Greece on a mission

Some encounters make you think...

2012-06-02T12:28:00.000-07:00

Just a few hours ago, I came back from the airport. No, I didn't fly anywhere. We rented a car for 4 days and I had to drop it off at 6pm. I underestimated the time a little and felt a rush of adrenalin pumping through my veins, because I still had to get gas and 30km to go. Anyway, everything good. After I returned the car and complained to the guy from Hertz inside the airport how shitty his GPS was (we also rented for 30 extra bucks), I met a girl in the train. She was sitting behind me and overheard how I advised two German tourist what metro line to take. She asks me if I want to sit next to her to talk for a bit. She was Greek, but spoke German pretty well.

Just ME :)

And there we go talking in the train for almost and hour and a half about so many things, like we have known each other all our lives. She explained to me that she has a job interview upcoming Monday to be a child care worker in Germany and how she was afraid that they would not understand her at the job interview an therefore not take her. We talked about how different kindergardens are in Germany and in Greece and I told her about my internship I once had in a German kindergarden. I felt so anxcious exchanging all this information in order to help her. If she gets the job, she will probably be moving to Munich, so I told her everything I knew about this beautiful city.

I find it a shame that the economic situation is so bad here and that people are so much in need to emigrate in order to make a living. I mean this girl went to university, she has an excellent education, but at the moment there are zero jobs available for her. She took part in a Muslim project in the city where she studied (North of Thessaloniki) and I told her that this would be a great reference for her if she moves to Germany due to the high percentage of Turks there. I hope for her that she gets the job and can look forward to a great future, where she can do her Master and do what she likes: teach and care for children. An incredible personality. A fascinating train ride and hopefully the beginning of another friendship. People walk in your life for a reason!! :)

----

Back to the car rental thingy. So Tuesday afternoon I was so fed up that we had nothing to do, that I asked Benji if he wants to rent a car with me. Spontaneously, we booked it and went to the airport to pick it up. A nice little bright red Citroen C1. Very cute, unfortunately we forgot to take a picture, but I could have really get used to it and it was hard to give it away again today :(.

In Astros

Think big...

What did we do? Tuesday nite we just spent in Κορινθος, which is already unusual, because normally we have to the last train at 9ish to get back to Αγ. Θεώδοροι. It was nice to spent some hours at the shisha bar where Litsa works and just hang around. Wednesday we did a trip to Τρίπολη (Tripoli), a city about 100 km South-West from here. Tripoli is located in the heart of South-Greece/mainland, so no sea and no mountains around. I perceived it as very crowded and surrounded by nothingness, almost like Vegas, a city in the middle of a dessert. So we didn't stay there very long and continued East to Αστρος (Astros), a small fishermen village along the coast. After taking some nice pictures we went to a good fish restaurant and got shelter to escape from a heavy summer rain. The food was again excellent - I will really especially miss the fresh, high quality fish dishes from Greece... Let me briefly tell you the story of the waiter. A Romanian guy, who studied civil engineering and was recommended by a professor to work for a Greek company.

Tripoli

Also Tripoli

They exploided him to such an extended that he quit and through another connection, he was able to stay in Greece and work in Astros in the fish restaurant as a waiter. This is his second year there and also the last one, as he said. The crises is forcing him to leave; tourists don't visit Astros as much, because people are lacking money so no turnover for the restaurant. His next destination Switzerland. He doesn't know much German, but wants to learn it. His Greek (as far as I can tell) was good and he said he also learned just by listening people talk. His English fluent and very good. I believe he can make it, but what a life story again to move from country to country to hope for a better future...

After Αστρος our trip continued to Ναφλιο, where we also stayed only for a short while. This city has put a spell on me and embodies a dream. A dream I only want to live with one person :) So being there without this person makes this city only have half as pleasurable...

Ireon lake, sooo nice!!

Thursday we took a little break and I only took the car to Κορινθος where I hung out at Nargiles (the shisha bar) again the whole day. Yesterday we took the chance, because the weather is finally becoming warm here and went to a very pretty lake. The month of May was particularly very untypical for Greece, according to the locals. It should have been warmer already a lot earlier than June. Ιρεον (Ireon) was the name of the lake we went to, which is located about 30km north of Λουτράκι; along the way: many hills, curves and a beautiful view onto the Gulf that connects Λουτράκι and Κορινθος. We enjoyed the idyllic atmosphere, sun and a nice game of ping pong - not table tennis (a game every Greek place at the beach) for several hours. Nice day, which finished off again at the shisha bar and a cherry hukka (after eating suhsi at the casino in Λουτράκι). It was Latin night at Nargiles; the owner had hired several dancers to engage the guests in samba, rumba and chachacha. Great feeling, it made me anxcious to dance again myself! :) Maybe already back in Breda in the beginning of September... who knows^^.

So that's what's new. Three more weeks left in this beautiful country with its even greater people. Looking forward to every minute!

#Fun facts of today#

1. Greek people tend to ask you for your star sign within the first couple of sentences they get to know you. I find this interesting, because it shows how much they believe in astrology.

2. I don't know how it is possible that the tap water tastes so different at three different places in one city (Κορινθος). SO STRANGE!

Just like that...

2012-05-25T08:27:00.000-07:00

... by walking into a recently opened shisha bar (or in Greek ναργιλε/nargile) at the Corithian Gulf, I meet Litsa. She is probably one of the sweetest people I have ever met.

On Monday I walk in there with Benji and she was working there; so kind, constantly asking if everything was ok and if we needed anything. After all we even got a free shisha for the time we were there. so nice. So two days later I walk in there again, because I had some time to kill, hoping she would be working again, but unfortunately she didn't. About two hours later though she walks in and her smile just brightened up my day. She directly greets me and sits next to me. The next thing I know is that we are already engaged in a conversation with two men from Qatar from our neighboring table. Litsa and I found out that they are two drivers from "RALLY ACROPOLIS" which is a famous car race in Greece.

Shisha Bar in Athens

Acropolis in the background

Within the next hour Litsa invites me to her house in Athens for the day after and since Mohammed and Nasser (the Qatar drivers) were going to Athens anyways the next day they took us with them. We enjoyed another "Shisha" in Athens (in total there are 3 shisha bars like that of owned by the same guy, two in Athens and one in Korinthos now for the summer) and were picked up by Litsa's sister Vicky. At their house I was enjoying some nice pasta Litsa cooked and guess what?? it included Frankfurter sausages ;). Made me feel like home - if I hadn't felt like home already. At night Vicky, Litsa and Stelios (I am so sorry this is for sure not how you pronouns your name, but I will ask Litsa next time I see her and immediately correct it) took me to the roof top of the hotel "A for Athens" which had an incredible view on the Acropolis. We had the ultimate spot, where - and I still don't know why - nodody wanted to sit. Ok there was no table but it was like a podium with glass surrounded, so it was protected from the wind. GREAT! :)

Vicky and I

We sipped a cocktail, made acquaitance we a Dutch and a Swiss guy, ate some frozen joghurt and went back to their place. I am still impressed how quickly this friendship developed, because it feels like I know Litsa already for a lot longer.

I am thanking both of them, her and her sister - Vicky - for the great hospitality and of course Stelios for his company. I had a wonderful time with you all of you!!!!!

