When does reality kick back in for you on holidays? Everyone loves before, or so I think. The last day of work, the drive to the airport, and sitting having a meal and a drink, but when does it wear off? I know a person who says the second you leave, it wears off, and you know you have to go back to work. I don't think like that; it almost feels like, why go if you're worried it's already almost time to get back at it? My wife is the planner; we are off to Spain in a year, and she is already looking into things. Which is great for me. I personally hate looking things up. I want to be shocked and amazed, but with years of traveling with her, I have learned there is a lot of value in having a plan. If you want to be guaranteed of doing things. If you want to wander or relax, you may not need a plan. With a trip like this, though, I want to do things; what's the point in traveling across the world to do nothing! I don't know when reality kicks in for her, but it was around the same time as me on this trip. We had used up 10 nights of our 13-night trip. It was about when people started talking about what they were going to do after. There was an optional 3-night cruise. When we booked, it wasn't a go yet, so we weren't on it. Which is too bad. I did hear from Jake and Mary that it was go, go, go, just like the tour, and maybe not the relaxation in Santorini that people wanted, but still might have been fun. Others were going back to Italy or to Paris for a few nights. We had two more nights on the tour and a night in Paris just because we couldn't get a direct flight. We were booked in the Airport at De Gaule, so to me that night wouldn't really count. So started feeling the headed home blues. It did not help; my back was still sore. So that's what I mean when I say the homesick blues kicked in. Not that I miss it and wanted to go home, but the shit, I'll be home soon. However, this was probably the busiest day we had in Greece.
Breakfast was the same as always, and we were on the road fairly early, I believe. I won't get into the gas station supermarkets anymore; just know that, annoyingly and also very smartly and safely, we were stopping every hour and a half for a rest. Thank god Europe is a very compact area.
We stopped at a monument to brave Leonidas. I am fairly certain it wasn't the actual "hot gates" like the movie, but it was in Thermopylae. The region where the hot gates are. A little bit of truth, we aren't totally believing 300 warriors took on an army. Yes, there were 300 Spartans, along with their support staff and roughly 7000 other Greek warriors. Sparta was chosen to lead because, yes, Leo was a feared and respected warrior, and he did, at this point, only bring 300, but there was a bit more to it. Second, Leo was supposedly as depicted. A great king for his people. Brave, clever, modest, and a great leader. Sparta did go to the Oracle and were told to fight, though the Oracle was probably not bribed. The Persians were not two million strong but probably about 300,000. So yes, they stomped the Spartan army. However, just like the movie, this battle did rally the Greeks, and within a year, they smashed the Persians and drove them from Greece. It actually was the spark that eventually helped Greece "win" the Greco-Persian war.
While there is a statue and a plaque, it isn't much of a monument. It is on the side of a highway, and if you didn't know what it was, you might drive by. It is a small marble sort of wall, with a couple of shrubs out front and a statue of Leonidas with shield and spear on top. Some shrubbery out front of it. On the other side of the highway, there is a small hill with a plaque in Greek that says something about the 300. Without the ability to read it, it isn't that exciting. What looks like an overnight stop for campers and motorhomes sits beside the hill. I will just admit it: we had more fun petting the stray dogs that hang around there than we did at the actual plaque. Not far from here, there are a couple of old and abandoned gas stations and supermarkets. I said I wasn't going to talk about it again, but let's look at Greece's more recent history. This is a broad overview, but Greece as we know it only came into existence in the mid-1800s. In 1864, they got a Danish prince to be King George, and he lasted right up almost until WWI. The entire time, they are very poor, and honestly, mass migration to the States was all that kept them going, or the government would have gone broke. They also had the Megali idea going on. All Greek people reunited under a new Byzantine Empire. What I am saying is that Greece spent this time infighting and warring with its neighbors while being poor. Mussolini decided he wanted to take over Greece during World War II. He lost! However, he had a friend with a big ass army, and the Nazis took over, making it a puppet state. Under the Germans, they suffered as Germany took everything they could from Greece to keep the war going. Then, when the Nazis fell apart, and Greece gained freedom, they had a civil war after WWII. In the early 50s the finally settled down and were admitted to NATO. For a couple of decades, they do okay, and the economy grows. Not great, but some. However, by the mid-2000s, they were again broke. They get a massive loan that keeps the country afloat, but it is still a very poor nation. Our tour guide said Germany had helped them out a lot. Not sure where he got that info. Anyway, what I am saying is that modern Greek history is marked by strife and poverty, which I did not know. We all hear of the ancient Greeks, but not the current struggles.
