On the way home

Tuesday October 18, 2011

We checked out and the taxi was a little early so we left at 2:20 AM heading for the Athens airport. Not much traffic so no problem getting there. Got checked in and then waited for our flight. Talked to a passenger from Toronto. He had come for holiday, but the strike had shout down the port and so he did not get to go to the islands as planned. Overheard conversations of people leaving a day early because of a possible air traffic strike tomorrow. I guess we were just blessed not to have been affected by the strikes. The flight left on time and arrived in Amsterdam on time. We have still time for shopping. Mom has already purchased tulip bulbs. Hope to be able to plant them when we get home.

Mom's version

I couldn't sleep a bit. I was glad we had decided to keep our hotel room for one more night so we could relax before our early flight. Dad slept quietly and I lay with a hundred things going through my head. There were noisy protests out side, just two blocks down from our hotel so I wondered if still at 2:30 would there be crowds and traffic. Did we arrange for the taxi early enough? I didn't want anything stopping us from missing our flight. Notices had been posted in the hotel about a general strike on Wednesday and so I was glad we were getting out of Athens the day before. I have been amazed how through all the disruptions and confusion we have only been inconvenienced once through our whole trip. We have heard other stories of boats not being able to leave dock, over nights in airports because of controller strikes but luckily we were always a day ahead or behind the trouble. Thanks for all the prayers. Dad had assured me we had planned the departure well and just relax so I lay telling myself just relax, just relax. The Taxi driver arrived 15 minutes early. Yes! That worry overcome. I noticed as we sped through the narrow streets on the long 30 minute drive to the airport that the gas gauge warning light was on and the gauge was on empty. Oh Just what we need to run out of gas on the way to the airport! As I contemplated that I noticed the oil gauge was also at 0 so decided the gauges just didn't work. Okay so hopefully this cabbie filled up this morning. We were finally at the airport, found the right line to deposit our luggage and print boarding passes and soon were on the flight. I watched the lights of Athens disappear with mixed emotions, remembering the excitement of first seeing Athens from the air. At that time I wondered if all we had planned and hoped for would occur as planned. Now we were leaving having filled every dream, with a few bonuses. It really couldn't have been a better experience but Yeah!! we were going home to the familiar,peaceful, happy comfortable life of Lethbridge Alberta.

The flight was a little rough but nothing frightening and believe it or not I slept most of the way to Amsterdam. Time to relax as we have a five hour lay over. I already have my tulips in my backpack ready to bring some spring glory to our yard and remind me of fun times past.

Back to dad to finish this off.

The plane left on time from Amsterdam. We had a long flight back to Calgary. Not much sleeping. The sun was so bright, that we kept the window closed most of the time. We watched as we crossed Saskatchewan and into Alberta and on to Calgary. We landed only a couple of minutes late, then waited 15 or 20 minutes on the plane as we watched three planes land and two take off, using the runway we were waiting to cross to get to the airport. Then it was another 15 or 20 minutes waiting as the people ahead on us on the plane got off. Then another wait at customs and a secondary inspection to get our tulip bulbs approved. Then found our luggage (yay) and out. Colin was waiting for us and took us to his work place where we said "Hi" to Cynthia. Then we headed for Lethbridge. Boy the scenery was different that we have been used to for the past few weeks. We arrived home to a welcome sign hanging above the door and tomatoes still growing. I took Tyson with me to the garden to dig some potatoes and carrots to make supper. Picked some tomatoes out there as well. Ate supper. Garth and Amanda came by to say welcome home. Then we crashed as it had been about 26 hours since we had got that wake up call. It is good to be home.

Our last day in Greece

Monday Oct 17, 2011.

We awoke about 7:00 this morning. Our last day in Greece. We puttered around the room for a while. The little church that is outside our window, had a steady stream of people entering and leaving. On average about 1 person every two minutes. We went down for breakfast about 8:15. Very enjoyable. The scrambled eggs were freshly made and the bacon, although not crisp, was good. Even the milk was cool this morning. We then arranged to have a wake-up call at 1:45 AM tomorrow morning and a taxi to take us to the airport at 2:30 AM. Then we headed out SHOPPING.

We were out by 9:30 and half the shops were not even open. We hiked over to the base of the acropolis so that I could take one more picture. Then shop, shop, shop ... We bought gyros at about 1:00 PM and then headed back to the hotel to unload our booty. Then off on a 3 km walk to visit the Museum of Natural History. As we walked we passed several different groups of protesters. All was peaceful, but there were police everywhere. We spent about 3 hours in the museum. There is so much to see. I liked the ancient history (6000-3000 BC) part the best. We then started in the sculpture wing. Initially I was enthralled but after 100's of statues I was getting a little less enthusiastic. Then we went to the second floor. This is where the collection of vases was. Wow these are awesome. But then after literally thousands of vases, my interest waned. We visited the exhibit of myths and coins. Very interesting. And then headed out. More shopping was in store. And more shopping. And more shopping. Finally mom let me eat some supper and come back to the hotel. So that was our last day. Shopping and museum. Great time.

