A GREEK ODYESSY October, 1995

There are some places that people always dream about going all their lives and never quite believe they will ever get there. One of these places, for me, had always been Greece. In the fall of '95, we had the opportunity to travel to this mythical place.

As usual, budget was tight and prices are always a consideration. By flying off season, we were able to obtain a pretty decent airfare on TWA. Which, by the way, does have more room between seats and on a 9 - 10 hour flight you need all the room you can get! As for the trip itself, I had read of a small sailing company that did cruise packages. The deal was 2 days in Athens at a modest hotel at the foot of the Acropolis and 7 days sailing the greek isles. The ship was a small wooden vessel holding only about 20-25 passengers. This was just about our size. Big cruise lines do not interest us in the least. Too much eating, and not enough adventure. Well, we certainly got oell, we certainly got our share of adventure with this little ship! To end up the trip, we booked some time in a small village in Crete to shake our sea legs and basically veg out before going home. This was the itinerary. One rule of travel, stay loose and flexible. But read on . . .

Our visit in Athens was terrific. I suppose either you hate it or love it. The only way to experience the city is on foot. If you are in one of those tour buses--you can forget it! You spend most, if not all of your time in traffic. This is one of the busiest, non-stop cities in the world. It is a marvel to see the ancient ruins in and around modern day structures. I must admit that bein g on top of the Acropolis was very close to a religious experience. It was totally awesome. So for two days we did the usual tourist things, and walked from one end of the city to the other. We had great fun. One tip though -- we do not recommend din ing at Socorate's Prison, down the hill from the Acropolis. I need not go into detail, suffice it to say, it was the only rotten experience we had in Athens. When we returned home, some other friends had said the same thing. Too bad they didn't say it sooner. This is why I am telling you now!

The day came when we were to meet our fellow sea voyagers and set sail. We were a group of approf approximately 23 people. However, the majority of folks were traveling together as some sort of mythology tour. They had been doing the bus thing for the past week and now they were doing the sea thing! To our advantage, they had with them a lecturer on mythology, there would be great stories in our future. I must not leave out Dimitri, our tour guide, who stuck with us through thick and thin. The ship was just the right size, fortunately we were lucky enough to get the double bed cabin, which turned out to be bigger than our room in the hotel in Athens. We had plenty of room and it was very comfortable. There were 2 meals provided each day (breakfast and lunch). We would have dinner at whatever port we were in that night. One very nice feature about a small ship is that they dock right in the harbor. No dinghy to take back and forth. So, while we were in port, you could come and go as you pleased.

Needless to say, weather plays a major part in sailining. And although it was beautiful and calm when we left Pireaus, things were going to change! Our first island was Poros, just off from the mainland. Here we rented bicycles and did some exploring. We also ran into a biking tour group! We sailed in the morning to Serifos, disembarked and boarded some local bus to head UPTOWN! All of these little islands have their major towns as high up as possible. Defense strategy! The sights were magnificent. It was at this island, that we realized we had a "sister ship" following us. We quickly made friends with some of these quys and would meet up on with them as we went island hopping.

From here, we moved on to Ios where we would spend the night. We had our choice of taking the bus uptown or walking. It was such a beautiful night, we chose to hoof it. Ios is sort of a leftover 60's hippie island. During the Vietnam era, a lot of draft evaders fled here and stayed. Things have not changed much. You can still find some "head shops". We hiked up to one chapel after another and there were still more. Eventually, we called it quits and returned to town. From Ios we journeyed on to Santorini. We listened to Phil, the mythology lecturer, on top deck as we headed into port. If you have ever been to this island, I do not have to tell you that it is like no other. Santorini once upon a time was a huge island, until one day a volcano erupted right in the middle. The aftermath left this wide culdera with a rim of land around it, so the city is essentially built along the cliffside. After making our way up the cliff on donkeys, we took a bus tour and visited Ioa, the Akrotiri ruins, and of then winery. Drink up but don't look down! Again, the sights were breathtaking. Santorini, is one of the more populated islands and in season it can be very chic. Be prepared to leave a bit more of your drachma here!

It is at this point, where our calm voyage ends and the seas started to roughen up a bit! Since Santorini has no dockage available, we couldn't spend the night. We set sail for Paros, and oh what a ride we had. Sailing in the Mediterranean is not what I expected. I was used to the Caribbean, where the islands are pretty close to each other. In this sea there is lots of big water. So we rocked and rolled for quite some time. Those of us who weren't seasick, passed the time telling jokes and laughing actually having a pretty good time. We might have been having fun, but some folks were turning green. By the time we docked, everyone was glad to get off the ship for a while.

The next day we toured Paros and had a wonderful time in the small fishing village of Naoussa. Here we talked with a fisherman who explained to us the fine art of the octopus catch. When we returned to the ship, we learned that the seas were getting too rough and this was the end of the line for this cruise! There was a bit of a mutiny aboard. These mythology folk were determined to get to Mykonos so one by one they started to abandon ship. We thought Dimitri was going to lose it altogher. That night we were down to a party of about six. It was a bit depressing. Our sister ship was docked along side, and I hoped aboard and started telling our sad tale. These people were having a fine time, and nobody looked too upset about the change of plans. They were having their Captain's barbeque. Their Captain was a real hoot and a great dancer! He invited us aboard for food and drink and lots of dancin g! Gdancin g! Greek dancing is like line dancing where everyone joins in. We also did some old fashioned rock and roll, and a little Lambada for the folks from Brazil. I was in heaven! After the ship party, we all moved down the street to the local disco and woke up the joint! We had a great night.

In the morning, the company paid for the ferry ride to Naxos and we piled in the bus for another island tour. We had a wonderful day. However, Geoff and I thought it was time to be moving on, since these guys were going to hang around Paros and then take the ferry back to Athens. Yuk! So we grabbed a plane ticket to Crete and said our farewell to our little ship and crew. It may not have been like the brochure, but how much of real life is! We had fun and that was all that counted. Now we were looking forward to having this extra time to explore Crete especially after hearing all those mythology stories.

Once there, we rented a small, cheap car and drove around the island for about 5 days. We did all the tourist stuff like Knossos, which was awesome. We also did some not so tourist stuff. Each night we stayed at a different place, either at the beach or up in the mountains. Towards the end of our trip, we found a great villa for about $30/night on a beautiful deserted beach pretty close to the airport outside of Chania. So we decided ided to make camp there. Geoff even caught a fish on his trusty pack flyrod (never leave home without it!). He has officially declared the Mediterranean open for flyfishing! In his best guestimation, the fish was some sort of jack. We walked around Chania a beautiful and busy harbor town and did our last minute shopping for gifts. On our last night in Greece we had dinner with the family of one of our local restaurant owners here in the states. They were just outside Chania, so we got in touch. They greeted us as if we were their own family. We had a great home cooked meal and they gave us a bottle of homemade Raki (jet fuel if you ask me!) to take home.

After being an island bum for so long, going to Greece was a wonderful experience. Being there off season, gives you a chance to get to know some of what the people are like a little better. Things aren't as crowded, and the costs are down. We did not spend a lot of money here. The meals we did eat out were modest and traditional Greek fare. Lots of calamari, lamb, Geoff even tried the goat once, and we loved the Greek coffee. Keep in mind, if you do go off season, some of the more touristy places may be closed. The folks that finally did make it to Mykonos, were pretty disappointed since so much was closed. The weather was warm during the day and cool at night. In the mountains, of course, it could get downright chilly. No big whop! We were too busy taking in the sights to worry about weather. This is a trip of a lifetime, so if anyone hands you a ticket--drop everything and GO!