The last of our European adventures....part 1!

Hi there! So, despite the fact that we’ve been back home in Aus for almost 4 months now, and the fact that we haven’t posted an update on here for even longer, we’ve still thought ‘What the heck, why not fill in the gaps of our travels so that we can have a complete record of them!?’. So here we are, about to unravel the last few tales of our wow-so-much-fun trip overseas. Strap yourselves in.

When we left you last we were in sunny and bicycle-ful France, satiated with delicious cheeses, crusty baguettes and ever-so-cheap-but-hugely-tasty wine. Our next destination was London, the city of all things grand, royal, and in this instance, Olympic! Thus the grandeur of London was temporarily lost on us as we were about to embark on a a whirlwind, 24-hour trip to this city to watch an Olympic event in person – Day 1 of the men's artistic gymnastics to be precise. Needless to say we were hugely excited about this next part of our adventure, with Jay in particular - being the sports fanatic that he is - almost bursting out of his skin with anticipation. Again, this initial trip to London would be over and done with in just over 24 hours, as we were making our way back to mainlaind Europe the following evening, so we were ready to make the most out of our short detour to the UK.

Our first glimpse of Olympics fever in London

Our Olympics tickets had been mailed to our friends Amy and Charlie’s place, and we were eager to pick them up from there ready for the next day’s event. Or at least that was the plan. The problem, we soon found out, was that no one had actually checked the contents of this said envelope when it had first arrived at their place. Therefore we were quite shocked when we arrived at Amy and Charlie's (via the incredible English Channel train from Paris to London), opened the envelope, and saw that it was not our highly anticipated Olympics tickets which made up the contents, but rather Jay’s Liverpool membership he had ordered a few weeks earlier (which, though not discussed at the time, was also an important parcel he had been waiting on). 

This pup sums up how we felt after opening the envelope

This of course meant that our highly anticipated tickets had not arrived, and since our event was scheduled to begin in less than 15 hours’ time, we were in a spot of bother. And since we had basically made the voyage to London just to see this event, coupled with all of the money we had invested to make this dream a reality, we felt extremely shattered and demoralised. Nevertheless, we had another Olympics-related event to get to that night – the Opening Ceremony Concert Celebration in Hyde Park – so after making a few futile calls to various Olympic ticket hotlines (where we were told we couldn’t be helped), we left Amy & Charlie’s to dance the night away and celebrate the start of the Olympics together with the lovely Kate Devine and Erin Fairlie in Hyde Park.

Shakin' our thang in Hyde Park with Duran Duran, giant ciders, and some rain - a truly  British experience!

Despite the very fun night we had out in Hyde Park (complete with airforce jets flying over at precisely 8:12pm [the year of the Olympics - WOW] with red, blue and white smoke shooting out the back of them in an impressive display of patriotism), we still couldn’t help but feel hugely downhearted. We had even been tempted to go door-knocking at Amy’s block of flats (about 30 homes in all), politely asking her neighbors if anyone had mistakenly taken our precious Olympics tickets. Instead, we ended up agreeing to wake up a bit earlier the next day to check if our tickets had accidentally been delivered to the local post-office. However Jay felt so glum that he decided to turn the alarm off without telling me so that we could have a bit of a sleep-in after our big night out. Unfortunately that plan didn’t work as my trusty body-clock woke me up promptly at 9am (2 hours before our event was to start), and not wanting to give up all hope of finding our tickets just yet, I rallied for us to check out the local post office.

Thinking that we would be back within the hour (a cycling event was being held on the streets outside which we were going to watch), we simply popped some clothes on, grabbed our camera in case anything exciting were to happen at the cycling, and went to the post office with Amy and Charlie in tow to check if our tickets were there. I should reiterate that we hadn’t eaten breakfast, hadn’t brushed our teeth, hadn’t showered, and hence looked rather derelict and scruffy - we were definitely looking forward to getting clean and nourished back at Amy's home asap. 

Once at the post office, the man working there quickly informed us that our parcel wasn’t there, but that we could try ring the one a few blocks away to see if they had been delivered there. After begging him to allow us to use his business phone to call the other post office, he finally, albeit reluctantly, gave in, and passed it over. Still feeling dispirited by the entire situation, Jay could not believe his ears when the person on the other end said that yes, our parcel was in fact at their post office, so after thanking the current gentleman profusely for his assistance, we properly began our wild goose chase for the tickets. It was now 10am, an hour away from our event which was being held on the other side of the city.

This is how the next hour and a bit panned out:

10.05am: arrived at post office huffing and puffing after running a few blocks to get there STAT. Explained what we were after.

10.10am: after a lot of paper rustling and pile-rearranging, the kind old gentleman at the post office found THE HIGHLY ANTICIPATED ENVELOPE. To be honest, I was slightly nervous that this would be a repeat of what had happened 7 hours earlier with the Liverpool envelope, but the Olympics emblem on the front reassured me. And the opened contents confirmed this, our tickets were there - hoorah!!

Eureka!!

10.12am:  We said goodbye to Amy & Charlie and rushed off to make our way to Greenwich. For those of you playing at home, that’s like travelling from North Melbourne Station to Glen Waverley, so there was a huge possibility that we wouldn’t be able to make it to the event in time. Coupled with the fact that the streets were all blocked off due to the cycling event taking place, making a brisk run to the nearest Underground was more challenging than normal. Together with the fact that we had no idea where we were going – luckily we were pointed in the correct direction by friendly locals and we eventually made it to the tube station.

10.20am: Another friendly local cum train inspector explained how to get to Greenwich. Just to give you an appreciation of where we had to get to, here is a tube map for your reference:

10.45am: We arrived at the venue in record time, expecting a huge hold up with queues of people waiting for their bags to be checked. In reality we were led straight through (we had no bags with us), and decided that with 15 minutes to spare we may as well have some breakfast to celebrate our achievements and nourish our bodies. With no breakfast-friendly venues around, we agreed that Mexican burritos would do! The said burritos were ordered.

11.00am: 15 mintues later we were still waiting for said burrtios. Meanwhile the event had already started! This was rather outrageous, particularly as the number of people who were working at the stall (at least 10) far outweighed the number of people who had ordered burritos (at maximum 4). Burritos don’t normally take this long to cook, so this was truly was quite outrageous, but given the fairly outrageous past 13 hours we had just had, we were just pleased to finally have them in our hands when they were ready. And off we went to enjoy the next couple of hours of gymnastics! 

Inside the Greenwich Arena

Unbeknownst to us prior to this event, all floor events occurred concurrently, so there was plenty for us to watch at the one time! 

Go Team GB!!! (it's ok to say that because Australia wasn't competing then)

Pretty exhausted and scruffy looking, but still absolutely thrilled that we made the event!!

Graphobia Nay. Gelotophobia Maybe?

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.

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! 

Wow!

Wowza!

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. 

Wow!

Can you get any better than this? Seriously?

I won't even write anything for this one...

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.

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. 

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. 

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.

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.

Obviously I only sang the second verse of our national anthem!

Rod of Asclepius.

 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.

Stunning! And Julia looks great too...

It was fun meeting the locals!