Day 273 Feeling Insecure in Thessaloniki

I went for the cheap hostel option in Thessaloniki. I don’t need much and thought I would get the basic accommodations for my 13 euro. I was right and wrong. Right in that it was basic accommodation and wrong in that my definition of basic accommodation includes a tiny amount of security and hygiene. The hostel is always wide open, including all the rooms, and is only attended for a few hours in the morning and evening. Another traveler mentioned that everyone gets robbed here so don’t leave anything alone. Great! On the outside of the usually vacant office there is a sign that says to throw your stuff on a bed and they will be back later. The beds were more like stiff bundles of fabric than mattresses and the pillows were fabric covered flagstones. The bathrooms were scary. The shower was four floors down in the basement (dungeon) and was apparently very scary. After seeing the bathrooms, I decided not to try to shower there. People coming back from the shower looked more emotionally traumatized than refreshed.

I came to Thessaloniki primarily to see ancient Vergina, the burial site of the father and son of Alexander the Great (they are 90% sure it is them). After securing my pack with my exo-mesh bag, I headed out with a couple other guys, an Aussie and a Spaniard, and all of my valuables. It took two buses and hours of waiting to get there.

The tombs were covered by a giant tumulus, which is a really big mound of dirt and stone debris designed to impede tomb robbers. The modern discoverers removed the mound and built a museum in the same shape and covered it with dirt to simulate the effect. The artifacts they found are incredible. Gold, silver, ivory and other artifacts were plenitful and elaborate. The underground tomb entries are like decorated building facades. No photos at all were allowed so you will have to use your imagination. It was very cool and worth the visit. We ended up having to wait for almost 3 hours to get the first bus back and then another hour and a half to get the second. It was a whole day and 26 euro for 45 minutes of splendor. Fair enough except the bad thing is that I missed the train to Macedonia and had to stay another night in the “hostel.”

My Canadian friend Chad warned me about the Greek people’s “obtuse way of treating you well.” Except for the hostel in Corfu, (and people trying to get you into their restaurant) all through Greece I felt like I was one of the faceless masses of tourists. People very often would provide whatever service they were business of providing, but I was lucky if they even bothered to look at me.

One American guy I talked to that is living in Greece thought that the Greeks are afraid of being too friendly because it somehow shows weakness. I think that they are too jaded and do not see any reason to try to be friendly. After all, if someone doesn’t like the way they are treated, does it matter if they go away and are immediately replaced by another tourist? It appears that the Greeks feel they have no reason to charm people that they see as an endless stream. I do not know if it is because all the countries in the area have a history of hating each other and that causes them to be closed and cautious with strangers or if there is something else. Greece was great for the beaches and sea, not my favorite for the people (the warmth of the Brasilians is hard to beat).

Day 272 A Few Nads Too Many

It has been a while since I have been in a big museum and the Athens Archeological Museum does not disappoint (and the museum was free today). There are many great pieces that are worth studying. Of course there are also tons of figurines and pottery that quickly all look the same. I applied my normal advice. Just keep moving. Only stop at what jumps out at you. Trying to absorb everything is looking for burnout and a boring experience.

I do not understand the ancient Greek fascination with the male body. Almost every single depiction of the male body had the genitals exposed. This includes scenes where it doesn’t seem appropriate; the lower flap of what few clothes they wore is always open with the goods hanging out for God and everybody to see. And then you look at the depictions of woman, and almost without exception, they are wearing heavy wool garments. Maybe the women were not attractive back then. Or maybe the Greeks were just really screwed up.

I didn’t think I could get tired of phyllo based food products, but I think the oil and fat is getting to me. I am really longing for fruit and vegetables. The salad choices here are pretty limited in most places; you have you choice of chef or Greek salads (surprised?).

I saw everything I really wanted to see in Athens. It doesn’t have as interesting character as do the other big European cities.

I will be taking a six hour train to Thessaloniki on the northeast coast and then will head to the Macedonia.

Day 271 Athens, Greece

I took the underwhelming 8 euro walking tour to see the refurbished old Olympic stadium, a few statues, an arch, a few columns, a park, and shopping areas. The “tour guide” was a young guy with a nasty hangover and no sleep, and thus had difficulty being an efficient and informative guide. It was supposed to be a tour of all the important archeological sites, and yet, somehow we never even went near any museums, the Agora, the Acropolis, or much else. The best part was when he showed us were to get the best and cheapest gyros around.

I headed up to the Acropolis on my own, paid the 12 euro, and climbed the hill. The Acropolis sits upon a huge rock above Athens, providing an unobstructed view of the overcrowded valley. About forty percent of the country lives in the greater Athens area. The city looks like it goes on forever.

