DAY 80

Thursday 29 September 2011

We had a slow day of hanging out at the beach and doing computer stuff (mostly, catching up and slightly redesigning the blog site), some swimming in the calm, warm, gorgeous green Adriatic -- our first dip in the Greek-side Adriatic, after so much enjoyment of it in Croatia and also Montenegro. We ordered a cappuccino, a spaghetti and another 'cino, all the while taking in the unending stretch of sea before us, but hey, sacrifices must be made. (Joking, but we do count our Euros pretty carefully, or we wouldn't be making this trip at all.) The Kentrikon, a bit north of Igoumenitsa, was one of the classiest beach bars we'd encountered -- restrooms alone could win design awards. The  slow day also gave Nicole a chance to rest her poor pink eye, which seemed already to be improved, thanks to pharmacist Vasilis.

The weather was a major factor for us every day. We knew we'd soon be dealing with colder and colder  weatheras we drove north in Italy toward the Alps, and that we would encounter some challenges, until we got further south (Morocco, we were hoping) where the weather was similar to good old Santa Monica. But where we were was gorgeous. Charles had to shed jeans for shorts and flip flops. The last three days on Ikaria were, just as David predicted, the beginning of winter, the end of beach days. Sleeping in the van was more difficult in warm weather, especially when there were mosquitoes about (nearly everywhere); you couldn't open windows and it got pretty steamy. We dedicated our imaginations to creating some kind of screen made out of mosquito netting, not easy with the van's set of sliding doors and windows that didn't open. We vowed to prevail though. Those mosquitoes didn't have a chance, especially against lightening quick and ruthless killers like Nicole and Dian.

Finally we headed into town for a bite before having to validate our ferry tickets. As we cruised the short main street, we were driving opposite a demonstration on the other side, a peaceful, organized march, it seemed, most likely about the Greek economy. Not wanting to leave our van in the area, we grabbed some souvlaki pitas, ate them in the car and headed for the port.

Then began the long, not-funny show. Let's just say this ferry departure was, in comparison to the one out of and back to Pireus/Athens, like the difference between the Marines and the Cub Scouts. Maybe they're all like this out of Igoumenitsa, but we definitely recommend avoiding the company Endeavor for your sailing displeasure. With three different inquiries at their office that night and one the day before and three different arrival/departure schedule electronic signs posted inside and out at the port office, not one single piece of information agreed with any of the others. Where the loaders at Pireus were frantic yellers and arm-wavers to get the vehicles on and off, the ones at Igoumenitsa were doing it two at a time, chatting with customers and their co-workers, not even noticing when there was a huge gap. Dian and Nicole waited for almost an hour in line, arms loaded with sleeping bags, pillows, water bottles etc, then got hassled for their passports (only one other person was...hmmmm) and by the time they took off, the boat was four hours late.

The inside looked like a disaster movie, with bodies literally everywhere, on every available floor space, trying to settle in for a long night's passage (seven hours). Nicole and Dian cleverly found a nook outside but with no exposure to cool sea air that had a wicker bench to sleep under, but it was a little too clever: Charles couldn't find them when he finally got on board with the van and he and Dian wandered the decks for 45 minutes, unable to locate each other while Nicole stayed at "the fort" and tried not to worry until finally a cell phone message went through and did the trick of reuniting the Happy Trails Gang.

Sleeping on the ferry

DAY 79

Wednesday 28 September 2011

We slept soundly in our snug little space behind the bamboo break at Camp Chrissa. The view from the camp restaurant terrace was stunning: the valley below Delphi was carpeted with olive trees, so many it's truly hard to describe, with the sea beyond.

After showers and some tinkering with our engine, we headed down the hill to the little town of Nafpaktos where we found Vasilis a young pharmacist who gave us an eye medicine for Nicole’s second bout with pink eye. He wasn't too hard on the eyes himself, and when we started talking about music he ran back to the storage room and grabbed his guitar to show us. "I am never without it" he said. Digs the blues. When asked why Nicole might be susceptible he replied that some people are sensitive to the sea water in their eyes and maybe goggles would help. We thanked him and headed on to the ferry port of Igoumenitsa.

