My Greece -- A Reintroduction

(A picture from Skopelos taken June 2022)

So I will be going on a yoga retreat this October to Lefkada, Greece with a group from Bellingham. I told the organizer that I had been to Greece many times and I would give her some pointers and ideas that I hav about Greece. The problem is, I have many, and it would be highly unlikely that s simple email would cover the many topics and suggestions and experiences that I have taken away from Greece. 

I thought that I would revive this blog in hopes of starting to write about the many places I've been around this round world, but for now I will concentrate on Greece. 

I also wanted to limit myself to fifteen minutes of typing, since Ispend much of my working life behind a computer, and consequently find little enjoyment in spending my free time  looking at a computer screen. 

But on to Greece. People have their favorite travel destinations in the world, At this point in my life, I settle on Greece. And New Orleans (but that's for discussion down the road). 

I work for a global non-profit with an office in Athens. So I visited, I believe, in 2018. It had an interesting culture and a vibrant energy about it, unlike the more somber Northern Europe. It was another wonderful European city, and someplace I was glad to have visited. But then a beautiful Greek woman enters into the equation. I met her on the flight from Athens to Dublin min the way back home, and that changed my life forever. 

That is another story for another time. We met on romantic rendezvous in place like London and Paris and come to realize the impracticailities of a long-distance relationship. We still remain dear friends to this day, but she showed me the wonderful side of Greece, and over the years of my many visits, I have developed so many more wonderful friends, both through her, and just the myriad other wonderful people I met on ferries, another managing the AirBnB on Santorini, friends I work with and many others. I am never at a loss for the warm, caring people I've met. 

and that keeps me coming back. So my fifteen minutes are up and I shared no advice, just sentiments. Oh well, there will be more posts. My blog writing is rusty, but I am glad to be back writing again. 


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Great Basin

Image
Today was a day of transitioning from the Cascades to the Sierras, much of it driving through the Great Basin. I tried to stop off to visit to Crater Lake National Park , but the north entrance was closed, and heading to the other entrance would have added hours onto the trip. Oh well. Six other cars stopping, idling, turning around and departing (in the time I was sitting there transitioning to Plan B - mainly entering the new destination in the GPS) were also probably equally surprised.   Every time I do the I-5 run, I tell myself I should carve out time to visit Crater Lake. Maybe next time.  Although I had not set a destination, I though Lake Tahoe was desirable. I loved there for two ski seasons back in the 00's and have fond memories of the area.  So far, I've driven nine hundred miles. The sparse high dessert is beautiful and desolate. It is also comforting to leave the rush of the interstate. I arrived last night around 8:30pm and found a place on the north shore ...
Read more

My Greece - ATMs and Money

Image
  So you arrive in Athens, and chances are you'll need some money. It's always good to carry some cash with you (in my opinion), although credit cards can be used everywhere. I have a debit and credit card from WECU (a local credit union), and have used those mostly. I use the debit card for cash withdrawals and the credit card for many other things. But I am a bit old-fashioned, and like using cash primarily. And it's fun to transact in euros versus dollars. But first, notify your bank that you are traveling to Greece, and include any layovers that you may have in London or wherever.  But now that you're in Greece, if you are using ATMs, avoid the Eurobank ATMs. There are ubiquitous through Greece, but they also charge high withdrawal fees and offer crummy forex fees (assuming you are withdrawing euros and your bank account back home is in US dollars). I've also heard to avoid the airports ATMs, as the fees are a bit higher, but I usually wait until I get into Athe...
Read more

Day 1 - Heading South

Image
 Not the most exciting  first night of departing Bellingham. Of course the anxiety if wondering if you completed everything necessary - turning off things, stopping the mail, locking up, and packing everything you need. For me, the key items are my laptop and related accoutrements. Everything else is not really critical or can be purchased tased en route.  And I had the oil changed on my 2003 Ford Ranger that has made plenty of cross country trips in the past. It just hit 150,000 miles, but I drive very little around town, so the bulk of those miles are highway mies. A basic truck that anyone can hopefully work on Ibn any podunk town in this grand country of ours.  So I made it to Roseburg, Oregon last night. I hit Seattle rush hour, which added an hour to the trip. But the rest was pretty uneventful, arriving at the interstate motel around midnight.  Morning conference calls and work until the eleven a.m. checkout, then an afternoon visiting Crater Lake, and ho...
Read more