Did we mention how much we like Greece? What an interesting an attractive country. You might say we said the same of Andorra, Spain, New Zealand, South Africa, Iceland, USA ...Perhaps the point is that we are residents of a beautiful planet and often, because of the noise around us, don't realize and appreciate what we have. It might also be that we don't open our eyes, our senses, and take in our surroundings or maybe we make life too complicated to notice the little miracles that occur daily. Far be it for us to know the answers but perhaps peoples' approach to life is focused on targets that are less rewarding than they appear. Who knows? We should each have the choice to make decisions to seek to realize our aspirations. That's all for which we should ask.
(Some experiences along the road follow after the pictures...)
"Sitting on the 'rock' of the bay"...oops, where'd the water go?
A background for a special woman...another Grecian treasure...um, that is, the land.
Approaching the first of two peaks.
A partial view of Parnossos ski area without the obvious 'ingredient'.
Editor goes around the cliff wall (sensibly), heading to the peak.
Dull below, beautiful and lively above, the clouds.
"Let's do lunch before the peak, much easier...anyone?"
It was a particularly spectacular place to reach and therefore to enjoy.
Let's go home and she was off into the clouds.
Prionia to the monastery, over 3,000 feet on the day.
A view of the Olympus Mountains from way down as we begin a long and steep climb (Not the peak hike).
The editor found the undulating and steep track tough on the day.
Rock climbing off-trail; he forgot it's more difficult to come down.
Doing our bit for Greece; preventing boulder collapses.
We have to admit that the GPS is working wonders, both in directions and for our relationship. Is it perfect? Of course not and nor is the GPS. For instance, the system, at times, goes off at a tangent and produces utter nonsense and frequently. Just the other day, we arrived at a junction and ‘she’ (the other boss) instructed the driver to make a right turn. However, the driver, trying to use some initiative, read the sign which indicated that Litochoro was to the left. Meanwhile, the co-pilot who shall remain unnamed, was hesitant to follow the driver’s common sense, preferring to give the machine the benefit of the doubt. There goes the relationship again. I felt it was two women ganging up on me; then I realized I might be overreacting.
Two more things about the system and the woman who controls us. She can be pedantic at times. While following the road, she often tells us to make a left or right turn because there is a squiggle in the road although no junction and yet at other times, there’s too little information. So we’ve devised our own ideas and protections which have helped but are far from perfect. The other day, we headed from Amfiklia to the Island of Evia, the town of Gymno or Yimno. As an aside, the Greek spelling is often inconsistent which leads to further complications. That aside, we arrived in the town nearly three hours later but followed the instructions of the other ‘woman’. At the time, we had no idea that we had reached Gymno. We let ‘her’ lead us astray until we found ourselves on a dirt road in farmlands we think might be undiscovered territory. By the time I sent the editor out of the car to disperse a flock of recalcitrant sheep, we suspected we needed to do what our Afrikaans GPS says often, ‘herberekening’ (recalculate).
We returned to the only public place in the town that appeared to be open, a restaurant, and asked for assistance. Only one person could speak English but all joined in to offer their two-bits of advice. It was amusing although at the time I needed the bathroom, not a local debate. In a small town with only one hotel, nobody was able to provide an answer although I suspect some of the older men had suggestions which might not have been helpful. With the editor guarding the car parked in a narrow street and watching a tour bus almost knock it off the road, I’ll try give an account of what I thought was happening. The conversation amongst the patrons was lively as they discussed our dilemma. My head moved from one table to another as each person joined in to help find our destination. After a short while, I realized I looked silly focusing on one person and then another as each took ‘the floor’. Besides, I was already developing a stiff neck. Of course, I had no idea what was being said.
After everyone was exhausted from the discussion, the restaurant owner, Maria, who was a delight, asked for a telephone number. Unfortunately, for the first time in ages, we had forgotten to write it on a piece of paper. I told her I would be back. I walked to the car, fired up the laptop, retrieved the information and returned. Maria obviously did not take me seriously; she had left for the day. Her replacement could not speak a word of English while the customers had lost interest. Meantime, my bladder was showing an awful lot of interest.
Her replacement, another nice woman, dialed a number and gave the phone over to me. What now? A young girl, speaking good English, informed me that her mother would return. The non-English speaking-woman, offered me a chair but I took up an offer of the toilet instead. I forgot to mention the good part is that we were in the correct town but not near the apartment. And of course, the locals did not know of it. That was a cause for concern.
Maria returned shortly and called the number I had retrieved. Apparently, we were searching for Antonio’s apartments instead of Antanias—obviously, a big difference. She then asked or instructed someone in the restaurant to guide us to the property. We were so humbled again by her kindness and then rebuffed when we tried to offer some compensation. Anyway, the guide led us astray but eventually, we arrived to see Ms. Antonias awaiting our arrival eagerly. Thereafter, we were in for further surprises with this sweet woman who struggled to communicate with us. (See picture below).
The following day, we headed for a hike but could not obtain directions from whomever we asked, including on the internet. We entered a restaurant and again the discussion involved about half-a-dozen guys. Although they tried to help, the endeavor proved fruitless as they too could not speak our language, a problem in small towns. We took a chance and drove toward Evia’s Mount Olympus, a place we would have thought everyone knew. There are two mountains with the same name in Greece but of course and thankfully, in different places. Finally, we stopped at the side of the road and asked two elderly gentlemen for assistance. We were touched once again when the one fellow jumped in his truck and beckoned us to follow. Fortunately, it was a short distance so we did not feel too bad about burdening him but were touched again by kindness shown. As an aside, the hike was one of the toughest we've undertaken in years as we scrambled up the mountain, off trail. (More about that at another time.)
The best part of the day occurred when we returned to the women at the restaurant after the hike and gave them a little gift. We also ordered two vegetable salads. In their appreciation of our gift, they surprised us with a plate of thick pork sausages, fries and cheese. As touched as we were yet again, we don’t eat meat and are careful what we eat, generally. It was a tough situation. Of course, the most exciting time came when we wanted to pay. Fortunately, we were able to overcome Maria's intended generosity by almost knocking her down with our Euro notes as we rushed out but promised to return for tea at another time. Different languages, customs, ethnicity and culture can never stand in the way of kind and decent people—they were indeed special.
Another wonderful woman, Antonias (and sister behind), cracking a hard nut. The Greek people have treated us like 'family'.
Cheers,
Jenni and Jeffrey
Sun tucks itself into a blanket of clouds for the night.
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