#Fun facts of today#
1. Athens city center is like a maze to me and probably always will be
2. The Akropolis steals your breath when you see it at night, it looks so magical

Παχη/Pachi and Ακροκορινθος/Akrokorinthos

2012-05-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Zucchini balls to the right

Παχη (Pachi) is a very small fishermen's village in the proximity of Μεγαρα (Megara) another bigger city about 30min from where I live. On Saturday the weather was great not too hot and I suggested to go out to eat fish. Παχη consists mainly of tavernas and cafeterias, but it is so peaceful and brings a very special atmosphere with it. So again I have to highlight how much I got used the Greek way of consuming their meals and we loved eating for several hours.

SILLY

It was nice to get acquainted with you, Mr. and Mrs. Fish!

As an appetizer I tried zucchini feta balls, which was basically some deepfried lump, but tasted so different from what I expected, because it contained some spearmint leaves, which freshed everything up, very nice! The fish was also just delicious (again I forgot the name but it is similar to tsiporou or something...^^).
Last weekend the time had come to explore what I look at almost every day from the distance: the castle ruins of Κορινθος also called Ακροκορινθος (Akrokorinthos). The name reminds a lot of Akropolis.

Exhausted

Since we started climbing the steps to the highest point way after two and the gate closes at three, we really had to hurry. The bright afternoon sun and the rush to be back on time unfortunately led to some dizzyness when we reached the top. However, the view was too magical to really worry about it ;)

The whole region of Corinthia starting with Κορινθος on the right then Λούτρακι slightly to the left and Αγ. Θεόδωροι at the very right. A priceless view!!!

Summer feeling

On the way back a quick snap shot of one of the most famous pictures one usually finds on many postcards from Greece. Sometimes there are still some concerts taking place in the summer months.

Greece surprises me more and more every day and I wish more people could see what the country is really like, instead of rumoring a misleading picture.

I am so grateful for all the views I can lock up in my memories and recall them whenever I want to, because they simply make your heart rise again :)

#Fun fact of today#
1. Greece in May looks like Germany end of August. The wheat is already almost done blooming and the grass is burned as much as our fields look like in the late summer.
2. You can easily "high five" the fin of a fish, you might only crazy looks from some other people around :)

Freiburg = The Greek Nafplio

2012-05-25T06:59:00.000-07:00

In Freiburg's alley

My uncle already got married more than a year ago, but decided to celebrate this year. So quite spontaneously I flew to Germany together with my boyfriend. What a weekend driven in an emotional rollercoaster. Flying to Frankfurt, we took the ICE directly to Freiburg, where we were picked up by my uncle and surprisingly my mum, which I hadn’t seen since I left. J

Prost

Friday passed so fast spending time with my two little cousins and cycling along the Dreisam (River) to the city center. Exploring DM (a German drugstore) with a Greek is an experience by itself. Too many items seemed surprisingly cheap and of very good quality in comparison with Greek products – no fense ^^. Since a thunderstorm was announced for this night we shouldn’t have stayed too long, but we forgot time in a great traditional restaurant accompanied by asparagus soup , fish with potatoes and cauliflower, Maultaschen (in the broadest sense ravioli filled with asparagus, carrots and a fresh mushroom cream) and for dessert Apfelstrudel with vanilla ice cream (very traditional dessert my of a dough similar to pastry dough). In absolute darkness with one tiny light on my bike with biked back to my uncle’s house about 8km from the center; without a single rain drop but a flat tire… well nice after dinner walk.

The narrow stairs of "Münster"

Long live "Bratwurst"

Saturday was the actual wedding party. Before we headed to a boat, where everything started, we went again to the city center to climb the Münster (the hallmark of Freiburg) and to explore the weekly market with all its goods. Of course, we had to a get a German Bratwurst (type of sausage).

In the early afternoon we started with a boat tour on the river Rhine to get acquainted with all guests, about 80 people. Ok, this might sound silly and of course like most of you I have been on a boat which has to go through a floodgate. However, the boat was a little bigger and if there is not just one in the sluice then this process turns into quite an event and it makes you wonder what water is capable of. The temperatures were supposed to drop drastically from Friday to Saturday, that’s why it was even nicer to actually still have some sun rays on the boat. After the tour we had about 30 minutes to drive through one of the most beautiful areas I have seen so far in Germany: Vineyards, mountains and more mountains in the distance and green EVERYWHERE. The location for the party was just perfect. Regional wine together with high quality and delicious tasting food formed the culinary delight of the evening.

DIVINE! <3

Several guests had developed very nice wedding games, e.g. balloons with vouchers, written on postcards by the guests, were tied to postcards which all of us let them free. Eventually the balloons come down at a total different location. Whoever finds them needs to send them back to the newlyweds and if the postcard really arrives, the guest who wrote down the voucher/service really has to do it. So far already 2 postcards arrived, found in Munich. I find this idea SOOOOO awesome!! The night ended early for us, because we were so tired from the whole day and travelling, but still what a great day!

Ok this panorama pic sucks, but just to give you an impression of the beautiful landscape :)

Love you very much, Mummy!

On Sunday morning a hike was part of the agenda. We met in some vineyards and just started walking with about 20 people. Afterwards we wanted to eat some lunch at a farm restaurant, which is only seasonally opened. The food was delicious, but the service probably the most awful one I have ever seen. After ordering the same food three times and two hours later I walked into the restaurant asking how it is possible that I still do not have even one single asparagus spear in my belly. It took another 30 minutes until I finally had my crepe filled with asparagus (yeah I love this veggie and it has right now peak season in Germany). Enjoying another few hours with my family before heading back to the train station and then to Frankfurt airport, made the weekend complete and more fabulous.

I am very grateful to have had the chance to be part of this particular weekend, thank you to the people who made it possible! It meant so much to me!!!

#Fun facts of today#

1. Lufthansa has a new airbus (number I forget) but the seats are almost 1/3 flatter and you have more leg space.

2. Staff from DB (Deutsche Bahn) is apparently a lot friendlier to foreigners than to Germans. Giorgos asked in which train carriage we had to sit and the ticket collector was so friendly and let us travel first class. Next time I am fur sure American when I travel with DB.

Elections

2012-05-07T03:09:00.001-07:00

View from my balcony: Saturday market to the left and primary school on the right (where the elections took place)

Sunday, 6th May 2012. Elections in Greece. The world is coming to an end...

Nice Sea View

No - just kidding :) Yesterday we had governmental elections here. Since we live right across from a primary school we also had the primary location to watch this spectacle. In Greece you vote from dawn until dusk; meaning from 7am to 7pm.
As it is our pleasure by now to know fairly many laywers we were allowed to watch the elections from a closer vicinity. Ok, for some of you this might sound like the normal procedure of an election, but since I have never been voting (I know shame on me, but I was always out of the country), I don't know any better:
All classrooms in a school are divided into diffrent name departments (e.g. A-E, F-H etc.). So when the voters go to the room according to their surname they first present their ID (often looking like fake certificate from before war times) to the secretary. The secretary (in our case also a lawyer, but does not have to be) checks the ID for validity, then crosses off the name of a list (we had about 600 names listed) and copies all the information again into another journal. The ID is then passed on to the actually lawyer, who keeps the ID and gives a stamped and signed (by him) envelope to the voter. The elector then proceeds to collect flyers of parties and waits until it is his turn to vote in the booth (which looks very provisionally: blue fold up curtains). Then the envelope is thrown into the ballot box. Its crack in the meantime is always covered with something (so nothing else can be thrown in there). As soon as the envelope is "submitted" the ID is returned and the voter leaves.