Small World

Sunday October 16,2011

We were a little laid back this morning and didn't get moving until after 7:30. Meetings were not until 10:00 and we had scouted out the area so knew where we were headed and that it was only a brisk 10 min walk. The hotel breakfast was the standard fare we have found here in Greece. A choice of cocoa puffs, muesli or cornflakes, with usually warm milk (in Zakynthos it was hot powdered milk..mmmm) then various breads, cheese, canned fruit (usually peaches) some sliced tomatoes and olives, yogurt which is really thick and not very sweet but very tasty with fruit or honey drizzled on it (the way the Greeks serve it for dessert),sometimes boiled eggs and sliced sandwich meats, but today to my delight hot scrambled eggs and bacon and of course, coffee and juice. I loved it on days it was real orange juice and I was ecstatic when it was COLD real orange juice. Today it was the funky orange juice that tastes like it is carbonated but it was cold. We have really noticed most places are frugal with electricity so hallways are often dark, lights not used during the daytime even when it is cloudy dark out side. I suspect they also have limited refrigeration. Here at the Amazon, a Best Western hotel, the place is well lit as was the Metropolitan where we stayed before in Athens.

We were welcomed by four missionaries outside the building doors and two more sets of missionaries inside. There was a fairly small gathering when the meeting started-25-30 people counting the missionaries and the couple missionaries and their daughter who was visiting and another sister missionary whose husband came before the meetings were all concluded. The branch president was African as were at least a dozen other members. It was a real cultural mix. Two young American students came in part way through Sacrament meeting. After the meeting I heard them telling people they had just came from Rome where there had been so much violence, with burning cars etc. They had been disappointed in not being able to see the coliseum as it was closed due to strikes. They then said “We were so very glad to walk in this building and feel safe” I had experienced the same feeling of being safe with family so far from home. The Gospel is such a wonderful blessing in our life. The world is also very small in the church. Dad spoke with the young Americans before priesthood and found they were students from Utah State University. When he introduced himself as from Canada one of them asked where in Canada. When Dad said Lethbridge Alberta he inquired “Do you know any Forsyths?” “I am a Forsyth” “do you know a Colin Forsyth?” Isn't that amazing! He was Joshua Blume who had recently returned from a mission where he had served in Thunderbay for 8 months and knew Colin and Cynthia well,and had helped move them when they came back to Alberta.

It was quite the experience to be the person wearing the interpretive head set. The speakers were the American missionary couple. The sister read her talk in laboured Greek. Probably half the speed Greeks speak and certainly without the enunciation, but what do I know it was better than I could have done and I applaud her for all the work it would have been for her to prepare the talk. The Brother spoke in English so that worked good for us. When I got to Relief Society I came to find probably half the class preferred English. I had noticed an older sister with the Sunday School Manual and when it was time for Sunday school she said to us “You stay in this class. We will interpret in English.” Then one of the Elders came and invited us to the English class. We stood unsure of what to do and the Sunday school teacher again encouraged us to stay. “That class is for new members.” she said “this one is Gospel Doctrine. You stay.” One of the Elders offered to interpret so he took the microphone and we used our headsets and had a real neat experience hearing this sister teach us from Ephesians about unity in the church. She was passionate about the gospel. She talked about marriage relationships and how in her 76 years she knew women were the ones who supported the heads of the priesthood holder. We are their necks. She got quite a chuckle from the class and some comments from an older brother who had blessed the sacrament. Her European way with passionate speech and hand movements all made me think of our neighbour Anita who I miss visiting with. She talked about how important it is to love one another and how much more they as a Branch need to do this with Greece experiencing such hard times. She then expressed her love to the class It was very moving to me and I was glad to have had the cultural experience of being in her class. You could tell she was one of the stalwarts of the branch It would have been so interesting to have been able to get a history of her life.

She ended up being the teacher in Relief Society also. Our lesson was about the Second Coming There was quite a group who held up hands when asked if they needed English. Two of the sisters sat behind us and quietly interpreted. I was sitting beside a Danish girl who also spoke English very well. She was visiting with her husband who had served a mission in Greece and was back visiting. The girl who interpreted for us was a beautiful dark haired Greek. She was apologetic because occasionally she couldn't think of the English word. She did a great job and that made it possible to really get the spirit of the things that were said. What testimony building experience!

