Wednesday, April 13, 2016

Next stop, Berlin!

So, today sees the trilogy...Father, daughter and mother on a train to Berlin to catch a sense of history about this country.
It's a cool day outside, great for such travelling. We are in a very fast train which will take us 4 1/2 hours to arrive. My only concern is we are travelling backwards and there is a funny odour inside this carriage so I probably won't be eating much on the journey!

So much for first class reserved tickets!
Never mind. This all goes into the holiday journal and it's something to talk about.

You might recall our disastrous ferry ride to Athens.
You might also know we arrived some 3 1/2 hours later than expected. Needless to say (but I will anyway) our transport was not waiting for us when we pulled into the ferry terminal. Numerous phone calls later, at our expense I might add, we were told the pick up driver will begrudgingly return (as he was there at 5 pm.! and waited the obligatory 30 minutes), but it would cost us an extra 40€ which equates to $59.26 Aust. Needless to say, we politely declined and caught a taxi to our hotel which cost 25€ instead.
This photo taken in the Athens Harbour whilst we were waiting for our non-existing transport, depicts the first moon I have seen since we left home a couple of weeks ago. For some reason, the moon wasn't visible in Santorini but it was certainly waiting for us once we gladly disembarked in Athens.
I was a bit peeved as our documentation stated that if our ferry was delayed the transport company would be aware and ensure we were picked up when we finally arrived but that didn't happen, so I shall swallow my frustration and get on with life until I get home.
Ahhhhh, first world problems!

Despite that very minor hiccup, our stay in Athens was absolutely wonderful. We ate like kings and queens or is that Zeus and Athena.....and the boys were quite taken with giros and souvlaki, determined to find the best the city had to offer.
My only regret is I somehow dropped my iPad whilst tapping away and have managed to partially shatter my screen but it still works ok so I am not too fussed.
The hotel Divani Palace we stayed in for the 2 nights was lovely. Beautiful big comfortable beds, great service. Breakfast was amazing as they all are, so we were quite pleased with our decision to stay there.
Our one free day in Athens took us all to the Acropolis Modern Museum which was filled with artefacts from around the city but especially from the Parthenon and Athena's temple.

I recall learning about ancient Greek history when in primary school but never really gave it much thought once done though. This very quick foray into Greece has made me quite curious about their life in ancient times and how their struggle has taught them how to survive despite adversitary, both old and new.
I am now disappointed we only spent one full day in Athens as the was so much to see, both on the Acropolis, but also the old quarter, not to mention the beautiful enticing gardens that surrounds this bustling city.
Our trip up to the Acropolis was a morning venture and whilst the lads swam and rested in the afternoon, Mez and I went shopping in the old quarter which is filled with trinketty tourist shops but also some rather unique shops as well.
By the time we returned to the hotel, it was time to prepare for dinner and eat out yet again on falafel, kebabs, and the inevitable but delicious tzatziki dips that are a mainstay in this country.

All too soon, it was time to leave Athens and fly back to Düsseldorf.
We flew over the Swiss Alps which looked just like meringue atop a cake which was most spectacular.




Things I learnt on a plane:-
You have to be quick to bag a spare seat. We were in the back of the plane where the last 3 rows were empty. Consequently Murray and Kieran moved to seats where they were the only occupants. I was just about to move into the seat in front which was also free when a burly swarthy chap beat me to it and then proceeded to lie down and sleep for most of the journey, so he must have been knackered.

I have also learnt it's not good to allow young children to run up and down the aisle unrestrained during the flight as there with be consequences when it's time to secure them in a seat belt come landing time!....for all aboard!!!!!

Lesson number three is a murphy's law rule. When flying on planes and you are served a meal whilst wearing white clothing, it is inevitable you will hit enough turbulence to spill either coffee, tea or food of some description...enough to make you wish you either wore black or you wore a feeder!!!!!

Sunday, April 10, 2016

Drama on the high seas or is that Mutiny on the Bounty?

Now we are on the ferry, travelling at high speed across the seas, to Athens.
Our trip had been delayed, presumably as its a bit choppy out there, or maybe because someone was late, or slept in. Not sure as there was no reasoning why, just us having to wait, but the ferry rolled up 45 minutes after the initial expected time and we were smartly ushered on board and took off very quickly.
Whilst waiting for the ferry, in the terminal, we were subjected to a bunch of Asian women parading as if on a catwalk and singing the same song over and over again, much to the mirth of we bystanders. They were obviously practising for a performance somewhere and grabbed a rehearsal whilst they waited regardless of the stares from onlookers and the laughter and clapping when they decided their performance would not be improved by any more episodes.
Whilst initially setting off, the sea was pretty rough and some people were feeling most nauseated. Fortunately our craft is a speedboat sea jet and it cuts through the water with minimal turbulence where we are sitting.