Yummy :)

It is not allowed to have more than two people waiting before the booth, the rest of the crowd needs to wait at the door step. Things start getting hilarious when people ask a casillion times if you are responsible for the department δ - κ (delta - kappa --> D - K) and it says it on a huge sign outside the room. Oh well... :) All in all a very fun day. Because I did not want to let the laywers starve (they were not allowed to leave the room) I baked some raisin and nutella snakes :)

Since about 3 weeks we always have a market outside our house on Saturdays. Although it starts quite ealry and is therefore very loud, it is also convenient. This is how it looks like :) Guess what? Of course, I love it!!! :)

#Fun Fact of today#
1. Greeks love hand sanitizer...

1st of May

2012-05-02T02:21:00.000-07:00

Laugh attack

Not only Germans open the BBQ season on the 01/05 and enjoy the day off, so did we.

Waking up at 10 am and blinking at the sun rays, I directly moved from my bed to the balcony to bronze up and just enjoy the morning peace. At 1pm I actually wanted to take the train to Κορινθος (Korinthos), however when I arrived at the train station I had to realize that they had stopped the trains for 24h because of the holiday... kinda put me behind schedule. The plan was to go with some friends to the Vouliagmeni/Ireon Lake and enjoy seafood right by the lake. Luckily a friend of Giorgos was in the proximity and picked me up.

Yianni is not touching the strawberry - no photoshop either ;)

The way to the lake is rather hilly and goes past the sealine of Λούτρακι (Loutraki), so that from the top you can oversee the whole Corinthian Gulf of our area *BREATHTAKING*. Arriving at the lake it was soooo busy; the fish restaurants were packed with people. It took us a while to order (with about 15 people not a surprising). Our appetizers consisted of fresh french fries, greek salads, a marinated shrimp-feta-dish and octopus (which I never had before and will not become one of my favorite: too chewy). After an hour and the consumption of our fellows Ούζο (Ouzo) and Τσίπουρο (Tschipouro) - two typical Greek spirits - I found another two platters standing on our table with spaghetti and lobster (never had lobster before either, quite nice, a little bit the consistency of chicken meat, but again different taste of course).

Nancy and Maria

Dimitris (a good friend of Giorgos) brought some liquor, called Μαστίχια (Masticha), which is only produced on the island of Χίος (Chios). I did not particular like it, but more or less this my dentist's fault (because the taste reminded me of the stuff he uses for fillings...). Already completely stuffed I did not trust my eyes when another TWO platters arrived with a big fresh fish (which kind, I forgot), but definitely the highlight!! *YUMMY* Another hour passed and we enjoyed ice-cream, lemon cake and strawberries. What a feast again!

Together with Nancy (left) - an incredible personality

@ Kalamaki

So after really eating and chatting for at least 4 hours, my watch indicated 6.30pm. We took off to Καλαμακη (Kalamaki) - an area so beautiful and very close to my village here, but I have never been there. We enjoyed coffee and more drinks at a bar right by the sea and watched the sunset.

Special thanks to Dimitris for organizing this and everybody for the great company!!

#Fun facts of today#
1. Greeks almost always share their food. In general they really drink and eat for hours. I love it, because it enhances their eating culture and how much they enjoy the food in combination with good company and away from the rushy attitude to many people have: "I have to eat, because I am hungry, but actually I don´t have any time".
2. Mastic/Masticha, widely known since ancient times for its beneficial and therapeutic properties, is an aromatic resin offered to us by the mastic tree.

1st Swim of the Season

2012-05-02T01:33:00.002-07:00

Still a little cold...

Enjoying

Ok, it is not a secret that all over Europe, it became kind of extremely warm over night. Also in Greece, which is why Benny and I took the opportunity to go for a quick splash into the sea (5 min from our house). It was very refreshing and not at all that cold. The only bad think is that we do not have sand, but little rocks, which makes it very uncomfortable to walk on + some algaes, but regardless it was very nice.

Our GULF :)

Asleep

When we got out of the water, I did not want to leave, because the sun was still out and I felt like laying down. The next thing you can imagine... Right! I fell asleep on a rock (which I could definitely feel afterwards in my back), but definitely worth it :)

To many more dives in the next weeks. I CANNOT WAIT :) *Splashelicious*

#No Fun Facts for this post#

Soccer Game + Ancient Theater + Ναύπλιο

2012-04-24T11:31:00.002-07:00

Go Κορινθο Law Society!

Our agenda from last Saturday.

All law societies of Greece have an annual soccer tournament, where the lottery is drawn and similar to the normal soccer championship different regions play against each other (6 games in total). So last weekend Κορινθοσ played against a another team in Σοφικό (Sofiko) about half an hour South from Κορινθοσ situated in another beautiful landscape different from all others I have discovered in Greece so far (this country is incredibly diverse when it comes to that). So with sunny 23 degrees Benny and I watched them play in the middle of nowhere. Afterwards the other team invited everybody to a fish taverna. Again, great food - only this time seafood. :)

FAVORITE PIC EVER!!!!!!

Time passed quickly and in the late afternoon we continued driving (about another half an hour away from the soccer field) to one of the biggest ancient theaters in Επιδαυροσ (Epidavros), with about 14.000 seats. The acoustics of this really well-preserved theater were amazing. If you stood in the middle of the circle and someone else sat in the very last row, the person speaking at the bottom could be heard crystal clear. Giorgos, Benny and I spent about an hour just enjoying the quite surroundings and observing a meditation group (about 30 people), who sat it the first row not producing a single sound.

Memories... ;)

Still not having enough - but a little tired, our trip led us to Ναύπλιο (Nafplio) - a city where I have been before and which I from now on call MY (Greek) CITY, I simply love it there. So seeing everything for the second time brought back all the memories from the first time. Wandering around triggered amazing feelings of wanting to live this city so many more times. We stopped in a patiserie for some amazing chocolate treats, continued looking around in other small stores and ended up in the taverna where we also ate last time. This time tho, we stayed outside enjoyed chicken, oven pork, salad and delicious fresh-baked bread combined with great conversations.

What can I say? Another FABULOUS day! Thank you to those who were part of it!

P.S. I was the lucky owner of a Spongebob balloon (which I carried with me all the time and tried to brighten up a guy's face, because he looked sad). For those of you who know me, this means like giving me a X-mas present. Thank you!!! :)

#Fun facts of today#
1. I am still convinced that if I die I will die in a car accident in Greece. People really just drive like maniacs.
2. Right now I feel like sending many kisses and hugs to: Flo and Judy in Munich (I wish we could meet for coffee), Crystal and Simon in Australia (CCC-Actions ;)), Michael and Nadine in the Netherlands (We'll rock with RUF this summer), Basti "the Braddler" in Elz/Mainz (you mean the world to me) and of course my family!

Little Bombs...

2012-04-24T10:51:00.001-07:00

If lamb on spit is new to you ;)

In the yard

... I promised you this would be the title^^ (It's supposed to be the word for firecrackers...)

Actually this post is about Easter in Greece, since it is quite different than our/the Catholic Easter. First of all, it is one week later than ours, so this year Easter Sunday was on the 15th here. I had the pleasure to spend it traditionally with a Greek family and what else can I they that I found myself in a very hospitable environment.

