Thanksgiving is an American holiday and the Americans are thin on the ground in Paros. So Karin and I created our own celebration.
Enjoy Karin's specialty, a photo-journalism account of our hike, HERE
The prices are Euro per litre.
Since the balance of our recent trip to Turkey was pretty much a typical tourist experience I have decided not to write about it in detail.
Search any travel guide site for good information. The site we found particularly helpful with advance planning was Tom Brosnahan's Turkey Travel Planner
We enjoyed Turkey very much. We had been just a little concerned about traveling in a Moslem country but now know better. Everyone we talked to was helpful and friendly; we saw a great many smiles. The only experience we had that touched on the political or the government was when I clicked on a link to YouTube. Up popped a page that said this site was blocked by some government agency whose name I don't remember--that applied to all of YouTube.
Each of the fish vendors try to out do their neighbor in artistic display.The spice market is called the Egyptian Market for historical reasons.
We are always on the lookout for books and movies about expat life in Greece. Our Dutch friends recommended Who Pays the Ferryman? . This was a popular TV series on the BBC in 1977 and was also translated into Dutch. I included the graphic below but the DVD is currently out-of-stock. You can find a review of the novel HERE
OK, so we are on the ground at a remote train station on the Greece border. Now what? Next train is 4:00 AM tomorrow and it is now 5:00 in the afternoon. How will we spend the time? Looking around at where we were was a bit of a shocker! An ancient old wooden building, painted in the atrocious boring colour of gun metal grey, seemed to be our home for the next 11 hours! But the Station Master said he had to leave and would be closing! (See photos in previous post)
It turned out he closed his office, but left the waiting room open. Not that it was much of a room. One long wooden bench, and a few hard chairs, a motor scooter and a HUGE weighing machine! Michael and Martin, the German backpacker (we finally realized we must introduce ourselves if we were to be "best friends" for the next 11 hours), decided to leave me at the station, while they walked up a road that went up into the hills. Behind the station was the remnants of an old abandoned village. Interesting, but eerie. Broken windows, empty rooms, very interesting wood houses. I suddenly felt frightened and alone, and nervous. My gosh, I was directly on the border between two countries that are not the best of friends, having a pretty violent history not so long ago. Hmmmm..... I started pacing. And looking around.....
Next to the station I discovered a smallish building that was a little snack bar and had some booze inside and a man nearly asleep--decided to ignore him. While I know I am not young anymore, my mind starting working, and I was nervous that since he was old, he might not mind that I was old, and "come on to me". Ha, ha. Still.....it was only us. My protectors (Michael and Martin) were gone. And they seemed gone so long....I tried calling them on my mobile after 40 minutes. All I could hear were dogs barking....were they attacking my protectors? Would night come and they would not be back? It was starting to get dark.....Oh, what to do....Woe is me! Etc.
Suddenly, I saw them. I was mad and happy. Decided to be happy and let mad go. They had found that the road went to a village about 20 minutes up the road. While they did not actually go into the village, they saw it. So the decision was made to walk there and spend some time, finding food and warm shelter. Michael went into the snack bar and the man told him he was leaving! Leaving? Maybe going to the village? Yes? Great! So we asked for a lift up. The man really frowned when he realized he had to put 3 people PLUS luggage into his car.....but he remained friendly. (Editor: Karin charmed him.)
Once up at the village, he told us to wait in front of a restaurant. It was closed, but we understood him to say it would open soon! And it did. Two young women came, welcomed us in, and from there it only got better and better! We ordered a nice dinner. Then free drinks started arriving, free snacks, a dessert were all offered! The owner came in with his cronies and some young men were watching a football match. The atmosphere became like a huge party of laughing, drinking, and talking back and forth. We were included and made to feel like honoured guests! About midnight, we decided that we must leave, or we would be too drunk to make it down the hill! It was dark outside with few lights to find our way back down the road to the station.
Once in the station, Martin promptly laid out on the bench and Michael and I sat and nodded off, waking up, dozing while sitting up. We walked around, we felt chilled, we wondered how it could seem so long and only 15 minutes had passed. We felt like we were in the twilight zone. Then a man arrived and opened the office--without even a glance at us, he proceeded to start his paperwork. Imagine, coming to work at 3:00 in the morning! We envied him his coffee.... We did buy our required sleeping car tickets from him.
Then a train pulled in....a beautiful Turkish train. A man got out with a briefcase full of passports of the lucky sleepers on the train. While they processed the passports, we sat and watched. As they finished, and were about to leave we heard another train pull in. This was the train to take us on to Turkey but we could not get on it yet. We sat, we waited--for about another hour until the fancy train from Turkey left. A very official looking policeman came along and asked us for our passports, taking them with him. That is a weird feeling, to relinquish your passport and have them leave with it. Next we were told we could get on the train. We collected our things, and had to walk and pull them over 3 tracks with weeds to get to our train. I felt like a refugee leaving a communist country for freedom! It just felt unreal.