We had a lovely picnic lunch of leftover spaghetti and bread at a coastal goat herders shack, or just below it near the water. We then continued on over the spectacular cliffs overlooking an endless carpet of deep blue before entering the harbor. We checked to see when our ferry would be coming in the next evening and after learning that it was indeed scheduled for the time we had been told, we went in search of a campsite. We briefly chatted with a German backpacker who echoed our sentiments when she said,”I’ve been traveling with my boyfriend whom I thought I knew before but now I know him REALLY well.”

The beach just outside of town was gorgeous, and the birds must have been feasting on mosquitoes because they were swooping into a thicket of trees and making an awful racket. We chose a free camping space close to a beach bar and after another home-cooked dinner we went to bed. Almost. The “SWAT team” (pun intended) had to finish off a few intruders, then we fell asleep.

DAY 78

Tuesday 27 September 2011

We awoke early at our Piraeus Port homestead in the hopes of finding a possible ticket seller for our ferry to Brindisi, Italy. The man we talked to was very helpful and we talked about the characteristics of different parts of Greece and its islands. He agreed that Ikaria was somewhat of a black sheep for various reasons, but mostly because of its resistance to cater to tourists and outsiders.

We bought our ferry tickets and drove to the National Archaeological museum. Soldiers with large guns were stationed at all four corners of the block where the museum was located, and when we asked a local she said, "It is terrible for us here right now, but the museum is safe."

We don't need to go into detail about how incredible it was, but one can imagine, for a country with such rich history, it was a spectacular collection. Even better was that we happened to go on the museum's free day!

Reaching out to touch history

After a healthy 3 hours of looking we decided to lunch in the museum cafe. Nicole got a spinach pastry and Charles and Dian each got a large square of ham, cheese and hot dog pizza. We looked around the museum a little more (Nicole had to make sure she had seen every single room, admittedly quite a feat), then we drove out of Athens and headed for Delphi.

It was a gorgeous drive up mountains that were so big people skied on them in the winter. Their surrounding towns were sweet with an "Alpine Village" feel.

Street art

Coming upon Delphi, we admit sheepishly that, because of the fleeting daylight we whizzed right by the ancient ruins of The Oracle. But the show must go on!

We had three possible camps circled from our Camping International booklet, and cringed when we saw signs for all three saying "Swimming Pool" -- a sure sign of chi-chi clientele and prices. We were right, the grounds were well cared for and expensive-looking, almost too much for what one would expect of a campground, and the price followed suit. Even though the man at the front desk feigned any knowledge of how the other camps were priced, we found them and checked them both out.

Camp Chrissa, the last one we saw, was where we stayed. Cheapest price of the three, too. It was that night that we hauled out our pots and pans and gas burner, and had our FIRST HOME-COOKED MEAL (without the use of a camp kitchen)! Spaghetti with fresh, homemade tomato sauce (chopped tomatoes, paprika sauce and David's homemade sun dried tomatoes, garlic, basil, oregano and olive oil mix, salad and bread. (Is your mouth watering yet?)

Charles read some more of Mark Twain's offshoot of Puddn'head Wilson entitled Those Extraordinary Twins, and we conked out.

DAY 77

Monday 26 September 2011

Nicole and Charles set off first thing on two missions. One, stop by the ferry company HQ to make certain we didn't get double-charged because of the credit card booking. We won't give you the gory details of that encounter, just suffice it to say that bureaucracy combined with lazy and/or untrained employees everywhere is a no-win situation. Mission Two, easy: cereal and milk at the Lidl, good old Lidls, we love 'em, smallish low-priced German supermarkets all over Europe (9000+! even 17 locations on Greek islands!)

Then we were off for the Acropolis, starting at the Plaka, the big shopping/restaurant area surrounding that prominent hill thrust up in the middle of sprawling Athens. We found a perfect (though illegal) parking space -- see how much we've learned about European ways? -- and looked around a bit then headed for our main destination. You see every nationality at the Acropolis, truly one of the world's most well-known and awe-inspiring sights. Charles got comped as a journalist, Nicole as under-19, so we had to buy only one ticket, 7 Euros/10 bucks, not bad for a Wonder of the World, not to mention the stunning 360 view of the city and harbor and surrounding mountains from up there.

We paused for a snack on the steps, with the old columns and structures looming overhead, and lunch on the way down. We're not going to go into much detail about the site -- you really have to be there to get the impact but hopefully Nicole's photos will give you an idea.

Much restoration was taking place up there -- interesting to see an ancient marble block hoisted up by winch with a restorer brushing it gently all around. There were ancient pieces everywhere -- what a puzzle.