Unfortunately, I was sick on Black Friday (still fighting the stomach bug) so unfortunately I missed mass in church - no not just any mass. Even though, I could not attend, I watched from my balcony, since the church of Ag. Theodoroi is right across from my balcony. Numerous people pilgrimed to church this evening at about 9pm. Mass kept going for about one hour and a half, but not all people went inside, many stood outside and listened the priest singing and praying (they were even outide speakers). After the service people came out with candles and walked in form of a parade.

After being totally drugged to my eyeballs with medication (thx again to the person who did this to me^^ - joking - I know you meant well and I appreciated it) I felt a lot better Saturday, so that I could attend a service in ΚΟΡΙΝΘΟΣ (Korinthos). Again, actually we did not go inside the church but waited outside shortly before midnight until the priest told us that the holy light arrived. After this announcement everybody lit their own candle with the light that was passed on from inside the church. I was told that a lot of elderly people keep this light until next Easter; meaning the candle is taken home and shortly before the wax has burned down another candle is lit with the same flame. I mean can you imagine doing this a full year??? Impressive!

Lamb Head

Sunday. Holy Lord! People can say what they want, but Greek people care about food, about good food. The whole day on Saturday people prepared dishes, such as salads, desserts and especially a big lamb that was roasted on the spit all day on Sunday. Guts and other gibs were wrapped around a second spit. What a feast! The leftovers were still consumed the days after, but still tasted delicious. I am very grateful for experiencing this! A special thank you to this family!

Oh yeahh, and because I wanted to integrated a little bit of the Catholic Easter Giorgos had to start looking for treats in his yard ;)

Χρονια πολλα - Χριστοσ Ανεστη

(Chronia polla - Christos Anesti) is what everybody says after the light has been passed on, even days or a week after. It basically means Happy Easter or literally "Best wishes - Christ has risen".

#Fun facts of today#
1. On Black Friday and Easter Saturday the church bell rings about 100 times, sometimes for a full hour. So imagine living across from a church makes you want to cut the bell off (especially when you are sick and your head is pounding more often than the bell is ringing).
2. During the whole Easter weekend, but especially on Friday and Saturday night people spark off firecrackers and let me tell you they are LOUD!!! (On the contrary for New Years Eve firecrackers and fireworks only exist in big cities in Greece)

Θεσσαλονικη

2012-04-14T12:14:00.000-07:00

The past weekend I spent with Benny in Θεσσαλονικη (Thessaloniki) - oh boy what a city...

Arriving in the pouring rain

Balcony View

So Thursday afternoon we left for the airport in Athens and because it is only a 50 min flight it really doesn't take you long to get there. Exiting the aircraft, we stepped in the rain and had much lower temperatures than an hour before. After we waited for the aiport bus, it took us 40 min to drive to the city center and only another 10 min to find our hotel (we first wanted to couchsurf, but nobody could host us): Orestias Kastorias. Location: EXCELLENT. For those of you, who know Aristotellous Square it was maybe two blocks from there. View the balcony view onto some wonderful old ruins we enjoyed the cozy small room, that had everything to one needs (a clean bathroom, a mini fridge, TV, a doublebed with not that much space and ne person always stealing my blanky at night, but ok in general^^). The same night we went out for dinner to some sort of Steak House, I suppose, where we had a salad and an excellent chicken steak. Right after, we went to the bar STAIN across from this restaurant. Speaking of the name of this bar, it is indeed a stain, only very and I mean very young girls where there, dressed up more like whores than suitable for their age and then some old guys just waiting to hit on them. Gross! So we really did not stay there too long; the prices of drinks made us leave even faster... Nevertheless we wanted to celebrated into Benny's birthday at least a little bit, so we enjoyed a smooth cocktail at the Havanna Bar right across from the hotel.

Kamara - @ the famous arch

Benny and the White Tower

Friday, I woke up with sun rays shining through the curtain and it directly made me excited for the day. We walked around a lot this day: from the hotel to Aristotellous Square, to the White Tower, to the University and Radio Station, back to Kamara (famous for its arch), through many little side streets back to the hotel. Then I texted Panagiotis, a contact I made via Couchsurfing and who volunteered to show us around. Just a few hours later I still picture us in a tiny cafe in another tiny side street with him and his friends (Kostas, Giorgos, another Giorgos and Dimitris). All very nice, outgoing and funny people. We had such a great time exchanging cultural and Erasmus experiences that we met up again the same night in a bar, which name I forgot, but it was a very nice area, that I remember (like Kostas told me) was only established recently (the last 5 years) before it was only an old part of town that now turned to be a hip party place. And indeed it became quite crowded after midnight. Ok, as nice as it is to go out there, prices in Θεσσαλονικη in general suck because they are outrageous (small drinks are like €6). So as far as I remember we where home around 5am, so the drinks could have not been that bad ;)

Oh by the way these photos of you are only in here, because you guys insisted on them^^

Giorgos

Panagiotis

Kostas

Saturday, we decided to get a quick breakfast from the bakery before the bus stop to Ανο Πόλη (the old part of Thessaloniki). Of course, besides the bus line we had basically no idea where to hop off. Most certainly you can imagine what happened next?! Yes, what else, we got off way too early and just wandered around. Then we past all the bus stops we could have easliy passed with the bus, but we walked ;) So finally we reached what we thought was the destination and just kept walking around to some old Turkish monastery, which used to be a former prison and is now a heritage landmark.

Overviewing Ανο Πόλη

From there we walked back down to the center, passing a nice park (goofing around and taking MORE pictures) with another wonderful view onto a monastery.

What a palais?!

@ Night

Εxhausted we returned to the hotel took a rest and then met up with CS (couchsurfing) boys for a delicious dinner in a traditional tavern in a place that I found very much hidden. It was only a couple of blocks from the hotel, in the gateway/entrance to what seems to be a building, but there were many small restaurants. Best things always keep being hidden until you stand right in front of them (it's like this with everything in life, I guess...). Another great night of laughter and talking. After the tavern we went to Λαδατικα (Lathatika) another part of town with numerous restaurants, bars and get-together locations. I think I have never seen a city with soooo many place like that. Anyway, we met two friends of Kostas, who went with him on his Erasmus to the Netherlands. Two very kind and pretty girls :)

Koastas and I (little sunburned)

Benny, Panos, Giorgos after food

Sunday, we looked for a new destination. So we decided for 'Εδεσσα (Edessa), famous for its waterfalls and located about an hour and a half bus ride from Θεσσαλονικη. Before we took off we quickly munched some crepes and my big mistake: a sandwich. It turned out later that it was probably the sandwich's fault why I caught a stomach bug that gave me a hard time until now...

΄Εδεσσα

Back to 'Εδεσσα. First we had to find the bus terminal in Θεσσαλονικη, which is located fairly outside the center and looks more like the arrival hall of an airport, but the buses are very much on time and everything works absolutely organized there *LIKE*. On our way (when I was not sleeping - buses always make me tired) I saw wonderful mountains, with still some snow on top, and great nature. 'Εδεσσα itself is on the hillside and not very big, but I can imagine it getting very touristic in the summer months. However, we were there on a Sunday and it seemed... DEAD, not a soul on the street, nobody we could ask for the way. The lady at the bus terminal completely missled us, so AGAIN we wandered around. Oh well, so we got to see at least some parts of this town. Of course, eventually we found the waterfalls, which are indeed flabbergasting. In total we spent about 2 hours there and then headed back. I didn't feel well and stayed at the hotel that night - shame, but nothing else would have helped.

