1979 Greece (8/16-21/1979)

Thursday, August 16, 1979

We managed to wake up in time for the Brindisi station. In the station, a dozen guys directed us to the ticket windows for the Eurailpass information. At the window we were told to go to a travel agency two blocks away for information on the boat to Greece. Once we arrived there, they told us we had to go to the waterfront travel agency to get our tickets. Once that was accomplished we were sent to customs farther along the waterfront to get our passports stamped. Then we found out that the boat left from a dock even farther along, but it wouldn't leave until 20:00, and boarding began at 18:00. We had the whole day to spend in “wonderful” Brindisi. We ate our 7-course meal (peanuts, chips, etc.!) at 11:00 (having had breakfast at 6:00 or so) in a nearby park, and did a lot of people- and dog-watching. We went off in search of food to take on the boat and ended back at the train station for a WC stop. On our way back to the dock, we stopped in a couple little stores for food, and had a soda at a sidewalk café to kill some time. That was all good to use up a couple hours of the long day!

We decided to wait at the dock, napping, catching up on correspondence and this journal. Finally we joined the big crowd piling onto the big boat, where one fellow took our embarkation stubs, another our tickets, another some customs forms, and yet another our passports (to be retrieved in the morning). We climbed to an upper deck (past the bar and swimming pool!) and found ourselves a spot near the warm-air blower and the restrooms (with showers!). We were joined by hundreds of others, including our immediate neighbors, the “three Musketeers,” who had nothing to do but watch us. We explored the boat a little, ate our “bag dinner,” and Kathy borrowed a guitar for a while. We slept using our bags as pillows, but others had sleeping bags, and one couple had cots with inflatable mattresses!

Friday, August 17, 1979

Our three dear neighbors decided to have a party or something at 5:00, so we were awakened early. We spent the morning in the sun on deck watching Greek islands and oil-spills go by. Arrived in Patras about 13:00 local time, an hour ahead of Italian time, after a 16-hour boat trip. In Patras we marched down to the railroad station and made reservations on the 14:00 train. We ate our lunch, and noticed at nearly 14:00 that there was still no train. A fellow Eurail-Passer then informed us that the trains were on strike and the reservations were for the bus! So we hurried out the other entrance to board the bus. It was a three-hour trip to Athens, and we passed some great blue-colored waters, olive groves, and numerous ports. We crossed over the extremely deep Grand or Corinth Canal cutting across the isthmus of Corinth. The bus driver turned on the radio that played old English songs (circa The Beatles era). The boat from Italy also played music over loudspeakers; Italian in the evening and Greek in the morning.

We arrived in Athens at 17:00 to go hotel hunting. The first hotel had a room but no breakfast or bath. Other hotels were full, finally found one offering a bath, so we took it. We could have paid extra for breakfast, but the proprietor himself said we would be better off getting breakfast on our own! After cleaning off a week’s worth of grime, we set off towards the Acropolis to see the “Sound and Light” show. We received a few comments along the way which we are assuming is typical of Mediterranean men. In the open theater we figured nearly everyone had to be English-speaking because of the spaces left between groups of people.

Sound and Light ticket

The show was a historical narration while the appropriate buildings on the Acropolis were lighted up. Lots of people were taking flash photos of the Acropolis that was across the valley! Afterwards we made our way to the Plaka, the exciting part of town, full of restaurants, roof gardens, and cafes featuring live authentic Greek entertainment, and also a lot of discos. Public-relations type men were trying to herd people into their own particular nightspots. One fellow told us he had a table reserved especially for girls. We ran into a couple wanting us to take their photo. They were Italian and we had a short conversation, and it turned out we both used to work just outside Torino, and now they live in Brazil. Probably works for the B family! We found an out-of-the-way outdoor restaurant under an arbor of grapevines and decided to try moussaka as we watched Greek dancing and heard Greek singing (including Greek renditions of English songs?) along with a band that did a fantastic “Zorba the Greek.” One dance involved the patrons and snaked through the tables. When we were ready to leave, one of the waiters wanted us to order more Cokes “just for him.” We made our way to the hotel. Earlier that afternoon after checking in at the hotel, the phone in our room rang. Kathy picked it up and a voice in English asked, “What is your name?” Kathy repeated her answer twice before the voice thanked her and hung up. We hoped it was the absent-minded clerk who probably forgot what room he had put us in.