Unfortunately I had to go to the toilet not so long ago, and the toilets are located at the back of the ship. Whilst sitting on said loo, I nearly fell off, I managed to jam my right thumb and rammed my right thigh into the washbasin. Hopefully that's the only damage I'll manage to do whilst onboard and even though I don't feel as crook as others, I'll be pleased when we disembark at the Port of Athens.
From our collection through to the first stop we were exposed to a film. A film with no sound, but with Greek subtitles.
I made  up my own story as it went along to keep me amused but I soon grew tired of the goblins and killing and medieval mayhem and magic and consequently decided to blog again, hence my presence here.
It is now 1710 hrs. We have been stuck off Mykonos for the last couple of hours as there was a problem with the Port Authority apparently. For some obscure reason, of which we have no access to, the police would not let us depart hence our tardiness.
Lots of irate passengers around as people have had flights to catch in Athens as well as privately assigned taxis to take them to their hotels....much like us.
We're now about three hours behind our arrival time so it'll be interesting to see if our private taxi is still waiting when we arrive.

Saturday, April 9, 2016

Our last few hours in Santorini.

Today is our farewell day to Thira, Santorini and the whole Greek bit except for our two nights in Athens coming up.
We are having our final breakfast now.
When we first got here, the resort was very quiet and it felt like we were the only people here. This morning (Kalimera!) the dining room is inundated with people from all over the world.
If I listen quietly, I can hear American, Asian, north European and Greek accents...all talking in their own dialects and languages.
Everyone sounds excited as this is their spring break so I am told. Everyone deserves a holiday every now and then and what better place to have said holiday bit in Santorini.
Things I have learnt whilst here.
Cars go in any direction. Crazy driver rules apply here, but MOST drive relatively slowly. There seems to be no hidden agenda, no evidence of road rage that we have perceived.
Many cars stop in the oddest of places, occasionally blocking traffic. If they leave their hazard lights on that means they can get out of their cars and go chat with someone in the closest shop for a while before returning and resuming their drive.
Hardly anyone wears a seatbelt in their car.
No one wears a helmet whilst on a bike....motor or foot pedal for that matter.
Everyone wears a helmet...(almost everyone) whilst driving quad bikes on the roads as well. They seem to be a popular form of tourist transport nowadays, whereas we old fogies went by foot or by bus. 
People drive with their mobile phones pressed closely to their ear. No concerns for police catching them here. Even the older aged women have mobile phones up against their ears as they drive.
People smoke in cars, in restaurants, wherever.
People spit in the streets (it's a man thing here I guess).
Just about every Greek person we have had the pleasure to exchange conversation with has done their utmost to be polite and courteous to us. I know and understand that in the hospitality business it's imperative to be smiling all the time, but the people here seem to go just that one step further to demonstrate how much they care about your presence.
Last evening we had a farewell dinner in a restaurant that overlooked the sea between us the the volcano island. We watched as a large cruise ship reloaded its tourists back on board after a day of Santorini sight seeing.
Our waiters were two of the most loveliest waiters we have encountered.
They gave us complimentary hummus to go with our inevitable tzatziki as an entree, plus on completion of our meal, a dessert snippet...of a chocolate like pudding with a dollop of cream on top. Both were 'on-the-house' which is so generous of them.
Times are tough in Greece right now with austerity measures apparently in full swing so to be treated so well by people who are not even sure if they'll get a wage at the end of the week is amazing to say the least.
Both our waiters spoke our language and both expressed desire to travel to Australia. One even (figuratively speaking of course) divided his heart into two and said one side is for his family, the other side is for Australia. This is because out of all the people he has encountered in his work, Australians are the happiest, generous and most receptive he has encountered and he one day wishes to go to Austrlia, to catch up with family and friends.
How sweet is that!

Well, it's time to go complete the final pack and make sure we have all our stuff ready to be hauled on the ferry to Athens.

I shall write again soon folks.
Great to be sharing my memories, thoughts and perceptions with you all!


Thursday, April 7, 2016

Our day on the sea

I have fallen in love with the simplicity of this place. Mind we are staying an extra day as it turns out, so, yesterday took all four of us on a high seas adventure (one for tourists at least)!
We sailed on the Aegean Sea aboard a sailing boat equipped with motor. We walked across a volcano and were awed at the toxic smoke that continues to spew forth from its belly, even to this day.
Am so pleased that was all that spewed forth from it!
We listened to the story by our presiding captain, of how volcanoes, this one in particular, were formed, and why the villages are all painted a gleaming white, with blue domes on the churches.
We were held captive on an island for lunch and made to pay middle range prices for very ordinary food...(everything else is closed on this day apparently on this island), but the views from the beach and the quaint sea side scenes were more than made up for our hijacked lunch.

