My Eurotrip 2009: Day 4

Road Trip with Simon
Monday, May 4

Despina's father, Simon, had some flexibility in his schedule and took Siena and I for a drive around the Attica region of Greece. One important detail of this trip is that Simon does not speak English. He knows a few key words, and a lot of Polish words, but that didn't help the Romance linguists that Siena and I are.


We left around 9:30am and our first stop was Sounio, where the Temple of Poseidon sits on top of a hill near the sea. It was mostly cloudy, and very windy, but at least it wasn't raining. We had some coffee with Simon at a cafe at the bottom of the hill and then Siena and I made our way up to the top. Somehow we managed to get through without paying the entrance fee. (Oops!)
We drove through the hills and stopped to see some ruins from the road (it was Monday and they were closed!) We passed through Markopoulo and eventually made our way up to Marathon. At Marathon, we stopped at a restaurant on the beach for a snack. Keep in mind that our communication with Simon was very limited. He ordered some food for us, and you can imagine our surprise when 2 plates of octopus and 1 plate of calamari were delivered to our table. We tried to be polite by trying it, but let's just say it wasn't my favorite Greek dish.
Somewhere along the way, he had been trying to tell us about Ouzo, which is a drink like Raki that we tried on our first night in Greece. It is a very strong liquor that smells a bit like black licorice. Simon kept telling us that it was to 'clear our senses', you know, so we could taste the octopus. ;-) The grilled octopus was better than the boiled octopus, according to Siena. I could only get myself to try the grilled one.
We drove around some more and saw the starting point for the Olympic marathon that took place in 2004, a shrine to Saint Barbara, and made a stop for the bathroom and also ordered some spanakopita at a small tavern where Simon's friends worked.
A few times during the day, we had to call Despina to have her translate between us and her dad. We knew Simon wanted to tell us the history of many of the places we visited, but we just couldn't communicate. At some point, late in the day, he tried to tell us something about President Obama, which we found out later from Despina that it was a joke.
All in all, it was a good day and Simon was very generous with his time to take us all over Attica by car. :)

My Eurotrip 2009: Day 3

Day Trip to Peloponnisos
Sunday, May 3
(Simon and Eleni's birthday!)

This day we woke up around 6am to get ready. Despina's boyfriend, Kostas, picked Siena, Eleni, Despina, and I up at the house and we headed to the suburban train line in Pallini to start our journey. We took a total of 4 trains:

Pallini -> Ano Liosia -> Kiato -> Diakofto -> Kalavrita

Along the way, we saw amazing scenery including the beautiful hills and mountains of Attica, the narrow canal that separates Peloponnisos from Attica, and miles of beautiful coastline. In Diakofto, we stopped in a small shop for snacks and water. From here, the train we took up the hill used othodotos (teeth in the middle of the railroad tracks for the train to use to climb up the hills in the Vouraiko Gorge). This railway used to be the only way in and out of the villages that lie in the mountains.


The train ride takes 1.5 hours to get to Kalavrita (from Diakofto), which is 22,000 meters above sea level, and about 22 km from the town of Diakofto. It is common for people to hike along the tracks all the way to the top. (It would be awesome to come back and do that one day!)

The train was very small: Only 2 cars and the engine in the middle. There were 2 first class sections on either end of the train, for which Eleni bought ticket for us! That meant that there were fewer people in that section and more room to run from window to window trying to get good pictures of the scenery. We all got some amazing shots. :)
Upon arrival in Kalavrita, we walked up the hill to a small museum about the German occupation of Greece and the massacre of the villagers from Kalavrita and surrounding villages.
Then we went to eat at a tavern and we had Greek salad (of course!), lamb chops, plain salad, and tiropita (like spanakopita [spinach & feta pie], but only with feta cheese).
Towards the end of our meal, Kostas and Despina worked it out with the waiter so we could surprise Eleni with a birthday cake. She was so surprised that she cried a little. We sang "Happy Birthday" in English and Greek. Well, Despina and Kostas sang in Greek...
After lunch, we continued to follow the mosaic design of railroad tracks on the sidewalk up the hill to see more shops and touristy things. We reached the end of the line and walked back down towards the train station, but we still had some time so we decided to stop at a cafe. We sat at a table in the sun and sipped our frothy caffeinated/decaf beverages.
On the way back to Pallini, it didn't take us long to realize that the ride home was going to be a crowded one. Friday, May 1 was May Day (kind of like Labor Day) and many people traveled to the villages from Athens for the 3-day weekend.
After the 2nd train back, I had to go to the bathroom. Only, the only bathroom available was on the opposite platform and the train was coming any minute. I made a mad dash downstairs, through the tunnel under the tracks, up to the bathroom and back just as the train was pulling in. I had to push my way through the crowd on the platform to get to Despina and everybody, but I made it!
We were very tired from the long day of traveling by train when we arrived home. We had another birthday cake for Eleni and Simon with Kostos and Despina's grandmother and then went to bed.

My Eurotrip 2009: Day 2 (cont'd)

Arrival in Pallini, Greece
Saturday, May 2

Upon arrival at Despina's house, we had a snack of pasticcio (it looked a bit like lasagna in the pan, but consisted of noodles, ground meat, and an egg, cream, and flour substance that held it all together). I took a much-needed shower and relaxed a bit with my sister, and around 8 or 9pm, we all went out to dinner at a restaurant (or tavern) that serves traditional Crete food.


