Having had our senses
well and truly tantalised in Istanbul we were cautious in our
excitement at the prospect of returning to mainland Europe. I should
begin and pay homage to the Greeks as a whole. It would be no
exaggeration to say that the Greeks as a civilisation have pervaded
and influenced modern society more so than any other civilization.
Quite the contrast to their current economic turmoil negatively
influencing the global economy and society at large. Nevertheless, as
tourists it quickly became obvious that their laxity at paying taxes
largely stemmed from their slow paced hedonistic lifestyle. Not ones
to shun local customs we were quick to adopt the virtues that
Epicurus preached centuries before and set out to on our own path to
hedonism.
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| The door to paradise! | |
Our first was stop
Santorini, a large island in the Aegan sea. Famed for its volcanic
activity, rugged cliffs and precariously perched bright white
dwellings it truly was a sight to behold. In order to aid
imagination, you're welcome,the mostly white houses are akin to the
snow which caps mountain peaks. Traditionally designed as a defence
mechanism to disorientate wood-be invaders and to cleverly reflect
the harsh ultraviolet rays, the houses are mostly adorned with vivid
blue rooftops. This eye catching white and blue melange combine with
ease and effortlessly yet strikingly straddle the rough terrain. They
also give rise to Greek flag. I should mention that these two colours
are also the stripes for the best football team in my homeland, The
Mighty Kangaroos!
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| Wow! |
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| Wowza! | |
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| WOWWOW! |
Due to
its intimate sea border Santorini is, with good reason, renowned for
its seafood. Easily the best I have ever consumed. Traditionally, I'm
quite conservative when it comes to seafood, however Santorini really
rattled my seafood apathies and I'm now a genuine seafood lover. The
seafood on offer was sublime. A pleasure to eat and a joy to
remember. Fresh, delectable and down right simple. Not to mention the
best setting for a meal I've ever experienced. Restaurants surrounded
a small inlet cum fishing port, with tables literally perched on the
waters edge. For us it was a sight to behold, the most spectacular
dining experience of our lives. For food scraps it was to be their
final resting places as scraps fell off our table straight into the
ocean.
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| Wow! |
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| Can you get any better than this? Seriously? |
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| I won't even write anything for this one... |
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| Or this one... |
Prior to the meal and
eager to work up an appetite, I decided on a dip in the urchin laden
waters of the Aegean sea. Quickly, I de-robed and entered the
pleasantly tepid waters. Having not swum for some time, I was
justifiably excited and freestyled my way to a nearby rock formation.
With excitement definitely having the better of me, I clumsily
grappled with the rocks to hoist myself up. Once up I felt an intense
pain in my foot and looked down to see my foot riddled with barbs. I
now had at least 10 tooth pick sized, echidna like barbs protruding
from my foot. After removing most of the long barbs by hand, I jumped
back in the water and let the salt water work its magic. Finally back
on solid ground, with the cooler water having had an analgesic
effect, I forgot my woes and decided that with everybody watching I
would have one last swim and attempted to dive right in. The
adrenaline of the preceding events must have affected my judgement as
I'd temporarily forgotten that I actually don't know how to dive.
This proved to be an embarrassing and painful mistake as I landed
heavily on my stomach. With everybody roaring in laughter, faces red
like my stomach, I was left to nurse my sore foot and now stinging
stomach.
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| The fateful site of my sea urchin rendezvous! |
The farmland in
Santorini is quite arid and the soil itself is infused with volcanic
ash. Therefore without a lot of imagination it's very easy to
conjure up images of the moon. It quickly became apparent that there
were fields and fields of wooden basket esque crops. From afar, like
craters on the surface of the moon. Surprised and slightly
embarrassed at my naivety - that wooden baskets were woven - I was
quite astounded to see that you could literally grow a basket
straight from the ground. We would later find out that these 'wooden
baskets,' were infact vineyards. In order to protect the grapes from
the unforgiving sun and prevailing winds, ancient forefathers devised
this incredibly ingenious method where the woven nature of the
vineyards ensures that the grapes grow on the inside of the vine and
hence the vines themselves protect the grapes. In short, the wine
itself is a sweet wine. A combination of the volcanic soil, full
maturation of the grapes and natural drying out ensure a wine very
high in natural sugar. A wine so sweet that I can only implore you to
take a swig of maple syrup in order to get a personal insight. Even
as a self confessed sweet tooth I was grasping for water immediately
after downing my pint sized mouthful. Wow.