Monday was easy and basically just the journey back home: checking out by noon, taking the airport bus at 3.15pm, boarding at 4.30pm, arriving in Athens at 5.45pm, taking the next train at 6.44pm and arriving at home at 8pm. Why do I still know all this times? I really don't know :)

GREAT TRIP, I would love to see this city again!! Thank you to the CS boys for showing us around, I appreciated everything you did for us. I know we will meet again, one day!

Filakia pola

White Wine with PEPSI

#Fun Facts for today#
1. At the bus terminal in Θεσσαλονικη you have to check in with your seat number in case the bus is full (our was empty) haha.
2. Θεσσαλονικη is really famous for its pastry shops. Try the one at Aristotellous Square, it is always busy but supposedly the best!
3. Greek students are similar to Spanish: instead of red wine they mix white wine with Pepsi. INSANE! (but not at all that bad... ;))

NO TITLE

2012-03-29T03:54:00.000-07:00

It does not feel right to put a title to this entry. Even though, I will write about my amazing weekend, I would like to connect the title to this quote:

"The risk of love is loss, and the price of loss is grief -

But the pain of grief

Is only a shadow

When compared with the pain

Of never risking love."

It hurts to see people, who you love, grieve. There is nothing you can do and nothing you can say that will make it better. Only being there seems to be a slight support...

Ok, in memories of the past weekend and recalling the great experiences for a special someone:

Friday afternoon, after a long working week, I took off to Φενεόσ (Feneos), located south-west from Κορινθοσ (Korinthos) and over an hour to drive. The way that leads to all these little villages is very very curvy, so my car sickness kicked in quite often, but because it is surrounded by such a beautiful landscape (mountains with snow, acres and in general untouched nature) it is definitely worth it.

Our little tree house

Balcony view

We stayed...wait for it... in a...wait for it... TREE HOUSE! Yes, not kidding. Ok, to some of you it actually might look more like a gardening hood, but it was simply adorable with a tiny bathroom, just a bed and a nightstand and a great "balcony" overviewing the mountains. The thing I really missed most: Silence. Not a tone of the every daily life, not a car or highway sound, nothing! Just nature and a pure world to espace into.

Arriving in Πονοραμα (Panaroma), village of the tree house, early evening, we were certainly hungry and went straight for food in Γοθρα (Goura) the main village of this area. Giorgos, of course, knew the people and it was a nice chatty-evening. The owner gave me his Κομπολοι (Koboloi) to play with and I discovered that it is really not that easy, but you learn quickly and then it becomes like an addiction. :) It was very funny, because I could observe how addicted the owner was. He gave it to me and then took it back, but after 15min he returned giving it to me and the same happened a couple of times. The food in this Ταβερνα (Taverna) was great. We had grilled feta cheese, rooster with homemade french fries (with potatoes of the region), veil with spaghetti and a huge salad. Delicious!

It is just great when you go to a traditional Ταβερνα, because they do not give you a menu, but just tell you about five dishes they can make for you and then you decide from there. Just when we had our food the door popped open and Kristos and Isabel walk in (good friends of Giorgos from Korinthos), what a coincidence. That is how the night went even better, with more company, laughter and traditional Schnaps that comes close to Grappa, but I forgot the name now.

@ The lake

Saturday, we slept in and enjoyed a very tasty breakfast with homemade butter, bread and cake, fresh squeezed juice and other goods. Taking a ride around the lake that is located in the valley in between the mountains, we bought walnuts, crunchy bread flavored tomatoe-oregano and a huge loaf of bread from a local bazar. There is a tiny old monastery located IN the lake and until a couple of years ago people got married in there. I can really imagine why, since the scenery around is so stunning.

We started down there...

It started with 1 flower...

After this we started our hike. Basically, we had no idea where we were going. We just randomly picked a mountain (we could see from the tree house) and decided we wanted to hike up there, ignoring the fact that there was still snow up there and besides hiking shoes we didn't have any proper equipment.

Half way

On top (we originally wanted to climb the mountain in the back)

At then end it was of course not that mountain we picked, but a smaller one right next to it about 1600m high. We followed red dots and white-red barrier tapes to the top. The last stretch became very dangerous in fact, because we were not going to the other mountain's top we had to leave the track and started ourselves. Nevertheless, we made it and had great fun on our way, taking soooo many pictures. Our way down took only about half of the time, so in total we had a nice 5-hour-hike.

Binoculars

Not having enough we drove to the famous monastery, located about 300m from the lake. This monastery was taken apart from a different location in the beginning of the 18th century and built up again on this mountain. Priests still live there and give mass. On the first floor visitors can try something similar to rose jelly, that is made by one of the priests. It is very sweet, but has a incredible intensive flavor. Binoculars made it possible to spy over the region and follow other hikers from the distance... very interesting^^.

Way to the enterence

The cliffs

At night we were so exhausted that we only went for food to a different Ταβερνα and went home to sleep. Sunday morning we woke up with the rain. Of course, we forgot that time changed that night and were quite surprised when it was 11.30 am all the sudden. After breakfast we left Πανοραμα and went to a monastery that is built into cliffs.

View from above the enterance

Yeah, you read competely correctly. What a fascinating view guys, I am telling you, I have no idea where all of the sudden these cliffs appeared, but we came around the corner and there they were, just THERE. The road up to the monastery didn't remind much of a road, but some rubbish and stones thrown together to call it a "way". I was mostly surprised by the soil, which was not brown, but more reddish. So many different types of soils in this area, amazing!

On our way back to Κορινθοσ we drove through many small villages which were all stamped by lemon and orange trees. Almost every inhabitant has his own citrus trees in his garden.

A wonderful weekend and a very special thank you to the person that made it possible!

#Fun Facts of today#

Wanna sip?

Little monument

1. When somebody dies in a car accident people don´t put up crosses (like in Germany). Instead they build a small monument in form of a pilar that often has a little church on top with pictures of the victim in.

2. Most Greek streets only have one lane (even highways). The Greek just make two out of it and have such little space that I have to close my eyes every time a car overtakes one another.
3. There is a tree offering spring water (source)!

Fun and Laughter...

2012-03-19T01:58:00.000-07:00

Oh guys, last weekend has been very relaxing, let me tell you about it...


Triple block (Korinthos)!!!

Friday, Yianni, Giorgos, Benny and I went to see a volleyball match in the proximity of Korinthos. The teams: Korinthos vs. Thessaloniki (with many players from the national team of Greece). It was a fabulous and tight game and even though Thessaloniki should have been better, Korinthos won :)

Exciting hours with great music and such a cheerful atmosphere. I think the playoffs will start quite soon, so we will go more often! Can't wait!!

Afterwards we went for food and a quick game of pool, before we hit a party in a bar not so far away from Korinthos. I sat in Audi TT and almost had you know... an orgasm (thx Petros!!!), apparently I am allowed to drive this baby once very soon, excited! :) But I like the owner too, it's not just about the car...^^

Please don't disturb: SOCCER!

Saturday was dedicated to the shopping mall close my the metro station: Neratziotissa. Benny and I enjoyed a delicious frozen Greek joghurt with fresh berries at the beginning and then went three-story-maniac shopping. A lot of fun, funny faces and gossipping. We finished off at Ruby Tuesday's, an American franchise restaurant in style of an American diner. Benny could hardly believe his luck that they broadcasted the soccer game Dortmund vs. Bremen so he enjoyed his shrimp platter even more :) Besides that I think it was one of the first Saturday night's where we stayed in and really didn't do anything. Well - shopping is quite tiring.