It helped of course to know some history, like how the Parthenon was nearly comletely demolished. One thing that had always saddened Charles, since he learned of it on his last visit, was that the gorgeous Parthenon was almost intact from antiquity until mid-19th Century, when the Turks in one of those stupid wars no one even knows what it was about 20 years later, stored their ammunition in the revered structure, and when an explosive detonated it, down came most of that classic structure, that truly belonged to the world. Yes, war is always obscene, and nearly always really stupid.

After wandering around up top for several hours and getting our fill, we proceded to find an electronics store, and located two huge ones, four stories each, within a block of each other. We scored the camera battery charger we needed but not the cig lighter adapter, but the best part was: free bottled water, ice cold, at one store, Public, and free coffee and cookies at Plasio -- allll right! Another bonus, besides the 4th-floor view of Syntagma Square from Public, was their extensive book section, with quite a few books in English. We didnt find our sought-after copy of Mark Twain's The Innocents Abroad (his journal of his European travels), but did score a nice hard-bound copy of Don Quixote for our next family reading, and for Nicole, Dracula. On the way there we popped into a couple of the 5-star hotels on the main square, just for fun, and an exquisite fancy fancy ladies' room experience at the Hotel Grande Britagne.

We stopped at the Parliament building to watch the impressive changing of the guard -- some ancient pottery we'd seen with high-steppers gave a clue as to the cultural antecedents of this impressive ritual performed in old-style military uniforms (with skirts and big yarn balls on the toes -- but we don't advise making fun of these dudes, as elite a soldier here as the Marines at Arlington).

On the way back through the plaka we found a great scarf from Thessaloniki, for Dian and Nicole to share. We took naps back at our car, probably a mistake, because then when we headed out to find a good place for the night near the National Archaeological Museum, the next day's destination, we got a bit lost, and it got dark, and it turned into a nightmare of narrow streets crowded with people with barely enough room for our van to fit through. Finally we gave up and headed back to the port and our old safe parking space in the shadow of the huge ferries. Home is where.... the van is. It was only later that we learned they had big riots in Athens that day, over the new government austerity measures. We never saw anything.

DAY 76

Sunday 25 September 2011

We packed and loaded our van "Clifford" for the ferry back to Athens. (Too bad we later realized we left some bedding on the wall and it had fallen down - out of sight.) Robyn and David loaded us with fresh wild oregano from the hillside, basil and dill from the garden and home canned plum marmelade, sun dried tomatoes and figs and Nicole's homemade apple sauce. We had tuna sandwiches for the boat trip too. We played a little more music including our original, "Food and Love" which goes a little something like this:
                                 

                                 E                                              A                             E

Two people had some cats in the yard and they were hungry

                                                              B  A        E            B  A        E

                                                       For food and love, for food and love.
                                  A                                          E           B                                    E
                                  When they grew strong and healthy, they were so happy and gay
                                    A                                    E            Gb                                     B
                                   Then they grew rich and wealthy, that's what the old people say.
                                      E                                                 A                            E 
                                     Four Ikarian cats came from the wild and they were hungry
                                                               B  A        E           B  A        E
                                                        For food and love, for food and love.


With two hours till departure we hopped into their car for a sightseeing jaunt up to the reservoir and desolate landscape that many Ikarians hid in from marauding pirates back in the day. Dian kept looking for dracmas in the chinks of walls but to no avail. She did, however, find a cool piece of glass (probably ancient) from a castle ruin site. Robyn did one last Body Talk video with Charles as cameraman and Nicole as "patient."

At 4:30 it was time to drive to the ferry. We stopped and purchased a gas burner, so we could cook some of our meals, finally. As we pulled out of the harbor our hosts unfurled a giant red scarf and waved it till we were just a smudge on the horizon. One exciting moment occurred when Charles' prized "Jamaica" baseball cap flew off in the wind and miraculously landed on the deck below then was gallantly returned to him by a fellow passenger. We all hunkered down in the lounge and after three Fantas, dozed off. At midnight we pulled into Piraeus Port and drove our van to the same place we'd slept at before.

DAY 75

Saturday 24 September 2011

The fact that it was our last full day on Ikaria hung heavy on our hearts, but we did well to extinguish the anguish by taking full advantage of the day, going sightseeing, swimming and more. We bade a final farewell to the beautiful island's waters by spending a good part of the morning on Robyn and David's favorite beach, which we had all to ourselves because it was the slow season.

