Darnit!

I found out yesterday that Tony can't come for Easter like he was told :( At the last minute he had to take someone's place on a boat mission (the same thing he did a few months ago). He'll come home a week later in time for his cousin's baby's baptism on the 14th. That'll be fun because there will be a ton of people visiting for that event.

I wanted to see him at Easter but what can you do? That's the army, nothing is ever for sure! So Tony leaves today on the boat for about 2 weeks. He had only a few hours last night to get all his laundry done, ferry tickets switched, and to get some things for the boat, poor guy. He doesn't mind the actual time on the boat though, it can be pretty slack compared to being at the base.

M

My Next Trip!

Over the last week or so I've been starting to look around at flights and cities to visit for my next trip in mid May. And I think I've decided; It looks like I'll be heading for sunny and exotic Turkey!

I'll take the ferry from here to Samos (Tony may have moved to a different base by then but if not, I'll get to meet up with him and he can show me around!). From Samos, I take a one and a half hour ferry to Kusadasi, Turkey. That'll be my base and from there, I can take the bus to some really cool sites like Ephesus, the House of Virgin Mary, many great beaches, and I'd like to take a 3 hour journey to Pamukkale which is a beautiful hot spring with pure white terrain.

So this is my plan for now, I haven't booked anything and don't know the dates yet but I'll be researching the next little while to figure things out. It also helps that my boss just told me I get a Easter bonus this month! Yay!

M

One Year

Today is exactly one year since I left home in Canada! It seems longer though, I guess because I’ve done a lot since then. So last year on this day I was sitting in the Victoria airport with tears in my eyes having just said bye to my parents and brother at the gate. I knew I was leaving everything that was familiar and safe and didn’t know what I was in for; but I was definitely excited about having an adventure, that’s for sure!

I’m very used to living over here now. When I go on my little trips, it always feels comforting and familiar landing back in the Athens airport and hearing people speak Greek. London too is very familiar because I know where things are and how to get around. It’s kinda neat!

Now, I’m slowly getting ideas about what I’ll do in Sept when Tony goes back to Canada for school. My plan was always to move back to the UK for a while before coming back to Canada. That’s what I want to do (if money permits, of course). I’ll have to decide which city to move too. I was assuming I’d move back to London but I’m not sure now. I’m thinking Scotland or Northern Ireland might be kinda cool too and different since I haven’t been there before. If any of you have suggestions, let me know!

Well this weekend was like the beginning of summer! It was very sunny and warm. On Sunday, there was a holiday that celebrated Greek independence from the Turks. They had a little parade (below) in town which I almost missed because I forgot the time sprung ahead one hour on Saturday night. Now it’ll be nice and light out for longer, love it!

I also went to the cafe in Hotel Nicholas and this is one of the veiws from the balcony.

I started a bit of spring cleaning too. I did some yard work and cleaned the door, windows, walk-way, and motorbike. I think I’ll get a little table and chair to put outside to have my breakfast or a coffee at.

M

Army Food

Well this week frickin flew by. Yesterday, I was trying to figure out what day it was and I thought for sure it was Tuesday. Anyways, that’s good because it’s getting closer to Easter and another Tony visit.

Yesterday was sooooo windy! A man had an accident because his motorbike was blown over while he was on it. After work, my bosses followed me in a car to make sure I got home alright, it was that bad. I was going to try out a yoga class in the evening but passed since I didn’t want to risk my life to get there, lol! Next week. I’ve been so busy at work, it’s really picked up. I’m going in tomorrow for a few hours too.

I’m so sore today because in karate on Wed we learned how to fall properly. It was quite funny! We all had to fall to our front, back, sides, and had to roll onto our backs; so we were constantly getting up and throwing ourselves on the ground again. It was fun – I’m not sure why it was though.

I don’t have any pics from this week but I’ve decided to show you the gourmet food Tony gets to eat in the Army. He’s one lucky guy! Check out the succulent dishes he gets to dine on everyday.



M

Athens long weekend

I got back late last night from Athens and it was fun! We did a bunch of things and met up with friends so I’ll try to pack it all into one post. The weather was sunny and warm too which was the icing on the cake. I didn't take too many pics though.



On Friday we took a morning ferry over (above: on the ferry leaving Paros and a panorama of the port in Paroikia) and got there just in time for the first of two English tests Tony had to take. Alekos met up with us there so he and I went for coffee while Tony did his test.

Once Tony was done the three of us headed to an area near Omonia that is full of computer stores. We wanted to look at external hard drives. After lugging our bags around and checking out a million stores, Tony bought a hard drive, and Alekos and I bought flash drives. We headed over to Antonis’ next (where we stayed).

I don't know what's going on here lol.

