Glasgow - PureDeadBrilliant part 2

The great CRM did not monopolize our entire time in Glasgow.  We visited a number of galleries, including Kelvin Grove Art Gallery.  The highlight there was Salvador Dali’s “Christ of Saint John of the Cross” - very impressive!  

The Pollok Estate comprising 361 acres of parkland situated right in Glasgow, was given to the city in 1966 by the Maxwell family who had owned it since the mid-13th century.  The current house is a huge 18th century mansion filled with the family’s wonderful collections of Spanish art, antique furniture, silverware, ceramics and an impressive library.  Included are works by El Greco (the famous Lady in a Fur Wrap) and Goya, as well as works by the English poet and artist William Blake.

When the Pollok Estate was gifted to Glasgow, provision was made for a site to house another collection that had been gifted to the city in 1944.  Sir Willam Burrell’s donation of over 9,000 works of art had languished in storage at Kelvin Grove Art Gallery waiting many decades for a suitable pollution free site.  No visit to Glasgow would be complete without seeing this collection of Medieval art, tapestries, stained glass, English oak furniture, many European paintings, including works by Degas and Cezanne, Islamic art and modern sculpture by Epstein and Rodin shown to their best advantage in the purpose designed building.  It is one of those WOW places!  

We had lunch at Pollok House, in what used to be the grand kitchen, then walked through the park passing by a small herd of shaggy Highland Cattle, to The Burrell.  A perfect way to spend a Sunday afternoon.

On another day we drove a short distance from Harry’s house to Cathkin Braes, a sprawling natural park with open fields and wooded areas - the Big Wood for one (nope we didn’t run into Pooh Bear).  We had a lovely clear fall day, and as this is the highest point in Glasgow we had excellent views across the city and beyond.  There is a large cairn, “Queen Mary’s Seat”, where Mary Queen of Scots is reputed to have observed the defeat of her forces at the Battle of Langside in May of 1558.  

After leaving the Braes we visited Holmwood House, a fine 1858 classically inspired villa designed by Alexander ‘Greek’ Thomson.   Conservationists are currently working on the house so you can see glimpses of its original decor.  There had been a Halloween Party there on the weekend so we had to look beyond the ghosts and fake cobwebs for the true beauty of the place.  We were the very last visitors to tour Holmwood House for the year so we had the complete attention of the volunteers - yet again the last of the tourists ;-)

Daylight was fading as we left Holmwood House but we had one more stop on the itinerary - Greenbank Gardens.  We arrived just in time to quickly walk through the 2.5 acre walled garden before dark but saw enough to encourage us to return the next day.  This gave us the opportunity to see the garden and its 30 different areas in daylight.  Following this and a walk through the surrounding parkland we proceeded  to Harry’s gym for a proper workout - first one in way too long! 

Our last outing took us to Prestwick for a long walk along the shore and the sand dunes.  It threatened to rain but the weather held and we had a bracing walk in the sea breeze.   As we walked on the beach we watched what we believe to be an Easy Jet pilot practice landing at nearby Prestwick Airport.  The same plane flew over, touched down, and took off again numerous times - it was kinda cool to see.  

Glasgow is an amazing place to visit.  There is so much to see and do whether you’re interested in nature, culture, history or food - both local specialties and international.  We had amazing Indian food, the best Chinese food we’ve ever eaten, and we’re not telling how many, but let’s just say enough fish & chips  suppers to last until our next visit!  A “pint of heavy” at Glasgow Central one afternoon while we waited for our train was a real treat.  

Epilogue

We came away from Scotland with a larger family than we realized we had, a true appreciation for our central heating and a few extra pounds!   

Our heartfelt gratitude goes to Harry who spent 2 weeks of his vacation time taking us to many marvelous places and made us so very welcome in his home.  Prior to our arrival he completely redecorated our bedroom.  We love you Harry!

We said at the beginning of our travels that our lives may be changed by what we would see and do during our time away.  Our lives were certainly enriched by the people we met as well as by the things we saw and did, but now that we’re back home to our “normal” life, it seems that we are the same people who left here at the end of August.  We’re people who want to continue to travel, that has not changed, but we have a clearer idea of how we want to travel in the future.   Our next trip, the gods willing, will be in a couple of years to Spain to walk the Camino.  Until then, please keep in touch, and thank you for joining us on our travels.

Glasgow - PureDeadBrilliant

We arrived in Glasgow in the early afternoon of Thursday, October 23 and took the bus from the airport to the Buchanan Street Bus Station.  Robert’s sister Ann was arriving there from Newcastle at 6:00 PM so we stored our luggage and decided to spend the next few hours walking around downtown Glasgow.  There was quite a blustery storm that day; on almost every street there were garbage bins stuffed with discarded umbrellas that had lost their battle with the wind.  Luckily we had good rain gear on so we didn’t have to endanger our umbrellas.  We checked out some of the shops before having tea at the Willow Tea Rooms, designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh - Robert’s favourite Glasgow architect and designer from the late 1800’s and early 1900’s -- more about CRM later.

Harry arrived to pick us up just as Ann’s bus pulled in - the Rutherford reunion began.    We started with fish & chips for supper and spent the evening catching up and reminiscing.  It had been 25 years since the three of them were all together so there was lots to talk about.  

 

Friday was a fairly quiet day.  Brenda’s cold had never really left and she was feeling quite poorly so Harry made an appointment for her with his doctor.  We all walked up to the doc’s office and later had breakfast at a little coffee shop up at the “toll”.  Later that evening Harry’s good friends Wally & Joan hosted us at their home for dinner.   

Saturday was very rainy - “chucking it down” as Harry says.  We drove to the national heritage village of Strathaven to visit with the Marshalls, Robert & Ann’s mother’s side of the family .  Robert had contacted his Aunt Jennifer before we left Canada and found out that two of his his uncles had passed away since our last visit in 2004.  Although Jennifer is Robert’s aunt (his Mother’s half sister), she’s actually a couple of years younger than he is.  She organized the family get together at his Aunt Jenny’s home.  Robert hadn’t seen this side of his family since before he left Scotland in the 1960’s.  He expected to see maybe 3 or 4 people, so you can imagine his delight when we walked in to a room full of people.  We spent a wonderful afternoon reconnecting with Robert’s family.  Truly a highlight of the trip!

When we were in Scotland in early September we bought memberships in Historic Scotland and the National Trust.  These organizations own or manage many properties throughout the country; everything from gardens, to estates, to castles and more.  Basically, 3 visits to any of the sites covers the cost of membership and since almost every place we wanted to visit was under one of these organizations it made economic sense to invest in these very worthwhile charities.  Besides seeing some of the best sites Scotland has to offer, the volunteers that are on hand at each location are real treasures as well.  They are very knowledgeable and personable so we came away with a more intimate sense of each place we visited.  Enough about that, let us tell you about the places we did visit.

On a rainy Sunday we drove to South Ayrshire to visit Culzean Castle & Country Park, a magnificent eighteenth century estate.  The grounds are extensive with paths leading for miles through woodlands, past a Deer Park (with a herd of red deer), and to a Swan Pond;  or you can walk along the four miles of rocky shore, sandy beaches and cliffs with spectacular views over the Firth of Clyde.  There are a number of buildings including a glass house called “Camellia House” where exotic plants are grown.  The estate had it’s own facility for converting coal to gas, there’s an interpretive centre explaining the whole process in the little house where the “gasman” once lived.  There’s a walled garden holding on to its incredible beauty even with the flowers finished for the year.   