David surprised us all with ice cream bars which served as a great pick-me-up, and we returned to their place for the rest of the day. This consisted of packing, Dian, Nicole and Robyn recording their original song "Food and Love," planting some carnations "liberated" from the rock church and succulents in the Garden of Artemisia and Nikoletta, and a massage for Robyn from Nicole.

For dinner Charles and David walked into town to get sticks and pita-wrapped sticks while Robyn made fantastic french fries from the potatoes in the garden. Although Dian and Nicole were too tired to participate, the rest played Boggle late into the night.

DAY 74

Friday 23 September 2011

We gathered up our towels and drove down to the beach where we swam (David 1200 strokes) and had a nice relaxing couple of hours in the sun. Since we were hungry, we stopped to get kebab sticks, then headed up to a famous Ikarian church built out of two enormous boulders.

The place was empty, but had a peaceful feeling. We had to stoop to get through the cave-like entrance to the interior where the Byzantine artwork was surprisingly lustrous. Much of the surrounding area was dense pine, which reminded us of the high volume of rainfall and natural water on Ikaria.

Outside the church

We headed home where Dian finished reading Siddartha, Nicole watered the plants, and Charles gazed at his Communist artifacts.

Driving home

DAY 73

Thursday 22 September 2011

The Big Question: what would the van look like when Charles picked it up? Would Fanouri follow through, do the right thing? Could he do the right thing? How could the little ol' communist mechanic in the tiny town on the small Greek island have the resources to do the body work and do the painting, which by itself sometimes takes two days to dry, and hand it over perfect, before Saturday, when he's just a mechanic, not Earl Scheib, not Rosie the Riveter?

David called first thing in the morning, per instructions. It's done? Great. -- but we can't come over till noon? .... ?? ....OK.

An Ikarian Sky

All this has to be handled culturally delicately. It wasn't  Santa Monica, it wasn't even Athens. Ikaria has been inhabited for seven millenia and they had their own ways there, still mysterious to our friends despite four years residency and speaking pretty good Greek.

Apples for making apple sauce

At last visit to turn the van in to the mechanic, the one where Charles learned of our van's sideswipe mishap (but not how, who or when), Fanouri called Charles "my friend" (about 20% of his English vocabulary) and gave him the Greek Communist Youth posters off his wall that Charles had been coveting ("the best mementos of this whole trip, if I could have those") and his too-cool red commie lighter right out of his own pocket. Those were rare and generous gestures, the kind of exchange you can only hope for in a culture this insular and so foreign in its nuance to outsiders, in a place where they never say I'm sorry and rarely thank you. Even for a guy who maybe knew who scraped the van but wasn't saying, maybe a friend or even his own employee -- Americans want to know that stuff, need to know, but on Ikaria it didn't matter. What mattered was he was taking responsibility, and if he smoothed the dents and matched the paint, that was the bottom line, and all would be right in the world. And the Yank had a new friend.

Viola! -- perfect match! No dents or ripples! Bravo, Fanouri!! We took pics (Charles was again wearing his Budapest Communist t-shirt) in front of other posters. When Charles expressed interest in the story on the posters, Fanouri rang up a friend, Yorgo, who spoke some English, and within a few minutes he was there, proudly filling Charles in on a lot of history he was unaware of, of the Greek revolution after WWII, the attempts of the British and then the Americans to install their puppet governments, and more. Fascinating, even though possibly not completely accurate, or at least biased... of course, like when Americans speak about world history from the only perspective they know. But would your mechanic make such a gesture, in the middle of the workday? They had different values there for what was important.

Nicole and Dian getting facials from Robyn

Hooray!!!

Charles left with the van looking the way he had brought it in but with a full tune-up for which he was way undercharged (cost of parts only, probably), and a life experience money couldn't buy. It was hard for him not to say efcharisto, but the handshake was worth a thousand of them.

Preparing dinner

DAY 72

Wednesday 21 September 2011

Arising groggily at 7AM, the five of us ate a light breakfast and drove into town to meet Nikos for grape picking, but after three hours of miscommunications and bad timing, we went home empty handed and had a late breakfast of bacon and eggs. We got "real" and acknowledged what we had learned from each other and ourselves those past nine days.

To work off some of Dian's stored up grape-picking energy (and a double espresso), she tended the tomato vines and removed every single dead leaf and branch.

