There's something about the Aegean sun that warps the brain. Even before its first rays had tanned my body, it had somehow caused me to check my luggage (am I crazy!?!?), drop my worries at the X-ray machine in SeaTac and kept me in a pretty good mood for 17 hours of travelling from Seattle to Athens, Greece. We were only in Athens for a day before we climbed aboard a twin prop Olympic Airways beater and cruised over to the island of Leros to meet the rest of our party and board our boats.
The party consisted of 16 people, all but one of which I knew personally or were a friend of someone I knew personally. There are good things and bad things about this situation. It's good travelling with people you know because you're already comfortable with them (or should be) and they already know your bounds and how to keep out of your personal space. But, it also means that you don't get to meet new people and if you have a problem with anyone stemming back to life at home, it can get ugly. These trips are infamous for starting steamy romances, but with this group that seemed a bit incestuous. As it turned out, there was little friction among the group. Even after two weeks together. I tell you, it's that warping Aegean sun!
The boats we'd chartered were run by Diane (a former Microsoftie from Australia) and her boyfriend, Rob (a former accountant, also from down under). They met us at a little restaurant and took us to our homes, Angelina and Vessilis. They (the boats, not the people) are beautiful sailboats, one 53' long, the other 49'. They were both equipped with decent food, nice stereos and plenty of alcohol. I must admit, however, that after baking in the sun all day the last thing I really wanted was alcohol. Some people really enjoy drinking while out relaxing, but I didn't find it appealing. While there I did manage to choke down some Greek ouzo, which is a milky white drink that tastes somewhat like black liquorice, only worse. The Turks have a similar drink called raki, which is supposed to be even more potent. I couldn't even look at that stuff. But I digress. Most people shared a cabin with someone else, but I ended up sleeping on deck most nights. Curling up in a blanket under the stars and waking with the sun on my face was one of my favorite parts of the trip. How anyone could sleep inside under such conditions was beyond me (assuming mosquitoes don't bother you). Now, I've seen stars before, but dang! there are a lot more stars above Greece than there are over Seattle. Must be because Greece is so old and they've had more time to collect stars. Yeah, that's it.
We sailed Greece for a week. Most of our time was spent at little islands on which only a handful of people lived. When I say "little islands" and "a handful of people" I mean it. A couple islands had less than 50 people living on them. Surprisingly, they manage to survive by running small restaurants and herding sheep. These islands are right next to Turkey and I was told that the Greek government subsidizes people to live on them so that the Turks don't waltz on over and claim them. Apparently the Greeks don't want to rely on just their government for protection, though, cause they build a heck of a lot of churches. One island of 300 people boasted 47 churches! Some of the churches are pretty neat. Like something off a postcard: whitewashed walls crowned by a sky blue dome. Many of the village houses are also white with blue trim. Seems to be the Greek national colors (hmm, they are the colors of the flag) which is great, because they make really cool pictures. Imagine a little village of white houses on the side of a hill above a deep blue sea and you may glimpse a little of Greece. These little islands (called the Dodecanese Islands, by the way) are really like that.
We did some sight seeing of old castles. We rented mopeds and zipped around an island. We walked out to secluded beaches where some of us (mostly men) went topless. We sailed from place to place.
It was amazing, but it wasn't paradise. First of all, the Aegean Sea is really, really salty. And it's not as warm as the waters around Hawaii. It's very clear and beautiful, but it takes a little getting used to. Next, the food left something to be desired. Granted we're not travelling through France and we're in some pretty remote locales, but it's still frustrating to see the same thing on the menu every night. Sometimes we just dispensed with the menu and went into the kitchen and pointed at what we wanted. That seemed to work pretty well. I tried octopus (a lot like calamari) and swordfish (heavy and rich). The Greeks also don't use a lot of spices (if any) so the food is pretty bland. Bread was always served, but asking for refills was not always appreciated. Water was purchased in bottles. A good lesson I learned was not to rush the meal. Greeks eat dinner some time between 9 and midnight. And it's not just dinner, but social time. Arriving at a restaurant too early meant waiting for them to turn on the grill and when you wanted to leave you almost always have to request a check. They don't rush themselves or you. It's a big part of operating on "Greek time."
After a week in Greece we sailed from Kos to Bodrum, Turkey. Lucky Rob got sent through customs hell to make us all legal. The Greeks and the Turks don't really like each other. They're kinda like the bitter old men that live next door to one another that always fight about who owns the strip of grass between their houses. One of our boats stowed the Greek flag and ran up the American one (kinda strange that a US flag would be welcome more than something else!), but the other boat only had Greek registration so it got the evil eye from some people. Perhaps that's why we waited and waited and then got assigned a terrible slot in the harbor. Perhaps it was me being paranoid, though, because once off the boat I found the Turks to be friendly and attentive people. Some a little too attentive, which brings us to rabid shop-keepers.