Saturday, August 18, 1979

We woke up late at 10:30 and quickly got ready for the day’s exploration. We set off towards the Acropolis, but got sidetracked at a “flea” market in permanent buildings where we also bought cheese pies for breakfast. We ended up at the entrance to the  Agora, so went ahead and entered.

Agora ticket

Temple of Hephaestus at the Agora

View of the Acropolis from the above temple

Agora Museum in the restores Stoa of Attalos

Saw a little old Byzantine church with original paintings and neat little windows.

View of the Church of the Holy Apostles, the Stoa and the city of Athens

We started hiking up towards a prominence from where we wanted to photograph the Acropolis, but our way was impeded by a flasher. We went in the other direction and ended up at the prominence anyway. The stairs to the top of this mass of rock had been polished until slippery by constant foot traffic. It was safer to go up barefoot rather than to fall down the steep unprotected (no handrails) stairs. We arrived at the Acropolis after purchasing a tiny 75-cent Coke (which was worth it because it was so hot and humid).

Acropolis ticket

The Acropolis

We had heard the Greeks consider this spot sacred, so we understood the Greek’s side when a woman tourist put up a great fuss because they wouldn't let her dog enter. At the main temple, the Parthenon, there were guards to whistle people off.

Kathy in front of the Parthenon

We also went to an outlook to see Hadrian’s Arch, the ruins of Zeus’s temple, and the Theater of Dionysus.

Hadrian's Arch at the front of the open area of the ruins of the Temple of Zeus

Kathy and the Theater of Dionysus

Temple of Athena Nike

Hadrian's Arch

Kathy saw a fellow Peace Corps volunteer there for the second time, the first time being at the post office at the foot of the Acropolis where they were impressed by the number of postcards we had. Kathy and I went into the museum to see pieces of sculpture (including many with faces with broken noses), frescoes, vases, etc.

Acropolis Museum ticket

After taking a look over the side into one of the theaters, we returned to the hotel. Along the way we stopped to buy candy bars at one of the many little candy/newsstands that also had public telephones. Back at the hotel we took a siesta.

View from the hotel balcony towards Omonia Square

Every time we picked up or left off our key at the hotel, there was a different clerk, a total of seven different guys so far. Anyway, when we awoke, it was time for dinner. We went back to the Plaka being invited into various night spots. We found another out-of-the-way place with a harried old fat waiter looking ready to have a heart attack. We tried souvlaki and stuffed grape leaves, neither tasting as we expected. There was the usual entertainment like the previous night. But tonight we had the added entertainment of impromptu dancing on stage by various patrons. They took the stage one by one during breaks by the “professionals,” but later the stage looked like a dance floor. The restaurants always had fine cloth napkins given to you in plastic wrapping. They came in handy for Greek folk dancing! We like to believe you were supposed to have a cigarette dangling between your lips if you danced. Again there was a labyrinthine dance which snaked between the tables. We were invited to join, but were too shy! Some of the impromptu dancers looked like zombies, as if they would fall over if someone sneezed. Their shuffling gave us the impression that Greek dancing would be easy to learn! On our return to the hotel, we received the usual stares and comments, plus one guy washing his car asked where we were going and told us we weren't nice not to answer. At the hotel we dropped into bed. Suddenly we heard a couple loud bangs or thuds, and moaning. Then there was screaming and crying, all coming from the room next door. It went on for quite a while and the yelling was joined by another voice. Later there was more door banging, yelling and crying, but it finally quieted down.

Sunday, August 19, 1979

Woke up a little earlier this morning, at 9:30 and we set off for a Greek island of which we vaguely had heard many great things. We first went to some stores to get supplies for lunch. One English-speaking proprietor was very friendly, putting an arm around Kathy’s shoulder and patting my face. We got an ear of roasted corn for breakfast. We took the Metro to the port of Piraeus where we travel-agency hopped until we found the floating tub that would take us to Salamis.

View of a Greek island

The boat rocked rather violently at times in the waves. We passed by the huge port seeing ships from many different countries including the USSR. Most were Greek shipping magnates we assumed, but generally many were old and rusting, and listing. One old ship looked half-sunk. Our boat pulled up to one island dock then immediately pulled away. When it stopped at another dock, we got off with everyone else. We found a sign proclaiming the existence of a beach and went off in search. Our main problem was that we thought the boat was taking us to the town of Salamis, but it took us to the town of Selinia on the island of Salamis! In our search, we ended up walking more than the 7 km distance between Selinia and Salamis. All the way we were getting more than warning honks, mostly from motorcyclists and mopedists. Once in Salamis, a van pulled up with three guys talking away at us. The continued ahead as we suddenly crossed the road, but then they made a u-turn. They passed again in the other direction, asking if we spoke French, German or Italian. We didn't tell them we could speak all three!

