Travelers Tip: Good bye hat, hello cap

You may have noticed this cream colored fedora arrive in our photos a few weeks ago when we first arrived in Greece. It was a reluctant purchase and not very expensive but I probably carried the hat around as much as I wore it. It doesn't block the sun all that well as the brim is not very big and you have to constantly shape it or it turns into a mess. You can't pack it in a back because it's made of paper and it will crunch and become unwearable. After carrying it all over Greece, Egypt, and Turkey i've decided I need to put the hat down. I placed it on a railing inside the Hagia Sophia in Istanbul took a photo and walked away. The hat was claimed by some lucky traveler, because it was gone by the time we got back. I've replaced the hat with a cap that's much more travel friendly and can be stuffed into a suitcase and holds it's shape even when abused. [caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350"] R.I.P
July 23, 2012 - August 11th, 2012[/caption]

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="350"] My new hat, hopefully it will serve me well in Africa and beyond.[/caption]

Food - Back to Athens and this time, it's good

And by IT, I mean the Gyros, last time we tried our luck at a Gyro/Souvlaki place when we were in athens it was bordering on bad. This time we struck gold, I'm sure it has something to do with being on vacation or only costing 2.50 euro, but this is the best gyro i've ever had. And it's a chicken one at that! Salty and crispy on the outside, but still moist on the inside, the chicken was bursting with flavor. They topped it with red onion, ripe tomato, and flat leaf parsley. The sauce was less like tatziki, and more like a yogurt mayo mixture, tangy with a lot of lemon and definitely homemade and definitely delicious. This singe wrap has ranked up there with the most enjoyable meals of the trip. In fact after eating the first one I ordered a second on the spot. And we are planning our last meal in Athens already, you guessed it, another Gyro from Savas. Maybe this time i'll try the lamb or pork.

Hello again, Athens!

We're in Athens! It is a pretty good city.  I'm not too fond of cities, because they're noisy, dirty, and tend to feel more dangerous.  But, Athens doesn't seem too dangerous, it's not that noisy, and it's not that dirty, for a city.  And, it seems to be pretty well laid out.  We don't really get lost.  We may get side tracked, but we haven't been lost yet.  I think this has to do with the Acropolis, which hovers well above the city, orienting us. Something else about a bit city that rarely happens in smaller towns and villages, is that you can always find something new.  We did a lot of walking and exploring when we were in Athens before, but since we've been here this time, we've found a number of other little gems that we hadn't discovered before.  For example, we found the trendy little shopping district with a pedestrian street.  It kind of resembles a mix of the grove and 3rd street Promenade, but with an Athens vibe.  Similarly, we found a street with numerous sweets and snack shops. Barrels and buckets of dried fruit and nut variations are crammed into tiny stores and storefronts.  Similarly, our hotel seems to be situated in the Home Depot area of Athens.  All the surrounding stores sell pipes, rope, power tools and the like.  All new to us!

Then, last night we went for a walk to check out the moon, which was pretty big, and the Acropolis at night.  The only thing more impressive than the Acropolis in broad daylight, is the Acropolis at night.  The dark sky shrouds the surrounding landscape as the bright lights illuminate the centuries old ruin perched atop the mountain.  The golden lights bathe the white marble creating a shimmering illusion.  It's really spectacular.  That, paired with the nearly if not full moon, we had to find a good view.  And good view we found!  But, we weren't the only ones.  Apparently this chunk of rock is where young locals go to hang out in the evenings.

Also accomplished yesterday, we found the best gyro yet! A place called Sabbas (looks a little different in Greek) had an amazing chicken gyro with tomatoes, onions, paprika, and the creamy spread.