Robyn took the girls out, shovels and rakes in hand, to weed a new area that she said would be "the Goils' garden." Tromping around in the overgrown outback (Nicole made the poor choice of wearing flip flops), they hunted for bulbs of flowers to "liberate" for their garden. Instead they found a patch of grapes, and the picking urge was at last satisfied!

On the way back they ran into their next door neighbor Nikos (different from the grape picking one), a Greek man who lived in Canada for 40 years and therefore spoke perfect English. He offered a drink and asked if they would rather hear Ray Charles or Eric Clapton. They said Ray, but for some reason or another Eric was put on, which was okay by them!

The visit was cut short by the waning daylight and loud stomachs and Nikos was thanked for his generosity. He put on "Hit the Road, Jack" as their exit music.

Nikos sitting on his sun bathed porch

On the way back Nicole and Dian noticed a woman walking right next to Robyn and David's property, by the aqueduct. Robyn explained that the houses get certain week days to receive water for their own property, and that this woman was rearranging rocks so it would go to hers.

A mouthwatering dinner of Robyn's zucchini fritters, salad, fresh bread, and tzatziki (made by Nicole) was accompanied by a homemade plum liqueur.

After dinner we inadvertently staged a scene out of Little Women, with Charles reading (and finishing) Pudd'nhead Wilson, Nicole and Robyn peeling and cutting apples to make apple sauce, and Dian mending our sleeping bag. Since David had to take a phone call, Charles re-read to him the last chapter of the book as the rest of us crawled into bed, safe from the rain that had just started.

DAY 71

Tuesday 20 September 2011

After Charles took his morning constitutional to get the daily loaf of bread, coffee was made and breakfast eaten. Out for a drive with Robyn, we ran into Nikos, her neighbor. "Is it time to come pick the grapes?" she asked. " Not today, I think tomorrow", he said. Greek island life was like that. People dropped in and if you weren't there they'd sit and wait a few hours and maybe they'd see you and maybe not. Someone says I'll come by in the morning, and maybe they do, or maybe in the afternoon, or maybe tomorrow, and you're either there or not. And no one gets bothered that "an appointment" was missed, or someone didn't do what they said when they said... exactly. That's just. The way. It is. It ain't LA, it ain't New York. Thank god.
Charles went with David to the pharmacia and got some foot spray. (Do you really need to know this?) What is interesting is that pharmacies in Europe seemed to be run by people with degrees who really know their stuff. It was almost like a visit to the doctor. After a couple of visits, any of our fears about being able to get what we needed medically on this trip were alleviated. Viva la pharmacia!

DAY 70

Monday 19 September 2011

We woke up and had a blender drink and coffee, then watered the garden, pulled the dead vines from the tomato plants, painted a vase, table and icon, then had faba beans and grilled cheese sandwiches on the terrace, but the bees got to us so we went inside.

After some music we went to Artemis' temple where we hiked down to a gorgeous ravine leading to a hidden cove above which stood the ruins of the ancient temple. Dian jumped in the rough water thinking she was joining some other swimmers. When she got pretty far out she saw that bobbing "heads" weren't humans but bouys. Then she heroically (befitting the Goddess Artemis/Diana) swam back in (to applause of those watching on the beach). We had a tour of the top of the island before descending to Robyn and David's.

David made pork chops on the hearth with baked potatoes, Greek salad, and homemade apple sauce. We ate by the light of the lantern. Finally, Charles read three chapters of Mark Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson aloud.

Robyn describes the Greek sunsets as being old and wise. They're not flashy like you might find in Miami or the Caribbean.

DAY 69

Sunday 18 September 2011

The rock stars (us) woke late the next morning, still recovering from the previous night's panigiri. David fixed his famous Peter Pancakes, made from matzah meal (giving it a uniquely delicious flavor). It was a slow day of painting, pruning, resting and cartooning.

Because Robyn had a work appointment and had to leave, with David as translator, the three of us fixed dinner for when they got back. Charles used some of David's fresh grown cantaloupes and made a refreshing dessert arrangement garnished with mint leaves from the garden. Dian made pesto using Chris' recipe, (our son/stepson who is a gifted chef), and pasta to go with it. Finally, Nicole made roasted vegetables with rosemary, again using David and Robyn's produce.

The dinner was a success, especially for the two of them after a long day of work. The evening was topped off with a few rounds of Boggle and popcorn.