It's All Greek to Us

Truly, it is. After our last post we made our way to Athens, the cradle of Western civilization. Navigating Greece presents many challenges, since street signs and business names tend to look like a traffic jam of fraternity and sorority monikers piled atop each other. Luckily, as we found in Turkey, Greek public transport is easy to navigate and quite efficient, so we got around with few hitches. The scale and hubbub of Athens was a bit overwhelming, as most 4 million person cities are. We spent a long day touring the antiquities, the highlight being the world-renowned Acropolis. Set on one of the highest hills in the city, it affords sweeping views of the sprawling city. Crowned by the marble skeleton of the Parthenon, even the hefty admission fee and throng of cruise ship patrons could not dim the majesty of this historic place.






The following day, with legs tired of pounding cobblestones, we caught a ferry to the Greek isle of Mykonos. With comic predictability, we quickly became lost in the labyrinth of alleys leading into town as we tried to find our well-hidden lodging. We spent the next two days simmering on the pebble beaches and braving the chilly Aegean. Sadly, we didn't notice any immediate weight loss, even though we stuck religiously to a strict Mediterranean diet (98% gyros, 2% sand and sunblock). We will stay focused and keep trying.















With some beach time under our ever-expanding belts, we made for the mainland again to find some more active pursuits. Our next destination was Delphi, which the ancient Greeks regarded as the center of the world. There we visited the ruins of the multitude of treasuries erected to house the heaps of treasure offered to the Delphic Oracle. This famed seer set much of the course of Greek history, offering the advice that started wars, founded cities, and initiated marriages. Think of it as a personalized (and expensive) fortune cookie, without the bland cookie portion.













From Delphi, we headed north to the city of Kalambaka. The town lies in the shadow of the area's main attraction - the monasteries of Meteora. These operational 15th century monasteries are perched atop sheer pinnacles of rock, where the monks of that age sought refuge from the marauding Turks. We spent a day hiking to four of these impressive buildings. Thankfully they are equipped with stairs these days, since the monks traditionally entered by way of rope nets raised by hand.

Much of Greek history revolves around various deities and this was certainly the case at our next destination. After the intercity bus dropped us off on the shoulder of the six lane highway, we trudged and (Mom, stop reading) hitchhiked our way to the town of Litochoro. The town lies at the foot of Mt. Olympus, the home of the Gods in Greek Mythology. We spent two days ascending the 10,000 foot peak, with a comfortable overnight in the bunkhouse of a mountaineering refuge. The hike was steep and challenging and rewarded us with expansive mountain views on three sides. Sadly, we didn't spot any Greek Gods, but it's fair to say that standing above the clouds on the highest point in Greece was a religious experience.





















Besides the impressive sights, a very rewarding piece of our sojourn in Greece has been the company of our fellow travelers. We've been blessed with good company at nearly every stop and appreciate the Aussies who lent us the computer, the Canadians who lent us their plastic pig dice game, the other Canadian who lent us his good hitchhiking karma, the Israelis and Dutch who gave us rides, and the Yankees who loaned us their guidebook. We are getting better at navigating the consistent unknown and feel blessed to experience all that we have.

See you soon somewhere north!!


P.S. - We are having a blast exploring new places and cultures and want for little. There are a few select things that we miss from home, as follows: 1) Spicy Tex-Mex and ice-cold Lone Star with riddle caps, 2) College football, especially since the Badgers and Longhorns are undefeated and marching towards an inevitable clash in the national title game, 3) Our family and friends (if you're reading this, that's probably you).