A note on bathrooms.  They are different once you leave the US.  Aside from the odd plumbing at times, the major difference concerns the shower.  Many times the entire bathroom is the shower, with a drain in the middle of the room.  I have a picture of one of our bathrooms in Athens.  Note how the toilet is basically in the shower, there is no dividing line between the shower floor and the bathroom floor, there is no curtain or door to be had, and the shower head is hand held only.  This is all quite common. (this picture makes the bathroom appear larger than is actually is BTW)

Today we might hang out in our AC for a bit and maybe hit up the Acropolis museum, which was closed during our last visit here.  Then we catch our flight!

Confused

Hello all! I have to say, I'm a bit confused.  It's been a while since I've posted and I'm not sure I'm going to be completely accurate on the daily accounts of our days since.  

I left off with our excursion to Kimolos, which was fun.  The next day we decided to start off as we somehow always do, with a long, hot walk up a hill.  We decided to visit a beach that we had seen on one of our bus rides called Papafragos.  It was all turquoise water, white sand, and white rocky cliffs that bordered the beach and created natural bridges and little caves.  The bus schedule didn't fit our needs, and that's why we walked.  It was long, and hot, but doable.  We ended up picking little snacks of grapes and figs on the way from trees and vines that lined the road.  Yum!  When we finally made it to the beach the water was refreshing.  Seth sat on the beach and drank his beer while Sloane and I went for a swim.  We checked out a cave, that didn't end up being something we could enter, boo.  Then we noticed that there was a natural bridge that looked like it ended in a little private beach.  We decided to check it out.  The first bridge was cool.  But it was kinda creepy to be in the bridge's shadow, because it made it hard to see underwater.  Then there was a longer bridge that led to the little beach.  That was super dark.  And, it turned out this was where there was a suction for any and all trash.  Uck, Sloane and I swam through that.  Oh well.  We made our way back to the other side where we sat on the beach at the water's edge until we had our fill.  It was really pretty.  We, then, caught a ride back to the town.  There was no way we were walking.

That afternoon we had lunch at another restaurant on the water.  That sounds luxurious, and it is, but they're all on the water.  There's a string of about 8 restaurants for that side of the island, and they are all on the 'road' that line the beach.  We decided to go traditional.  Sloane got a traditional baked eggplant dish, Seth ordered the lamb in lemon sauce, and I decided on musaka.  It was all really delicious, but I think I liked Seth's the best.

We then made our way to our regular hang out.  I think I've failed to mention that at least twice a day on Milos we went to this one restaurant to hang out and play Farkle.  We have kind of gotten to know the servers and they know us.  As a matter of fact, they have begun to predict what we will order, and are usually quite accurate.  Anyhow, I asked how to pronounce the name of the restaurant, and then what it meant.  The meaning is baby goat.  I inquired, "baby sheep?" and the waiter laughed a bit and said, "no, baby goat, the owner just has a thing with sheep".  I'm glad he found the humor as well.  But, like I said, we've gone there multiple times a day our entire stay on Milos.  They are friendly, their drinks and ice cream are good, and they automatically bring you water without charging you.  Winner!  Also, they enjoyed watching us play Farkle and ended up asking us about the game.  By the last night they were taking bets on who would win, and one even rolled for Sloane.  This turned out to be her downfall, because she was doing really well until he rolled for her.  The other server told us this was a bad idea because he was bad luck, because he was born on a Saturday (which is apparently bad luck in Greece).  

Anyhow, that afternoon was the Farkle game of ouzo.  Seth bought a bottle of ouzo and set the rules.  If you Farkle you take a shot, and if you roll 1000 you, also, take a shot.  Of course I ended up farkle-ing first and rolling 1000's like it was my job.  I ended up with 7 shots, more than the others.  Oh well.

When we woke up the next day it was super windy.  We obviously were not going to the beach, and being anywhere near sand was quite painful.  We didn't know what to do.  So, we went for a walk and checked out the waves.  Sloane won a bet where Seth dared her to sit by the edge of the rocks for 2 minutes.  She got a bit wet.  She won her ice cream. Then, we went and played Farkle.   