YUMMY :)

Yesterday, best day ever! Sun. 18 degrees. Golden day. Went to Korinthos around noon and enjoyed the whole day on the terrace of our favorite pub Soul, got tanned and started developping a great business idea...

Nothing more to say for now!

#Fun facts for today#
1. In case of a funeral people slowly walk (they don't drive) behind the funeral car. It looks like they pilger to the cemetery.
2. A Greek cemetery looks very different from any I have seen so far. All grave stones are white and point in one direction. Moreover there are almost no flowerbeds on the grave itself (which are huge) and almost every grave has an integrated glass wall where old pictures of the burried person are in.

I < 3 Ναύπλιο

2012-03-15T11:56:00.002-07:00

Overviewing Nafplio

Ok, this post was supposed to appear here a lot earlier, but I encountered some difficulties with the pictures, which are still not available, because the memory card does not fit into my card reader (guess what? My camera broke...), but I promise they will follow as soon as I have them on my harddrive.

Anyway, so here is the story, before I forget. There is already too much to tell, so that I will probably forget half of it.

1st breakfast outside this year

Last Friday I left to go to Ναύπλιο (Nafplio), the former capital of Greece (very touristic) and located about one hour south from Κορινθος (Korinthos). It was a great opportunity to just get away for a couple of days and see something else. Those days priceless!!! We stayed in a very nice suite located on the hill overlooking Ναύπλιο. The interior was very modern combined with the typical style of the city (olive dark wood and something similar to sand stone). Every day a woman brought us a breakfast basket with delicious goods (toast, croissants, cake, oranges, clementines, jam, ham&cheese, milk, orange juice, cereal and other biscuits) which we ate on the balacony one day :)

Greek coffee

Friday night was fanastic. After we left the suite we went to the city to have dinner and stopped at a typical Greek ΤΑΒΕΡΝΑ (tavern) eating delicious salads, great olive oil dunked grilled veggies, some traditional meat balls and finished off with Greek coffee and a sweet that looked like a cube dipped in confection sugar but not all that sweet. Oh my God, but Greek coffee my new favorite!!! The next day we went to a café called Εσ Αει (forever) where the owner let me look behind the bar how it is made.
So instead of pressing loose powder into a piece of metal and inserting it into a machine, loose coffee powder is put in a small metal pot. This pot is placed onto a sandcovered hot plate where the temperature is constant and lower than from a regular coffee machine. When the coffee is poured into the cup a lot of coffee dregs stays at the bottom. The taste is overall milder than normal coffee, but it still pumps my veins ;) I am very grateful for this experience!

yeah...this is not a dumpster but the trashiest and coolest bar ever!

BUT... back to Friday night, of course the night did not finish after dinner. Walking around the city made us discover small shops in even smaller streets with even smaller owners ;) At some point we went past a bar and paused with the next step. Giorgos and I looked at each other not believing what we just saw. Taking a few steps back we discovered a "bar" called λάθος (which means "wrong") and indeed I think there was nothing more WRONG in this bar that it could be. So much trash I have never seen in my entire life, seriously, if one had to move out, three containers would have not been enough!! From an old laundry machine, to ancient film equipment, to wooden objects, to a complete trashed up bar (where the bartender woman could barely look up from), to the most funniest thing: a MOVING leg of a store window mannequin!!! Hystrical, I am telling you!!! The owner probably completely out of his mind made the funniest comments about his bar and ended up singing to tunes Giorgos produced with an acustic guitar (I was sooo impressed). BEST NIGHT EVER!!!

I so want to go back to this city, it has so much to offer!!!

P.S. Ναύπλιο is also famous for the creation and production of κομπολόι (Komboloi) the string made of amber pearls (I told you about in one of my previous posts). I found out that people here use it to first of all calm their nerves, but also because they believe that amber is good for their health.
P.S.2. On the way back from Ναύπλιο I saw an orange stand where they sold 12kg of oranges for €3!!

# Fun facts for today #
1. The best olive oil comes actually from Greece and not from Italy, what I always thought. Truth is, in order to be able to sell olive oil it needs to have an acidity content of less then 1%. Italy and Spain have always over 2%, which is why they are not allowed to sell it (this way it could only be used for frying). Therefore, they import olive oil from Greece to mix it with theirs to be able to sell it. Pay attention next time you go to an Italian restaurant and the olive oil, often served with bread in the beginning, tastes a little bitter...

Gotta fly high!!! :)

2. Street signs, e.g. the triangle with a predestrian or "caution - right of way" are not white with a red edge like in Germany/Netherlands/France, but they are yellow inside.
3. When people are angry or telling each other to get lost they often use the middle finger. The Brits however often use their index finger and their middle (palm facing the body). Why? After the British conquered the French, they took the remaining soldiers as slaves and cut off their index and middle finger. In order to express their disgust they showed them these two fingers, because they were not able to do so anymore. So better think twice before you raise these two fingers next time you are in the UK ;) !
4. Why do waiters keep one hand on their back when they pour out wine (or any other drink) from a bottle? Orignially, this comes from the Roman times. People were afraid to get poisoned, with the waiter´s one hand on his back they believed this was not possible. In addition they clinked their glasses so hard that a little bit of content would swap into the other persons glass (and vice versa).

το αγγούρι...

2012-03-05T05:27:00.001-08:00

@ Hotel Caravel in Athens

... means cucumber and is my new favorite Greek word. On Friday night I went to Corinthos to a conference about 'Tourism Development' in Loutraki, which was interesting and I felt rather important meeting people like the vice major of Loutraki and the representative for the Chamber of Commerce and president of a successful sport association. At some point during the next weeks we will have meetings with these people just named and try to convince them of our proposal for city branding in Loutraki. For those of you, who study at NHTV a few words probably sound very familiar - so yes we are indeed doing something that has to do with what our university offers (I would have not expected it myself...). Anyway, afterwards I went out for (originally) a quick bite to eat, which ended up taking almost 3 hours anxiously learning the Greek alphabet.Well, now guess what? το αγγούρι was my first word (not for the sense some of you might interpret now^^). I still find it difficult to read or say things, but I always get very excited when somebody asks me to spell a word in Greek. Yet I have to learn the meanings of the words as well... will see how far I get in 4 more months.

Exactly!!! 1 (!!!) month is already over, went my like nothing and I am still in trance of what I have experience already and yet there is so much more to come.

On Saturday was another presentation we had to attend, then went to our favorite bar/café Soul sipping some Muscato (sparkling wine) and a Freddochino (iced cappu). Of course we got hungry at some point and went to a Crêpe House after words, where some yummy Crêpe with chicken, lettuce and parmesan was waiting for me. Meeting up with some more friends we went to Mojo, which is a bar for people between 30 and 50 actually. When you enter you first have to get used to the very dimmed light (almost dark) and very much like a living room atmosphere. The waitress was probably the unfriendliest one I have ever seen in mz entire life and I was pretty close to tell her: "She better quit her job if she wants to earn one penny in her life by not being a complete customer service brick."

Fish in a Suhsi Bar

Girogos

Sunday afternoon we left for Athens to attend a presentation concerning Network Marketing which offered a new possiility, one just has to grab... will see about that. Nonetheless, a very nice night, which ended in Sushi with Giorgos, Petra and Vaso. Admiteedly, just by driving through Athens, it is not a nice city and looks pretty much like how I imagine Paris in the 18th century. Nevertheless, the hotel, where the conference was held at, was quite nice and called Caravel.However, everything deserves a second chance so I guess, we will go there again to take a closer look at the city, but one says "First impressions don't change...".

