Greece & Turkey '97 - Three Months Later

It's now three months after arriving home from my sailing trip in Greece and Turkey. It seems much, much longer than that, but the calendar assures me that it's only been 12 weeks. I thought I'd jot down a few of the things that I remember from the trip because they're certainly the ones that made the biggest impression on me. They may even be the ones I remember 3 years or 30 years after the trip.

My most vivid memory was waking up after the first night on the sailboat. I was on deck, loosely wrapped in a blanket that I'd taken from my cabin down below. I had many great nights sleeping on deck but this was the best morning. The sun hadn't risen, but the sky was lightening and I knew it wouldn't be long. I grabbed my friend Dan from the boat and we toured the silent streets. The town was not a touristy one and so the buildings we walked past were quaint little homes. A few of the natives were up and going about their business of sweeping and preparing for the day. They actually seemed surprised to see us so far from the dock.

A beautiful church (one of the 47 on this island of 300 people) sat on top of the hill in the center of town. It's three domes were painted sky blue and its walls were white-washed. These colors caught the first rays I saw and the trip half way around the world was justified for me in that instant. We walked around the church looking for just the right angle for a picture, but the tight streets prevented an all encompassing view. I'm kind of glad that I didn't get a picture, though, because the image in my mind would surely not have translated to film well. We didn't talk much as we walked around the town and just took in our first morning in paradise. I had forgotten, until now, just how peaceful that morning had been.

In sharp contrast to the peace of that morning was the energy and liveliness of Bodrum, Turkey. I won't rehash the incredible spectacle of Halikarnas or the throngs of party goers that packed the streets, but I will say that those images are crystal clear in my mind's eye. I can still smell the perfume of the woman in front of me as I was pushed into her by a thousand people behind me as we all tried to weave our way through the thousand people heading the opposite direction. All this in a narrow street between two nightclubs, each of which seemed convinced that they had the louder sound system and deeper bass and each of which were willing to convince us of it right then. I can still feel the warm night air around me as I broke from the crowd near the marina and I can hear my Tevas hitting the deck as I jumped aboard our boat. It's like it was last night that I wrapped myself in a blanket on deck and was lulled to sleep by the pumping rhythm of the clubs that didn't shut down for another 4 hours. I woke up around that time to the 5am Islamic call to prayer and I can still feel my slightly scratchy blanket up around my ears as I drifted off listening to the sing-song prayers.

I think I could write all day if I were to recall all the memories I have. If I were to limit myself to just the good ones I might have to write all week! So let me shift gears and touch on some of the things I'd like to do differently if I were to do the trip again.

The number one thing I would do differently is that I would take it in my own hands to pack the dishes I bought in Greece. I did finally get the package of 47 pieces that I'd mentioned in an earlier write-up but almost a quarter of them were broken. I don't think that they were broken before packing (although I've heard that's a problem sometimes) but I don't think the packing was done very well. This is really unfortunate and puts a little cloud in an otherwise sunny vacation.

I am very happy that our group had picked to do a week in Greece and a week in Turkey. Although the Turkish customs officers were a little too militant (great thanks to Rob and Diane for shielding us poor, unsuspecting travelers from this mess) I thought seeing both countries was a big plus. There is a huge difference between the laid back lifestyle of the Greek islanders and the intensity of the Turkish cities. Intermixing the two into the trip presented a nice contrast and gave me time to both lounge and be active.

I stick to my original stand on Athens and our non-sailing portion of the trip. Athens was a dirty, crowded and miserable city that didn't deserve more than a day on each end of our trip. I wish we'd taken our extra time to see the islands or Santarini and Mikinos, both of which I hear are absolutely fabulous.

After three months of being back in Seattle and immersed in the daily grind, there are a couple things about my trip that I keep in my heart. The first isn't specifically about Greece but about traveling in general. I love knowing that there are places that take my breath away with their beauty and perfection. I look forward to seeking out and finding myself in those places for the rest of my life. Specifically, Greece and Turkey have so much to offer in the form of history, culture and good ol' tanning opportunities. There is no doubt in my mind that this was a great way to spend my time and money. All told, the trip wasn't cheap, but it was worth every penny.

This has been a kind of stream-of-consciousness write-up and I hope you've enjoyed reading it. If you're interested in more detail or about something I left out I'd love to hear from you. I'm also looking for that next great destination... any suggestions?

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Let me (Vince) know what you think!