The next morning we woke up and took a ferry to Folegandros, another small Cycladic island.  The ferry was short and uneventful.  We found an apartment to rent while at the dock.  Folegandros is daunting.  Its landscape is comprised of sweeping hills that end in sheer rock cliffs overlooking the sea.  The whitewashed, cubed, buildings a stark contrast to the browns and reds of the earth.  Piled rock walls zig zag over the countryside partitioning the land for their owners, and enclosing livestock like donkeys, goats, sheep, and chickens.  The main village of Chora sits precariously on the cliffs edge.  A small town, walked from end to end in about 5 minutes or less, is a labyrinth of whites and blues, opening up here and there to small squares filled with tables shaded by trees and umbrellas.  Our first stop was for lunch.  We found a restaurant that made their own pasta and had the local dish of rabbit in red sauce.  That was a savory treat.  But, the lunch favorite was the simply named, chickpeas in the oven.  Hopefully Seth will describe this dish, or maybe have an idea of how it was prepared.  Because what I can tell you is that the sauce was thick, and creamy, but not dairy based.  It was very good.

That night, while at dinner, we happened to have chosen the restaurant right next to a wedding.  So halfway through our meal music and dancing began.  It was another wonderful, unexpected surprise that we could not have planned if we had tried.  

Something I failed to mention was the wind.  Apparently Folgandros is always windy, but our first day there was exceptionally windy.  So windy, in fact, that we were in jeopardy of losing our food at dinner.  We guarded our plates as we watched chairs drift down walkways as their owners chased after them.  If you stood up it was liable to happen.  The only wind I've seen stronger has been in tropical storms.  

The next day, yesterday, we went on a boat tour of the island.  5 beaches and lunch for 28 euros.  This was good, because we had wanted to do this on Milos but it was 50 euros there.  This was a good idea because Folegandros was a bit more difficult to get around.  The boat tour was nice, but we didn't really stop at beaches per say.  It was more like we stopped off the shore to swim for about 20 minutes before we got back on the boat.  But it was really nice.  It was hot and the water was cool.  There were rocks to climb and jump off of and I learned that I have a new party trick.  Apparently I can touch the bottom in pretty deep water.  So, I began retrieving rocks for people.  Mostly Seth and Sloane, but some of the others got in on it too.  

On the boat we met some people.  We met Nick, from Sydney, Australia, and we met a couple on their honeymoon, Whitney and Baptiste, from Paris, France (well, Whitney happened to be from Hawaii, but met her now husband while studying abroad in Paris. Every fathers nightmare!)  They were all very nice and we spent some time exchanging travel stories.  When we got back to port, guess what we did.  We played Farkle!!  Finally, new players!  Baptiste was the winner of having the most Farkles, while Whitney took the lead early on and won.  Totally fun.  

This morning we split from Sloane.  We are heading back to Athens to figure out our next move, and Sloane went to Ios, a nearby island.  It was totally fun traveling with Sloane.  But, I think she's done with traveling with us, and with traveling in general.  She seems to be looking forward to making her way home.  Sloane has 15 more days until she''ll be home, and we've been traveling for 40 days.  We will be in Turkey within the next week or so, but are not sure if we'll make a stop somewhere else before then.  Athens is a pretty good hub so we are going to figure that out while there.

Panigiri!