And then there’s the castle!   Between the years 1777 and 1792 the architect Robert Adam converted the castle into a bachelor residence for the Earl of Cassillis.   We took a guided tour and were shown the best features of the house including Adam’s masterpiece, the Oval Staircase, as well as the fine collection of paintings and furniture.  A top-floor apartment was presented to General Eisenhower for his lifetime in 1945 in recognition of his role during WWII.  It was interesting to see his office as it was when he was there.  As the daylight started to fade, we were on the top floor of the castle looking out over the Clyde when dark clouds gathered and the wind began to blow huge white caps onto the shore.  It felt like there should be a clap of thunder and the lights should suddenly go out to the eerie sound of the wind - or was that a ghost?  A great place to visit!

On Monday morning we said farewell to Ann at the bus statios and headed to Helensburgh to visit Hill House, a home designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh for publisher Walter Blackie, at the beginning of the 1900’s.  We had a couple of hours to kill before the house opened so we walked the 3 miles along the Clyde from Helensburgh to the village of Rhu in sunshine with a brisk wind blowing in from the sea.   We didn’t spend a lot of time in Rhu just visited the war memorial in front of the parish church and then returned to the car for a short drive up to Hill House.  We had visited Hill House in 2003 and were happy to wander through the familiar rooms once again.  Of course, as it is with any intricate work of art, no matter how often you see it, each time something else comes to the fore.  The lovely fabric designs and gesso panels created by CRM’s wife Margaret Macdonald really caught our eyes this time.  Considering the age of the home the main bathroom is quite ingenious with the hot water pipes running through the towel rack to warm the towels, and in the shower the encircling pipe work has multiple spray holes on different levels - a thoroughly modern idea!  Although the entire house is spectacular our favourite room in Hill House remains the White Bedroom, as it incorporates the many aspects of Charles Rennie Mackintosh’s genius.   We enter this room with a reverence usually reserved for a holy place.

A quick lesson on Charles Rennie Mackintosh

“The Scottish architect, designer and artist, Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868-1928) was one of the most individual and creative designers of the turn of the last century.  Today he is internationally celebrated for many architectural masterpieces, the Glasgow School of Art, the villa, The Hill House, and his remarkable city-centre team room interiors for Catherine Cranston.  His beautiful interiors place distinctive pieces of furniture/sculpture with subtly harmonious colour schemes, the whole imbued with a sensitivity to light and atmosphere which at times verges on the spiritual”  (quoted from a flyer we received. )

On our journey down the “Mackintosh trail” we also visited The Mackintosh House in the Hunterian Art Gallery on the University of Glasgow campus.  The principal interiors of  the home were removed prior to the demolition of the original home in the 1960’s and reassembled, with the original fixtures, and is displayed, with the homes contents, as an integral part of the University’s Hunterian Art Gallery.  

We spent an afternoon at the House For An Art Lover, the greatest house that Mackintosh never built.  It was designed by CRM with much contribution from his talented wife, as an entry for a German design competition in 1900.  As this was not a commissioned piece Mackintosh was not restrained by budget or other considerations so he was free to let his creativity flow.  The result was a design that is stunningly beautiful, but not in your usual “family” home way.  Unfortunately, the design was disqualified because he did not include vital interior perspectives.  No first prize was awarded in the competition and he was instead the recipient of a special prize.  Decades later, using the original drawings the house was built in Glasgow and is a wonderful place to visit.  We particularly like the fact that since the furniture is not original turn-of-the century Mackintosh, you are free to touch, photograph and sit in them.  Indeed, the house is available for private functions and is a popular wedding venue.

Leaving Naxos

Time is running out...

Well, we’ve done it, we’ve booked a hotel in Athens for Wednesday night - our last night in Greece. How is it possible that our time here is almost over? Before we leave we need to catch up on our last week.

Last Wednesday we had checked out of our hotel in Paros and were sitting at a cafe on the little narrow market street, feeling like we’d love to stay, but wanting to go to Naxos. From down the street we heard a lovely sound - it was a little hunched over man leading a donkey laden with baskets of fruit and vegetables. He was calling out his wares in a gentle singing voice. Out came the cameras! He stopped at a shop close to where we were sitting, so the shopkeeper could make her purchases, and of course we had to also check out what he was selling. We bought a delicious yellow melon that we enjoyed with yogurt at breakfast for the next two days. He led his donkey along the street and up the stairs to the next square selling his produce as he went - now that’s eating locally! Apparently he is the last of the donkey merchants operating on Paros and perhaps all of the islands as we certainly did not encounter or hear of another

We took our melon and all our baggage and hopped the ferry for Naxos, the island that features predominantly in Greek mythology. The story goes that Theseus abandoned Ariadne here after she helped him escape the Cretan labyrinth. She soon hooked up with Dionysos, the god of wine and ecstasy (sounds like the kind of god one could really warm up to!). Another myth tells that on the peak of Mount Zas an eagle gave Zeus the thunder, through the power of which he became ruler of Olympus, home of the gods.

As you approach this beautiful island you see the Portara, the remains of an unfinished temple to Apollo; it looks like a giant marble door frame. People have been living on Naxos since 3000 BC. It’s landscape is rich with citrus orchards and olive groves and was one of the first islands to use marble.

During our week here, we’ve wandered through Chora’s kastro and old village’s market streets, we’ve enjoyed delicious meals, and travelled around the island to other villages. The Venetian kastro is very unlike the Frankish one on Paros. You can see how the labyrinth of streets were built to confuse invaders. We always managed to find our way out!

The bus system, as we’ve found on all the islands, is excellent for getting around. Our first trip took us on a breathtaking 2 hour ride to the northeast coast and the village of Apollon. We visited the Kouros of Apollo - a 10 metre unfinished statue that lies, as it has for centuries, still attached to the rock it was being carved from. There are 3 Kouros on Naxos, this is the only one we visited. After leaving this impressive gentleman we returned to the village and enjoyed lunch at a taverna situated on the beach, and then enjoyed a swim in the Aegean.
Another trip took us to the village of Filoti on Sunday morning. While sitting in an empty square reviewing our map for our planned hike, when we were suddenly inundated by a crowd of black clad, white bag carrying people. (Robert says a flotilla of Filotians cascaded down the stairs.) Something had taken place during the church service - we think maybe a baby Christening. Everyone was dressed in their Sunday best (mostly black) and carrying a white bag with fancy gold printing; some people were eating the contents of the bag. Later, as we wandered the back streets towards the church, we found one of the bags and saw that it contained what looked like crumbled fruit cake. A bit later on we met a young man with an 8 month old baby in his arms. He said that the baby was being Christened that day at another church, so we believe this was the day for christenings. We need to read up on this custom, because we have encountered it before and it appears to be cause for a very big celebration.

After our brief brush with modern day religion we left the village and hiked up Mt. Zas (Zeus) to visit the Cave of Zeus for a bit of mythology. Once again, the scenery was spectacular! The trail went from asphalt road (that most people drove up), to a marble trail, with the last bit being a bit of a scramble. Brenda, who was recovering from a cold, waited at the end of the marble trail while Robert continued on to the cave. Also, along the way was a natural spring under a huge old shade tree that served as a cool place to rest on the way up and back down.

We walked back down through Filoti to the village of Chalki, where while waiting for our bus, we visited a distillery. A fine spirit called Citron (say Kitron) is made from the leaves of a tree that produces a large citrus fruit that is neither a lemon or lime. The still has been in continuous use since the mid to late 1800’s. This liquor is only available on Naxos, so we are enjoying it while we’re here and Brenda proclaimed it medicinal for her cold.

As we only had a short time in Chalki before our bus came, we returned a couple of days later to spend some more time photographing this beautiful Venetian influenced village. We also visited a Byzantine church just out of town, in an olive grove.