Murray and Kieran ventured into the coolish waters with enough others (hence why Mez and I stayed on board) to swim over to the heated spring waters, made orange by rust apparently. We were then dropped off at the tiny port of Oia where we had to venture up up up into the gods to the town bustling with tourists preparing to bunker down and watch the sun set.
Our choice to go to the top was either donkey ride or walk. Donkey rides cost 5€ and even for that price I would have felt guilty allowing a poor donkey to haul me up the hillside. All the other donkeys would have been busy hee-hawing at me so I decided to tempt fate by walking up the very steep hill of what seemed 1000 steps with my darling daughter in tow ensuring I didn't collapse on the way up. Kieran sprinted up (virtually), Murray The Great chose a donkey ride 

whilst Merryn and I laboured up step by step, carefully avoiding donkey poo and lizards on the way up, having breaks every so often and distracting ourselves with photos to mark the journey. It was hot, hard yakka getting up there I might say at this juncture, but not once did I think I wasn't going to make it as I had my girl with me encouraging every step of the way.
So, we made it to the top of the hill and felt like we'd accomplished a marathon.....eventually.
Up the top, we found numerous arcades selling all sorts of wares...touristy stuff and classic beautiful clothes...all for the slender woman in us all!
There were bags and scarves and perfumes and jewellery en masse, foodstuffs, shoes, sports wear paintings, ceramic artefacts, all very up-market.
We eventually stopped walking for a bit to admire the view and decided to sit overlooking the sea whilst we dined on pasta, seafood and the always accompanying tzatziki garnished with one olive and lots of bread.

I feel I could live this life long term...not sure what the rest of my family would have to say about that.
Am sure there's a job for a midwife here somewhere!
Following our impromptu dinner, we headed down towards more spectacular views of the water to witness yet another glorious sunset.
There were a number of vantage spots where people congregated in large numbers and it was all a bit noisy in the crowded throng. There were young kids doing foolish things like balancing on the edge of buildings for dares and to attract attention, so I wandered down towards the quieter part of town where there were windmills attached to a couple of the houses.
Here the views were even more superior and with the added bonus of no noise what so ever, it was simply bliss.
The rammed earth homes built on the cliff side around here are available for short term accomodation and are described as authentic homes in which to live. So tempting to investigate a bit further.......
I think though, in order to appreciate the environment here one would have to stay out of the summer season when there is less fuss and bother to deal with.
There's something to be said for quiet and feeling like you're the only people on earth in a little bit of paradise...
We watched the sun descend gently to the earth, taking the light with it on its way and it was then time to hike it back to the bus stop in time for our ride home to El Greco.
There is always time though for one more photo and I managed to take a few as we went...



Wednesday, April 6, 2016

Add it to Santorini

We have had yet another wonderful day.
A day in the life of Santorini.
We spent the morning in shops and funnily enough we spent the afternoon and evening in shops...that is, in between eating.
I drank Ouzo on this day, both straight and with a dash of coke....and liked it.
I ate cod fish and sardines and beloved dolmades at dinner time. 
I smiled at many and got smiles in return. People here are so gracious and willing to chat about anything.
There is poverty, yes. There is probably frustration and concern behind closed doors but all we see are generous welcoming people who are happy we come from Melbourne.
According to those we speak to, Melbourne has the second largest Greek population in the world and so we are family!
I understand we have only experienced just a mere glimpse into the life of Greece, having being on a hold at island for just over 24 hours, but, as mentioned before, the sun shines, the ouzo tastes great and people are happy with our presence and so, what more could we ask for?

Tuesday, April 5, 2016

A day in the life.