We walked out on a fishing pier and saw people at a beach across the cove. We hiked around to this pebble beach and found the water wasn't very clean. We were a bit disenchanted with this supposedly “Zorba-like” island, so went back to the main road to hitchhike back to Selinia. Three men in a car picked us up and took us right to the boat dock, where we got an even worse tub to return to Piraeus. This one bobbed so much, a wave came over the front to soak some middle-aged ladies. From Piraeus we Metro’ed back to the hotel. After cleaning up, we wandered back near the Acropolis to a special theater featuring Greek folk dancing. 

Greek Folk Dance ticket

Each dance seemed to be better than the last. Saw many different types of dancing with many, many dancers, perhaps a total of 36. Then we headed toward the Plaka and were persistently followed by two guys who wanted to know where we were going and didn't respond to being ignored. So Kathy and I neatly about-faced to go in the opposite direction, only to find the two had turned to keep after us. After some corners, we tried another quick u-turn which didn't work. Kathy and I then sat down next to a little old lady sitting in her doorway, and the two continued on, finally leaving us. We went to a roof garden to hear Greek folk music which included a “Japanese” song and Italian communist songs! When we returned to the hotel, we went out on our balcony for people-watching! What a night! We are sure we saw two ladies of the night at work, which means one scored four times averaging nine minutes per trick, while her out-of-it sister took only two, one for 1-3/4 hours! We finally lost our patience in awaiting new tricks and went to bed.

Monday, August 20, 1979

Woke up even earlier, packed, and checked out with yet another clerk who wanted to know if we were having breakfast, in contrast to his “uncle.” We walked to one railroad station, then were directed to another before catching the bus to Patras. The bus stopped in one town along the way where buses were not meant to pass in the streets. Somehow impossible corners were negotiated. Once in Patras we were told the boat to Italy was full and we were put on a waiting list. Being numbers 99 and 100, we didn't know about our chances. We stopped at a sidewalk café for a cheap lunch of moussaka, shish kebob, and a Greek salad. After a long wait and big crowds, it turned out they had enough room for us after all on the 17:00 boat. We had to rush through all the formalities and when we boarded there were no good spots left. We found a corner on the top deck and it’s great for people-watching!

View from the boat

Sunset as seen from the boat

Later went exploring on the boat by myself, in search of a restroom. Managed to find a couple lounges, disco, boutique, and a smoking lounge, but no restrooms! At one point I tried to open a stuck door and was kindly helped by a boat employee. He followed me around a while, and when I was forced to make a u-turn, I ran into him. With a heavy accent he asked, “Do you speek Eenglish?” I said that I did but was looking for a friend, allora, ciao. Later Kathy went off and found the restrooms for us. There was a problem of sex identity as many men came into the women’s restroom. Kathy borrowed a guitar and practiced under a deck light after her pen flashlight started giving out while I was holding it. I was the first to settle down to sleep, and noting that the deck was strangely wet, I laid out my poncho. The sky was perfectly clear, sleeping under the stars! A while later Kathy returned and laid out her poncho. But she felt a cold coming on and wanted to find a place indoors if possible. On her search she ran into the same “Do you speek Eenglish?” boat employee and she couldn't help laughing at him. We did move indoors to sleep out the rest of the night.

Tuesday, August 21, 1979

Early the next morning there was a sudden influx of people indoors. We at first thought the boat had landed and people were readying to disembark, but they were escaping the sudden fierce rainstorm with spectacular lightning and thunder. Our little space was invaded by a group of French kids led by the big brother who seemed to do all the work such as finding everyone a spot to sit, and then he was the one left without a spot. The rain let up and later we glided into port. After getting off the boat we headed directly to the train station in Brindisi, stopping only at a supermarket (U.S. style) for supplies. We caught a train headed to Paris, and were joined by the French group; big brother had found the compartment and brought in the bulk of their backpacks, but he ended up sitting elsewhere. We were later offered orange gin by this big brother when he returned to his flock to eat, and he laughed when we refused thinking we thought it was too early for drinking. We just don’t drink, period! The French group was very exacting in dividing up a wedge of cheese. Big brother told us that we couldn't get to France today because of a train strike, but that didn't bother us, as we were not headed there.

Map of Athens

Next: Naples.