The sleeper car was weird. It had that little narrow aisle way that European trains have, but then you entered the sleeping compartment by going up two stairs! Once in the tiny cubicle you climbed ladders to get to the bed which was about 12 inches from the ceiling! Twins, one for Michael and one for me. The luggage was on the floor or on a rack over the door. It felt claustrophobic! I was telling myself that I must close my eyes and PRETEND it is big and spacious! We lay down immediately, only to have to get up and answer a knock at the door to retrieve our passports.
In a few minutes the train started to move!!!!!!!! Oh boy! Finally, at 5:00 AM we are leaving! The train moved VERY S L O W L Y....and crossed the bridge of the river dividing Turkey and Greece. Soldiers outside with guns, barbed wire, bright lights! And then....the train started to go faster but soon stopped again.
Another knock on the door with another official asking for passports. He looked at them and said, "Come with me." Oh, oh, what's the problem! Then we remembered that a Visa was required at a cost of 10 Euro each for Irish, 20 for Americans.The German lad did not have to pay anything. It didn't take long to pay and we were back in bed drifting asleep. We heard knocking on doors and it got louder as it got closer. At the knock on our door, we answered and got our passports back--pretty Visa stamp inside.
Soon the train was moving again and we were racing through the night across Turkey.
So we got there about 6:15 for our 7:15 train but the agent would only sell tickets to Constantinople(Istanbul to everyone outside Greece and Cyprus) on the evening train. We did not want to do that because the purpose of not flying was to see the mainland of Greece. I asked about the connecting train at the border town of Pithion; she replied with a wave of her hand and a shrug of the shoulders and said, "Maybe?" So I relied on my internet info about the connection and bought two First Class tickets to Pithion.
The rest of the story is by Karin.
When we walked out to the platform to get on the train, I was SHOCKED to see a dusty, run down looking dark blue train covered in graffiti! Some of it actually could be called interesting...but still! Michael looked at me looking at this train and said, "I did go ahead and get first class tickets". Well, good.
Our car was one of those European types with an aisle running down one side, and glassed in rooms with 6 seats inside and a door. We spread out our stuff so people getting on might think our compartment was full...and it worked!
When the train pulled out, we expected to go East...but went West. Oh my gosh, were we on the WRONG train? Nothing to do but wait and see what towns we went through and find them on the map. I thought I had a pretty good idea the towns the train would go through....Kavala, where St. Paul landed from the Holy Land, and Apallonia, a place he also stopped. I thought it would be nice to just realize that he had been in this area so long ago.
After heading West, the train swung North and as towns sped by, I realized we were going to go East eventually, but first we had to go far North, up to and along the FYROM(We both received "Welcome to Macedonia" messages on our cell phones.) and Bulgarian borders (except for a huge mountain range between us we could have looked at our neighbors!)
The train was quite comfortable, so we relaxed, and while Michael read some, my nose was glued to the window as I ticked off towns on my map! We rolled along through fields of sugar beets, some towns with industry. The towns were quaint, and very Eastern Europe looking! Very rural.....not a lot of real modern equipment...but more large wooden carts, some even with horses. Some of the tractors looked ready for retirement! Many village houses had large quantities of wood stacked for the winter. It had that "old country peasant" look. The day was beautiful, the sun shone down in rays as the clouds lifted from very rugged mountains.
The train was only about 5 cars long, only one was First Class. My goodness, coach class was pretty sad. A gypsy family was in one car. A heavy set man needing a shave was snoring with his head bobbing out into the aisle! A lady with a mop was cleaning.....and keeping her eyes on the gypsy kids. She wanted to keep them in their car and not go elsewhere, which I was glad of. The snack car...how to describe it? I have seen pictures of Russian women going to the store and the shelves were empty! That is what I saw....a lot of shelves with about 5 items on them. A long stand up counter along one side with dirty cups and plates. A "not very sharp looking" man behind the counter to take your order! Oh boy! Glad we had some food with us. Not much, but more than what was on offer here! I ordered coffee and it was terrible, so threw it down the toilet. Toilets...pretty stinky. Say no more.
We passed through the town of Drama...which has a nice name, I think! Lots of open fields, saw a sheepherder and his dog, fruit trees, olive trees. I suddenly thought..."California"! We saw some lovely lakes, some lovely valleys, really a great journey.
