Europe

23 June 2000--Athens, Greece

21 hours after it began it's over. Our bus ride, that is.

We boarded a bus in Istanbul yesterday at 10:00am in the morning and, after 21 hours of travel upon the same bus, we arrived this morning at roughly 7:00am.

Though it sounds horrible, it was actually quite pleasant and, I dare say, rather easy.

The biggest factor in a journey such as this is, of course, comfort, and on that count the Turkish buses we have been riding satisfy immensely. They are all new and modern, with clean interiors, comfortable seats with reasonable leg room, and with smooth rides.

And by the time we got into northern Greece, with nightfall approaching and the final all-night push into Athens ahead of us, the bus was rather empty. This allowed Kelly and I to stretch out, each occupying two seats, for a comfortable night's sleep.

Part of the ease with which we can do this sort of thing results from all of our experience. We have ridden countless night buses and are now quite accustomed to sleeping well on them, allowing us to enjoy a full and active "day after." Not a skill I hope to have much use for following our travels, but for now its a good thing to know how to do well.

24 June 2000--Athens, Greece

The National Archaeological Museum was quite cool. Such a wealth of treasures, all of which are very attractively displayed. And exploring it with Lou and Andrea was fun, as they each had a real enthusiasm for the things they were seeing (although Lou's, like mine, waned as time wore on).

My favorites were the large, bronze, statutory. Darkened green with the oxidation of the ages, they were all magnificent--particularly the heralded, larger than life, statue of Poseidon. Standing upright, with his left arm extended in front of him for balance, and his right arm cocked behind him and ready to hurl his now absent trident (or was it a lightning bolt, making the statue one of Zeus and not Poseidon? Incidentally, this is a theory espoused by the much studied Louis Cataland),

27 June 2000--Naxos, Greece

Small town life is so wonderful.

Each of the past two mornings we have awoken reasonably early. I then walk downhill a bit, through the narrow, winding, alleys, to the local grocer where I would buy the morning's breakfast (which we would eat on our hotel's terrace, with a magnificent view of the Aegean Sea). I would then walk several paces to the town's bread maker, where I would wait for hot, fresh, bread to emerge from the wood-burning oven.

This morning, because I visited both places two days in a row, I was taken in as a virtual regular. The grocer chatted with me enthusiastically about where I was from, making a recommendation about the morning's cheese selection. And the bread-maker greeted me warmly as well, even offering me free bread.

A pace of life that allows you to buy each day's breakfast each morning, and allows for meaningful, unhurried, social interaction while doing so, has much to commend. While it is not something we can enjoy with regularity in the States, it's fun to enjoy it now while we can.

29 June 2000--Santorini, Greece

This place is stunningly beautiful. Period.

With villages perched high, along, and down, precipitous cliff-tops, with the brilliant blue tones of the Aegean Sea below, and with unique, postcard perfect architecture and colors, it is no wonder this island is one of the most touristed in all of Greece. It's the kind of place where we may find it difficult to leave, particularly since we are staying in such a wonderful place complete with a private terrace and a glorious view. And though pricey by our standards ($40 a night), it is worth every penny.

1 July 2000--Santorini, Greece

So it's another one of those sort of days. This morning, at the difficult hour of 5:30am, we bid adieu to Lou and Andrea who were flying back to Athens for the day before returning to Atlanta.

As with the other instances where we have traveled with friends from the States (Bo and Heidi in SE Asia, Paul and Mike in India, and Mike in the Everest Region), we always find saying goodbye a little sad. When you travel together as we have, sharing the ups, downs, thrills and spills of travel, you are brought so much closer together. And when that fun and intimacy comes to a close, you cannot help but miss it.

We had looked forward to meeting Lou and Andrea here in Greece for such a long time, now that our time is over is remarkable how quickly it passed. But we did have a ball.

Lou continues to be one of the most thoughtful and pleasant guys we have the good fortune of knowing. And it was a real pleasure getting to know Andrea well, as the time we had spent together prior to this was limited. While I suspect it took her a day or two to get used to our brashness and laissez-faire approach to travel (we are not the easiest people to travel with), as well as to travel in a foreign country generally (of which she has not done much), it was a real pleasure to see how she so quickly adapted and relaxed entirely. Both of them were a joy to be around and we hope they had as great a time as did we.

And we have the added bonus of looking forward to our time together back in Atlanta. Traveling together creates a bond and commonality of experience that cannot otherwise be replicated, and the four of us will always be all the closer because of it.

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