Even though the place was covered with cranes and scaffolding, I was impressed. They are doing a multi-year restoration project that requires the dismantling and reassembly of the buildings; quite a job when you realize the size of the buildings. I can only imagine how much work it was to build the place up on the hill in the first place without the aid of modern equipment. I sat in awe for a while, admiring the Parthenon, caryatids, columns, friezes, and the view. With that done, there is not really that much left to see in the city. There are a few more slightly interesting structures and the archeological museum. I have already seen some phenomenal ruins on my trip and I did not feel like seeing slightly interesting structures. The museum on the other hand is supposed to be good.

There are many kinds of hostels and the Athens Backpackers Hostel falls almost directly into the 20 something party palace. I only say almost because they have a kitchen for people to use. Other than that, the place is geared toward the gratuitous consumption of alcohol and the abuse of aural senses. In the evening I went up to the roof bar, had my free ouzo shot and a cheap beer while sitting crossed legged on a cushion and chatting with people, (the view was good) and then I went back down to sit in the window of the lower bar.

I was enjoying free-range bandwidth, trying to process photos for the galleries I have been neglecting, as an assortment of people stopped by, puzzled that I was working, and kept trying to get me to join in drinking games. They had to yell because the volume of music and other people yelling over the music. It was easily in the hearing damage range. I had to assure them that, yes indeed, I really had to work, and that I would otherwise love to join them. I think I spent as much time convincing people that I wanted to work as I did actually working. I went to bed early (10:00) and then got up at 2:00am to call Patricia; the time zone difference can really be a pain sometimes.

Day 271 More (or Less) Bus Fun

When they said I could get a direct bus from Corfu to Athens, I said, “What?” How do you get a direct bus from and island with no bridges? The bus takes the ferry, that’s how. The bus left 30 minutes late, which is not unusual, drove two blocks, and we all got off, which is unusual. We got off to buy ferry tickets, got back on the bus, drove another block, and we got off again to board the ferry. On the other side we got on the bus again and were on our way. Why we didn’t just catch the bus on the other side I will never know.

It was an twelve hour overnight bus with too little leg room and too many people. I was not comfortable and slept fitfully. In the middle of the night, during one of the few times I was sleeping of course, one of the tires directly under my seat blew with a loud bang. We stopped at the next rest stop and all had to get off so the bus could go find somewhere to fix the tire. I was not feeling cheery at the time, sitting on a curb, wishing I could sleep, and having no idea when the bus was coming back. It was only a half hour, thank god.

We got into Athens and I found the center city bus that went to within a few blocks of the metro, took the metro, and walked to the few more blocks to the hostel. It was seven in the morning and too early to check-in and they were not sure there was a vacancy yet. I was thankful that it was a relaxed hostel; they said to have the free breakfast and crash on a couch until they could find me a room.

Day 270 Corfu, Greece

I crossed the Adriatic sea between Saranda, Albania to Corfu, Greece in a sleek futuristic looking hydrofoil ferry in only 20 minutes. I wandered the old city for a while, amazed at the incredible number of trinket shops, the most I have seen in any one place, found some oppressed bandwidth in dire need of liberation, and then called my hostel with Skype for my free pickup.

The Sunrock hostel is 30 minutes away on the west coast, perched above one of the nicest, fine sand beaches on the island. The hostel is run by a family that has an organic farm and serves great organic dinners and breakfasts as part of the 18 euro a night. They were out of dorm space so I got a free upgrade to a private sea view room with bath. Very nice. The first thing I did after dumping my bags was go the half kilometer down the beach to the cliff diving spot. It was only about 20 feet (6m), not too high but still high enough to be fun. The water is so clear that it doesn’t look deep enough even though it is about 25 feet deep. Later, I bought a mask and snorkel from the hostel (a mere 5 euro) and explored the submerged rocks and marveled at the colorful and not too shy fish.

The next day, I rented a scooter for 17 euro/day and explored the island. I have missed riding on my scooter so tooling around Corfu in perfect sunny temperatures was a delight. I found many more lovely beaches, drove through shady and serenely quiet olive groves, ate a cheap and tasty gyro at a local’s dive, and removed some skin from my arm. It was great cruising the island except for that last part. On one of the steep switchbacks returning from a secluded beach, some idiot young guys in a black car came flying around a corner as I was slowly making my way up. I was already on the far outside and still had to swerve more to the edge. Luckily, I wasn’t going very fast at all (and they did not hit me) but I had to lay down the scooter. The bruise on my arm is worse than the lost skin. It was a brief blip and didn’t ruin my day. I just thought, oh well, $&#@ happens, an kept going. When I returned the scooter there was no way for them to know that I laid it down because it was already so thrashed (whew!).

The island is known for being a party island is overrun by hedonistic and often drunk 20-somethings that have left their inhibitions at home. I loved the water and the natural beauty, but I was eager to leave after a couple days.