katoktm5

[katoktm5]

Until next year!

Every summer I write this silly blog of my adventures while traveling. I always say that when you each travel with me, I never feel alone. So, as I am flying back today, I have time to think about all the people in my life who have spent these years or this year by my side. Thank you...to those who I know are out there and to those who read this off and on and in a month or two might mention something I did or some photo they saw. And so, here’s to all of you! My mom, who, while I was growing up, was my first model in being a risk taker. She camped in the Upper Peninsula, she bought a sailboat and learned to sail, she canoed the boundary waters, she bird watched and learned guitar and gave me the freedom to try things on my own. My dad, who never treated me like a “girl” He was my coach. He taught me to play fair and by the rules. He taught me how to oil my softball glove and rubber band it to make it more pliable, “get your glove on the ground!” He taught me grit. My brother and best friend. We have traveled often together and managed to always do our own thing so as not to drive each other crazy. Mexico, Tahoe, Colorado, México, México, and more. When I was hit by the motorcycle in Nicaragua, he was in Ireland and stayed up with me hours into the middle of my night messaging me to make sure I didn’t have a concussion, AND he didn’t tell my parents! Joy, who passed away many years ago, but I still have conversations with her as I hike alone. JJ who passed away this year, but was my biggest blog fan. Sheila who follows me and messages me every day, and worries when I don’t post on time! Brady, friend and family, who just had hip replacement, The best principal I ever worked for, who let my brother and a crew of us be creative and goofy, the best boss I ever worked for, I was there when his children were born, now they are married with babies of their own. A friend I met while hiking the Camino, who has met me in all parts of the world to travel drink wine, and explore... we wrote her online dating profile together in Ecuador, and a year later she is in love with a good man from Seattle! a friend I met in teaching in Arizona who has the same sense of adventure-soul as I do and who found herself while working in the Peace Corps. My dog sitter, friend and dreamer, Andrew, who is also my travel companion and odd confidant. Friends I work out with, friends I met on the Camino, friends I teach with, friends I taught with, friends I do yoga with, family in Illinois, friends of my parents who I don’t even know, my true friend since freshman year, and my true friend since 6th grade. It always amazes me that I am circled with this core of love and energy as I wander the world. I really couldn’t experience all of it without all of you. I am humbled.

[katoktm5]

[katoktm5]

Best new travel product purchase! See photo! Don’t leave home without Burt’s Bees cucumber face wipes. Refreshing and easy to use any time!

Person I met who I wish could stay in my life: Dave from Barcelona/U.K. The moment we met, we didn’t stop talking until we parted, so much to say so little time

Looking forward to: flushing toilet paper and drinking tap water

Luckiest find: Spiro my taxi driver and guardian in Athens

Best food I ate: calamari stuffed with cheese, every Greek salad, stuffed eggplant, fried minnows “little fish”

Never thought I would love: all Greek honey ( thyme, chestnut, wildflower, fir, lavender , walnut........) and homemade yogurt

Best surprise outside of Athens: no crime at all. One night a lady left her wallet on a table out in the street and went inside the shop to chat with friends. No one even blinked an eye.

Best beach: tiny private one on Paros

Best hike: Firá to Oui in Santorini

Best hotel: Akrotiri in Paros

Best conversation: royal family with Alison

Books read: 4 (Stranger in the House, Need to Know, Before the Fall, Nine Perfect Strangers)

Ferries are easy to navigate and cheap (I bought in advance on ferryhopper.com)

Busses are easy and cheaper

Wine and coffee really really cheap

Food expensive

Tours expensive

Dips don’t come with anything to dip with

When at a restaurant, you have to order everything you want right away. You only get one chance.

I booked everything with Airbnb and booking.com. Read reviews and choose for location above all else! I did not have any bad experiences.

You could travel to Greece every year and never visit all the beautiful islands

You should travel to Greece

Slow down and relax was my most difficult lesson to learn

[katoktm5]

Turkish Baths!