We tried:
- ofti (grilled feta cheese)
- dakos (paksimadi [toasted bread] with tomato, feta cheese, basil, oregano, and other herbs)
- tzatziki (yogurt, garlic, and cucumber)
- fricase (pork with vegetables and red sauce)
- gamopilafo (Crete 'wedding rice')
- graviera (yellow cheese)
- dolmadakia yialantzi (vine leaves stuffed with rice and meat)
- lahano dolmades (cabbage leaves with meat and rice)
- Dessert: Apples and cinnamon with halvas (made with semolina [made from corn] and oil)

It was delicious! I really liked the gamopilafo, strong flavor and all, and the dakos. :)

My Eurotrip 2009: Days 1 & 2

The Voyage
Friday, May 1 and Saturday, May 2

I know Chicago has a very large Polish population, but I never imagined that I'd feel like I was in Poland before even boarding the plane. My flight to Athens, Greece had a connecting flight in Warsaw, Poland, and I traveled on Lot, a Polish airline, for both legs.
While waiting at the gate and aboard the plane, all of the announcements about my flight were in Polish, and it seemed like only some of them were translated into English.
As I boarded the plane, I had my ticket out and showed the flight attendant so she could tell me which aisle I should go down to get to my seat. Without hesitating, she directed me in Polish and the only thing I could think to say was, "English?" She smiled, and without missing a beat, she directed me in English.
I found my seat near the aisle in the row of seats in the middle of the plane. I was immediately surrounded by Polish chatter. The safety instructions were in Polish first, accompanied by a funny-looking video. (I'll upload that later.)
Because of the "Swine Flu" going around, my step-dad gave me some masks and rubber gloves to use, just in case anyone was coughing around me, etc. I thought I would try to be safe anyway, since I catch any cold that comes within 50 feet of me. I fell asleep with it on, but it didn't last long. I felt like I couldn't breathe, and I kept getting stares from the people sitting next to me and the little toddlers that were walking up and down the aisle with their moms, as if to practice for later. I took it off to eat our first meal, and kept it off.
The food was miniature, as were the forks and knifes. There was a choice of beef or chicken, and I chose beef. Among the other items on the food tray was a mini Kit Kat bar. How did they know I liked Kit Kats?
At some point, I tried explaining to the flight attendant how I felt like I seemed to be the only person on the plane that didn't speak Polish, and all she did was nod and grin. I don't think she had the faintest idea that I was trying to converse with her about something other than water or orange juice.
I went in and out of sleep, then caught the second half of the movie "Bride Wars". Just for kicks, I listened to the dubbed-in-polish version on my headphones and I think they had a man do the voice of Murphy Brown!
Shortly after breakfast, we started our descent. As we got closer, I peeked out the windows near me to catch a glimpse of the landscape from up high. Most of what I could see was miles of flat farmland, some forested areas, but no city. It wasn't until we were lined up with the runway that I could look out the other side of the plane and see what seemed like thousands of high rises scrunched next to each other.
As the Polish lady that I met at Jamaican Gardens said, the Warsaw airport is pretty small. It was neat the way most of it was made of glass, so you could look down on people that were waiting for their flights to board. After a little bit of confusion, I learned the word for Athens in Polish (Ateny) and eventually found my gate.
At a gift shop, I bought a Glamour magazine in Polish (to look at the fashions they show) and my first bottle of water. The label was entirely in Polish, so I was a bit surprised to find out that it was carbonated when I opened it later. I paid in Euros, but got back some Polish coins instead.
Around boarding time for my flight to Athens, I loaded into a bus with the other passengers and we boarded the plane via one of those little staircases on wheels. I slept the whole way and was surprised to find that I didn't have to go through customs once. The door I thought led to customs actually led to the welcome area, where dozens of people were gawking at the doors, waiting for their friends to walk through. I paused, but once I realized everyone was staring at me, I quickly walked around the 'barracade'. I looked around and around but didn't see Despina or Siena, until I went behing the crowd of people and saw the side of Despina's face.
We hugged and chatted on the way to Despina's house in one of the suburbs of Athens and were greeted by her mom, Elini, and grandmother [yia yia]. Elini fed us, Siena showed us her artwork, and we chatted until it was Greek "siesta" time. I took a much-needed shower and now I'm on the internet on Despina's tiny little HP Mini laptop. :)

My Eurotrip 2009

The Preparation

The original plans were for my family to visit my sister, Siena, in Europe in June after the American schools got out. And by 'my family', I mean my mom, stepdad, baby sister, aunt, grandparents, and me. However, some things changed and now it's just my immediate family. Then, things changed again, and another option came about: What if I went earlier than everyone else and traveled with Siena in Europe for a week?

That sounded like a great idea! The next thing I knew, plane ticket options were being arranged and purchased (thanks to my mom!) and my departure date is Friday, May 1st for Athens, Greece!

I'll be meeting Siena there, and we'll be there for a week. We will be visiting Elini my mother's high school pen pal, and her daugher, Despina. Siena and I met Despina and Elini when we were very young (I was 4, and Siena was 1). Back then, I spoke no Greek and Despini spoke no English. We didn't care! My parents took pictures of the two of us trying to communicate with our hands and pointing at stuff; it was quite a sight!


I still speak no Greek, but Despina has since learned a great deal of English, and thanks to the marvels of Facebook, we have reconnected and now we are able to have real conversations!

Siena, Despina, and I are currently emailing and messaging back and forth about what we would like to do while we're in Athens. I just picked up a couple of maps and a small book about Athens to take with me... It all still seems so surreal, but I'm getting excited!