Our time here on Naxos has been very special. A woman from England, Charlotte, has become a very good friend - we had great fun with her and will see her again. The experiences we’ve had and the things we’ve seen in Chora, in the villages, on the buses and the beaches will stay with us for a long time. We are very sad to leave here.

The “season” is quickly coming to an end. The taverna’s are power washing their tables and chairs before stacking them. The few establishments that are still open are empty except for the bored staff lounging and smoking while staring out at the sea or at their ever present cellphones. Even most of the street cats have gone somewhere else. It feels like we should turn out the lights as we leave.....

So, on to Athens and then to Bonny Scotland which by all reports is windy, rainy and cold - yea. (no exclamation mark)

Paros

The Super Jet ferry got us to Paros in about 5 hours from Crete. There’s none of the romance of the big slow ferries involved with the super jets. They are clean, efficient and fast. The seats set sixteen across, are just like the ones on airplanes and there are no outside decks because they travel so quickly.

We arrived to the usual flurry of offers of cheap rooms - we chose to stay in Parikia the port town and were quickly whisked away by Phillipp our host. His hotel is just a short walk from the port. There is a lovely quiet courtyard that our room overlooks; the front door of the hotel opens on to Market Street in the old town. This is a lovely Cycladic village with narrow streets that wind past great little shops and up to the Kastro with a Frankish Castle. The castle was build on the remains of a temple to Athena so the wall that remains is a jigsaw of unpainted column based and dressed blocks. The water front is a great place to walk and enjoy a meal.

Unfortunately, the day after we arrived the wind started to blow and for the next 3 days it continued to pick up speed until it reach force 9 and the ferries were cancelled for a couple of days. As a result of that we decided to book flights from Naxos to Athens on October 22 rather than risk being stranded and missing our flight to Scotland on the 23rd.

The wind does not reach into the old village or to our courtyard so we were able to take refuge when it became too much. We did take the bus to the next village up the coast, Naoussa, to see if it might be somewhere that we might like to stay. The wind was even stronger there and the village just did not appeal to us - it almost seemed contrived. We will stay here in Parikia for now.

Yesterday the wind had calmed down quite a bit so we took the bus to the mountain village of Lefkes. This is a quiet, beautiful place that is built in a natural amphitheater with pristine streets; the hilltops are dotted with old windmills. We walked through the entire village taking pictures of the charming houses and narrow streets - and of course the cats. At one point Brenda heard, from around a corner, the sound of a person huffing and puffing. As she turned the corner there was a very old lady climbing up a steep flight of stairs, struggling with her cane and a huge bag of fruit hung on her arm. Brenda hurried down to take her bag and carried it to her house. She told us in sign language that the fruit had blown off the trees. She rewarded us with two persimmons that she was carrying in her other hand, they were so ripe they would have been crushed in the bag of apples. We had never eaten persimmons like that - what a treat.

After walking through the village and a quick visit to the beautiful Agias Trias Cathedral (Church of the Holy Trinity) for photos, we found the real purpose of our trip to Lefkes. No - it’s not some tasty gourmet treat! The town is the start of a Byzantine path that leads to the village of Prodromos. The path often is paved with the original marble slabs, it climbs up and down through olive groves, with spectacular views of the country side and off in the distance the island of Naxos. We were reminded that most of you would be enjoying a Thanksgiving turkey as the path we walked was lined sage and the air was filled with the scent so familiar at this time of year. What a lovely way to spend a day.

Prodromos was still asleep when we arrived - these people take siesta time very seriously. We didn’t see another person on the path or in the village until we walked through to the other side to the bus station.

This morning we decided that we will leave for Naxos tomorrow. We have really enjoyed our time here on Paros and we are going to really miss the bakery right next door to the hotel. They have become our favourite breakfast place and the reason that we need to walk more ;-)

Leaving Crete

We’re on the move again

Our travels are in the hands of the gods. As we checked our options for the next two weeks it became evident that staying in Crete was not feasible at this time of year. Flights are expensive and there are fewer and fewer as the tourist season draws to a close. So, this morning we on a ferry heading for the island of Paros.

Let’s take you back to where we left off in our last entry. We were busy exploring Western Crete looking for places to possibly go to after leaving Platanias. Our quest took us to Paleochora on the south coast of Crete. We boarded the early morning bus ready for almost any eventuality - money, credit cards, passports, beach stuff, a change of clothes - you name it. The journey took us through the White Mountains past many little villages and of course, hundreds of orange & olive groves. Paleochora is a great little seaside village with a ton of little tavernas lining the sea shore. The village in on a peninsula so you have your choice of a couple of beaches. We stopped at a taverna for brunch and had fresh squeezed orange juice with our omelets. It’s going to be hard to go back to processed orange juice :-(. From the taverna we walked along the seawall which which turned into a path, and eventually disappeared, but since we were still following the shore we continued on. We passed by the ferry dock, a concrete soccer field and found ourselves, quite suddenly, at the city dump! Off in the distance we could see a beautiful beach so we carefully picked our way through the least awful part of the dump up to a road, that we had somehow missed earlier. None worse for wear, we finally got to the beach and spent a few hours on rented sunbeds under an umbrella. Of course because our packs were loaded with most of our valuables we were a little concerned about leaving them unattended while we swam. Our concerns were unfounded but we decided to take less with us on day trips.

The next morning we took the bus to Falasarna, a remote, tiny, former hippie settlement on the west coast. This time we were only carrying enough money for bus fare, a couple of meals and minor incidentals - what we could afford to lose should anything happen. So, we arrived. There was a couple of small hotels right where the bus let us off and signs for a beach taverna but that was pretty much it in the immediate area. We decided to have breakfast at the hotel closest to the sea because of the view from the terrace. The waiter informed us that there were no eggs, but they were expecting to receive some any time. We ordered bread, butter & jam, yogurt and honey, sausages, orange juice and coffee and asked to be informed when the eggs arrived. Shortly there after the waiter returned and said that the eggs had arrived so Brenda asked for one fried egg. Then the food started to arrive - two huge pieces of bread (about 1/2 a french loaf each), our sausages (that turned out to be more like fried wieners - yuck), the usual basket of bread - different than the butter and jam bread, and 2 fried eggs with more sausages!!! We just laughed about the pile of food that was enough to sustain us until dinner and fed the sausages to the dogs that were handing around the tables. This caught the attention of a couple at the next table and started a conversation with them. They are from Sweden and had taken a week away from their 6 children, 11 horses, dogs, cats, etc. The husband, Tjabbe had been to Crete years before and had returned to Falasarna with his wife Anita. We ended up spending the day on the beach with them and really enjoyed their company. We also fell absolutely in love with the area and wanted to stay over until the next day so we checked the rates at the hotel and counted our money and figured that we could make it work if we were very careful and didn’t go crazy like we did at breakfast.

Long story short - with a bit of help from our new friends we had 2 fabulous days on the beach at Falasarna. The water was perfect for swimming, there were waves to body surf in and the sand was warm and soft. Best of all it was not crowded at all. When we left the next day we arranged for Tjabbe and Anita to meet us in Platanias the next day so we could repay their generosity and kindness, and to spend some more time with them. We took them to Panorama, the restaurant that Nikos works at, for a delicious meal and all round great evening. We said good-by with promises to keep in touch and to visit each other someday.

On our final night in Platanias we walked to the next village, Agia Marina, for dinner at a restaurant owned a man named John who is a friend of Nikos. John is from New Zealand, he’s cooked for years and decided to open a steak house because the most successful restaurant he ever worked in was a steak house. His place is a little out of the way, but the food was fabulous and the decor very classy. We hope that he is successful.