We arrived at Alexandropolus about 2:30 PM about an hour late. Plus we had about a 1 hour wait for the connecting train to take us to Pithio (the border). While standing on the platform, waiting, a young German backpacker on his way to Australia by way of Istanbul joined Michael and I for a chat.
The next train was a REAL shocker! A very short train and so ugly with horrible graffiti this time. No first class....everything about our trip seemed to change. On the other train, the countryside was wonderful, the seats comfortable, the windows clean. Now the villages seemed to all have military patrols. Men with rifles watching the train pass. On the map it appeared we were on the border of Turkey and heading North again. We were following a river with patches of forest, (a bit like Sauvie's Island along the Columbia River in Oregon) and directly on the other side was Turkey. It felt unfriendly, and I thought...."Russia".
Five minutes before our station another passenger, who we guessed worked for the railroad, urged us to have our bags by the door and ready to get off quickly. So when the train stopped and the conductor opened the door we were there ready...a couple of men (station masters?) from the Pithio Station come up...not to help us off, but to start shouting that we should not get off the train! Because of excitement, because of language differences, and confusion, we did not understand why we could not get off! "No get off, No train! Stay on train"! No matter how many times we told them we had to get off, that this was our destination, we kept being told that there WAS NO TRAIN, and to stay on! If we had stayed on, we would be in Bulgaria! The conductor was only interested in getting us off! His duty was to get us onto the platform so the train could continue. Well now, this was becoming bewildering. The conductor won. We got off and he jumped back on the train, and the train started moving immediately. Meanwhile, the Pithio Station Masters did not know what to do with us. What we found out they were trying to tell us is this: The train we were to connect to...had left 2 hours previously, there was no train until 4:00 AM the next morning! Just what they expected us to do if we continued to Bulgaria is anyone's guess. At least they would be rid of us!
What do we do for the next ten plus hours? That is the best part of the story. Tune in for the next post!
There was a used book sale to benefit PAWS, the animal welfare group. I bought one quality book and four cheap ones plus managed to take this photo from the hillside above Parikia. Well worth the trip.
Another quality event was part of the continuing Art Appreciation series hosted by IPAC. I have written about these excellent presentations before. They usually last about an hour; for this one two hours went by very quickly. The presenter, Orfeas John Munsey, Music Director of the Aegean Center for the Fine Arts, combined his musical experience and insights with a selection of beautiful music recordings. He brought the subject, Monteverdi -- The Revolutionary alive in such away that the audience was not only entertained but educated in a such way that we will always retain an enhanced appreciation of vocal music. Orfeas is on the right; on the left is Peter Seibt, President of International Paros Art Circle
Yesterday we took a Sunday scooter ride into the nearby hills just to enjoy the sunny day. It culminated at the hilltop Monastery of Ag. Theodhori. It is one of the more populated and therefore well maintained and active establishments.
On the way we noticed this odd building. Is it a large dovecote or a small house? I am guessing it a guest house for a nearby villa.
On another subject: we have heard many times that the Paros tourism industry is relatively young. This is well driven home by a collection of photos from 1978. You can really see old Greece just 30 years ago. Take a look at http://www.sanchristos.com/Europe_78_Paros_Cyclades_Greece/
Our carefully layed plan was to take the train from Athens to Thessaloniki in order to see more of mainland Greece. We knew there was a general strike scheduled for that day but one never knows ahead of time what will be affected. So it was not a surprise but a disappointment to see the hand written note on the ticket window--"No trains today or tomorrow." We asked about buses and were directed to the main station 4 km away with the warning they probably would not be running either.
Our hotel clerk directed us to a travel agent next door who directed us to a bus stop around the corner. It took awhile to find it as there were no buses and no station; it was a small storefront with one cluttered desk and two chairs. The man inside had enough English to say Yes, there would be a bus tomorrow for Selonica (the old name) at 9 A.M. Just show up and pay the driver. We were not confident but had no other acceptable alternative.
The rest of the story is told in Karin's evocative style:
When we left our hotel we told the girl not to clean our room until after 10:00 AM just in case this "bus" trip did not happen! She seemed surprised to know there was a bus just around the corner...not too promising. Well, we did get tickets, and because we were early, thought we would get right on the bus that was waiting in order to get good seats! Wrong! Only about 5 or 6 seats left in the entire bus! (We found out later the route started at Piraeus.) So we plunked ourselves down and waited, and waited (seemed a long time because the driver had the radio on and it was rap! Oh, My God, I thought.....he had better turn it off when he starts because my head is going crazy and we have about an 8 hour trip ahead of us!
Two young (cute) men were sitting in front of us and told us they were from Hungary (Transylvania); they had been working in Santorini and were now going home for the winter. They ended up being very helpful as one spoke 4-5 languages; the other 3.