#Fun facts for today#
1. I think, Greek either use the wrong tooth paste or non at all - why? Well take an educated guess!
2. People in Athens go out to dinner even later then people in Corinth - the Sushi bar in Athens started filling up around 10.30pm.

A brief glimpse into my "Carnival-Weekend"

2012-02-27T10:09:00.003-08:00

Petra (my boss) and I

Chris Ninos

Writing their own lyrics unfortunately in Greek :(

Last week was sort of busy - I mean not really - since I am still filing data, but every now and then I get a pretty cool assignment or tiny project in between. So this weekend was "different". On Friday night we had to go and see a venue in Loutraki where three rockbands performed. The first one YesterGaze started at 7pm (with covers of Red

Yiannis, Giorgos, Ben

Hot Chilli Peppers, Metallica etc.), however, we were already there at 5pm and just stood there, talking to the other band and trying to kill time... it was an outside venue and the sound check and the rest of the set up was dealt with by a local technician. ORAMA was the band we had batches for and came to support. Basically they consist of five band members aged 17 and 18 years - all very humored and funny. The last artist Chris Ninos perfromed another 40min with more Pop and Rock, but nice to listen to. Afterwards we went again to Waves with my boss, two other women and Benny. From there Giorgos picked us up and we went to Kenzo another great cocktail; the bartender really knew what he was doing.

"HihiHaha"

Saturday, we had to start working at 10 am to help setting up a performance from two artists from Athens. A children's play "HihiHaha" in the Cultural Center of Agoi Theodoroi dealing with two teenage, naïve girls taking a journey in a hot air balloon. The audience (about 40 kids) got so anxious and excited when they are actively included in the play that it was really fun to watch - again I just wished I could have understood it, but besides the body language I didn't. Shortly before the play started I had to run to the office an create a song list for a dance contest after the play, I think this will be something very nomral in my future - to arrange things very last minute. It might seem small to you, but even the smallest missions give an adrenalin kick :)

Yeah, I am wearing a pink WIG

Now - yesterday was rather interesting. From 11am until 2pm we had to face paint children - well actually another woman and I did and Benny taught children how to juggle. On the square in front of the church we simply sat on the wall with a few paints and brushes, sponges and glitter. I totally lost track of time, since I was so focused on children's faces and the design they wanted. I have only done face painting once before and it only involved small flowers and some girlie designs. So there you sit with very excited kids, who actually never sit still and always want to look in the mirror or want to show the progress of their beauty (that's at least what they think...) to their friends or parents. Nevertheless it was great fun and I would always do it again. The smile of every kid afterwards is so worth it!!!

After 2 pm we rushed back to the office (just 5min walk) and had to get dressed into our clown costumes. Again we were a group of about 12 people which had to get their faces painted - here we go so I wasn't done yet. Around 3.30pm we took a march to the beginning of the carinval parade where we had spot to walk. For about an hour we slowly walked through the main road of Agii Theodoroi and enjoyed the crowd (there were a couple of thousands of people, which felt like the village would explode since it is usually so empty). One more thing I gotta tell you (Ben don't hate me now ;)): The son, 14 years old, of my boss, thought it was a good idea to help Benny find a girlfriend. So he drew a sign, which said in Greek: I am Benjamin and I am looking for a girlfriend, call me *and then his number*. He really held the sign in front of him and we cracked some jokes about it!! :)

Our walking group

Compared to the German Karneval it is very different though. There is a parade with different walking groups and also some trucks, which carry big figures or just signs, but no alcohol or candy is distributed to the crowd and instead for throwing confetti to the people, they throw it at you! In the middle of the parade were two girls with mics, who announced every group and said something about them (also not happening in Germany). A small concert took place when the parade finished, again with ORAMA. However, because we wanted to go to Corinth Ben and I only saw a little bit of it and then left to discover the "leftover" from a slightly bigger parade in Loutraki (a lot more people and parties in clubs and bars). Another nice night out! :)

# Fun facts for today #
1. Yesterday 17 degrees sunshine, today 7 degrees and rain
2. Today is Clear Monday a holiday (nobody works) celebrated because it is 40 days before Easter

Είμαι είκοσι τέσσερις

2012-02-21T02:16:00.001-08:00

Dinner party

... means in Greek "I am 24". This way I want to thank everytbody for giving me a thought, dedicating a post/letter/call/text or some personal hours. After work we went to Korinthos and went to a very nice restaurant. Just to describe it real quick: when you enter there is a big room with a high ceiling and woooden floor a well as the bar; if you turn to your right several steps (more like a half-round amphitheater) lead down to a second seating area with a fire place. It felt strange when we came in, because everyone from the lower level was looking up at you, but as soon as I was sitting next to the fire place and other people came in, I felt how I looked up automatically. This might sound irrelevant and strange to some of you, but just a crazy feeling I had (not sure if the owner thought of the psychologic side effect when he built it).

@ OR

Giorgos invited some people, so about 10 people showed up and we enjoyed some fun hours together, sharing food (typical Greek vegetable apparently - which I am still convinced was just Spinach ;)), getting a very nice birthday cake *yummy* and laughing together. The day ended at a bar called Or. What a cool place - let me tell you: completely white, about 100 degrees in the there (more like a living room feeling) and 4 people including the DJ. The inside walls were round-shaped and had several niches in the room, which created corners where you just talk. The place was not big, but because it appeared like an igloo it had style and was rather trendy. Even with not many people I had a blast!
Thanks to everybody who was there that night!

Again: Stupidity @ train station

Ok, what else? On Friday we joined a gym in Korinthos, called Vibes, great fitness center, not too big, very nice people, no anabolic bricks and a great atmosphere to work out close by the sea. We paid 140 Euro for 4 months - not too bad after all, since it includes also a sauna and very new machines. The downside is that it is in Korinthos in the Center (meaning first taking the train then walking about 40 min and the same back), but oh well - keeps you active and there is something to do after work. Speaking of work, we are still filing data, a little boring, but in a few weeks we can organize are own event, so Benny and I are very much looking forward to that. :) This weekend we have some Carneval events coming up in our little village (so yeah it is not going to be Cologne or Mainz...) with face painting, a carneval parade and a small rock concert, will see how that goes. Of course I will keep you posted.

# Fun fact for today #
When Greek people sit in the train or even in a café they play with something that looks like a string with several pearls/marbles and they swing it back and forth over their index finger and it makes clickclickclick. Pretty annoying if you keep paying attention to it - an the other hand also fascinating when you see three people talk and each of them doing this. I guess it goes for relaxation or multitasking ;)

Observations

2012-02-15T06:54:00.001-08:00

Unfortunately, the Internet in our apartment stopped working since the beginning of the week; meaning I could not post earlier. Apparently, it has to do with a "power failure" and according to my employeur's son the connection will work again, when there will be another "power failure", very logical! ;)

Since we already talking about logic, here is what I observed about the Greek way of driving cars or parking. When a Greek driver wants to park, instead of using the turning light, they use their emergency lights. Why? I don't know. Next: when they come to a crossroad and have quite some speed, they just quickly honk, so that the other car knows that they are coming, in case the person to the right has actually the right of way. - Well, it's a way of driving, I guess. Oh yeah and a speed limit basically does not exist (cap driver on a country road drove 160km/h without moving a muscle, I just closed my eyes and prayed) --> Sorry Mum, but I am fine!