So today we are in Thira, Santorini, Greece and loving it.
The sun is out, the weather is beautifully warm and we packed for a mini winter of course. I will have to de-layer a bit and suffer the consequences of all those stares. I forget I am now 61 and people don't look so much at me now anyhow!
We arrived yesterday and ventured in to town to check it all out.
I might add that I haven't felt much like blogging over the past few days as I have been feeling a little under the weather as a consequence of my head cold acquired on this journey to the other side of the world. Going to a pharmacy yesterday in Thira enlightened me to more natural therapies as the pharmacist did not want me to have any chemical remedies given the medication I am already taking, so it was a saline washout that did the trick last night and this morning.
After feeling like I was underwater all last evening, it was great to wake up to normal hearing again today so it must have worked.
I tell you, I was a bundle of misery on the plane as we came in for landing but hopefully that's all behind me now and I can get on with enjoying the holiday again.
So, back to Thira and its cars, bikes and quad bikes. One has to be mindful when walking up the road as everyone has right of way here and in some places there is not so much footpath, just people dodging between cars to make it safely to their destination.
Thira is a bit like Thailand, only the people are more gracious and welcoming. They speak of their global crisis quite matter-of-fact and we can tell many are doing it tough. There are many shops that are closed unfortunately as a consequence of the country's finances being in disarray but there are still plenty who have remained open to encourage us to spend a little here and there.
The town of Thira itself is quite hilly. It is mainly cobblestones underfoot and many many tourist walking around.
The surrounding scenery is magnificent with islands in the distance and clear blue water in between that Kez is itching to swim in. Hopefully tomorrow we will go on a cruise that incorporates the local volcano, hot thermal springs and a sunset to die for.  
Loving the life!!!

Friday, April 1, 2016

Down time in Düsseldorf.

Here we are during our first real day in Düsseldorf.
Yesterday was all about arriving, via train, into the heart of this city and getting to Merryn and Kieran's place and napping and settling down after a long day and a half in the air.
Before I ramble on about my daughters home, I will elaborate on some on the enjoyment we had on our last leg yesterday. As I had mentioned, we were given an upgrade to Business Class and like all human beings were more than happy to accept.
We each had our own little pod with a seat and bedside table, equipped with soft drinks and water. We had a mattress on our seat and lovely thick blankets to keep us warm. Even the earphones were superior quality to those in Economy Class. We were given eye pads and socks too to keep us amused. Our television screens were larger also and on arrival we were offered a glass of Veuve Cliquot champagne, (so the bottle said), which was delicious and for me, head spinning, I was so tired!
I didn't have to worry about the person behind me, or live in fear about the person in front of me which was lovely too.  My chair had three settings, one of which reclined to a bed. The food was extremely plentiful and delicious and if I had wanted, I could have wandered down to the bar at the back, had a cocktail or two, even a G&T if so desired and fed up on pies, and petite bread rolls and salad, nibbly things, scones, cakes and biscuits but food was the last thing on my mind at that point so, I merely looked as I waited to go to the loo.
We both managed to fit in a little extra sleep during that leg but I was impatient to disembark and see our daughter, so my mind was elsewhere.
Finally the plane came to a stop....on the ground, fortunately. There had been a little turbulence at various stages on the journey. You have to admire the cabin crew who must learn how to handle liquids and food during such times as not one drop or morsel was spilt as my stomach lurched.
Anyhow, I digress. We got off the plane, joined the queue to go through passport control. The young woman who inspected my passport had not smiled the whole time I stood waiting to have my turn at being checked into the country.
"What are you doing here in Düsseldorf?", she asked of me with nary a smile. I am on holidays I replied. She then broke into the most beautiful smile as I handed her my passport. She skimmed through, looking and feeling the texture of the blank pages. She then said "I just love your Australian passports. They are so lovely, with nice paper!"
I suppose the people behind the desk there get to see and handle many many passports and I am possibly being a little presumptuous when I presume our Australian passports must be of a better quality than some they get to see on a regular basis.
Anyhow, from there we wandered over to where we presumed our luggage would arrive. We stood with many many others around a carousel and watched as piece by piece was taken by those around us, until the carousel stopped and we were left there with no luggage. Panic settled in very nicely then around the heart as we wondered what to do, so we walked over to a group of men in uniform who looked like they might be waiting to do some security control. As neither of us speak German, we asked if anyone spoke English. Quite possibly, the gent who replied spoke better English than we did and when we told him of our plight, he informed us we had been standing at the wrong carousel and we should be at one on the opposite side of the building. Panic then did a little flip and disappeared and we then walked over to where we should have been, to find our bags were placidly going round and round the carousel, waiting patiently for us to claim them!
It was then a matter of walking straight through the declaration area out to the throng of people, some with balloons, some with cards, all with anxious smiles waiting for someone they knew and maybe loved. I skimmed the crowd looking for a particular well loved face and it was as we were walking along that I saw her and all concern then disappeared as Merryn and I hugged. I cried just a little I was so pleased to see her and all was good with the world again.
It was then just a matter of riding down an escalator to a waiting train which took us probably three stops from the airport to where we once again, disembarked. Up a flight of stairs we went then we were on Birken Strasse before we knew it.