We left Platanias on Tuesday and took the bus to Heraklion where we continued to explore this wonderful city using the Kronos Hotel as our home base. Our first stop was the Historical Museum of Crete, we were very impressed with this little museum especially the exhibit on the Second World War. After leaving the museum we walked the massive fortifications of the old Venetian city walls, at one of the seven bastions we climbed down into the busy streets and wandered back towards our hotel. That evening we dined at a Taverna that is purely Greek. From the pungent spicy salad with local soft cheese and some cooked wild greens, to the grilled lemony oyster mushrooms, the village sausages and french fries (Robert declared them the best of the trip so far) the meal surpassed many of the “tourist” places we had eaten at - this was real Greek food!

As we wandered the side streets the next day we came across a rather grande house with a lovely Boxer pup peering through the gate and wiggling with excitement. We stopped for a cuddle and a couple of wet kisses. The next time we passed by we saw the lady of the house and found out the pup’s name is Lola. Just down the street from Lola’s house we stopped for a cup of tea at a place that had we had noticed the day before. The thing that had caught Brenda’s attention was the tiered trays laden with delicious looking cookies. So, for 5 euros each we had a pot of tea, lovely sweets and a bottle of water. A bit of an extravagance but a very nice experience, rather like high tea only with Greek goodies.

Heraklion had changed quite a bit since we were last there - just over 2 weeks ago. It had transformed from a tourist focused city back to being a Greek city. Most of the souvenir shops were closed and there was very little signage in English. As we sat in a square on our last evening it was apparent that the Greeks had reclaimed their city - tourist season is pretty much over. This is a great time to be here.

So, now we are on our way to Paros because that is where the ferry was going today. We’ll see what the gods have in store for us there.

Animals in Greece

The Animals of Greece

The cats are plentiful, mostly well fed and content. We had fun with a litter of street kittens in Folegandros.

The street dogs here are the fattest we have ever seen! We suspect that there’s a drive to decrease the number of street dogs and that they have been neutered, collared and returned to the streets. They are probably being fed leftovers from the backdoor of the tavernas and they spend their days sleeping in shady spots where ever they choose. We met one dog in the ferry terminal in Santorini who felt compelled to mooch, but when we handed it a french fry it turned its nose up at it. What kind of street dog turns down french fries? We’ll tell you - Big Fat Greek Street Dogs - that’s who! That dog was still not the fattest one we’ve seen - this honour goes to a “barrel with hair” that we met on the harbour in Chania. We debated as to whether or not it was standing - but since its eyes were closed we determined that it was in fact lying down. We suspect that it just rolls from place to place with perhaps an occasional nudge from kind folks to keep it moving.

The donkeys all have jobs and when they are not engaged in carrying huge loads they stand forlornly doing Eeyore impersonations.

There are a few howling dogs in this village, who along with the roosters who have no idea that they are only supposed to crow at dawn, spend most of their nights keeping us awake. We suspect they are the same dogs we see sleeping during the day, but without proof positive we don’t feel right about waking them up as we pass by.

Sheep & lambs - cute and delicious (see above)

The goats are doing a bang up job of producing milk for our cheese!

Foods that we love

Foods that we love

One word Boureki! Wow! Who would have thought that potatoes, zucchini and cheese could be cooked with mint and taste so amazing???? Marlene had ordered Boureki many times prior to our dinner together, but was unsuccessful in each attempt - obviously because it is delicious and it sells out quickly. Our Sunday treat from Rebecca was homemade Boureki - Wow and Yum!

Mizithra Cheese - Wow again! Fresh soft goat cheese. When you put it on top of a rusk with fresh tomatoes you have a wonderful dish called Dakos. Tasteeeee!

Greek Salad - fresh tomatoes, green pepper, cucumber, sweet onion, feta, black olives, oregano and beautiful Cretan olive oil - That’s it, that’s all you need.

Graviera Cheese - a firm sheep and goat cheese that is produced locally, it’s great melted on anything.

Bougatasa - Cretan cheese pie with icing sugar - Oh My!

Gyros - chicken or pork sliced into a pita with tomatoes, tzatziki and french fries. How can you not love a sandwich that includes french fries???

French Fries - The Greeks know what they are doing when it comes to potatoes - the fries are the best we have ever eaten!

Lamb - So far we’ve only had it twice, both times it was amazing.

Mythos Beer - we are enjoying the Greek beer during the day, but are having difficulty finding good red wine. At dinner we order the house wine which usually comes from the owners grapes - not always great but usually is okay with the food. Often complimentary Raki is brought at the end of a meal and that usually erases any memory of bad wine. (Raki is the Greek version of moonshine and could probably be used to remove nailpolish!)

Fresh fruit and veggies - Grapes like you’ve never had, peaches, tomatoes, cucumbers etc. to die for.

Yogurt and Honey - We would never consider eating 10% milk fat yogurt in Canada but when in Greece..... add a bit of the most delicious honey in the world over top of peaches and you have a wonderful start to your day!

Just delivered to our door - something that sounded like “Mooste Zelli”, with instructions to “Just eat it”. We conjecture it to be a jelly made with grape must, it was topped with cinnamon, sesame seeds and fresh roasted almonds. - Yum!

Crete - Platanyas

Platanyas

The trip to Plantanyas from Heraklion took about 4 hours - first a comfortable bus ride to Chania with many stops to let passengers off or on, some just a slight pull off the highway. It was different to see people sitting on the side of the road selling bags of oranges from their groves. Once in Chania we decided to catch the bus to Platanyas rather than spend the money on a taxi. Brenda was confident that she could find “Rebecca’s House” from the bus stop. Sure enough as the bus pulled into Platanyas things started to look familiar. We got off the bus, retrieved our bags and started up the hill - hand drawn map in hand. One thing Brenda had - well let’s say - “remembered” wrong rather than “forgot”, was the steepness of the hill that we needed to drag our suitcases up. The path, as it leaves the road, is equally steep and becomes a very rough cobbled surface, not easy to drag suitcases over. (We really need to travel with small backpacks like our friends Geordie & Nigel!) We were greeted by our hosts, Rebecca and Nik who presented us with a glass of orange juice and piece of cake - YUM! Once settled we went back down the hill to pick up a few groceries, keeping the steep climb in mind all the time when making our selections.

Our little apartment is very cosy. There are two floors - kitchen/livingroom on the main floor, bedroom and bathroom on the second with a steep creaky stairwell connecting them. On each level there’s a terrace, so when we’re here, we spend very little time inside. In the morning we have our breakfast on the bougainvillea bordered deck off the kitchen, at night we usually have at least a night cap - sometimes dinner on the upper deck because it has the sea view. Rebecca regularly sends up samples of whatever she is cooking, so far everything has been delicious! We feel rather pampered.

Platanyas has really changed/grown in the seven years since Brenda was here with her girlfriends. There is very little of the upper old village left and the lower area is overrun with Scandinavian tourists. Even at this time of year it is almost impossible to walk on the sidewalk because of the crowds. With the excellent beaches along this part of Crete it is easy to understand the development and why people want to come here, but it is a bit of a disappointment to see the extent of the change. We are making the best of our time here, and avoiding the main street as much as possible. There’s so much to do in Crete that one doesn’t have to be apart of “Scandinavia South” if one chooses not to.

Our first night here we went to dinner at the restaurant where Brenda’s friend Nikos works. It is a very short downhill walk from our apartment. He knew that we were coming but we still managed to surprise him. He works two jobs during the tourist season so he is very busy, but he had a bit of time the next day so asked us to meet him in Chania for coffee and a visit with his Goddaughter, Eleni and her little sister Sofia. He picked up us at the bus station and took us to meet his friends at a lovely seaside coffee bar that is frequently primarily by Greeks. Then he drove us to meet the two little girls in his life. We had a delightful visit with the girls and their mother Maria - we had met their dad at the coffee shop. Nikos dropped us off near the centre of town, we wandered the tangle of streets stumbling on the the Turkish Quarter on the way to the Venetian Harbour. After an early dinner in a lovely taverna we caught the bus back to our little apartment.

