Amsterdam, Netherlands - July 23-29, 2005

(Victoria and Bill: From High Brow to Low Brow)
Amsterdam is a city of dichotomy. On one hand it is arts oriented, on the other it is famed for its legal prostitution. It has fashionable shops and shops that legally sell pot, hash, and magic mushrooms. It has cobblestone streets lined with 17th century Dutch canal houses next to 21st century streamlined chrome apartments.

At first glance, Amsterdam seems like any big cosmopolitan city…a little New York, a little San Fran, but it definitely has its own unique personality. It is diversity at its best. There are restaurants of the world here. You could eat not only Thai food, but Southern Thai one day and Northern Thai the next. We have seen restaurants advertised as Vietnamese, Mongolian, Indian, Jamaican, Argentinean, Brazilian, Uruguayan…yes, Uruguayan…everything. We have had Thai, Mexican, Italian, Dutch and it has all been excellent. There do not seem to be segregated ethnic neighborhoods; the Thai place is next to the Brazilian, etc. There does not seem to be an ethnic look here – it is like a United Colors of Benetton poster – every one of all ethnicities, together. With all the difficult race relations in the world, it seems like a hopeful microcosm of what is possible; the rainbow of bicycles with their rainbow of riders all swirling over the many canals together.

The museums are amazing. The Van Gogh collection contains some 700 of the surviving 900 paintings by Van Gogh. They also have his original sketch books, his sketch studies, and thousands of letters to his art collecting brother, Theo. The letters are a real treasure because Van Gogh wrote copiously about what he was trying to do with his art, what he was thinking and feeling and learning. They really give insight into the mind of this troubled man. Although, Bill has piped in saying they sold all the “good sunflowers.” Alas, there was only one sunflower painting, but there were so many other things that I didn’t care. We also went to the Anne Frank house which has been modernized from the outside, but is a remarkable memorial on the inside. There are also the National Museums, but they are currently closed for renovation, so we just admired the architecture.

Then it has its seedy parts. The Red Light District is by far the height of the low brow aspect of the city. It seemed like a circus -- smelly, dirty, noisy and crowded. At one point Bill and I made a bet about which of us would be offered more drugs – illegal ones in this area. He won, 9 to 6 in some 20 minutes. It was packed, on a Sunday night, with lots of men in groups, but also with families and curious tourists like us. Call me a prude, but I just found the whole scene bazaar and unsettling: women in lingerie, sitting behind large square windows highlighted by red curtains and red neon lights, talking on the phone or filing their nails. They looked so “normal” – some were even pretty. Some of them would tap on their window to get your attention, but most looked bored. We saw many of the men in large groups mocking the women, as this street seemed more for lookers than takers. I just don’t get it. What type of life can that be? I want to be careful here, not to be too judgmental, because as I said, I just don’t get it. And actually, they seemed to have the better job compared to some of the even more degrading “shows” that were around. Needless to say, we left after getting the gist.

But this area is such a small part of the city. And Amsterdam has so much more to be famous for than red lights.

(Bill – Blackberry update and the CTR-ALT-DEL re-boot)
After all of my complaining about the Blackberry not working in Greece I spent hours on the phone with Cingular in Amsterdam trying to figure out what the problem was. In the end the Blackberry “specialist” authorized me to attempt the extremely technical, highly confidential, security clearance last resort procedure known as the CTR-ALT-DEL re-boot. I literally laughed when he asked me to do it – the old “when all else fails reboot trick”. Well, it worked and now we are back in action with the Blackberry.

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Bill and Victoria)
Amsterdam is built on a maze of beautiful canals and considers itself the “Venice of the North” (see Oddities… section for Belgium).

Bicycles – (1) they are everywhere, literally millions of them, (2) they are all very old, like the bikes in the Norman Rockwell posters, and (3) they ride them all ways (normal; normal + one passenger on the book rack sitting sideways; normal + one baby in the basket; normal + two babies in the basket; normal + dog in the basket; normal + baby in basket + person on handlebars + dog and baby in wooden cart attached to the front).

World’s smallest car award – We’ve seen the world’s smallest cars here, literally. They travel in the bike lanes and seem to have a scooter motor in them. It’s just really funny to be walking in the bike lane, which we found was dangerous to begin with, and have a car pass you, slowly, as if it were completely normal.

Vodka tonic with lime = glass of vodka with ice, full bottle of tonic, real slice of lime, and bottle of lime juice on the side.