What else? Oh, the trains. In general, I think, the DB (German train company) should learn a thing or two from the company here, because if they are not striking (no wonder with the current politic situation) they are always on time. Weird are the prices: for one stop, about 7 min ride, it's 3 EUR, but going to Athens airport, about 1hr10min, it's only 8 EUR.

Getting ready to look all business

Ok enough observations for now. Last weekend we had to attend a presentation (Saturday). Not so easy if you don't understand one word of Greek. The average age of the people was probably about 60, but they were nice, well at least that is my assumption since I did not understand their language. The presentation was given in a hotel, totally stuck in the 80s and freezing cold, but apprently it is running quite well during the summer months (not quite sure about that).

Too much coffee leads to INSANITY

On Sunday we went out with Yannis, a very good friend of Giorgos. He showed us more cafés and bars. A very cool place was Waves, located right next to the casino in Loutraki. We played UNO at Café Deluxe at the Korinthian Gulf and had some nice Iced Cappuchino. Other than that we went to watch a soccer match in a German pub called Allemania. The owner, German (husband Greek), was very nice and they had many German beers, which makes you feel a little bit at home. Their Schnitzel was incredible, I have probably not eaten a better one in Germany. After that Yannis invited us to his house, a very nice and cosy place, where we watched first a basketball game (Olympiacos against Panathinaicos) and then a volleyball game.
Thanks for the hospitality, great time/FUN! =)

More pictures will follow soon (I first have to wangle off some of Benji's pics) ;) So keep in ttttooooooouuuuch!!!!!

Thanks to "Couchsurfing"...

2012-02-05T17:32:00.000-08:00

@ Agoi Theodoroi train station

... I finally met Giorgos. Well actually Couchsurfing was the first connection, because I wanted to meet new people here as soon as possible. On Saturday it was time to meet in person (we took the train for 3 euros one way for a 8 min train ride) and to be honest it is strange to see somebody for the first time and having the feeling to know him all you life. Giorgos is a great person, he showed us several bars in Korinthos, the closest bigger city from Agoi Theodoroi, about 20km away. We started of in a lounge Como, which just opened a couple of months ago and one of his friends was the DJ there that night. Then we moved on to a bar called Soul Kitchen which had some very tasty sparkling white wine (I think Muscato) and a sort of triangle bar in the middle of the room; I think this was my personal favorite that night. After that we went to cocktail bar Lemon, where

Giorgos, Benny and I at Como

Enjoying the snacks

I had the best White Russian in my entire life (sorry Flo, but you really have to try it, WOW). In every bar they serve water and snacks with your drink, which is good and makes you enjoy everything even more. I must say, I very much enjoy the lifestyle here. People love to talk, enjoy their nights without getting deliberately wasted, doll themselves up (the girls a little too much, but it is nice to watch). The Greek tend to go out a lot later than in the Netherlands or Germany. Here, they usually start their Satuday night's out around 12.30. The same counts for dinner, which is usually taken around 8 pm (half of the time, I would probably starv until then ;))

Fresh homemade bread :)

Between sun and rain *Gorgeous*

Today we slept in and enjoyed a good first lunch in our apartment and went to Korinthos again in the afternoon. First, a little walk along the sea and some interesting facts about the Greek history. Then we went to a quite exclusive café/bar in Loutráki packed with styled and posh people.

Benny trying very hard

A free outside gym, great idea!

We spent some hilarious hours with two other friends of Giorgos which where a pleasure to meet. So much fun!!! By the time we got out of there it was probably almost 7.30 when we discovered the outside gym right in front of the café. Of course we had to try all machines, seriously what a great idea, I have never seen this before.

Sushilicious!!! :)

Afterwards he showed us the biggest Casino in Europe the Club Hotel Loutráki. We did not gamble but enjoyed a free buffet (just to kill our appetite and not to waste the coupon we had) and an even better Sushi dinner afterwards. YES, I did eat Sushi, Mum, no idea what made me do it, but it was good. The waitress was amazing and had us try so many dishes and desserts that we almost rolled out of there. :)

The night ended with a birthday party in a pub called Jimmy's. A friend of Giorgos turned 30, so we spent the last hours celebrating with her. Just another great day :) I am very grateful to have learned again more about the Greek culture and its people! In general I think I have never met somebody who knows so many people and has such a big network. Within two days Benny and I have met so many new people and seen many fun and interesting places.

THANK YOU for sharing these experiences with us!!! :)

When you start with a 120 Euro cap ride, you know Greece needs money...

2012-02-04T09:37:00.000-08:00

@ FRA

Benny arrived at my house Thursday evening fom Berlin, stayed over for one night and we started our journey at 3 o'clock on Friday. Arriving at Frankfurt airport I was pretty nervous, because I knew my luggage was overweight: 20 kg for checked-in bags and 8 kg for carry-ons would have been normal. We had both 23 kg, but the man was nice and did not say a word. However, my backbag had 13.5kg, fortunately I could store the rest in Benny's carry-on. *Uff* on problem solved.

Living Room

Next, we heard that our plane was half an hour late. Actually not too bad, but we only had one hour in Athens from touch down until our train would have left, so half an hour was kinda crucial. Indeed we missed the train by 4 min and it was the last train. After double-checking with our boss there was no othe solution than taking a cap. The taxi driver was insane. His driving skills led to driving between the lanes and not knowing his way in Agioi Theodoroi. Finally, we met Petra, our future employer, who brought us to the apartment.

Kitchen

Toilet No1

Laundry Room

Bathroom No2

My Room

The moment I feared most had come. When the door opened my sight fell into a very clean living room and a big kitchen. My room has a huge closet and we have two bathrooms. Different than expected we DO have a washing machine and do NOT have to go down the street :). The funniest thing is, and I really still do not understand, we cannot flush the toilet paper!!! Anyway... we have a balcony which goes around our whole apartment which is great!! *LIKE* The office is located in the basement, so we literally only have to walk downstairs in the morning (my first working day starts upcoming Monday at 10.00).

Our balcony with ocean view :)

In general it looks nice here. This morning I woke up with the sun and it was 17 degrees, a thin jacket was absolutely enough to walk around in. Acceptable tread compared to freezing -20 C yesterday in Germany.

Since we did not bring much to eat (too much extra weight) we were starving today. Our boss told us yesterday that there was a bigger supermarket not far from here, so we took a walk and after 2km we found it. Inside, our mood went down immediately: the prices here are OUTRAGIOUS!!!! Forget, what I said about the Greek probably don't even notice their crises, just like we didn't when we had it. Bullshit. Frozen pizza for almost 7 euros, joghurt for 3 euros and 1 kg chicken breast for also almost 9 euros. Rediculous! I think there is a LIDL close by, which we have to find soon. However, it is not so easy to find things here, because most of it is in Greek. Oh, well...

<--- All this was 70 Euros, @ Appi Hein or any German discounter it would have been maybe 40 Euros :(

The penthouse is ready, what about the rest?

Watch the shadows ;)

Tonight we will meet somebody I made contact with beforehand via "couchsurfing". He lives close to Korinthos and will show us around. I am very excited to meet him and am certain that he will give us a lot of inside knowledge to get around a little bit more efficiently ;)

Filakia (=kiss in Greek)