One of the big things about Turkey is the shopping. Jewelry, leather, counterfeit clothing and carpets are some of the most popular items, but almost anything can be had. For enough lira. We were given the Turkey lecture before being unleashed upon the bizarre at Bodrum. It consisted primarily of "Be careful. Write everything down. Count all the zeros on your bills (1,000,000 lira is about $7, so prices get a little out of hand). Barter, but you won't win." Turned out to be good advice and people took to shopping with vigor. I'd bought some really nice hand painted plates in Greece so I couldn't bring myself to buy a Turkish carpet, but I had my hand on my credit card on more than one occasion. Looking back now, I wish I had gotten one, but Turkey will be there if I ever go back. The carpet buying experience was maybe the highlight of the trip. (Another write-up regarding just the bizarre at Marmaris and shopping for carpets will follow if you're interested.) The stores and salesmen were incredible, not to mention their beautiful rugs. The rug salesmen weren't so bad but some of the others were fanatic. They'd do anything to get you to talk to them: ask you where you're from, shake your hand and not let go, hand you their cards or apple tea, offer you a shave (really!) or just plain yell at you. It was entertaining for about 5 minutes, then it got pretty annoying. Browsing was really difficult without someone peering over my shoulder and telling me, "For you, half price!" Walking alone in the bizarre is suicide. Even so, I'd go back in a second (if it didn't take 24 hours to get there!).
The other big thing about Turkey was the nightlife. Bodrum is, in my experience, unparalleled (and I didn't even get to do most of it). I don't know how many tourists were there, but at night the streets were packed. Every shop remained open (of course) and club after club pumped out louder and louder music. We walked from the marina at one end of the fray to Halikarnasus at the other. Halikarnasus is named for the mausoleum, one of the seven wonders of the ancient world and I think the new one is pretty close to one of the seven wonders of today. It's a huge outdoor disco, complete with a marble dance floor, columns, lasers, smoke, a show at 1am, lots of beautiful people and a huge cover charge. Looking around I thought that there were a lot of tourists, but after a while a concert started and everyone seemed to know what the performer was saying, even when he rambled on in Turkish. Of course, maybe they were just doing what I was doing, looking around wondering what happened to my cool dance club and who this Saddam-Hussein-looking guy on stage was. After a little research I found that it was Ibrahim Tatlises, who's pretty popular in Turkish pop music (currently #12 on their charts). Unfortunately that meant nothing to me and we took off, hoping to come back on our trip back through Bodrum later in the week.
Turkey was very different from Greece. It was probably 5 degrees hotter (it's less windy than the islands) and the shores were covered with pine trees. It was beautiful. We sailed down to English Harbor where we took a bus to Marmaris for more shopping and then sailed on back to Bodrum. During this leg we actually saw a beach! There is so little tide to make rocks into sand so the beaches were utterly pathetic. This one, however, was supposedly created by Cleopatra for Marc Anthony as a present. Not bad! The sand was supposed to have been imported from North Africa, but wherever it was from it was soft and beautiful. It actually cost a couple bucks to get on the beach and blankets were forbidden. They don't want you carrying sand back home and sending it through your washing machine. Also during this leg I managed to put something in my mouth that didn't belong there and I got sick. That meant no Halikarnasus or shopping for my on the return to Bodrum, which really annoyed me. Another jaunt for Rob through customs hell and we were back in Greece for the end of the sailing.
During the second week I was at my most relaxed. A week would have been too little time to unwind. Two weeks was just about right. I couldn't remember what day it was, and it didn't matter. It was only important so I could know when to call my friends back home and I was pretty sure it wasn't a weekend so I knew all I needed to know. (BTW, the phone system in Turkey is really quite good. Most places, even small villages, have public phones. If you go there be sure to take the access number for your long distance carrier cause buying a phone card is a pain.) After I got sick, though, I was pretty ready to go home. I was missing people, good food, my cats and my condo. And I still had to spend two days in Athens. This is probably what led me to dislike Athens.
Greece is a fairly good sized country of 10 million people. Athens houses 4.6 million of them! The smog and congestion of central Athens is so bad that cars with even numbered plates can drive only on even numbered days. Odd plates on odd days. And there's still too many cars! At least it makes it a little easier for an out-of-it tourist like me to figure out what day it is. Athens is also very flat and sprawling. I didn't see a downtown with skyscrapers, just thousands of little buildings. The most striking thing about the town is the Acropolis perched atop a hill overlooking everything. It's quite impressive, but distinctly non-photoesque. And it really only takes about an hour to see. After that a couple hours shopping in the Plaka district (lots of cheesy souvenirs, but a few nice stores, too) and I was ready to head out. It was hot, I was tired of eating the air and I still had a day to go. My last night in Athens I spent with my friend Dan and we went to Pizza Hut and then back to the hotel for a little Euro MTV. Ahhh... civilization!
Finally, when it was time to leave I was one of the first ones at the airport. Security was tight ("What brand is your camera? Please step through yet another metal detector.") but despite the Turkish visa in my passport they let me on the plane. A quick 10 hour jaunt via the polar route and I was back in New York. The line for Burger King was too long, but at least I could smell the fries. Then back on another plane and after 18 hours of travelling I was back in Seattle. Of course, the weather here'd been beautiful and the company continued to make money without me, but at least I had a tan to show for all my hard work. And some plates. Everyone is welcome to come over and look at pictures (I held myself to only 8 rolls) and hear stories. If you come over in 8 months you can even see the plates I shipped (I hope).
Bottom line: My vacation was wonderful! Thanks for asking.
Back to Greece & Turkey '97
Let me (Vince) know what you think!