I will add that I stand by my claim that the Van Gogh “people” sold all of the good sunflowers to other museums. And, although I did lose the bet to Victoria on whether there was actually a sunflower painting in the Van Gogh museum at all, I again stand by the claim that it is so different from the other sunflower paintings that it is hardly recognizable.

It’s still cold (65 degrees) and rainy in Amsterdam. Luckily we found H&M in the city, a clothing store that sells what we will dub “disposable clothing”. That is, clothing so cheap, yet fashionable, that you won’t feel badly throwing it away. Example – Victoria bought a wool sweater for $4…and it’s cute.

Belgium - July 20-23, 2005

(Victoria)
Belgium was great. We had a really fun time. It may seem a random next stop from Greece and yes, it is. However, we found a flight for $50 so we decided to work our way up to Scandinavia via Belgium.

We arrived in Brussels Wednesday night and were immediately amazed at how clean such a busy city seemed. We spent all day Thursday, which turned out to be their Independence Day, wandering around Brussels. The entire city was celebrating. Restaurants and chocolate shops were open, but not much else. And oh, the chocolate shops. I thought I was in heaven when we passed literally six gorgeous chocolate shops in a row each with vivid window displays of yummy rich goodies neatly packaged in pretty little boxes with sweet little bows. I, of course, had to have one or two or three. Ahh…but back to Belgian Independence Day. In Brussels there was a big parade with 15-foot witches and cartoon characters, bands in bandstands, go-cart races, and men dressed in full military regalia (their twirly mustaches were the best part). We walked all over and although we only spent a day in Brussels, I feel confident saying it is definitely a beautiful city.

Then we went to Bruge. Wow! The second we got there it was stunning. The funny thing was that the streets were empty. It was only 7 o'clock, but we thought maybe because it is a touristy area that things close early. Then we got to the city center. Oh, my!!! There was an enormous stage set up with beer gardens at each end and thousands of people singing -- the Beatles! We knew we had to join. We quickly dropped our packs at the Crown Plaza (ah yes, a real duvet and a shower I don’t have to hold) and headed over to the action. We grabbed a beer and they gave us a paper with the song lyrics (genius) and we joined the massive sing-a-long. We had the best time belting out everything from Abba to Dutch songs and swaying along with the Belgians who were chanting and jumping and completely fun. The highlight was when "Summer Loving" from Grease came on!!! I think I squealed with delight. I knew this was going down as a good night.

(Bill – Priceline.com, and “frills”)
www.priceline.com – What a concept! I mean, Victoria and I have used the service in the U.S. and it was great, but let me tell you how much of a lifesaver, and *money saver*, Priceline has been in major cities internationally. For the same or less than we were paying for two or three star hotels in Greece we are getting four star hotels through Priceline. Now granted these are always your run of the mill, large, corporate-type hotels (e.g. Marriot, Radisson, etc.), which Victoria and I normally stay away from, but we have found some great advantages to these types of hotels – “frills”.

So, just what are these frills that I speak of? Down comforters, down pillows, and down sheets. The large corporate hotel business development executive (or newbie as I would rather suspect) that decided that all rooms MUST have down EVERYTHING should be granted some sort of medal recognized around the world – or maybe just an “atta boy”. More frills…concierge service, all you can eat soaps, shampoos, conditioners, and lotions, guaranteed free air conditioning, heating, cable television, free incoming calls, and internet service in your room (expensive, but it’s available). The biggest frill of all – blackout curtains a la Victoria.

Oddities or Things We Noticed

(Victoria and Bill)
Do Basset Hounds originate from Belgium? They were everywhere. Puppy Bassets, old Bassets, mixed Bassets…I adore Bassets, but I’ve never seen so many “lowered” dogs in one place.

The interest in the Pissing Boy fountain is bazaar. He is tiny for a fountain and they dress him up in clothing, with a hole in his pants, of course, so the fountain can still operate. The funniest part was the massive signage to find him and then all the hundreds of people crowded into an alley taking pictures of this little fountain that looks like a baby boy peeing.

I want to start a massive U.S. July 4th sign-a-long. It would be so fun! By the way, none of the songs had to do with independence. They were just about having a good time…wait, “I can’t live, if living is without you…” well, maybe not all of them.

Bruge is built completely on beautiful canals and considers itself the “Venice of the North” (see Oddities… section for Amsterdam).

Belgian waffles are really good in Belgium – who would have thunk? Especially if you add chocolate (which Victoria obviously did).