Then we hit the town of Delphi. We use the term mountain town for Jasper or Banff here in Canada, but Delphi is an actual mountain town. Like, when you walk down the street, if you look past the buildings, it is a cliff face. Not a hill, a cliff. If you fall, that's it, bye-bye. The streets are narrow! Amazingly, our bus driver maneuvered the bus around them. I wouldn't have been comfortable driving my tiny truck on them!! The weather had really improved, though, from the day before. The sun was coming down, and people wore shorts and tees, not jackets and jeans. They let us out to wander to find lunch. There are actually a lot of places to eat because it is a tourist town. So we walked with our small group and found a place to sit. Jake had wanted an actual gyro, so Earl and I jumped on the bandwagon as well. It was alright, but nothing amazing. Also as I said I was wined out. Earl had an ouzo, and that became our drink. I don't mind it at all, actually. The view from the place was crazy. Again, it was built right on the cliff, so the far wall was all windows. You looked out over a lush green valley and could see some sea or something in the distance, but you couldn't see the ground. Gulf of Corinth, maybe I should have listened. If you looked down, it was just a fall. For someone scared of heights, you don't want to put your hand on the window. I did, and I will say it was crazy. After eating, we had a few minutes to wander the street; some souvenir stores were about all that was there. I think my wife bought something for our curio cabinet, but I don't remember. A tour group of French students were hassling a street dog. Jill did bring out her angry voice from the start of the tour and yelled at them; they scattered. Not sure if it was her voice or the fact that her husband is a rather large man, but there was no talking back, just running! Jake and I did look over the rails down the cliffs for a second, then remembered we are chickens and backed away. Soon enough, we were loaded on the bus and headed to the ancient site of Delphi.
Have you heard of the spiders and kittens of Delphi? Probably not, it's not a real thing, but we get to the historic site just outside of town, and on the steps to the museum, a group is crowded around something, so of course I go look. There is a nasty-looking spider crawling up a step. Made my skin crawl. There were also cute wild kittens, which made up for it. If you don't know Delphi, it was the home of the major oracle. The Greeks consulted her for important decisions. They also believed it was the center of the world. So screw you, Toronto, you aren't the center of the universe. Being a dick aside, this is a big deal. This place was the center of the world when the Greeks were the center of the world. I will get to it, but the grounds are quite impressive, and at one point, it must have been a very bustling city.
We were first brought into the museum. It is very impressive, room after room of things found on site. Many of the site's remains are housed here. We had a great tour guide who explained a lot of things and where they came from in the ruins. Then we headed out to the ruins. I assume it was because we had been on the go for days. Walking and carrying the camera bag. Sleeping on shitty European mattresses, but my back was killing me. The tour was amazing, but as we walked through it, it started to really hurt my back, I mean.
So we start walking down what would have been Main Street in ancient times. It is crazy, you can still see the stores carved right into the hill it sits on. It isn't at all hard to imagine what it was like back then. You can easily picture what we call a farmers' market full of people crammed in, if you use your imagination. The tour winds up a hill. I was getting very stiff and sore as we walked, but I kept going, as I said; this was one of the better-preserved places we had been. I didn't want to miss it. I think we were given 45 minutes, as the tour ended, there was supposed to be an option to rush to the top. A 15-minute walk; spend a few minutes there seeing the ancient track, then rush back down. However, it was closed, so people mostly just wandered the ruins we had already seen. Which was sad, my wife had really wanted to get up and see it!
My wife had a good idea, or I thought it was. You go through the museum and then get to wander the grounds. The guide says, "Look here, that is where that pillar used to be." Well, you just saw 100 different pillars in the museum. So which was it? I mean, I have a decent imagination, but I couldn't tell what went where. So why couldn't they rebuild? Not with the pieces that are in the museum, but something similar, replicas. What would be wrong with that, giving people a real look at what it was like? It shouldn't take anything away from the ruins; it might bring more to them. That was her thought, and I agree.
Some people went to the temple of Athena. Part of me wishes we had, but that was a run. Her temple is slightly down the highway. You exit the site we were at, the temple of Apollo and theatre, and run down the highway to Athena's temple. It is a run! Well, not really a run but a brisk walk, very little time there, and then a brisk walk to be back in time. The fact was that my back could not do it. On a good day, without the camera bag, maybe we could have gone, but we didn't. A few people did, said it was interesting, but again, on a tour, things go fast. Again, for everyone, tours are great for an overview. If you were in Dephi on your own, this could have been a nice stroll, and you could have actually taken it all in! One couple that came back asked why we didn't make the quick trip. We were honest, my back. Jill said, " Well, here I have a patch for that. She gave me a couple to wear for the next few days.
