4/1/12
I promised a travel blog, so for those of you who have been
waiting, here it is! Well, at least the first one. We'll see how far I get
after this... :)
We left Ohio on March 13th to embark on our long awaited,
yet not very planned journey. Ha. The only thing we knew is that we would be
doing a HelpX in Monamvasia, Greece for two weeks, and then after that we would
head to Italy, France, and Spain.
So we arrived in Athens
where we stayed for several days, mostly just to see the touristy things since
we didn't really know what else to do. For the most part, Athens is just
another big city. Lots of buildings and cement. Most people speak some English,
but where we decided to couch surf happened to be in a little more sketchy part
of town (Not so much that we felt unsafe. Actually, after arriving in Athens,
we found out how much the media in America has over dramatized the riots and
strikes here. It's basically just a few stupid people that do something dumb
enough to get on the news, not hundreds or thousands...) Actually, I was sort
of surprised by how peaceful it felt to be in Athens. For such a large city, it
felt so much more quiet than the usual hustle and bustle I've grown used to
feeling in LA. But, another big city it is, so we decided not to spend much
time there.
We saw the acropolis and
walked around the city center where there were a bunch of cute cafes and
restaurants on the street. It was fun imagining what it would be like for the
ancient Greeks to go to the temple way up on top of the hill and see the
historic architecture. In the city center we had our first souvlaki pita which
was delicious! One afternoon that was particularly cold, we decided to sit for
a couple hours in the square and just watch people... there were a lot of
school groups there and other tourists, and you could tell the tourists from
the locals a mile away; Colton and I would just shake our heads in
embarrassment haha, "tacky Americans...."
The first day we took the
subway, a guy got on with an accordion and started playing. It took everything
in me not to laugh, but all the Greeks ignored him, and I didn't understand
why. Well when we went to the center of Athens, I saw more people, mostly
children, playing accordions for money. Then it made sense to me, and it soon
became a nuisance when they would follow you around playing. A lot of women and children would also
come up to us and try to sell us tissues. I wonder if they actually make any
money from that...
After Athens, we took a
bus to Monamvasia in southern Greece where we did our first HelpX with Fokke
and Maria. They hosted us for two weeks and we did all kinds of things for
them; cutting and stacking wood, walking the dog, cracking nuts, a bit of
gardening, cutting the grass (literally with scissors), and sanding a few
tables. Fokke and Maria live on a mountain with one of the best views of the
ocean and Monamvasia. Often we had free time to hike the trails or go to the
beach if we wanted, and the weather was always perfect. I learned so much from
Maria about the local plants that they have in their own backyard and the
process of making olive oil. Maria is German and Fokke is Dutch, but they both
spoke very good English and were able to fill us in on the local customs. In
the small mountain villages, the Greeks are very honoring of each other. If a
woman is home alone, a man will not visit her because he doesn't want to put
her in a compromising situation. We also found out that a person's word is all
you need in making a deal. Say if someone doesn't have enough money at the time
to pay for something, the person the money is due will let them pay later. That
was so amazing to me. I don't think I would ever want to be the person being
owed...
We ate very heartily every
day too, a nice reward for our work :) Maria makes the best cakes and bread and
marmalade, and pretty much everything haha. Fokke cooked a couple times too,
curry was always a main ingredient (even in eggs), and it was also delicious.
We will definitely miss those meals.
Being in Monamvasia was
like being on a retreat in a way, not many people around and beautiful nature
all around, and I learned so much!
Now we are headed to
Santorini! I am so so excited! Ever since I was a teenager and I saw The
Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants I have wanted to go to Santorini, so I am so
excited to see what sort of adventure awaits us. FIrst, we will probably crash
for a bit since we didn't sleep much last night. We took a bus to the port last
night and got there around 11 and our ferry left at 7:30 the next morning, so
we tried sleeping on the benches outside, but it was cold and Colton already
wasn't feeling well that day. So we haven't really slept much. I think
Santorini will be a nice way to relax and explore for a few days. Can't wait!
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