French fries originated in Belgium – again, who would have thunk?

It is cold (65 degrees during the day) and rainy in Belgium. This was a little unexpected and is definitely throwing a bit of a wrench into the backpack packing plan.

I am concerned about Victoria's daily intake of chocolate - gravely concerned, especially after visiting Belgium. We must leave now. She's going to kill me when she reads this.

Crete, Greece - July 15-20, 2005

(Bill and Victoria)
So, Crete was our hands down favorite destination in Greece. The island is the size of a small country and has something for everyone – bustling cities, picturesque villages, dramatic mountains, beautiful beaches, great food, pleasant people, and olive trees on every inch they can grow. We spent five days in Crete in three different towns/cities – Iraklion, Hersonissos, and Kato Zakros.

Our first night was in Iraklion, the main port city in the north center of the island. We rented a car and drove to the Palace of Knossos, an ancient Minoan palace on top of a hill looking down on the city. The palace, which is in ruins now, was impressive with over 1,500 rooms, spring water (from a spring over 7km away), sewage systems (including a toilet for the king and queen), and terracotta piping. Knowing this was all developed almost 4,000 years ago made it all the more wondrous. (Victoria taught her 6th graders about this palace, so it was a must.)

From Iraklion we drove to Hersonissos (a party beach town heavy with young and intoxicated British tourists) about 45 minutes east of Iraklion on the north coast. We had a hell of a time finding our hotel in Hersonissos. If you saw the spider web of roads leading up into the hills above the town dotted with literally hundreds of “apartments” you would understand why. We spent our time in Hersonissos on the beach with the Greeks in the day and in the bars with the British at night.

From Hersonissos we drove an hour south into the mountains to Lassithi, a plateau about 900 meters above sea level. The drive was beautiful, running through many small farming villages and countless olive and almond tree orchards. The plateau turned out to be a pretty big disappointment, but the drive was definitely worth it and so utterly different from the other islands.

From Lassithi we drove three hours east to Kato Zakros, a small seaside village and the easternmost point of Europe. Kato Zakros turned out to be the highlight of our trip to Crete. The village is nothing more than three tavernas (restaurants) and a few apartments, but the amazingly friendly local people, a nice beach, and some great hiking make it a truly special place. We found an apartment online – Stela’s Apartments (www.stelapts.com) – and took a chance on it not knowing what to expect. Throughout our stay we were blown away. The apartments are owned and run by Stela and her husband, Elias. When you arrive you are greeted at the reception area – which means Elias comes out of the house to shake your hand and show you to one of the three apartments. The apartments have been hand crafted by Elias and done in a rustic, craftsman adobe style. There was homemade marmalade, raki (a Cretan alcohol which I’ll tell you about later), local honey, and olive oil waiting for us in the apartments. The property is set on a hill overlooking the bay of Kato Zakros and is made for relaxation with hammocks and wooden chaise lounges everywhere.

We spent our time in Kato Zakros doing exactly what we love to do. We took a two hour hike through Dead Gorge, a beautiful gorge of red and black sheer cliffs and caves. We relaxed and read in the hammocks overlooking the bay. We went to the beach and we ate at the tavernas. On our last night we were leaving one of the tavernas and heading to get a bottle of wine to take back to Stela’s when we ran into Stela, Elias, and Stela’s brother. Before we knew it we had been invited by Elias to join them for a drink. Raki and food kept pouring out of the tavern and we conversed for over three hours. They were amazingly welcoming to Victoria and me and I will always remember it as a highlight of our trip.

** Raki is extremely strong and tastes a bit like white tequila.

Oddities or Things We Noticed
(Bill and Victoria)

Ferries are never on time. Never. We were 0 for 3 on ferries being on time in Greece.

There are no driving rules in Greece. Rule of thumb – whatever works for you. If you want to pass a truck going uphill at 120 km/hour with a truck coming directly at you, go right ahead. No problem in Greece.

We were told that Americans tend to say “thank you” to things that are expected (such as when the waiter brings your order) and it diminishes the value of the “thank you”. I thought that was interesting.

Too much raki = guaranteed hangover.