Thursday turned out to be a beach day. The water is the perfect temperature for playing in the waves - we had a great time! We decided to cook dinner at home that night so we prepared pasta with Greek smoked sausages in a spicy tomato sauce and enjoyed the sunset from our upper terrace.

On Friday we took the bus towards Chania but got off about 3 km early to visit the travel agency that manages Rebecca’s House. We have to make some decisions about our final 2 weeks in Greece. Originally we planned to fly from Crete to Rhodes and take the ferry to Patmos, Samos, and then to Naxos on our way back to Athens for our flight to Scotland on October 23. Now we have started to wonder if the weather will cooperate with the relatively long ferry rides involved in the plan. It seems that if we want to continue to experience the wonderful weather that we’ve had so far, we may need to stay in Crete. We want to find a quiet place where there are more Greeks than tourists. So, we stopped in at the travel agency to give them the assignment of researching some options for us.

From there we walked into Chania and spent more time exploring the harbour and the shops. We had a date for dinner with a couple from California, Jack & Marlene, that we bumped into on Folegandros and again in Heraklion; since they were also going to be in Chania on Friday we planned our meeting. As it turned out we bumped into them again about an hour before our scheduled meeting time. Dinner was at a seaside restaurant in the Venetian harbour that Nikos had recommended. It was a perfect evening with our new friends - the food was great as was the conversation. We said our good-byes and are pretty sure we won’t be “bumping” into them again in the near future as they were heading back to the mainland the next day. We are confident that we will bump into them again in the far future as we really connected and they are so bump-into-able.

Dinner on Saturday night was at the Sunset Restaurant that is located almost right next door to us. It is also the restaurant that Brenda and her friends frequented seven years ago. Brenda was looking forward to going because the owner, Stelios Vernadakis, has the same last name as three of the men mentioned in the book about the Greek resistance, and there is a photo in the book of one Vernadakis who looks remarkably like Stelios so we thought there must be a family connection. We showed the book and photo to Stelios but he had never heard of anybody in his family being involved in the resistance. His father is only 65, so it would have had to have been his grandfather or uncle. Maybe it isn’t something they talk about - who knows??? Anyway, Stelios remembered Brenda and was very pleased to see her again.

(Note to Sheena & Fran - he’s engaged to a lovely volleyball player, Popi, and they are building a large home nearby - and yes, he is still very handsome ;-)

Sunday was rainy, we read mostly and then put our rain jackets on and wandered into “Little Scandinavia” for a cheap dinner of gyros and french fries - Yum again!

Yesterday we went for a long hike that took us up into the hills behind the village. We walked through many olive and orange groves and a few little villages. We stopped at a lovely little taverna in the midst of all the orange groves, they didn’t have any orange juice - go figure! The walk is described in a “Hiking in Crete” book as a 11 km walk from Kato Stalos to Platanyas; we did the walk in reverse and found it a bit difficult reversing some of the directions so our version was probably closer to about 14 km.

Today we took the bus to Kissamou on the far west end of Crete, in our continuing quest to find a more Greek place to stay when we leave here. Currently we’re mulling over a couple of rather spiffy seaside hotels we saw that quoted us excellent end of season prices. If we decide to stay in Crete we will probably go there because besides the seashore, Kissamou is very well located for many day trips. We may spend a week there and then take a ferry to the island of Kytheria for a week.

Our travel agent lady will come by tomorrow with some answers to our enquiries so hopefully we’ll be closer to a plan soon. Our afternoon tomorrow will probably be spent at the beach, reading and playing in the waves.

Crete - Heraklion

Heraklion

We arrived on Crete as planned and found our way to our hotel. Luckily we had reserved our room before leaving Folegandros, apparently it was the last one and since we arrived after 9:00 pm it was good to know that we’d didn’t have to search for a room. The hotel is located right across the street from a 16th century Venetian Fort that sits in the harbour; the next morning as we hurried past it on our way to catch the bus to Konosos we promised ourselves that we’d visit there later.

The guide book says to arrive at Konosos early or late in the day to avoid the crowds, we thought that 8:30 was early (it’s early for us to arrive anywhere) - apparently it was right at prime bus-tour time, maybe all the tour guides read the same book. The site is really quite amazing, but when viewed with thousands of others a bit of the charm is lost. After spending time at the site we returned to the city and walked reluctantly towards the museum thinking that the hordes of people from the site would all be crammed into that building to view the many artifacts from Konosos. Along the way we took a side trip to the tiny Battle of Crete museum. As we both have recently read The Cretan Runner, a story of the Greek resistance during the German occupation, we were very interested in this museum. Even though most of the information was written in Greek we were very moved by the displays and impressed by the amount of information presented. From there we went to the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion and were very pleased to discover that there were actually relatively few people there. The actual museum is being rebuilt so only a few of the most interesting items are on display, not a bad thing really. This condensed version gave a very good sampling of the artifacts from the site, without one having to wander through the extensive collection of sarcophagi.

Once we had fulfilled our planned “sight seeing” in Heraklion we set out to discover the city at our leisure. We were pleasantly surprised to find a delightful vibrant city that’s easy to explore on foot. There are many old churches, busy squares connected by pedestrian only walkways, and of course lots of old Venetian architecture. Later that evening we walked over the the Fort to discover that it was closed, but found that beyond it there’s walk-way along a breakwater that extends for about 3 km. There actually were Greeks exercising along it - walkers, some cyclists and even a few runners! You just don’t see the Greeks exercising - it seems to interfere with their smoking ;-) As there was a threatening storm hanging over the city we decided against walking to the end of the breakwater and instead strolled into the city for dinner.

In front of a Venetian Loggia we encountered another Greek protest - this time there were hundreds of children and adults on bicycles encouraging people to give up their cars and to ride their bikes! Inside the Loggia was an exhibit of art made from garbage - the message was to “Go Green”! It’s so good to see this happening here because there is a terrible problem with trash strewn almost everywhere! The battle has started, it has a long way to go, but thankfully it has started.

Tuesday morning, after breakfast, we walked back across the street to the Fort and paid the 2 euros entrance fee - turned out to be a real bargain. Named Rocca al Mare (Fort by the Sea) by the Venetians it was build between 1523 and 1540. Opposite the fortress are the arcades of the 16th-century Venetial Arsenali where ships were build and repaired. We were extremely impressed by the Fort; the walls are approximately 5 meters thick, the rooms that are huge, and the whole thing is very well maintained. After exploring the Fort we opted for a bit of exercise ourselves and walked to the end of the break-water. Along the way we visited with old Greek men fishing with just a roll of line, and we saw a huge boat called the Endeavor that looked like a marine research vessel.

Then it was back to the hotel to collect our things, check out of the hotel and walk the two blocks to the station to catch the bus to Chania and then to Plantanyas.