We all wanted to see the movie “300” so we bought tickets at a near by cinema and had some time to kill untill it started at 11pm. We met up with Kostas who is car crazy and the 5 of us all packed into his car and he took us to a spot that he hangs out with other car crazy people. It’s a huge parking lot (I think it’s at a mall?) and it’s like “The Fast and the Furious”. There are cars and people everywhere (and motorcycles) and they just hang out and do crazy tricks and show off their sounds systems. There were tires screeching and guys doing pop wheelies everywhere. Apparently, it was dead when we were there, there are usually thousands of cars and they all have their own sections (some for sound systems, custom work, motorcycles, tricks...). Accidents happen every night.

Anyways, we headed back to the cinema and saw “300”. I really liked it! It’s a bit gory but it’s a war movie, so it happens. The effects were really cool. The guys seemed to like it. There was some applause when it finished.

On Saturday, Tony had another longer test to do so we went together. The test was about 4 hours so I wished him luck and headed out of Athens on the metro to “The Mall”. It’s a huge… well… mall. I checked that out for a few hours. It had a bunch of clothing shops and home decorating shops. The whole ceiling was a sun roof so it was very bright and it was shaped in a huge loop (below is a pic of part of it). I bought a long, green, sweater, tank top/dress thing (it’s cute).



We met up again after the test was over and headed back to Antonis’. We were thinking of going out dancing but ended up just hanging out at “home” and stuffed ourselves with yummy pizza that Antonis’ girlfriend made.

Sunday was our last day in Athens. The three of us headed out and we bought our ferry tickets and went to Monastiraki to look around. That area is full of cafés, shops, and right near the Acropolis which means it’s full of people. Even now in March it was packed! We had a bite to eat and looked in a few shops then headed back to pick up our bags.

We went to Pireaus to catch our ferries. Tony’s left first so we sat at a café near his ferry until it left and we had to say our good bye’s. :( And then Antonis and I walked to where mine took off so I said bye to him and got on.


Waiting for the ferries (Antonis, Antonis, me).

My ferry was only 5 hours but Tony’s took 12 to get back to Samos. Once he got there (this morning), he found out the time slot he gets off for Easter and it’s a good one! April 4-11. That means he’ll be here for some of the festivities leading up to Easter and Easter day itself when they roast the lamb on the spit and it’ll all happen at his house this year. So that’s going to be a lot of fun and it’s less than 3 weeks away!


On the ferry home and a pic of the port on Syros.

Ok, well I’ve gotta go, I’m back to work now!

M

Athens Tomorrow

Tony came over on the ferry late Monday night so I’m a happy girl! I’m getting tomorrow off work so we can catch the morning ferry together to Athens. We’ll stay at his cousin Antonios’ place, like last time. Tony has to write 2 English proficiency tests; one tomorrow and one on Saturday. The rest of the time is free time to do what we want. We’re thinking of seeing the movie “300” tomorrow night and we’ll most likely go out for coffee with some friends and just have fun.

The last few days have been like winter; really cold and windy (so much for that nice spring weather at the beginning of March). The ferries have been cancelled a lot so we’re hoping that they are even running tomorrow.

I guess that’s it for now. Have a good weekend!

M

Next Week

This week has been pretty low-key. I’m excited about next week though. I found out Tony is coming on Monday night and he’ll be here all week. Next Friday and Saturday, he has to do English tests in Athens, so I’m going with him. We’ll hang out in Athens and stay at his cousin’s till we take separate ferries back to our respective islands on Sunday. I’m looking forward to it!! Oh ya, and today is the 7 month point for Tony being in the Army – 5 more months to go (not that I’m keeping track or anything ;))

What else? Not much. I’ve noticed a few tourists starting to come around. I can tell because I sometimes overhear English, French, or German. And in the supermarkets, they are wandering around trying to find things. I remember when I first came, I didn’t know what kind of milk to get so I used the same kind Tony’s parents use. It comes in little cans and doesn’t have to be refrigerated until it’s opened, I wouldn’t have guessed that was milk!

M

First Day at the Beach

Since March it’s been pretty warm and very sunny. It reminds me of Victoria summer days. On Sunday I went to the closest beach in the main harbour and put on my capris, sandals, and tank top and suntanned on a beach towel for a while. The water is still cold but there were some people in it. The beach has debris in the sand from the trees but I’m assuming the sand gets groomed eventually because in the summer it wasn’t like that.



Here are some pics of the wild animals I spied the other day! Those goats are 1 day old and they’re twins.

Spring Day

Today is beautiful out! That past few days have been pretty cold and cloudy but today, right on the first day of March, the sun came out and it’s nice and warm. Apparently, March can still be cool but it’s nice to know the hot beach days are slowly on their way. There is also a café near the port called “Zorbas” that sells really good souvlaki and it opened today, after being closed for the winter; that’s a good sign. That means other shops and cafés will start to open soon to get ready for the busy time of year. I’ve been getting busier at work too. Since all the shops will start to open, they’ll need advertising. From now on it’ll get busier until Aug when the work will die down.

Here are some recent Army pics. Tony was very sick yesterday with a bad flu and had to stay in bed all day. Luckily, he’s feeling a bit better today. He may be coming here again in over a week so I hope that works out!



M