Santorini, Greece - July 12-15, 2005

Santorini, Greece - July 12–15, 2005

(Bill)
We enjoyed Santorini although I didn’t find it to be as amazing as the travel books make it out to be. The huge cliffs surrounding a portion of the island are beautiful. The cliffs were created by a volcanic eruption on Santorini long ago. The volcano left a crater on the edge of the island from which the cliffs drop into the ocean. I felt the most beautiful view of the island was actually from the ferry entering the new port and not from the island itself. There is a white stucco building town on top of a portion of the cliffs – the white buildings look like snow on a mountain top from afar. I was expecting to see countless white stucco buildings with blue tile roofs lining the cliffs of Santorini but there weren’t many that were worth noting. The few that we did see seem to be photographed over and over again on postcards, travel books, etc.

We rented a scooter again and survived our adventure all over the island. Santorini is much larger than Mykonos and therefore there were many more people and traffic to navigate. We spent our first full day on the island exploring the various beaches. Black sand beaches (or more gray compared to other black sand beaches I have seen) are the norm on the island, but I felt the beaches, while definitely dramatic, were not what I would call beautiful. The red sand – red rock would be more appropriate – beach was definitely worth the hike. We actually went back to the red sand beach on our second day and spent most of the afternoon relaxing on a beach chair under an umbrella.

On our second full day we found an amazing little fishing village near Oia on the north part of the island. There were about 5 or 6 tiny one man wooden fishing boats (one unloading its catch as we arrived) and two restaurants at the bottom of the cove in the harbor. We walked down into the village and had lunch overlooking the small harbor - definitely a highlight of our Santorini experience.

We stayed at Rena’s Place, a family run hotel in the heart of Fira, the main town on Santorini. Rena’s had a nice pool overlooking the ocean and made some pretty good homemade sweet wine. We are definitely finding our stride with the hotels…phew!

(Victoria)
Santorini was definitely not the most beautiful of the Cylcades. It had some interesting sights, but the beaches were very rocky and seemed a bit dirty. I enjoyed driving around the island on our scooter. (This time we wore helmets, although Bill’s helmet part flew off to reveal only the Styrofoam core – nice.) When we arrived in the harbor it was so dramatic that I was really excited. I couldn’t wait to see the beautiful white buildings with bright blue roofs I’d seen photographed. However, as we drove around I was getting quite irritated. I was determined to see a blue roof before we left. We drove around the entire island in search and by the end I think we finally saw maybe five small blue roofs. They were anti-climatic to say the least. We definitely had fun, but I was not wowed at all. Oia looked like it had more charm than Fira, but it seemed touristy. By the end I was starting to think we may want to cut our Greek isles trip short, but I’m so glad we didn’t.


Oddities or Things We Noticed
(Bill and Victoria)

There are countless restaurants surrounding the island that purport to have the “Best Sunset View”. Can’t tell you which one was the best, but we definitely found a beautiful sunset at a winery on top of the volcano wall overlooking the ocean.

Wine was drinkable :) There may be a reason why I have never seen Greek wine for sale in California.

There are many unfinished structures all over the island – a theme that tended to play itself over and over throughout Greece.

Mykonos, Greece - July 8-12, 2005

Mykonos, Greece – July 8-12, 2005

(Victoria: July 11th)
Ahh, Island Life! We were both ready for a “bucket and spade holiday” (as Aunt Clare says) even before we left. Bill and I love nothing more than a place where we can sit by the water, hear it lapping at our feet, with nothing to do but read and talk and sit still together.

We’ve slept late every day and today until 1:30! Amazing, especially for Bill – a sign we are finally allowing ourselves to recover.

Mykonos has been a scratch-your-head kind of experience. It has not been what others have said or what the three guide books we have wrote of it. It has not been “packaged pop” nor “party mecca” nor “sublime beauty.” The beaches have not been filled with hedonistic “gyrating bodies” nor “dominated by sheer snobbery” nor has nudity been “commonplace.” Perhaps it is an off week. Perhaps the season is still young. Or perhaps we are looking in comparison to other experiences. This is not to say we have been disappointed. No, we have been curious, confused, but never disappointed.

Yesterday we rented a little red scooter. (Sorry Daddy, no helmet – they did not have them.) We tooled around the entire island, got lost, and I loved it. Scooting by the last remaining farms, still contented by their goats and few cows to throw in the towel to become “Hotel Aphrodite” (although they probably rent rooms for the right price), I felt I was finally seeing the barren islands special sparkle. It has a rustic charm, rough, worn, but subtly beautiful in its own way. The endless strong-looking, yet dilapidated rock walls, keeping nothing in and no one out, seemed ancient, full of stories of times gone by, of many characters with both triumph and sadness around them.