Folegandros

Folegandros

What a wonderful way to shrug-off the commercialism of Santorini! Folegandros is one of smallest islands in the Cyclades - barely 12 km in length and just under 4 km at its widest, with a population of just under 700 friendly people. The ferry arrived at the small port and we took the bus up to Chora (also spelled Hora - the name of the main village on most islands). We wanted to check out a hotel that we had found on the internet so we didn’t interact with the domatia at the port. The terrain that we observed on the short drive is so rocky and rugged it was hard to imagine that people can even exist in such a bleak place, and then we arrived in the village! Chora is so pretty- the Lonely Planet says it best “The delightful Chora, complete with a dozen pretty little churches and a medieval Kastro filled with whitewashed houses draped in bougainvillea, draws you in with unassuming charm to its meandering main street that drifts happily from leafy square to leafy square.” The hotel we were interested in was in the Kastro but the reception was closed for a couple of hours so we found a seat in the first “leafy square” and were immediately engaged by a delightful Romanian waiter named Jannus (sp?). He frowned when we told him that we want to stay at the Kastro Hotel and said “It is too expensive”, he suggested a couple of other hotels. We did wait to see what was available at our chosen hotel - we were offered a small room, no view and no way of making coffee in the morning for 50 euros. So we walked to the other side of town (about 1/4 km) to look at the hotels that Jannus had suggested. Both new hotels but build in the Cycladic style. The first one was absolutely gorgeous with a swimming pool, and fabulous view at 85 euros, the lowest they would go was 80. The other one is located right next door, so it has the same stunning view, also a swimming pool and the room is almost as nice but only costs 40 euros - so we took it, and we love it! Truth be told, we love almost everything about Folegandros.

Our days begin with us sitting in the leafy square sipping coffee watching the children trudge off to school, people going to work, and the cats stretching and yawning as they find the perfect perch on which to start their day. It feels like we are apart of the village life. In the evening we find ourselves at a tiny restaurant that sits at the intersection of three narrow lane-ways. The tables are situated in such a manner that people walking by pass between the diners. There are homes all around so we are treated to more everyday village life. There is one little girl, Madeleina, who we particularly enjoy, she is 18 months old and her parents own the ice cream shop around the corner. Every night she comes running into the square and sits on the restaurant’s doorstep. One of her parents is always right behind her and she tries to convince them to sit with her on the step. We went there the first night at Jannus’ suggestion and we’re trying to work our way through the menu! Everything is homemade by Irene and is quite delicious. With food so good we are reluctant to try any place else for fear of wasting an appetite.

Our first full day was spent wandering around the village, we walked up the steep path to the large church of the Virgin, Panagia which sits perched on a cliff-top above the town - yet another amazing view. Yesterday we walked in the opposite direction of the port for approximately 3 km to the beach.
After a nice swim, we relaxed in the sun and had a visit from a great dog who wanted to wrestle with us. Madeleina was at the beach and she came over to play with the dog - or in her words “bow”. By the time we walked back to our hotel we had probably spent about 5 hours in the sun and we have the colours to show for it - Brenda, brown - Robert, red.

The landscape between Chora and the beach is also very rocky but the rocks have been used to build walls as well as to create terraces on the hillsides, shelters for shepherds, and folds for the sheep, goats and donkeys. As we walked along we were amazed at the extent of these carefully crafted structures, some of which must be centuries old, mostly abandoned, and yet some are obviously still in use today. Robert was completely intrigued by the layout of the walls and buildings, as well as the enormity of the work involved in their construction. (Perhaps the landscaping job waiting at home will benefit from any inspiration he feels.)

When we got back to the hotel we had a swim in the pool to cool off and then had a wee rest before going into the village for dinner. In one of the squares we recognized a couple from the ferry; Robert had seen them struggling with their luggage and had carried it up the stairs for them. They invited us to join them for a drink, so we sat down and shared our stories. Their names are Carmen and Enrique, they are from Spain and have travelled the world but have not yet visited Canada. We invited them to visit us someday and they returned the invitation to their home in Spain. We thoroughly enjoyed chatting with them, they a are very interesting couple who told us many wonderful things about Spain - especially about the food! As we are planning a trip to Spain in a couple of years it would be nice to keep in touch with them, certainly we would like to have them visit us in Vernon.

As we walked through the village this morning we saw Madeleina and her dad - she pointed at us and said “bow”! I guess she’s accepted us!

Today is our last full day here and it is raining. This is the first rain they have had in 5 months and we are happy to see it because everything is so dry. It started to get a bit cool in the square this morning so we had our second cup inside the little cafe but were driven out by the thick cigarette smoke. Robert is reading his book, although I don’t understand how he can concentrate with all that snoring going on ;-), I am catching up with our blog.

Tomorrow, Sunday, we have to leave this magical place. We will catch the 1:20 pm ferry back to Santorini, and then the 6:15 pm to Heraklion (also spelled Iraklio) on Crete. Monday we will visit the Archaeological Museum of Heraklion and Palace of Konosos. On Tuesday we will take the bus west to the village of Plantanyas where we will stay for 2 weeks. We are looking forward to staying put for a little while and perhaps having a couple of quiet days.

We’ll write more as our adventure continues and will endeavour to create a web page for some of our photos if internet access is more forthcoming on Crete.

Opa!

R & B

Santorini

Santorini

Arriving at Santorinit is very exciting. We were on a high speed ferry with closed decks so we didn’t really get to appreciate the thrill of slowly entering the caldera topped by beautiful white Cycladic buildings that seem to tumble down the hill. Instead we raced across the sea into a port at the far end of the island. We knew that we would see the view later when we left the island on a slower ferry. A different kind of drama enfolds as one disembarks from the ferry - first is the mad rush of passengers, it seems as though there is a prize for being first off! Then come the domatia (people with rooms to rent trying to convince new arrivals that their rooms are the most desirable and the cheapest); we were approached by a man who made us an offer we couldn’t refuse. I quote - “Clean room, air conditioned, great view, separate bathroom - 35 euros”! So we said that we would take a look and we climbed into a nice air conditioned bus and started the hair-raising ride up the multiple switchback road to the top of the caldera - the driver talking on his cell phone, steering with one hand and passing slower vehicles the entire way! The room was “okay” but the view was quite lovely so we decided to stay.

The house is located on the opposite side of the island from the caldera, we saw gently sloping hills, scattered homes and the sea; so much quieter than the expensive side. There was a very large covered deck that we shared with 2 other rooms, only one of which was occupied. This couple from Austria, Heidi & Josef, were also “picked” up by Gregorious (sp?) from the same ferry we arrived on. We really enjoyed getting to know them, they travel to the Cyclades every year and are very knowledgeable. They are like us in that they want to get away from the crowds and experience the quite spots so they shared lots of valuable tips with us. We will stay in touch with them.

Our time in Santorini was spent mostly trying to capture the incredible beauty in just the right light; we rose before dawn to walk up and over the hill - to watch the affect of the rising sun on the buildings, the effort was well worth it. This is a stunning place and before the crowds invade it is very peaceful, we feel very fortunate to have seen it at its best. We also took the same hike in the evening to watch the sun set - different light but equally beautiful.

Leaving the island 2 days later involved a ride to the ferry port in Gregorious’ own vehicle - an old, 70’s two-door hatch back that rattled and belched its way down the hill - passing vehicles for no reason other than that they were there - how typical! I guess it’s more important to impress new arrivals than those who have paid up and are leaving. As we waited for our ferry we watched him “work” the new arrivals. Soon we boarded the slow ferry that made its way leisurely passed the 5 huge cruise ships anchored under the white tipped cliffs. We bid Santorini a fond farewell and where on our way to Folegandros at last.

Filling in the blanks.

Filling in the blanks

Our last entry was just a teaser as we were experiencing our first Greek Ferry challenge and had to deal with that rather than write our blog. It turned out that the “official” September ferry schedule that we had picked up from the “official” Greek Tourism Information office was wrong. We had decided that we would take the Monday morning 7:00 AM ferry to Folegandros (as indicated on the schedule), when we phoned the number on the listing, to find out what terminal the ferry departed from, we were told that they do not go to Folegandros! This was at about 5:50 Sunday afternoon and of course all the travel agencies were closed so we could not get any information. The internet wasn’t any help either because you can only book 4 days out and we could not find a general listing of ferry schedules. After exhausting all the avenues open to us we decided to arrive at the port by 6:00 AM and see where we could get to. So, here we are on a high speed catamaran destined for Santorini. According to our Lonely Planet reference book there are daily ferries from there to Folegandros; so we’ll spend a couple of days in Santorini then go to Folegandros for a few days before going to Crete. (we hope!)