5 1/2 hour ferry ride on smallest ferry yet! Ugh, my stomach was turning and we were swaying like bad turbulence....but enough of my ferry tales for one trip!

Arrived back in Athens and Spiro was there waiting with his taxi at the Ferry port for me. He took me to my hotel/apartment/where he was very concerned about the neighborhood. “Immigrants around this area” So he drove me around the block and gave me landmarks and showed me what streets were safe and what streets not to walk after Dark and then he walked me up to the door to make sure I got in safely. What a good man.

Then after unpacking and re-organizing myself back to walking towards the Acropolis. And lo and behold up an alley, I see a sign for Turkish Baths! What is a Turkish bath? I just had to find out. Well of course after pondering the menu for quite a while I decided to try my luck. They said they would give me one time underwear since I didn’t have a swimsuit. No problem. So first I go into the Hamman. This is basically a huge marble domed steam room. Look at the picture I took of the brochure. Lots of faucets and buckets and bowls that you can fill and toss cold water on you. I paid for 30 minutes in the Hamman and a 15 minute olive oil bubble bath back and foot massage. Cheapest option other than self-exfoliating in the Hamman. Yes you read that correctly...olive oil bubble bath (see brochure photo, but imagine no butt towel) Oh but there is more. Because as I’m laying on the big marble pedestal steaming away, I hear a man’s voice too. Well they had given us a towel, see photo, so fortunately I had that over my back while I was laying on the marble slab. No big deal. Coed Hamman. Then the masseuse comes in. By then I had moved to the marble bench and was pouring water on myself while a man was up on the marble pedestal on his belly. But he had on a swimsuit. She asked him to leave the pedestal and told me to lay on my stomach on my towel. I said “should I leave the towelover me?” and she said “no, why, do you have a problem with this?” Well the one time use underwear was like a piece of two squares of toilet paper covering the backside of me. I am not exaggerating. But, what the hell, I laid down she took off the towel and sprayed olive oil bubbles all over my back as the steam is filling the room. Great 15 minute massage and then she was pouring buckets of cold water all over me to rinse me off. Now, I am on a marble pedestal and the only other person in the room is a man sitting on the bench watching all of this happen. Needless to say it was very awkward. Then we found out that they had put both of our lockers in the same tiny bathroom. He went into wipe his face as I was going to change and shower. He kept saying I’m sorry I’m sorry I’ve never done this before and I said I haven’t either no worries. Who knows what he was thinking. But for me the whole steamroom massage bubble bath and shower afterwards was fantastic. Not like the Ecuadorian ice cold garden hose down sweat box challenge of last summer. This was Just what I needed before getting on the plane tomorrow. Then when I finished they said why don’t you go up on the roof for tea? So off and up I went to the perfect view of the Acropolis, Turkish tea, and more peace and quiet.

From there I walked to dinner and ate too much. On a rooftop garden. Tomato and cucumber salad, a free glass of ouzo, my first and apparently only in Greece, a glass of wine, fish roe dip, and lamb in a pot. Walked back to my very cool clean apartment. Very modern and I’m hoping to get some sleep tonight which I did not get last night. Spiro picking me up at 5:30! Off to Houston. I will have one more post of advice,favorites, looking forward tos, and least favorites. But I am really tired right now.

[katoktm5]

Rooftop garden, Acropolis view. Too much food wasted. Fish roe salad (tasteless) tomatoes and cucumber salad...meh, lamb in a pot...decadent

[katoktm5]

Turkish baths in a hidden alleyway. Be sure to look at the photo of olive oil bubble bath massage, above right! Haha. The adventures continue...no towel on my butt. Tea and Acropolis view afterwards

[katoktm5]

Cool, clean, modern, big apartment...but “immigrants around neighborhood “

[katoktm5]

Ferry tale views today. 5 1/2 hours, 4 stops, waves, smallest ferry yet

[katoktm5]

Sunrise goodbye to Santorini. This guy appeared with some friends running and playing on the beach. He came over and just sat with me and watched the sunrise too for a few minutes. Just what my heart needed

[katoktm5]

Disappointed in my grilled octopus. Most expensive dinner and it tasted like a rubber hose. However of course the cucumbers tomatoes and onions were amazing. When I get home I think I’ll be living on brussels sprouts and broccoli. Greece is much more expensive then I thought it would be.