OK, so off we go....music is different, not too bad. Wove ourselves out of Athens and took part of the same highway we were on when we went to Delphi last spring but we kept on the same National Highway going towards Thessaloniki. What did we see? Lots of cotton fields! Pistachio orchards. Lots of pretty villages which are completely different from Paros. These had red tiled roofs, small gardens, large villas. Everything from tiny to big.
Turns out this bus is headed for Romania. It is a Romanian bus, Romanian driver(s), Romanian crowd except for us, the Hungarians and 4 Koreans. When the music was to their liking, they laughed and sang, and clapped! We were a very happy bus! Amazing! Fun! Loved it!
This bus stopped at many stops. I had been worried because I hoped to go to the loo a few more times than probably the driver might like. But no worries! He stopped every 1/2 hour (or so it seemed!) Lots of coffee breaks, and a nice long lunch break. 
When we did stop for lunch, the bus made a few funny turns and ended up behind a typical truck/petrol stop/restaurant. But he could not get in as the gate was locked, so someone had to go find someone to let the bus in! The man who came had a trailer full of grapes, so he unloaded his stuff before even opening the gate for us! Only in Greece; no fuss, the attitude is that he has a job to do and you (the bus) can wait, I guess.
One other break was at a German outlet store called Lidl. I saw them in Ireland, now they are everywhere. The bus stopped at the store, the two drivers went inside and bought a load of sodas! They put them into a built-in ice chest for future use? Don't know. Weird.
But the weirdest of all was stopping for 4 men at the side of the road in the middle of nowhere! These men had about 6 to 8 HUGE bags (with zippers) that were very heavy. They got on the bus, but WHERE to put their stuff! The large luggage racks in the lower level were already jammed full. Well, I did not know there was a toilet on the bus, they unlocked it and stuffed it full. We were across from the back steps to go out, they also filled the entire stairwell! So much for security!! Michael and I decided this bus was no ordinary bus...and maybe these men were moving contraband! Ha,ha.
Some of the mountains we crossed had crags like Oregon/California where there are some real rocky mountains. At times they seemed like Swiss Alps with chalets and mountain streams, sometimes forests as well. The scenery and atmosphere drastically changes once you get into Macedonia. The houses look almost like Russian dachas, the countryside has deep canyons, heavy clouds above mountain tops. In one mountain village there was a marvellous castle/fort on top of the hill. We started seeing planted rows of trees that looked like birch saplings. (sort of what you see in pictures of the French forests). We passed through a huge delta and lush agriculture areas.Michael was disappointed when we passed beneath the famous Mt. Olympus because it was totally obscured in heavy clouds.
As we entered Thessaloniki, Michael looked at his map and decided that we should ask the driver to let us off as close to the train station as possible. (Since we were SUPPOSE to be on a train, we had planned a hotel near it - and also because we were to leave from it the next morning.) Well, we got one of the young men in front to ask the driver and so off we got....!!!! A bit daunting to be standing at the side of a street in a huge city (2nd biggest city after Athens) without much idea where to go next! I managed to ask in Greek a lady in the shop how to find the correct street and understand her directions! YES!
By the way, those young men shared goodies they bought along the way, we shared our cookies, and I had a nice chat with one of the Korean girls (her English was not very good, but we managed). It gave us both a warm feeling when they all waved goodbye as the bus drove away.
To those of you living in or near a large city and thinking about going to Greece this post will be off topic. For those of us living in relatively remote locations a visit to the mall is interesting and exciting.
Our recent journey to Turkey started with the standard, ho-hum, ferry trip from Paros to Piraeus. After we settled into our hotel near the train station and couldn't buy train tickets because of a strike we took a trip on the Metro out to The Mall.
First it was very convenient from Metro Station to Metro Station. Second it was foreign to have street vendors lining the short walk into the mall. Then it was impressive. There are at least four levels of shops; high fashion and popular clothing on the middle two, computers, music, appliances and the like in the basement. Cinemas and food court in the middle as well. We didn't make it to the upper levels but it looked like they had a bowling ally. The food court included Ruby Tuesday and Starbucks from the USA; we had chinese food as a treat.
As we were on our way to the lower cost economy of Turkey we didn't buy anything but should we ever be in the market for upscale fashion--haha--we now have another place to go besides Ermou Street in central Athens.
There is a Village Cinemas in our Washington County, Oregon home town. I wonder how many in the whole world?
However, I did gather a lot of content for future posts. I will start with the last Greek island we visited on our way home, Patmos. We arrived after dark and left at sunrise, so here is the only decent photo we have.
