I recently waded through the relatively easy process of registering my credit card online, so I could check my Visa account from here, as the last report from home was that a rather large and unexpected balance existed on it. Big, BIG mistake. All those pre-trip purchases were listed there in all their glory for me to agonize over. And of course, the balance was both massive AND correct. I never realized I was spending so much, but then again I never reached graduate level studies at A&M so adding more than 2 numbers together is usually beyond me. So, the main purpose of this email is to plead for job opportunities on my return. Any offers for experienced loafers? I wonder if the OPP'll take me back...
Apart from the minor feelings of guilt w/ respect to this (the money, not the joblessness), everything's going quite well. I'm currently in Patras, the 3rd largest city in Greece with a population of around 152,000 (according to the great green god Michelin). Its a university town with a lot of activity going on in the evenings - I met a fellow Brit cyclist at the campground and he and I are planning on hitting the opening night of Club Camel (the same cigarette mascot!) this Friday and then moving on to Club Naked (ok, I admit I didn't catch the name) for the Greek version of a topless bar. Judging by the skyline pictured on the promotional brochure its actually located in Manhattan, but we're not going to quibble over those details here. The same late 80's / early 90's disco music found in Italy is king here, so I'm in 120 bpm radio heaven.
Traveling here seems pretty damn safe, provided you use your head. The only tale of misadventure I've heard so far was related by a Dutch guy who'd had his bike stolen in Athens and was looking for a new one. I had visions of cable locks being chopped by giant cutters, gangs of marauding villains, etc, until he told me the details of the story. Seems he had a flat riding out of Athens, so he locked his front wheel to his rear and left the whole assembly on the side of the road while he got a lift back into town to get repair stuff (didn't have a tube or repair kit, I guess?). When he got back the bike was gone, of course. Pardon my judgemental attitude, but what a bonehead! Then again he didn't seeom too concerned - it was an old bike, and he was probably looking for an excuse to buy a new one. I can understand this attitude pretty well - since I'm too fiscally conservative to throw things away if I don't need 'em, I've been looking for a way to get some of it "stolen" too, just so I don't have to lug it around anymore.
Mum - ignore this next paragraph: The most dangerous thing about this country is the traffic on the roads. And its not even the truckers who are the problem - while the lack of motorways diverts them to the same local roads I use, they're usually pretty courteous and friendly. For a while I thought some of the extended honking was anger, but its really all an exuberant hello. The real problem is the local car and taxi drivers - take a look at pic # 54: how many lanes do you see, not including the shoulders? While it looks like 2, this is just a weird Greek optical illusion. There are actually 3, 4 if two of the vehicles are motorcycles, and 5 if you count me trying desperately to hang onto the outer edge of the shoulder. Makes for some moments of excitement, for sure. I don't feel too threatened by it - it beats being purposely brushed by belligerent US truckers - for most folks here driving like this is normal behavior and I just have to adjust. Needless to say I'm picking up a mirror at the next good bike shop...
Many Greeks speak decent English, especially in business, so its pretty easy to move around and get what you want. The phrasebook comes in handy more for impressing the locals than actually providing necessary translations. I'm determined to learn some of the structure and start forming my own sentences (I sometimes feel like a very advanced kindergardener when I say that), but the strong English language presence makes it easy to get lazy, and locals who speak it usually enjoy practicing it. One 21 year old I spoke with recently had been trying it out with a middle-aged British couple, when they expressed the opinion that Greek's were still pretty uncivilized and backward. She was happy to be able to fluidly respond that "ohmigod, we were developing democracy and the arts while you were still hanging from trees in England!" She said they refused to speak to her after that, happily enough.
Had one of those interesting coincidences while on the road from Ioannina to here. The rains that caused so much flooding and damage in Northern Italy finally reached the mainland of Greece - we had 3 hours of drizzle! My first night out from Ioannina I escaped this calamity by taking refuge in a hotel and happened to watch a bit of "Anthony and Cleopatra", I think, the bit where Liz Taylor and Richard Burton plot their rebellion against the new man in Rome, Octavian. The next day's traveling took me past the ruins of Nikopolis, which was founded by Octavian following his routing of Cleopatra and Anthony there in 31 BC in the Battle of Actium! Its so nice to see how ancient history actually has some relevance to the important things in life, like old classic movies. Seriously though, its very awe-inspiring to stand among ruins that were thriving towns before Christ was born. It makes those old school-room history lessons a bit more tangible. It was also nice to be able to take a break in the warmth and comfort of a good hotel - great place - double beds, beautiful hardwoods, tv (aah, tv in English!), friendly-family-owned, all for $37. And the cord was long enough so I could move the tv into the bathroom and watch it while showering. If anyone tells you traveling by bike is primitive, you tell 'em you know otherwise!
Most of the campsites I've come across are still open and happy to have me, but when they're not, free-camping is so easy its outrageous. There are loads of olive groves and undeveloped areas that provide plenty of privacy, so long as you watch out for the 'sheep lanes' that shepherds use to move their flocks to and fro in the mornings and evenings. Roads are fair game for these mini-migrations also, but the sheep seem to move pretty quickly on tarmac. The sight of a few strays in full flight down the road ahead has had me in stitches on several occasions.
I've started keeping roadkill and roadliving lists - so far the dead stuff far outnumbers the living both in quantity and interest. (Morbid it may be, but it makes the more mundane miles go by faster.) Live stuff includes the usual sheepgoatcow variety, hawks, trout (in farms, dammit), Albanians, and tons of praying mantiseseses, one of which I spend 30 minutes trying to coax numerous flies towards to watch it snatch at them. After 3 misses, I gave it up as a lost cause and fed it an ant instead. (Its aim seemed better if the prey couldn't move quite so fast.) But the roadkill list includes things like numerous hedgehogs, an alligator (!) in a restaurant, and one rather large donkey. Don't ask me if they get moved - how long does it take for a full-grown donkey to decompose, anyway?
Food is pretty good here - breakfast is nonexistent, unfortunately, but lunches are good with flaky pastry pies stuffed with ham, cheese, spinach, pizza stuff, etc and greek coffee. (It took only one semi-solid swig of the coffee to remind me that it had to settle first.) Dinners are meat and potatoes. Period. Salads are available for the more health-conscious among us, but ordering just a salad would get you labeled a Turk or, even worse, a tourist. You can, of course, get different stuff such as stuffed tomatoes in a better restaurant, but the protein and starch theme is dominant. Honey consumption (in the desserts and sweet pastries) averages 1.2 pounds per person per day. I think Greece has the highest per capita number of beehives on the continent - only olive oil is consumed more frequently. I think its in the water. Whatever the reasons, I'm currently peeing extra-virgin, first pressing.
So, still alive and still having fun. I apologize if this one is tediously long - I was having fun writing it! Mark
pics: 48: typical northwest mountains here in Epiros - beautiful! 50: there are thousands of these mini-shrines along the roads. Don't think each one represents a road death. I hope... 51: me and a friend 52: me and a dead friend - I thought I knew my snakes, but this could be an African death adder (dead adder?) for all I know. 53: some folks have requested more pics including me, so here's one of me admiring the local view. 54: typical Greek interstate 59: I've got a weakness for cats that can't keep their tongues in! (No smart comments, ok?)
