I want to be better

Jeff again. As Kev reported earlier, Jim's birthday coincides with the summer solstice. We all spent the afternoon and the early evening at a mostly gay resort on the hill called Elysium. Needless to say, being on a hill overlooking Mykonos for sunset was beautiful!

A month before the trip, I started practicing yoga. In a short amount of time, I have found myself being more grounded and relaxed. I honestly believe it contributed to me being able to complete the Sumarian Gorge hike without twisting my ankles. When I walk, my feet are firmly hitting the ground, and I'm also more aware of my surroundings.

What does this have to do with Jim's solstice sunset, you may ask?

As the sun was going down, I was less concerned with taking "the" perfect sunset picture and more about being in the moment. Those who have gone on trips with me know that I take way too many sunset pics.

What also happened is I found myself internally chanting, "I want to be better": I want to be a better person, a better partner, a better friend, a better brother, even a better co-worker. My quest for improvement should never stop as it is a continuous process. I chanted this to myself over and over during the 5 minutes of watching the sun set and felt both peace and emotions wash over me. I even shed a few tears when the sun had bid us adieu. It was one of the most amazing experiences I've ever experienced.

How do you want to be better?

The pics at the top of this post was the only one I took that day. The ones that follow are from last night's sunset. Aloha!

One final thought: everyone, and I do mean EVERYONE, should take at least 2 weeks off from work and disconnect from it. Spend time with the people who matter, meet new people, create lasting memories, be present, and experience the world - regardless of whether you stay in your own country or not. 

Namaste!

Mykonos Musings from Jeff

Confession time. When we booked this trip, our stay in Mykonos was what I was least excited about. Don't get me wrong, I was looking forward to it, but the guide books didn't list lots of attractions to see like they did in Athens or Crete and I was concerned that it would be the Greek equivalent to Fire Island in New York: lots of euro-disco and gay twink boys partying everywhere. Man, was I wrong!

Mykonos is incredible! Twisty labyrinths of streets, shops, restaurants, and bars with amazing views of the water and surrounding islands. An added treat is that we got to meet both locals and tourists, creating memories that will last for the rest of our lives!

Similar to what the Wingerups reported on their around the world trip last year, there have been little to no discussions about what we do for work with the people we are meeting. In the United States, we seem obsessed with telling people "what we do" (i.e. managing training for CBS, being a nurse, marketing for non-profits, sell landscaping services, etc). Think about it. When you meet someone new, usually you get their name, where they are from, and then the next question is "what do you do for work?". While we've been asked by a couple of people, the majority of discussions have stopped after where are you from. Then we share stories of the islands we've been to so far, how long we'll be here, etc. It is so refreshing!

We have met some incredible people on this trip: Alex, the day bartender at the Kastro bar (a sunset bar that plays classical music), Michelle and Serena - an adorable lesbian couple from Singapore, Marily "the leather lady" who sold us amazing belts and wallets, Johanna the tailor who has sold her wares to the likes Meryl Streep and Tom Hanks, Agaila who was the property manager for the villa in Crete, Dmitry, the hunky and flirty owner of Lola, "Super" Mario at Kastro, and the list goes on! I can't begin to tell you how much these people enhanced our journey. Our world view has been considerably expanded. The two pics that follow are of Alex, Michelle and Serena. 

Random pics of Mykonos

Sunset on the bluff above "Little Venice" in Mykonos

Seven windmills in fairly good condition above Mykonos town

Typical street in Mykonos town, except the throngs of people were missing - this was taken during the soccer match between Germany and Greece.  During the bailout talks last Spring, 2 members of Merkela's cabinet suggested that Greece sell it's islands - and the Acropolis - to reduce it's debt. Needless to say, the Greeks were outraged, so the stakes were high with this match. Unfortunately, the Germans won, 4-2.  The town was quite subdued afterwards, even though there were huge masses of people from THREE (!) cruise ships.

We befriended this woman during our walks through the town - and ended up purchasing several of her hand-woven goods, which were meticulously made of natural fibers. Her story was quite sad (she lost her oldest child 15 years ago), and she never regained her gusto for life after the loss. Photographs of her at her loom over the years are prominently displayed in front of this small shop where she has spent most of her life making beautiful goods for island visitors.

