure we're going to be eating a lot of tuna sandwiches to make up for this little extravagance!

Alan writes... Hey, Tivo is, like, so frigg'n cool you can't belive it. I'm totally stoked!!

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September 23, 2003

Terry writes... 22 days until we leave for our first scouting expedition to Greece. I have a map which is all marked out with where we should go each day. The general plan is to stay one week each in two different areas and try to pick a place for us to settle in when we move there for good. One area is Sterea Ellada (Southern mainland) and the other is Epiros/Corfu (Western coast)

Why these two regions? Well, I had to narrow it down somehow. I knew that I wanted cooler weather, but there was still too much left to pick from. So I asked Alan if he wanted the East or the West coast, and he said the West because he wanted to be as far away as possible from the troubles in Iraq.

A cousin of a friend said that the city of Parga, on the west coast of northern Greece was a wonderful place. I found it on the net and it looks very nice, but too crowded and expensive. So I started looking at the area in the western hill country close to Parga. I don't care if we're close to the sea anyway. That seems like a luxury that we can't afford anyway. Epiros, the mountains and hills beyond Parga, looks wild and old and temperate. So that is where I started to fantasize about having a house. By the way, Epiros is right next to the Albanian border, which adds a whole other interest level to the area

I didn't want an island, they are mostly too hot and barren for my tastes anyway, not to mention expensive and touristy. But the only timeshare exchange I could get put us on the island of Corfu for one week, so we will be looking at it as well as the hills of Epiros.

My other timeshare week put us in Galaxidi. I had never thought about this region, but when I start looking at the map I can see great potential. It's just across the bay from the main road to Athens. Which would mean a 2 hour trip instead of a 6 hour trip from Parga/Corfu. It has cool mountains above interesting coastal towns. Nafpatkos looks like a real gem with a Venetian harbor built in the 1600's (or there abouts). Even the north part of the Peloponissos has started to look pretty interesting in the last few days.

A lot of territory to cover in just two weeks.

Our trip has a few goals:

1. To see if we like the general idea. This is more, I think, an issue with Alan. I know that I love Europe and would live anywhere at all. But Greece is especially easy for me. Alan is a mid-western boy who thinks going into Hollywood is an exotic trip.
2. See if the economy would be something we could afford. Can we live there on a pittance? Can we plan to retire there and live better than we would in the States?
3. Find a general area that we like. Then when we came back, we would look for an apartment to rent while we look for a house to rent, while we look for a house to maybe buy. Do we like the lands beyond Parga, the island of Corfu, the hills of the Peloponissos, or area above Nafpatkos?
4. Can Alan do his web work from a foreign country. Do they have the connections, services, hardware, software, etc. in the more backwater areas?
5. And maybe the fact that we haven't had a vacation in five years, and certainly not one with just the two of us in over 20 years.

So here's my wish list:

• Green country-side, no rock strewn landscapes for me. I want trees and moss!
• Close to water, like a river or a lake.
• Great plumbing, simple request one would think.
• No mosquitoes. That's probably impossible, but worth adding to the list.
• Quiet, which means we probably won't be living in a city of any size. Probably a hill top hideaway.
• Cheap daily expenses. I want a farmers' market instead of a supermarket.
• Greekiness. I'm don't want to live in an American enclave.
• Great internet connection.

Is this too much to ask for?

Now we're still in the planning, packing and dreaming stage! Which I think is the best part of any trip!

Just so you know, Alan is a plan ahead kinda guy and I'm the "let the chips fall where they may" one. So we shall see, what we shall see.

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