We had a bit of adventure just getting to the ferry this morning. We’ll need to go back to yesterday afternoon and our arrival at the bus terminal from Delphi. We were standing in the taxi line-up waiting for our turn. When waiting for a taxi n Greece, you take the one that arrives when it is your turn; we were very lucky to get a young man, Bob, who is probably one of the few honest Athens taxi drivers - and probably the only Greek named Bob. He spoke very good English and was very personable without being pushy and “in your face”. We asked him what he would charge us to take us to the port the next morning. He said about 11 euros, compared to about 8 euros for the Metro and we would have had to walk about 6 blocks with our luggage at 5:00 in the morning. (fortunately the drugged/drunk person who was passed out on the street the night before had been repaired and moved on by the police and ambulance crew) It seemed like a no brainer, so we asked him to pick us up at 5:30. He arrived on time and as he drove us to the port we had a very nice chat with him. He is trained as an electrician but drives his own taxi because the pay for electricians in Athens is very low - 700 euros a month! Robert asked him about his work hours, he works 7 days a week from 5:00 AM to around 3:00 - 4:00 PM. He said that he is young and he’s working so hard for a better future. At the port he went into the Coast Guard Office to get the day’s sailing information - such a thoughtful young man. He came back to the car and from the information he gave us we decided to take the 7:15 ferry to Santorini, As he pulled the car out and backed up to turn around he backed into a Coast Guard vehicle that was backing out of their lot. There were no running lights or reverse lights so the vehicle was impossible to see in pre-dawn light. The damage to Bob’s car was at least 2000 euros, in his estimation. We offered to be witnesses for him, but he said that since it was the Coast Guard he couldn’t win. He got out of his car and was faced with 4 young stone faced Coast Guards - wearing side arms. We felt just terrible for him and wished that we could do more than just give him a generous tip (which he tried to refuse). As our ferry pulled away from the pier we could see that he was still there, so not only is he out the money to repair his car he’s not making any money today, and probably won’t be able to until his car is repaired. Bob is having a very bad day.

We don’t feel that we did Delphi justice in our last blog so we’ll fill in the blanks - as Robert puts it “dotting the Delphi i”. The bus ride up was punctuated by an exciting air display as we passed a military air field, - a couple of attack helicopters hovered close by, two jet fighters passed low in front of us as they landed, and a small plane performed some air acrobatics - loops and barrel rolls - what fun!

Getting to Delphi is easy, just head out of Athens, turn left at Thebes and then turn right to Delphi. The terrain changes from flat sea level, to fertile agricultural lands, to rocky “goat friendly” slopes during the 3 hour trip. As you round the corner to Delphi you are treated to a vista of a valley filled with million olive trees that stretches to the Sea of Corinth on the left, and the magnificent Temple of Apollo on the right - WOW! Soon you enter the narrow crowded streets of the charming village and you know you’ve arrived in a special place. The shops cater to tourists so there is no shortage of tacky window displays, but the shop keepers are quite charming and effusive in their greetings and invitations into their stores. We never felt pressured, just welcome - so of course we left some of our money there. Our little gargoyle (Nik) suggested a long established family run restaurant for dinner where we were seated on the terrace with an uninterrupted view of the valley with the sea off in the distance. Our meal was magnificent - a shared salad, moussaka for Robert and lamb with lemon sauce for Brenda. We had a couple of moochers come by - two kittens who were quite verbal in their demands for a taste of our dinners. Of course we shared. After dinner we strolled through the quite village and were pleased that we didn’t have to step over any passed out druggies. The village of Delphi is built on the side of Mount Parnassus so the streets are terraced and connected by stairways, this provides a nice bit of exercise for after dinner strollers and it also ensures that almost everyone has access to the view. So all in all, with the archaeological sites, the charming people, the views, the goats and the food, Delphi is high on our list of places to return to.

Athens on the other hand disappointed us. The tourist sites are impressive but the squalor and decay of the surroundings and the population are all too apparent. Bob told us that almost 1/3 of the population are non-Greek and that they have influenced the deterioration of Athens. You see graffiti everywhere - except on the official monuments. Migrant workers have taken over areas of the city and ghettos have grown around them. We won’t be back to Athens.

More to come,

R & B

Delphi Bells

We’re back in Athens after a quick visit to Delphi - the Centre of the Earth. We arrived in Delphi in the early afternoon, as we were dragging our suitcases down the narrow street a little guy who looked kind of like a Greek gargoyle invited us into his hotel and offered us a room at a price that we were happy to accept. The room was spacious, had marble floors and a huge balcony with a fabulous view over beautiful valley of olive trees that stretched out for miles. We quickly freshened up and headed to the Temple of Apollo and to the museum, walking all the way up the site to the stadium at the top and then on to the museum. This was Brenda’s third visit to Delphi and she was impressed by how much has been done to bring the museum up to world class standards. The differences at the site were not as profound, the biggest change being that the stadium is now completely roped off and out of bounds; it makes sense to try to preserve the site for future generations, but it was so impressive to have been able to stand in the middle of the stadium rather than just view it from one corner. Robert was suitable impressed with the sense of realism and energy in some of the sculptures and statues, particularly The Charioteer bronze. If you are not familiar with this statue may we suggest that you Google it and have a look. This morning we awoke to the the musical tone of goat bells as the resident herd foraged their way across the hill side beneath our balcony. The second set of bells we heard were from the Greek Orthodox Church reminding us that it was Sunday morning. Shortly after the bells the sounds of the priest singing the liturgy rang out over the village. It was a stunning way to start the day. We had a quick breakfast and then walked over the Temple of Athena, that happens to be just down the hill from Apollo’s sanctuary. Our trip to Delphi was too short - we both just loved everything about the place. Tonight we are turning in early because we’re going to the port first thing in the morning to hopefully catch a ferry to somewhere - details to follow.

Good night from Athens.