Food Musings

Gyro = burrito

Ekmek = banana cream pie

Pastitsio =  mac & cheese hot dish (i.e., hamburger helper)

Mousaka = lasagna

Saganaki = fried cheese
Souvlaki = shish kebab

The foods Greeks do best

Tomatoes – they taste like they came from somebody’s backyard garden           

Cucumbers, eggplant, zucchini – all their commonly used vegetables taste better

Yogurt, sour cream, feta (actually, all the cheeses they make are awesome)

Olive oil – unlike anything we get in the states, clean, smooth and very faint, olive-y flavor

Milk – thick, rich, flavorful… it’s strange we have yet to see a single cow in our travels – we’ve seen lots of goats, but no cows.

Pita bread

ALL deserts (the philosophy seems to be if a little sugar is good, then a lot is BETTER!)

Honey (lots of beehives everywhere we’ve gone; honey is used extensively in Greek deserts)

Herbs (they’re all so much more pungent here; basil is grown here as a foliage plant)

Eggs (dark orange yolks, heavy with flavor)

Watermelon (tastes like it did when we were kids, and with each passing day it’s gotten sweeter)

Wine

The 20 lbs I lost before the trip to Greece have been found; they are happy to be home.  Diet resumes upon return to reality on Monday. :(

Jim's Birthday (part I - sunset 6/20 to 3AM 6/21)

As I mentioned in the previous post, when the clock struck midnight, the bar soundtrack changed to "Happy Birthday to You", and broke out birthday cake, thus officially launching Jim McBride's birthday (which one?  how old?  A closely guarded secret, I'm afraid)...

We started the evening at KastroBar - a tavern located in an area of Mykonos called little Venice - it's a section of town built atop a short, steep cliff, right above the water. The high surf was splashing a bit into the open windows and into the bar.  Here's a pic of Jim and John starting the evening off with a smile:

Much later, we landed at a bar called Lola, a great old gay bar in the heart of Mykonos (this was where they played Happy Birthday).  Here are Jim and John enjoying themselves in this grand old tavern.

Finally, off to one last bar, appropriately enough named Jackie O (with a huge portrait of Jackie Onassis hanging on the back wall).  This is where Jim finally got his life long wish - a chance to meet, live and in person, her bab-ness, Barbra Streisand.

Mykonos - more pics

It took the better part of a day, but we're finally settled into the Harmony Hotel in Mykonos. The ride over the Aegean was pretty choppy, with some big swells that tossed the boat around like a toy. Fortunately, none of us suffered from sea sickness (but there were plenty on board who were various shades of grey-to-green).

Mykonos is famous for having lots of those beautiful Greek windmills... and we now know why:  it's crazy windy here (think Mission Bay in SF). Rough seas, big waves, but stunning blue waters, which makes the whitecaps even whiter (George and his sisters called whitecaps "little sheep" when they were growing up on Chios).

Mykonos is a popular port of call for the cruise ship industry; this Royal Caribbean ship came in and dumped a few thousand tourists into town - followed quickly by a couple more ships (one was one of those megaships). Today, (Thus) it's too windy for the cruise ships. The winds were expected to die down by now, but in fact have intensified. We're lucky to be here.

Mykonos town is a labrythine maze of twisty, turny streets that are far too narrow for cars. Deliveries are made by scooter or micro-vehicles. Many streets are too narrow even for those; they are only wide enough for a couple people to walk side by side.

Note the date palm in the background leaning in the winds, which are FIERCE - but in town, just light breezes as the wind can't seem to penetrate the maze of streets.

Above town are several Greek windmills that appear to be functional, although none of them have their sails deployed. Locals say they were used to mill grain. There is very little water on this island; the water provided by the local utility company is from desalinated sea water

A popular item on the menu of most restaurants is octopus. This unlucky guy is quite literally being hung out to dry before being prepared for somebody's supper. 

Today is Jim McBride's birthday! At midnight last night, in the Porta bar, they interrupted the music to play Happy Birthday and break out a cake.  Very karmic!

