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

Movie

Here's a link to a silly movie of me on Clean Monday at Tony's grandparent's trying to play the drum and dancing with Markos. It's about 6 mins long and make sure your speakers aren't too high at the beginning as it only has a mute button and no volume control.

Follow the link: Click Here

Athens

I'm back at home now. I got back last night and had a good time in Athens yesterday. Where did I leave off last time? Saturday in London. On Sunday I didn't have much time to see anything; I had to leave for the airport around 12, so I just bought some snacks for the rest of the trip and cleaned up and packed. By the way, I posted London pics in the previous post.

I caught my flight and landed in Athens at around 9:30pm. For some reason I thought I was going to land at 11:30. I was glad it was earlier because instead of sleeping in the airport like I thought, I had enough time to book a bed at Athens Backpackers (where I've stayed before). I was sooooo tired once I got there I just slipped into my bed and fell asleep.

On Monday I had the free breakfast and checked out. I wanted to go to the National Archaeological Museum but it didn't open till 1, so I took my time and walked around the National Gardens where I saw a bunch of Army guys practicing their marching. They reminded me of Tones.

I stopped at a cafe near the Museum too and had a frappe and people watched. It was right at an intersection and it was crazy watching the traffic and the scooters weaving through it.

The museum was interesting. Here are some pics: I feel bad for the horses that had to where bits like that in their mouths!

After the museum, I took the long way back to the hostel to pickup my bag. Around the University and National Library, the students were putting on a protest with big signs and a stage with a band singing. The police were all there too just in case. The university students haven't been in school since Christmas and there have been riots in the past couple months over new education reforms.

Once I picked up my bag, I took the metro to Pireaus and hopped onto the ferry. The ferry ride took less time than I thought because it didn't stop at Syros so I was on Paros at 10 and got on my bike and drove home. It felt good to be on my bike again and to breath the nice clean air. And of course my kitty was there ready to greet me when I came home. Here are a few more random Athens pics:

M

London Pics

I didn't take too many pics, I guess because I have sooo many from before.
Gareth and I:


Hyde Park: the protesters in the distance and The Serpentine Lake


Fashion Week tent:


Victoria and Albert Museum:



Odeon Movie theatre:


M

London Town 2

On Sat I was able to get out and explore London. In the morning I said bye to Gareth since he was going to be going away for the rest of the weekend. And I took off on the tube to Oxford street to do a little shopping. I found a very cute bathing suit for just £16! That's mainly what I was looking for. I kept walking towards Hyde Park where a huge protest was going on with hundreds or thousands of people walking along with signs and flags, yelling. The police were all there and they had to close down some major streets too! They were protesting about the war in Iraq and Tony Blair.

I kept walking across the park to the Natural History Museum and saw the London Fashion Week tent. They had a big sale on inside with all the new designer stuff on discount. I didn't go in because I would've just browsed and didn't want to pay for that. The Victoria and Albert museum is right beside that, so I went in there for a look around. They had a fashion section and a highlight on 60's fashion. It was interesting but my favorite part was the Medieval section where they had these big beautiful statues, columns, and arches in this huge room with very tall ceilings. It was sooo neat! I didn't see the whole museum of course; mainly just the first floor because I was starting to get rubber legs from walking so much and I wanted to head to Leicester Square to buy a ticket to the cinema and stop for a latte.

I caught a bus that I would take for a few stops and change onto a different one (because I was too tired to walk) but the traffic was soooo horrible. So I ended up having a relaxing 30mins on the bus just to go a few blocks down the road. Once I got off at Hyde Park Corner, I decided to walk the rest of the way. Lots of streets were shutdown for the protest you see. Everywhere seemed to be really crowded with people. I wasn't expecting so many people because it's not exactly high season. Maybe because it was a Saturday and the protest may have attracted some people? Luckily, since the roads were blocked off and pedestrian friendly, people just walked on those.

I bought my ticket to see "Music and Lyrics" at 6:00 and tried to find a place to sit with a latte. (had an hour or two to kill) I tried 4 different Starbucks and Cafe Neros before I found a place to sit down because they were all full of people.

Then I went back to the Odeon cinema which cost £12.50 - almost as much as my bathing suit! It's a cool cinema though. You have a choice of downstairs or the balcony (which is close to £20). And the chairs are all leopard print and the screen has pink drapes - sounds tacky but it's actually really cool. The movie was a cute, light, romantic comedy and of course I had to get stuck between 2 couples. I want my Tones!