So, at about 9:45 we made our way to the center of the village of Pollonia to the panigiri (pronounced pan-ah-YEE-ree), which means party.  It's kinda sad, but if I'm being completely honest, I'm not sure what the occasion was celebrating.  In general there are name days for saints, and these are celebrated.  But, since the flyers were all in Greek we couldn't figure it out, and it wasn't in our guide book, so…  Anyhow, it was awesome.  We showed up when the line for food was pretty small.  We waited and watched all the men cooking the meats on the grill.  We gathered and paid for our food and then went to find a table.  I forgot to describe the venue.  It took place at the playground on the basketball courts.  There was a stage for music, an open area for dancing, then tons of tables and chairs surrounding the 'dance floor'.  So, one of us should have grabbed a table while the other two got the food, because by the time we needed to find a table, tons of people were already doing this and all the tables were full, or reserved.  We asked some people with empty tables if we could share with them, and we were turned away.  When we were resigned to hide away on a bench on the outskirts, by where they were cooking the food, a woman approached Seth and offered to share their table with us.  She went out of her way to cross the sea of tables to invite us, so this was really, really nice.  When we got to her table, she and her husband kicked their three kids out of the chairs and insisted we sit.  This was awesome.  Then again, the kids were probably happy not to be kept prisoner when all the town's children were running a muck with glow in the dark bouncy toys and play guns.  We had a great spot where we could see the dance floor and the musicians, and eat with a table.  

The food was delicious.  There were cheese pies, fried fish, meatballs, but the best were the pork skewers.  Those were so good.  And of course tons of Fix beer to wash it all down.  The music started promptly and it was great.  I think I'm safe to say that it was traditional Greek music, with guitars, fiddle/violin, bass, but they were all Greek instruments.  The music was amazing.  The discordant, twirling harmonies combined with the savory warble of the singer's voice, and the steady, almost Arabic, beat prompted the locals to begin dancing with their arms stretched wide, dipping to the beat.  The older men began dancing first, almost in friendly competition with each other.  Soon the women rushed the dance floor to join.  The older men held handkerchiefs in order to bridge the gap between their hands with the women. What a wonderfully romantic, and seductive dance.  We spent the evening drinking and watching the interactions between people.  It was so wonderful.  

Eventually a middle aged man sat down at a table next to us with a giant water bottle of what looked like home made wine.  Eventually he began handing out cups of it to some people behind him.  Somehow we were left out, so Sloane, with some prodding, ended up asking him for a cup.  In the end, when he was leaving, he offered the rest of the bottle to us.  Even though it wasn't very good, it was so cool to be drinking some home made wine from Milos, that was given to us by the maker.

Here's a sample of some of the music from the panigiri.

http://www.sethandberkley.com/downloads/milosMusic.m4a

This morning we lazily awoke and Seth made breakfast.  We, then, made our way to the ferry dock in Pollonia to catch a ride to Kimolos, a tiny island barely touched by tourist influence.  We started to walk up the hill to get to the main village in hopes of catching, what the bus driver called the best beach on the island, which wasn't accessible by bus, Prassa.  Boy it was hot today, definitely nineties.  These uphill walks in the heat have to stop.  When we were almost to the top of the hill we stopped in to a shop to grab some water, and decided to call a cab.  Though the cabbie was deft in her maneuvers, it was scary as hell to be in the car while speeding around blind corners on super skinny roads on the side of a mountain, with lots of loose gravel.  Yikes!  But, we made it to the beautiful white sand beach of Prassa.  The water was a little cool, but we were pretty hot, so it was great.  There were little fishies all over the place, and since the turquoise water was impeccably clear we could see everything.  

There was an island nearby, so Seth and I decided to swim out to it.  That was a long swim.  It took us at least 10 minutes of continuous swimming to reach the little island.  We walked the coast a little bit before finding a shorter route back, another long swim.  Afterwards we dried off a bit and hitched a ride back to the port.  

In the evening Seth cooked a dinner of pasta with fresh vegetables, and we hung out till we fell asleep

Food - the perfect Greek snack

After a quick trip to our local market in Pollonia Greece, on the island of Milos, i made myself a nice midday snack. A Greek salad always consists of tomatoes, feta, kalamata olives, oregano, and olive oil. As we have found out it can have a few other ingredients, such as bell pepper, cucumbers, and lettuce to name a few, but always includes the first six. 

The market in Pallonia sells produce that is grown all over the island, and in some cases right here in town. It seems like every Greek house hold has an array of fruits and veggies growing in their yard.