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| This is a 'vineyard!' |
One of the overriding
things that I have learnt on this trip to date is the importance and
value of good company & conversation around a table of great
food. Greece, for us, excelled in this regard. The food itself is
mostly served as multiple dishes and lots of it. Quite simply, this
means that everybody is sharing and serving each other. A truly great
way to enjoy a meal. Bread and Greek olive oil are usually served
first. Shortly followed by the famous Greek salad. The impetus being
on fresh produce and the best feta you can find. This is generally
followed by some form of dips;tzatiki, caviar dip etc etc. There is a
strong emphasis on seafood such as calamari, octopus and any kind of
white fish are very common. Finally the Greeks love to deep fry
things. One of their most famous dishes/cheese is saganaki. Saganaki
is quite simply deep fried cheese. A guilt inducing, artery clogging
delight to eat. Another staple in the Greek diet is the humble gyros.
Or more commonly souvlaki in Australia. Very cheap, consistent dose
of protein and vegetables and not to mention down right delicious, we
decided early on to consume a gyros a day.
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| Saganaki - deep fried cheese! Our arteries' worst nightmare! |
Even under the dark
cloud of global discontent and wrath of a battle weary European
union, Athens was a surprisingly enjoyable city. At street level,
people seemed unaffected by the rapidly impending exit from the Euro.
The streets, markets and city were filled with an abnormally harsh
but uplifting May sunshine and convivial atmosphere. Kindness was
extended to us wherever we visited. We managed to consume our very
last gyros at an unassuming, filled with locals type eatery. The no
frills nature of the restaurant, whilst appealing, reared its ugly
head when I made my way to the upstairs bathroom. Ostensibly very old
but otherwise quite clean, my instinct was proven correct when I
entered the cubicle only to find that there was in fact no seat on
the toilet - my first personal account of the faltering Greek
economy. Slightly concerned but with literally no other alternative I
took my place on the naked toilet only to find out that this little
restaurant really was upon harsh times as the whole toilet swayed and
groaned under my weight. When times are tough, obviously toilet seats
and bolts to fasten them in situ are amongst the first the things you
do without.
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| Would you like fries with that? |
It goes
without saying that the historical monuments; Pantheon, Agora Temple,
Temple of Zeus, and Panathinaiko
Stadium to name
a few are incredibly interesting, enlightening and pertinent to
modern civilisation. But, for me personally the influence of the
centuries old Greek gods, famous philosophers and their ancient
language are what really stood out. From words like graphophobia or
fear of writing, to symbolism like the rod of Asceplius (the god of
medicine), a snake-entwined staff commonly associated with modern
medicine. Hygieia, the daughter of Asceplius and the Goddess of
sanitation or cleanliness, is incidentally the origin of the English
word, hygiene. These small examples are ancient legacies we encounter
daily yet seemingly take for granted. Excuse my naivety but for Greek
philosophies, culture and language to have permeated so much of our
modern lives and cultures, I found this truly quite incredible.
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| Obviously I only sang the second verse of our national anthem! |
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| Rod of Asclepius. |
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Fortune herself had the
last laugh when I finished one of my books just before we left,
reached into my bag for another book which I'd been lugging around and
waiting to read,
The Consolations of Philosophy. The timing,
place and sentiment of our trip couldn’t have been more fortuitous.
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| Stunning! And Julia looks great too... |
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| It was fun meeting the locals! |
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