R & B

Athens

Athens! A huge modern bustling city of 10 million that has roots reaching back to the 5th century BC. This is the end of our second day in Athens and we have been very busy. We arrived from London at 6:20 pm on September 10 and took a bus from the airport to Syntagma Square in the centre of the city. Our reservation was at a hotel which Brenda had stayed at 11 years ago when Sheena and she were here with a group of students. She was confident that she could find the hotel (with a map), so off we set for the 1 km walk, dragging our suitcases through the darkening streets of Athens. After taking a couple of wrong turns and going down some pretty scary streets we arrived safely at our hotel. Athens at night is not what she remembers, we’ve seen police buses with officers in riot gear, carrying automatic weapons. During the day it’s a different story, it does not feel as threatening and there is so much to see. The National Archaeology Museum was our first stop; we spend about 4 hours there and just barely scratched the surface. Their collection of items from Ancient Greece is so extensive one could spend days there. We toured the sculpture, bronze and prehistoric collections; rooms and rooms of statues and gold - truly amazing. We highly recommend a visit there if your are ever in Athens. After we left the museum we walked towards Syntagma Sq with a couple of hours to spend wandering the Plaka before our dinner engagement with Cynthia and Maryanne from Vernon. We enjoyed a wonderful meal at a little ouzerie and had a great visit with our friends. As we were walking back to our hotel there was a boisterous parade of people following along beside us - it looked liked they could have been demonstrating in favour of Communism or Socialism - who knows?? The best part of the parade was a dog who ran ahead of the demonstrators with his tail held high and joining in with the noise. He also had the very important task of chasing all the motor bikes that zoomed past - and believe me there are tons of motor bikes so he was very busy. This morning we set out for the Acropolis, this time taking advantage of the new Metro System as the heat and all the time on our feet is starting to take its toll; we also knew that there would be lots of walking once we arrived. After the long hot trek up to the top of the Acropolis we stood on the rocky hill in awe of the Parthenon, the Temple of Nike and the view of Athens reaching far into the horizon. To stand on the hill that holds the ancient origins of this great city and to see the extent to which it has grown is amazing. From the Acropolis it was an easy walk down to the Plaka for a bit of shopping - some fresh fruit (yum!) and a little something for Cadence. It was also time for a coffee break, so we sat and enjoyed a a bit of bum time and some people (and dog) watching. Then off to see the changing of the guards and the Parliament Building and the Metro back to the hotel to freshen up. For dinner we walked over to Omonia Square, which is the closest square to the hotel, and enjoyed our first gyros. What a deal - we each had a delicious gyro, a beer and we shared an order of fries - the entire meal cost us 8.70 euros. The night before we paid 20 euros each! We are heading up to Delphi for an overnight on Saturday, we’ll return Sunday evening to Athens and then leave for the Islands on Monday. We’ll write again from Folegandros.

For now we say Adio,

Robert & Brenda

Highland Journey

On Friday, September 5 we left Glasgow and traveled northwest towards the Highlands. Now, you can't just go heading off into the Highlands without a good breakfast to sustain you through your journey, so we stopped for a traditional full Scottish breakfast. A full breakfast consists of an egg, 2 slices of the best bacon you have ever eaten, a sausage, a potato scone, beans, half of a cooked tomato and toast - with some minor alterations depending on who is serving it. Being well stuffed we were on our way. Our journey took us along Loch Lomond, but since we had spent time there 5 years ago we carried on, enjoying the lovely scenery along the way.

Our first stop was for a cup of tea at the railway station in the small village of Crianlarich. Not much seemed to be going on in this little place, but the station master told us that the Hogwarts Express stops there on the way to Glen Coe where the Harry Potter movies are shot. When we got to Glen Coe we certainly understood why this magnificent area would be the back drop for the movies. The open sweeping vistas of the heather covered mountains are spectacular. This area, besides being beautiful, has the sad history of a horrific massacre in February 1692 when 38 men from the Clan MacDonald of Glen Coe were murdered for apparently not pledging their allegiance to the new king William of Orange. Forty of their women and children later died of exposure because their homes had been burned down. We stopped many times along the way to try to capture pictures of the constantly changing beauty of this area. We got to practice our bog jumping techniques a couple of times as we wandered off the road to get the "perfect" photo.

Arriving in Fort William on Loch Linnhe (a sea loch) in the late afternoon we were fortunate to find a little B & B. Accommodation was scarce because there was a race up AND down Ben Nevis the next morning. Fort William sits at the foot of the Ben, tallest mountain in Britain at 4406 feet. This may not seem like a very high mountain, but when you consider that the race starts at sea level you can understand the challenge. Apparently, participants in this race are turned back if they have not reached the summit within 2 hours. We heard that some even finish in around 1 hour 30 minutes! No, we didn't participate in the race ;-) After a visit to a local pub for a pint, we found a Chippie and took away fish and chips that we ate while sitting beside the loch enjoying the sunset. The next morning after a full Scottish breakfast we were off again.

Our drive took us along the shoreline of Loch Ness to Inverness and then on to Culloden, the site of the last battle fought on British soil. We spent considerable time going through the brand new extensive interpretive centre and walking on the battlefield. There is a profound feeling of sorrow evoked by walking through the battlefield; actually standing where the brave Highlanders faced their enemy and so many of them fell.

Anyone who has read Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series will be interested in the next place we visited. Clava Cairn is the inspirational site for the stone circle that Claire enters to travel through time to Jacobite Scotland. It is located just a mile from Culloden and aside from it's connection to the novels it is a magic place in its own right. The cairns are the site of a prehistoric cemetery built about 4,000 years ago. A gentleman we spoke to at Culloden recommended we visit the cairns, we are so pleased that we did.

We spent Saturday night in the seaside village of Nairn at a lovely old hotel that seemed to be a converted grand house. Sunday morning after yet another full Scottish breakfast we continued on our way to Fort George. This huge fort was built after the Battle of Culloden as a safeguard against possible further Jacobite uprisings. Fortunately it never saw battle, but it continues in use today as the regimental headquarters of the 3rd Scots Regiment and currently the Black Watch are housed there as they prepare to be posted to Afghanistan. Our next stop was to the town of Elgin to visit the ruins of a thirteenth century cathedral.

Our final night was spent in the Cairngorm National Park in the village of Grantown-on-Spey. The B&B we stayed in was built in 1863 - we got the room with the 4-poster and paid way more than we wanted to, but choices were limited. The full Scottish breakfast they served included haggis and blood pudding. (Yes, that's 4 full Scottish breakfasts in a row!- yikes!!)

Sunday morning dawned a bright sunny day with bright blue skies. We headed back towards Glasgow along the Whiskey Trail. With 3 Scotch lovers in the car this journey could have taken many days, but since this was the last day of our trip we chose only one, the Dalwhinnie distillery to visit. Just stepping out of the car we sensed the "Angel's portion" - during the aging process up to 1/3 of the barrel of the whiskey can evaporate - this is called the "Angel's Portion". The aroma around the buildings and in the shop is delicious!

From the distillery we drove to Perth for a bit of lunch and then carried on to Stirling Castle. We were in awe as we approached this spectacular castle perched high up on the hill above the city. This is yet another truly amazing place. The gardens and green spaces are lovely, the buildings are well maintained and extensive restoration continues. It was great to see the representation of everyday life in Stirling Castle.

Our final stop on the way home was for a curry supper, delicious food and believe it or not we had haggis pakora!

Glasgow Fox

Our visit to Glasgow began with a fish & chip dinner on the way to Harry's house from the airport yesterday. We had an uneventful overnight flight from Calgary to London and a very long 4+ hour layover in Heathrow, so after the fish & chips and a large beer we were ready for our bed and a good night's sleep. This morning we woke to a beautiful blue sky and sunshine so we hurried out for a "wee stroll" to take advantage of the uncharacteristically sunny day. Our six hour walk took us to a couple of lovely city parks that were once large private estates owned by tobacco/slave trade lords.

While sitting in a beautiful walled garden in The Rouken Glen (the last park we visited) we were surprised by a little fox that seems to live in the garden. He seemed quite comfortable with people around and sat still for a few photos.

Tomorrow we leave on a road trip that will take us up the east coast to Fort William, then over to Inverness and Culloden. Whether we return along the west coast or down the the centre of Scotland through the Great Glen remains to be decided. Harry, Robert's brother, will be driving so we don't have to worry about driving on the "wrong" side of the road.

For those of you who don't know, this is the second leg of our two month journey. The first part we spent in Calgary visiting our beautiful little grand daughter, Cadence, and her parental units - Michelle and Trevor. Our trip was planned before Cadence was born and that is a very good thing, because otherwise we may not have been able to pulled ourselves away from her.

We leave Scotland on September 10 and fly to Athens; after 5 weeks in Greece we return to Scotland on October 23 for the final 2 weeks of our trip.

We will be making regular posts to this blog as we go along, so we'll let you know when there is a new chapter in our adventure.

For now, here's a couple of photos of Cadence and us as well as the little fox from today.

All the best,

Robert and Brenda