Now it's Sunday morning and I have to leave to the airport in a few hours. Tonight I'll sleep in the airport and tomorrow I'll most likely hang out in Athens for the day (unless my sore throat gets really bad, then I'll head home earlier).

I'll be home Tues and post some pics. Cya!

M

London Town

I'm in London now (arrived last night). On Thursday night, I arrived at Athens Airport at around 2am and luckily I found a good spot on a bench to sleep. I didn't sleep much, but it was better than I thought. I think since the bench was pretty hard, it helped my back and since then my back has been feeling about 95% better. I caught my flight on Friday at noonish. When I finally arrived at Gareth's flat at 6pm, all I wanted to do was have a nap. I planned on having about a 1 hour nap then go out to a cinema but when I woke up it was midnight!! I completely fell asleep, I must've needed it!

Gareth came home around the same time so we caught up and watched some late night Eddie Murphy stand-up from the 80's for a little while. I went back to sleep and now I'm up at 8 today and I feel refreshed. I still have a sore throat and a headache but I've been pounding back the OJ and I took some Advil.

Today, I'm looking forward to checking out the V & A museum, the Fashion Week tents, a little shopping, and maybe the National Portrait Gallery if I have time. Tonight I'll go see a movie, maybe "Music and Lyrics" (all the girls at Gareth's work liked it).

Cheers,
M

Leaving Today

I’m catching the 7pm ferry tonight and heading on my short trip to London. I should be excited but I’m a bit of a wreck right now which has put a damper on this trip.

Yesterday, my back started hurting; I went to karate anyways and could only do about half an hour of the lesson before it hurt too much, so I had to just lay down. I couldn’t sleep because every position was uncomfortable. And today, it still hurts and I’m not looking forward to carrying my backpack and sitting on the ferry for 5 hours then sleeping at the airport too! It may be due to the dampness of the air here; I thought it would be fine since I’m from an island in Canada but I’ve heard others have the same problem. Who knows! On top of that, I’m feeling stiffness in my neck which usually means a sore throat is coming on too. Darn it!! Pray that I get better or I may be in bed while I’m in London.

I have a few plans of what I want to do once I’m there (I only have 1 full day on Sat and 2 halfish days). London Fashion Week is happening and you can get tickets for the Fashion Weekend when they put all of the crazy designer stuff on discount. I might look into that, but I’d just be browsing. I also want to catch a movie at a real cinema with plush seats and a roof! What a treat! The theatres here are outdoor so they are closed for the winter. And I want to check out the Victoria and Albert museum, there are some neat exhibitions including Style of the 60’s.

On Monday I’ll get most of the day to hang out in Athens too which is nice. I think I’ll hit up a museum or two since I haven’t been to any there yet.

Wish me luck!
M

Clean Monday

Yesterday, it was the holiday known as Clean Monday which is the first day of fasting. On that day, you can’t eat or cook with certain food like: dairy, eggs, meat, fish with backbones, or oil. So people eat a lot of veggies, lentils, crustaceans, flat bread, and this cake type thing made of crushed sesame seeds (it has a mild peanut butter taste to it). It's also really popular to fly kites.

In the morning, I went upstairs and helped Markos and Linda make food for lunch. Markos made a bunch of seafood dishes and showed me what to do. We made dishes with squid, octopus, big prawns, mussels, and little fish eggs. Here’s a pic of the octopus:

We brought all this food over to Tony’s grandparent’s and added it to the other food his yia yia made. There were all kinds of veggies, homemade pickles, olives, more octopus and prawns and flat bread. We had wine with it too of course; we usually have 2 main kinds of wine: a white wine and a sweet red wine. We brought over the white wine that we made in Sept (I call it foot wine since we stepped on the grapes to make it!). The food was really interesting, there were things I've never tried before.

Pandelis and his daughter Maria came over too (uncle and cousin of Tony) so there were 7 of us all together. Papoose started playing the tsabouna and yia yia played a little drum made of goat skin. We took turns playing the drum, it was a lot of fun and some of us got up and started doing some Greek dancing too! It was quite hilarious, I have some funny videos. I’m working on getting one of them up on the net but I’m not sure it’ll work. I’ll put a link to it if I figure it out.

Anyways, after hours of eating, drinking wine, dancing, and music, we were so full and ready to have a nap! We went home in the evening and Linda and I watched a movie and had an early night.

M