[katoktm5]

Every night when I went to dinner at these two ladies would be sitting on their patio. They would speak to me in Greece and laugh and laugh and I would speak to them English and laugh and laugh. Finally tonight I asked them for their photo. They were thrilled. They wanted to see it. They hugged each other and laughed and pointed and laughed. So now this is my favorite photo.

[katoktm5]

Greek wine tasting...not yet a fan

Dinner last night was so fun. I even forgot to take a picture of my huge pile of minnows. And Greek salad of course. Met a couple from the UK Allison and Greg. We are now Facebook friends. We talked through dinner and for about two hours. Mostly about the royal family. It was so fun to gossip about everything from Diana to Camilla to Meghan to Kate to babies to the queen even Victoria. Some rumors in the UK are that Serena is the godmother and George Clooney is the godfather. Also another rumor is that Sarah Ferguson and Andrew will remarry when Philip dies. She may be the only person from the UK I’ve ever met who actually enjoys the royal family. We also talked about all the world leaders we talked about Brexit we talked about the wall we talked about China, Italy, nuclear weapons, Downton Abbey, the Crown, Chernobyl, killing Eve, The female president of New Zealand who just had a baby, Angela Merkel Hillary Clinton, teaching, retiring,travel, etc. quite a dinner! By 11 o’clock we had paid and they asked me to go out for a drink with the friends they were meeting. But I said now I’ve had my wine for the night and since I travel solo, I need to make sure I’m safe walking back.

Today I met bad tooth Dave from the UK on the water taxi. He’s lived in Barcelona for the past 18 years teaching English to highschoolers. He’s had his girlfriend for eight or nine years ...unsure. But she prefers to stay on the beach and he prefers to hike. He hikes parts of the Camino twice a year. He hiked in over the mountains this morning. And was headed back to start drinking beer. He assured me that if I did the Camino I could go up and over the mountain. And so I did.

Did you know that England is in the World Cup of cricket today? The finals? Did you know that a cricket game can go on for up to eight hours? That sounds hellish.

Last night in Santoríni. Headed out really early back to Athens. A night in Athens, a night in Houston, and headed back home...but the adventures continue for now. I am thinking about ordering minnows again tonight just because they were so good and I did not get a picture of this massive plate of them.

See photos for wine tour explanations. 8 other people on the tour with me. All from Australia, but none of them knew each other. Well the couples knew each other... brrrr. I can’t believe I’m sitting on my patio and I’m actually chilly as the wind is blowing tonight

[katoktm5]

Super windy at top, but as soon as my church was in sight, I knew I could survive

[katoktm5]

Wine tour over...I decided to walk up and over mountain. Ancient Thira ruins at top...but also a way back to hotel. Started at far edge of beach in top left. Up switchback road to top..then down path on other side to my beach and hotel.

[katoktm5]

Final winery is youngest on island, 1946. This is a view from the top. This is also a view of the road down to the port where I catch the ferry tomorrow morning. The winemaker was born in Santorini and grew up in Egypt and then came back. His big technological advancement was to use the power of gravity. His winery is five stories deep into the earth. With the wine being pressed on top, barreled below etc. From the basement they made pipes go all the way down to the port. At this point they could just fill barrels of wine onto the ships and take off out into the ocean. That’s a long way down to have pipes and gravity pulling your wine.

[katoktm5]

The next winery had one of the top 10 worlds best wine museums. It was very strange. We got an audible listening device and there were 24 displays for us to go and stand in front of and listen to the explanation of the history of Santorini wines. Down in an underground cave/tunnel. Then three tastings

[katoktm5]

Top ten products in Santorini