ελλασ
καλιμερα and hello back from beautiful Greece,
two weeks are over and we're nearly flying back again. What an interesting time...not nearly enough but we've seen so much, learned so much, experienced lots of interesting stuff.
So what can we say about this country, the country where it is said that our European culture started? Without the hellenistic peoples of Athens and Peloponnes, without Platon and Sokrates, Ayschilos and Pytagoras our cultures might definitely be a lot different than we know it (I know, a lot of school kids might count Pytagoras more as a curse than cultural heritage but still, wait until you grow older...ok no wait I take that back I've never needed the wisdom of
again in my life...But still, you get the point).
No, I don't want to talk about the Crisis. That's a whole of a different issue, and I don't want to go down that road now. I might get back to it in another post.
I want to talk about the friends we made along the way, about Τσιπονρο, ρετσινα, ονζο, ρακι (yes, that's all alcoholic drinks), about beautiful islands in the spring time sun with volcanoes in the middle, about enchanting churches in the evening twilight dating back to byzantine times in the 11th century...
about places where people say "ne" when they want to say "yes" and where you can't throw your toilet paper in the toilets because the systems are too weak...
where everything you want to do should be done before 2pm because afterwards everything closes, including banks, churches, bus services, local sights, EVERYTHING (Greece is a country for morning people and a living hell for tourist guides I guess, what are you supposed to tell your group of people? Hey peeeeeepz u have to get up at 6am and at 2pm we can't do anything apart from sitting in a Ταωερνα and drink ouzo...yeah thanks...)
...so, are you ready for some Greek Action?
Some Fun Facts about our travels in Greece:
We travelled Athens, Santorini, the Peloponnes (Nafplio and the theatre of Epidavros), Pelion (wwoofing on a Farm near Volos in the mountains, in case you don't know the concept look at this page: http://wwoofgreece.org/ ), Meteora rocks and now Thessaloniki for all in all 14 days. Mostly, we couchsurfed. One night, we stayed in a fancy hotel, but since it's offseason it's still cheaper than a 6-bed-dorm in Nizza. No kidding. Private room in KingHotelOfTown itself including breakfast is cheaper than a Hostel in France in Autumn. This is a general advice anyway: If you ever think of coming here, don't come in summer. I've never been but it must be tough, masses of tourists everywhere, a lot more expensive, and if you're lucky you will be roasted alive because it's not uncommon to have temperatures over 40`C.
So first we fought our way through dusty metropolitan Athens, drinking raki and listening to guitar music, drinking our first greek style coffee and looking at the most famous sites (but really, you got them all covered in half a day).
Then we took the ferry to Santorini, went for a hike along the Caldera and into the Sunset to find our next host, Draško from Serbia in his Hippie House where we had breakfast in the garden, Santorini wines in the night and there I got my first sunburn of the yearthe year
This is also where we met Maria, the 70-year old french immigrant, one of the first foreigners on the island back in the times, who we talked to in french/greek/english. When we left the island I got a bit sentimental, it almost felt like leaving behind a crazy little family. It was only four days, but of such beauty, tranquility and heart-warming friendliness that it will stay in my mind long after we will have left the country.
So then we stayed with a guy, his girlfriend and his horny cat (it's spring, you know, poor thing) in Navplio
Then wwoofing, and once again I loved it! Stayed with Gabi on her beautiful hidden farm nestled in olive tree hills, cleaned up sheep manure and got to bed with the chicken: at the same time, I mean.
On Monday, it was Greek National Day, which is when we went to Argalasti, watched school children march in cute little uniforms and drank Tsiporo (which is the real greek ouzo, ouzo is actually just for tourists)
And then, Meteora rocks with 14th century monasteries on top
and now Thessaloniki..
tomorrow -flight back.
Two weeks...phew...I can't even begin summarize them...the only thing that comes to my mind is that travelling is really "la vie en rose."
So beautiful, living in the spur of the moment, with great people surrounding you...beautiful strangers, friends for a snatch of a moment. Strange, beautiful environments, taking you with them, to their own world with their athmosphere. Never does life seem so easy as in moments like this.
