Eleni & John in Greece
Updated 7/2/07First, you must View The Relatives!
Thea Zitsa ponders the meaning of life
Two Aunts, one Yia-yia in Thea Katina's parlor
Eleni, Thea Kiki, and Cousin Vasi
Typical Greek reaction to food - smiles and loud conversation
Xenophon expounds rather than eating. One wonders he does not starve!
Pavlina, George, and John formed the Red Croc Club
John, John, Eleni, Chrysoula, Daphne in the garden
Tasso, Eleni, Tasso, Maria, and Danii(sp?) decide between lemon and cherries
Tasso matriculates!
Now - Sightseeing!
OUR perfect picture of the Parthenon, except for all the scaffolding
Pick out the Caryatid whose nose has not weathered away.
The Acropolis (high city) from below. Pretty impressive walls!
Greek beauty. Less scaffolding.
In Pythagorio, on Samos, there is a newer church next to where an old one was
The stonemasons' village below the Acropolis
Our Experiences!
A Greek "Brush Truck." The way the news sounded, the whole country caught fire after we left.
Posing as tourists, waiting for dinner along the waterfront (tourist trap restaurants) in Piraeus.
Okay, this was interesting. Lonely planet suggested this place.
You go to a street corner, look for 2 cellar doors. Go down either to a real cellar. Eleni had not read the book, and took several minutes to decide it was okay to go down the steps after John.
I guess with all these wine barrels, it could be considered a wine
cellar. There is no menu. A half liter of wine is part of the cover
(mandatory charge just for sitting down that can include table cloth,
bread, water). The owner/cook/waiter tells you what he felt like
cooking that day (which the guide says does not vary much) and you tell
him what you want. The food and wine were simple, but very good. This
was our only Psari Plaki. Then, he pretends to calculate your bill, but
actually just decides how much to charge you, and brings some honeydew.
I think we got charged extra due to Eleni's tourist-like behavior of
taking pictures of the place before saying hello.
In a strange homage to Tom Hanks, John wonders about the deserted beach on Samos where we found dozens of chairs, umbrellas, a little church, some tents, and a bar. Just no other people! Notice the belly at the zenith of our over-eating.
Did you not believe the previous caption?
Another deserted beach, but this one only had empty tents and signs of a recent urchin feast.
Here are those two deserted beaches, as seen from a "mountain."
Okay, this might be another relative, but Eleni got to hold Anastasio.
An all-in-one picture: Eating, Eleni with a happy-face, Monasteraki, and additional scenery.
On one of our many hikes on Samos, Eleni confronts a watch-goat. We were allowed to pass. Note plenty of rope, shade, and water.
Elsewhere, in a bid to get humane society attention, this donkey stands chained in a shadeless field. There were also 2 goats with ropes around their legs, no extra rope to move at all, and no water.
With the Euro high and wages low, the Moosemelon has become a staple of the Greek diet.
Another hike on Samos. Miles and miles of vineyards like this. So we naturally figured we were in wine country. However, when we sampled the local wines, they all turned out to be "table" wines. We wanted to drink Amstel anyway.
This butterfly decided to sub-let one of our beach chairs, but he did not have any Euros. We tried budging, shaking, and other non-destructive means to get him to move, but he stuck to the chair for a half hour. Finally, we went back to the car to get the camera (not on beach due to sand) for a picture. Imagine our surprise when we got back with the camera and he was still there! John took 3 close-ups like this. Then we turned the camera off, put on the lens cap, and the butterfly was GONE. He must have really wanted his picture taken.
The mandatory picture showing the view from our hotel room on Samos. The beach is just off to the right.
There are plenty more pictures to view, and tales to tell, if you come to visit.