The water is a gorgeous blue and clear; colder than we expected. The people are helpful, not overly warm, but rarely rude. The other tourists are mainly Greek families. Their looks hard, dominant features: strong noses, sharp jaw lines, dark eyes, and ample happily rounded flesh. The children are busy, indulged and adored. The cats play on the beach and beg for our seafood scraps. The food is delectable, family-style meals. We are both in love with “Feta backed in Phyllo” – it has sesame seeds on top and sits in the most wonderful honey-like fruity sauce. We’ve had it every evening as our appetizer – and will again tonight.

Knowing our view is clearly not from the same perspective as our guide books, we now feel more skeptical of avoiding certain places or rushing to others. I’m curiously apprehensive of Santorini – “The most spectacular of all the Cyclades.” I have been so looking forward to it, but now I’m unsure of what to expect. So I will “expect” nothing and just enjoy what I see and think!

(Bill: Clean sheets, Mykonos beaches, yachts, technology, and how to make a frappe)
The Athens hostel experience was about as close as I want to get to “roughing it” or “camping” (for those of you who don’t know, I am a proud prima donna). We were pleasantly surprised by our Mykonos accommodations. Nissaki Hotel is located in Platas Gialos, a small beach village about 10 minutes outside of the port town of Mykonos. Our room was exactly what we were looking for – private, clean, had its own bathroom, and a balcony that opened up overlooking the ocean. There weren’t any Polo sheets waiting for us, but the trip can continue now that I know these types of hotels exist in our price range.

On our first full day in Mykonos we took a water taxi from Platas Gialos, which is the first of the five touted Mykonos beaches, to Super Paradise Beach. Along the way we passed Paraga Beach and Paradise Beach before arriving at Super Paradise Beach – how can you stop at Paradise Beach when there is “Super” Paradise awaiting? The beaches were all pretty similar – relatively small with no trees or vegitation around them (the norm in the Greek Islands) and chairs and umbrellas for rent (about 10 Euro for two chairs and an umbrella). The water was much cooler than we were expecting. This is either due to our being spoiled (quite possible) or the cool summer that Greece has had thus far. Most of you know how much of a fish I am at the site of water but I must admit that I only went in the water once in Mykonos – a shame, I know, but probably gives you a feeling of how cool the water is.

Impressive yachts were everywhere in Mykonos. They park extremely close to shore in groups, seem to spend a lot of time mooring and re-mooring, and they play techno music pretty much all night. Must be nice…

Technology update: Blackberry email connection is still a no show in the Islands, but we were able to find a Starbucks on Mykonos and it had wireless Internet connectivity – I couldn’t believe it. So, although the Blackberry had me shorting technology, the Starbucks wireless access turned out to be an equalizer. I’m back on track and bullish on this technology thing again.

How to make a frappe. The cold Greek coffee drink that even I have become addicted to.
• In a glass put two scoops of Nescafe instant frappe mix, two scoops of granulated sugar, and ¼ cup of water. Mix in a shake mixer until frothy.
• Add four cubes of ice, a swirl of condensed milk, and water to the top of the glass.
• Enjoy!

Oddities or Things We Noticed:
(Victoria and Bill)
Although we did not notice nudity (as in the South of France), we did see a two-year-old in a thong. Yes, as in G-string. No joke. It was pink with a little light pink heart at the top and her little chubby bottom was proudly jutting out for the world. And no, it was not simply the baby-wedgy.

Moet champagne tastes as good in Greece as it does in California! Thanks to a birthday present that my mom, sister, and Richard left for me at our hotel room in Mykonos one of best evenings was sipping Champagne at our hotel pool overlooking the ocean and sunset. Thank you guys.

They play techno everywhere.

Lot’s of unfinished construction in Mykonos. As if they simply changed their minds in the midst of building and walked away. We never actually saw construction workers or tools, just unfinished work.

They put shackles on their goats (front foot tied to the back). The goats constantly gnaw on whatever little vegetation there is on the island.

Beware of the fruit guy in Platas Gialos – he can get nasty towards the end of the day when he gets drunk. Good fruit though.

Feta cheese and olive oil still rule the menus and dishes. One of the waiters came by our table to remind us, after we had already doused our Greek salad with olive oil, that we should use more olive oil because it was “good for de health”.

Local beers are light and good (Alfa and Mythos) but Heineken and Amstel (not Light just plain Amstel) are definitely the leaders. Corona and Stella Artois are available also.

Grilled octopus stuffed with feta, peppers, and tomatoes is a local dish in the Islands. It was very good although Victoria wasn’t too fond of the “suckers”. They are a bit strange to chew on.