The streets of Mykonos come alive around midnight with gypsy children, from about 5 to 12 years old. They are trying to either sell you one of those glow-in-the dark plastic bracelets - and if that doesn't work, they'll thrown their arms around your neck to give you a big hug  - and then steal your wallet. I watched a British couple get seduced by these kids' charms - but lucky for the brits, the kids weren't able to pick their pockets. 

Life in a cave

One of our rooms in Santorini featured a cave that functioned as a bathroom... a true manifestation of the term "Man Cave"...

More pics from Santorini

Santorini is amazingly beautiful and demanded lots of time spent behind the camera... here are some more pics of this gorgeous island.

Just a few steps outside our hotel lobby

Mostly no cars on these cliffs - there are a few roads, but not many actually inside the towns.

This is one of the ways to get up to the town from the sea- via donkey. Talk about "beast of burden"... I'm amazed PETA hasn't shut this down.

That's a swizzle stick in front of a setting sun... fun ways to entertain oneself!

Early Tuesday morning, waiting for our ride to the port to begin our wild crazy ride to Mykonos

See that white stuff on the top of the mountain?  That's one of the towns of Santorini - somewhere in that mass of white buildings is our hotel. This pic was taken from the port, 950 feet lower than the town.

Lemons to lemonade - Welcome to Santorini

When we got to the port of Heraklion yesterday, we learned our ferry service to Mykonos had been truncated, and they would only be taking us as far as Santorini.  About 30 minutes after I wrote about how calm the seas were (4 or 5 days ago), a strong northerly wind kicked up over the Aegean, and we got to enjoy some serious big surf.  Those same winds created havoc with the ferry operators, and without a whole lot of notice, they started canceling service left and right.

So, this isn't such bad news, as it turns out.  We originally wanted to come to Santorini, but the ferry schedules were funky and it wasn't all that easy to do, so we bagged it.  I believe that all the gods conspired to even the score for all the accumulated credits we've accrued over the years for canceled flights and messed up travel, and they paid us back with a night in Santorini.  Here are some pics of our afternoon and evening in Santorini.

Various views of Santorini from in and around our hotel

Our hotel

Santorini at night - utterly enchanting. The city is built on top of the remnants of a volcano rim that blew apart thousands of years ago - the eruption was huge, and is believed to have caused the collapse of the Minoan civilization.

Some tired guys

Such a life, this eating, drinking and sightseeing... we went back into Chania last night and had some more authentic Greek cuisine, this time in restaurant that was (many years ago) a Turkish bath.  You can see where our table is placed - its' right in the middle of what used to be the communal tub.  

A rare group picture

Like in the video below, we've done this ALOT over the last several days. The Greek wines are without fail delicious, well balanced, as good as any back home... and CHEAP!!!  5 or 6 Euros for a delicious bottle of local wine?  You can't beat it.

Falassarna Beach, or How we spent our summer vacation

They certainly do beaches right here - they have umbrellas and palapas and other shade structures (critically important for some of us, especially as the solstice approaches - even with the most careful application of sunblock, this sun burns right through). They serve excellent food and beverage (my favorite?  Slushies made with vodka!) and play more-or-less pleasant music, although we have yet to hear anybody playing authentic greek tunes - it's mostly Euro-house music.

Our home for the day - the sea is incredibly blue (and pretty damn cold!). Most of the sea surrounding Crete is very calm and features nearly glass-like surfaces, but we had some nice 4' surf here. It makes sense there would be some wave action here - next stop heading west is Tunisia.

Here's a map of the west end of Crete, with a red star showing where the beach is (click on the map to make it bigger).  We are staying in Chania, near the middle of the map.  Took about an hour's drive through some really beautiful countryside. Olive groves for days - and the little towns were charming beyond description.

Jeff didn't burn!  SPF 50, full shade and careful timing regarding how much time in the water saved him.

And then the day took a completely different turn, as we were totally charmed by Missa - the Beach Bar's new puppy.  10 weeks old, a complete sweetie pie (as George described her), full of energy and friendly as could be. The girl LOVES her greek food - and got plenty of it from her new American friends. It was difficult to say goodbye to this little love - but she bounded off to joyfully seek out her new best friends as we departed.