The bus ride from the site to the hotel was short. This hotel looks nice, with a big pool out front. A lounge with a deck outside overlooking the pool and down to the Gulf of Corinth. It is a beautiful view. The main open areas, like the lobby and bar, are very nice, but as soon as you walk down the hall, it becomes all concrete. Cold and dark with frosted windows letting in a bit of light. The room is much the same, concrete, cold, and dark. We had a couple of hours to kill, so I put on shorts and headed down to the pool. Sadly, no one else came down, not even my wife. I didn't jump it but did wander for a bit. I thought a nice hot bath might help my back, so I filled a rather small tub with hot water and soaked in it. It helped a bit, and then I slapped on the patch I had been given. It reminded me of nicotine and charcoal shampoo, the smell of it. It worked its magic, though. Within minutes, it felt better until the sewer drain started flooding our bathroom. I mean, the back was fine, but then I was annoyed by the flood! So I headed to the lobby and told them. They sent up a cleaning lady.
So this older lady comes to the room with a broom and towels. She wraps the towels around the broom, and that was her mop. She did not really speak English. Between a few words and hand signals, I got the gist that you can't let the drain all the way out in the tub. The piping just can't handle it. Basically, if you bathe, they don't really want you to, and only take the plug out halfway. Maybe they should have let us know that! Showers would be okay, though. On my way to the lobby, I ran into another person from our tour who had no power in their room. Overall, the hotel was not getting great reviews from the group.
The activity for the night was making an authentic Greek meal. The bus ride was literally just down the road to a small but very cute little restaurant. It looked a lot like just a nice old Greek house. We all filed in, and they had tables already set up with ingredients on them. Our cooking lesson began. Of course, everyone asked whether we just add the pre-done amount, and the old lady who ran the place said, " No! Of course it is to taste! Then, as we added and tasted it, it became clear that it was a lie, of course, it was to the pre-determined sizes. We made tzatziki, and it was actually pretty good. Then we made some sort of filled pastry. It was actually a bit of work getting the dough right, but the payoff was amazing. These were terrific. Cheese-filled, and some had honey poured on them, and would have been a dessert. Then came the actual meal. It was okay. We sat with a family from LA. They owned a pharmacy down there. I think in one of the smaller cities that make up the metro area, but I am not sure. Father, mother, and daughter. The daughter was very close to Jake's age, and I had thought they would hit it off. Just because of the ages, but they never did seem to talk. Very nice people. It is funny: on the tour, there were quite a few decent people, but once you get into your group. You kind of just stick with them, so it was a change having dinner with someone new. I think it was a choice of beef or fish, possibly veal, but they didn't bring the father his plate. Counting was wrong, I don't know, so he got a lamb slab that was supposed to be for the dinner after ours. It was awesome. He gets this big portion, has a bit, and decides to share. I don't know if that would have been in me to do! It really was so good. Then the scheduled night was over.
They promised that if we went home and added them on Instagram, they would send the recipes for the things we made that night. My wife did, but we never did see anything from them… WTF! They did invite us to stay for the next event, a wedding. In general, here we do the wedding in the afternoon, dinner and dance in the evening, and possibly into the wee hours of the morning. Over there, the ceremony is later than what we would call dinner. Then they would have the dance and stuff starting at 10ish or later. It isn't a good wedding if it doesn't go until 5 or 7 in the AM. So on the show Mamma Mia, when they show the wedding all night, that's real. We did not stay, although it would have been very interesting to do so. First, was it an actual invite? Or was it polite? I know society is different, so maybe it was, but I don't think I would want some randoms just sitting in on my wedding. Also, we were to have breakfast at 7. I can't imagine running back at 6, showering, getting ready, and getting the day going without sleep. We did walk back to the hotel with our friends Earl and Jill. Earl and I grabbed an ouzo and sat on the deck by the pool. It was dark by this time, and the view of the sea was beautiful. The air was warm; it would have been a perfect night to sit around a fire if we were at home. Then we went to our rooms.
I will let you in on a dirty little secret. I often get into fights when traveling. I don't mean with randoms, but with the person I am traveling with. Sometimes it has been from excess booze; I am far from a perfect person. Sometimes you are just tired and annoyed, and it comes out. This was the night it came out. I was sore, the patch had quit working after a few hours, and my wife was tired. She had not been sleeping well. It sounds like a first-world problem, but a tour is tiring. We got to the room, and the AC unit was blowing warm air. This pissed the wife off, so I went down to the lobby to complain or see if we could get a repairman up. The answer was no: at night, it blew warm air because it got "cold" outside. I don't know what they mean by 'cold.' I don't think it gets cold in Greece, but that was that, so we shut it off. The wife opened the patio door and closed the so-called screen. There was a metal door that you could lock that had a bunch of holes to let air in. To me, that isn't a screen door; a screen door should keep creepy crawlies out, and this, in my mind, wouldn't. So I said no, closed the main door, and we had a good argument. In the end, we used the so-called screen, and I slept on the couch thing in the room. It wasn't a comfy night for me, though my wife slept a bit.
So I'll end it here, the next morning was the last day on tour.
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