Paradise Beach is home of Cavo Paradiso – the highly touted club that supposedly doesn’t open before 2am and doesn’t close before 12pm, but when we went by accident (we got on the wrong bus), it seemed empty with the exception of some overly pumped Gotti-looking 19 year-olds. It was only 2 am, maybe it was still too early.

Athens, Greece - July 5-8, 2005

Athens, Greece - July 5-8, 2005

(Victoria)
For those of you taking bets, our budget excursion may be going more up scale. Don’t throw in the cards yet, but I think our three nights in Athens was enough for Bill…and (if they were all like Athens) me, too.

I knew we were in for marginal accommodation at Hotel Discorous when the jolly, but easily annoyed owner nudged that for a “special rate” of only 10 additional Euro each night we could have air conditioning in our room – our room was only 30 Euro. I nixed this, preferring to tough it out than feel scammed. Bill was less sure.

As we trundled up the ripe stairs (a mix of mildew and cat urine), I could sense Bill’s anxiety level rising. I was desperate to know what he was thinking – this being his first hostel experience. We struggled with the door and the horror on Bill’s face was priceless – all of his fears about hostelling coming true. He was a good sport and we both laughed at our circumstances and agreed to freshen up and explore the area. Thankful for our shower shoes and that the communal shower was across from our room, we headed out.

We explored Plaka, our area of endless winding streets lined with shops and courtyards filled with restaurants. After a deliciously fresh Greek salad with Feta, lamb for Bill (he likes it now), some fried Feta, a spinach pie with, yes, more Feta, and two Alfa beers, we agreed that at least we were in a great location and our room was clean. And so, as we bid each other goodnight from our separate twin bunk beds, we thought we could handle it. Hey, it was like camping.

By the third day we stopped at an Internet café to explore accommodation in Crete – even though a British girl that worked at the Athens hostel arranged a 20 Euro a night place for us. We never even checked the hostelling sites we used before. We were both ready for something more certain and without the Lucy and Desi beds, and, as Bill said, “You get what you pay for.” Hopefully we will find that diamond in the rough of youth hostels and Bill won’t be scarred for life.

(Bill)
Technology, Laundry, the Acropolis, and the National Archeological Museum:

I think this “technology” thing has staying power. I had doubts that my Blackberry would work all over Europe but so far so good. Got off the plane in London, fired it up, and the emails started piling in. Athens, no problem. And as I write this we are in the middle of the ocean on a boat on our way to Mykonos and still no problem. We are actually updating our blog on the Internet using my Blackberry. UPDATE - I spoke too soon. Just as we went to post this blog our Blackberry connectivity went down - somewhere in the middle of the ocean between Athens and Mykonos. Damn technology. Never works.

On our first full day in Athens, besides recovering from the ten hours of flights and two hours of bus trips, we decided that we already needed to do some laundry after our four day jaunt in New York City visiting my (Bill) college friend Matt. We found what we thought was a coin-op laundry near our hotel, but quickly found that it was a full service laundry joint. I was pumped and we gladly paid the 18 Euro for two loads.

Fully acclimated, we spent our second day in Athens at the Acropolis and the National Archeological Museum. The Acropolis was amazing, but we could have done without the heat and the other million people (seemed like it) who had the same idea as us. Note to self…new business idea – price gauging tourists for bottled water on top of the Acropolis. We made our way down the Acropolis, re-hydrated, and jumped on the Metro to the National Archeological Museum. No shortage of ancient artifacts here. Amazing to see just how much has survived and to think of what didn’t.

Well, off to the Greek Islands.

Oddities or Things We Noticed:
(Bill and Victoria)

There was no shortage of scooters in Athens and it seemed most had large helmet storage bins attached to the back, but we have yet to see someone wearing a helmet.

Coffee (or frappe) is served cold, is extremely good and super strong.

Dogs and cats run the town.

Greek’s are big on the up sell and wooing customers (or tourists) into the restaurants, relentlessly.

No Starbucks, but Domino’s Pizza is here.

Even if there is a fire in the restaurant, the Greeks keep eating – no joke.

People are helpful. We were completely lost struggling to find our hostel and would never have found it if it weren’t for the help of a few extremely nice and helpful people – including a Domino’s delivery guy.

The summer is hot, muggy, and crowded in Greece. We now know what they mean by “high season”.

Victoria in Greek is Biktopia. So far Bill is Bill in Greek :)