PS: This is to all my German-speaking readers: In case you haven't read this (I know I've posted the link before) I recommend this article to you: http://www.neon.de/artikel/kaufen/reise/reisen-veraendert/670084
two weeks are over and we're nearly flying back again. What an interesting time...not nearly enough but we've seen so much, learned so much, experienced lots of interesting stuff.
 |
| Laurella and Anabanana back on Tour |
So what can we say about this country, the country where it is said that our European culture started? Without the hellenistic peoples of Athens and Peloponnes, without Platon and Sokrates, Ayschilos and Pytagoras our cultures might definitely be a lot different than we know it (I know, a lot of school kids might count Pytagoras more as a curse than cultural heritage but still, wait until you grow older...ok no wait I take that back I've never needed the wisdom of
again in my life...But still, you get the point).No, I don't want to talk about the Crisis. That's a whole of a different issue, and I don't want to go down that road now. I might get back to it in another post.
I want to talk about the friends we made along the way, about Τσιπονρο, ρετσινα, ονζο, ρακι (yes, that's all alcoholic drinks), about beautiful islands in the spring time sun with volcanoes in the middle, about enchanting churches in the evening twilight dating back to byzantine times in the 11th century...
about places where people say "ne" when they want to say "yes" and where you can't throw your toilet paper in the toilets because the systems are too weak...
where everything you want to do should be done before 2pm because afterwards everything closes, including banks, churches, bus services, local sights, EVERYTHING (Greece is a country for morning people and a living hell for tourist guides I guess, what are you supposed to tell your group of people? Hey peeeeeepz u have to get up at 6am and at 2pm we can't do anything apart from sitting in a Ταωερνα and drink ouzo...yeah thanks...)
...so, are you ready for some Greek Action?
Some Fun Facts about our travels in Greece:
We travelled Athens, Santorini, the Peloponnes (Nafplio and the theatre of Epidavros), Pelion (wwoofing on a Farm near Volos in the mountains, in case you don't know the concept look at this page: http://wwoofgreece.org/ ), Meteora rocks and now Thessaloniki for all in all 14 days. Mostly, we couchsurfed. One night, we stayed in a fancy hotel, but since it's offseason it's still cheaper than a 6-bed-dorm in Nizza. No kidding. Private room in KingHotelOfTown itself including breakfast is cheaper than a Hostel in France in Autumn. This is a general advice anyway: If you ever think of coming here, don't come in summer. I've never been but it must be tough, masses of tourists everywhere, a lot more expensive, and if you're lucky you will be roasted alive because it's not uncommon to have temperatures over 40`C.
So first we fought our way through dusty metropolitan Athens, drinking raki and listening to guitar music, drinking our first greek style coffee and looking at the most famous sites (but really, you got them all covered in half a day).
 |
| Dyonisos Theatre, where Theatre was invented |
This is also where we met Maria, the 70-year old french immigrant, one of the first foreigners on the island back in the times, who we talked to in french/greek/english. When we left the island I got a bit sentimental, it almost felt like leaving behind a crazy little family. It was only four days, but of such beauty, tranquility and heart-warming friendliness that it will stay in my mind long after we will have left the country.
So then we stayed with a guy, his girlfriend and his horny cat (it's spring, you know, poor thing) in Navplio
 |
| Theatre of Epidavros, one of the best preserved from 4th century AD |
Then wwoofing, and once again I loved it! Stayed with Gabi on her beautiful hidden farm nestled in olive tree hills, cleaned up sheep manure and got to bed with the chicken: at the same time, I mean.
On Monday, it was Greek National Day, which is when we went to Argalasti, watched school children march in cute little uniforms and drank Tsiporo (which is the real greek ouzo, ouzo is actually just for tourists)
And then, Meteora rocks with 14th century monasteries on top
and now Thessaloniki..
tomorrow -flight back.
Two weeks...phew...I can't even begin summarize them...the only thing that comes to my mind is that travelling is really "la vie en rose."
So beautiful, living in the spur of the moment, with great people surrounding you...beautiful strangers, friends for a snatch of a moment. Strange, beautiful environments, taking you with them, to their own world with their athmosphere. Never does life seem so easy as in moments like this.
PS: This is to all my German-speaking readers: In case you haven't read this (I know I've posted the link before) I recommend this article to you: http://www.neon.de/artikel/kaufen/reise/reisen-veraendert/670084
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