We went back to the Hotel after the Sunday meetings and were able to catch the Sunday Afternoon session of General Conference as we had strong internet connection that allowed us to watch it. Later we went for an explore of the National Gardens which we had seen a bit of before. We took our umbrellas as it was raining. There was a mansion we had read about that we went to get pictures of. We wandered the narrow streets past some of the shops and then stopped at a little restaurant just outside our hotel. It was a very chic place with lovely decorations. We had their Greek Platter for two which included 5 different dishes. The meatballs were especially tasty. The meal was delicious, cozy and nice to eat inside out of the rain.

Our adventure is winding down. We have come to see there is so much to learn, so many places we couldn't even have imagined and yet with all the differences there are so many things the same.

What a difference

Saturday Oct 15, 2011

What a difference a day makes. Yesterday we awoke to a beautiful sunrise and this morning a dismal cloudy sky with no sun!!! Actually it started to rain last night but it did not seem too bad. At about 2:00 AM, I awoke to a lightning strike lighting up our room followed immediately by a blast of thunder that shook everything. I got up to close the balcony door and the wind was howling and the rain was coming down in sheets. And the harbour was rolling in waves. Yikes, I thought, we have to walk to the bus station in the morning. But Zeus and Poseidon must have their ways and the thunder and lightning, along with wind and rain continued all night. We went down for breakfast at about 8:00 and then packed up and checked out. The rain let up slightly and the thunder and lightning had ceased by the time we were ready to start our walk up the bus station. So we did not get too wet. We boarded the bus for the 10 minute ride to the ferry and then hopped on the ferry for the ride back across to Killini. Then back on the bus for the 4 hour (plus rest stop) ride to Athens. I slept most of the way to the rest stop. It rained all the way until we passed Corinth (about 45 min out of Athens). We arrived in Athens and caught a taxi to take us to our hotel. He told us that there were to be protests from 4 to 6 to join the global protests. Mom was so excited. Finally a protest!!! The roads were plugged as we got close to our hotel which is right near the square where the protests were to be. So it took a little longer and we did not get here until about 4:15. We checked in and went to our room where I restrained mom until about 5:45 and then headed out to find the church meeting place. We were successful, and then headed for "the square" so mom could see the protests. Great fun. Then a quick bite to eat and back to our hotel room. We only took about 10 pictures the whole day. A record for us. What a difference a day makes!!!

Getting Real

Friday October 14, 2011

I was awake before dawn thinking about seminary and knowing back home everyone was just ending their day and here we were starting another clear sky day. You could hear the motoring of the fishing boats off in search of an early catch. The sunrise over the marina was picture worthy-I smile as I write that knowing Tyson and Garth will just snicker and think "what isn't picture worthy to them". We had decided we wanted to do some walking today as we seem to have ridden a bus or a taxi every where. This isn't a real walking-friendly country as the roads are windy, narrow and without shoulders and the drivers are just crazy. A pedestrian is something to be completely ignored. Disregarding all this, we googled a beach area that was just to the south of the town 4-5 kilometers and decided we would go see what the little town and its beach was like. As we walked along the stone walk of the marine I could see crowds of people gathered around some of the boats and thought it was tourists- early site-seers anxiously waiting to be on their way. As we approached I could see I was wrong. These were locals chattering in the loud quick-paced rhythm of their native tongue. A woman on the first boat we approached was setting boxes out on the wharf. They were full of fish. The locals were haggling over the early morning catch. Restaurant cooks stocking up, the markets ordering bags of this and that. As we walked by each of the boats lined up we could see they had success, there were all sizes and kinds of fish and customers were taking big bags of this and that. This was fish at its very freshest.

On the way out of town we walked past a school yard of children probably having recess The school yard was small by western standards and all paved but there were trees and benches, play equipment and most of important of all a small "football" field with nets at both ends,where a large groups of the kids who looked to be about grade 5 and 6 were having a high energy game of soccer. There was a huge cheering section of mostly girls who continued to chant encouragement. They even had a paper banner waving. There were several children just doing their own thing hardly aware of the soccer game and when the ball rolled over past them the game just went on with both teams going after the ball kicking it or heading it into the fray again. There was obviously no "out of bounds" When a team scored, a raucous cheer went up. The game players were both girls and boys with the latter in the majority. It was hard to tell how many on a team as the whole area seemed to be just a mass of kids running this way and that. It was really fun to watch. Pictures were hard to take as the playground was enclosed with a steel barred fence and the area was a foot and a half higher than the sidewalk and fairly shadowed. Most of all we didn't want to be mistaken for anything other than curious tourists.

We took the road where the sign said Argasi 4 km. That was where we were headed. We went up over a bridge and another sign directed us to turn left and announced Argasi 3km. Wow we did that kilometer in record speed. We walked past a church and through little suburb of Zakynthos, walked 10 minutes and then we came to a stop sign with more arrows pointing the directions of the little towns. Argasi straight ahead 4 km. Oh now we had just walked 10 minutes backwards. Hey this is Greece remember! No surprises here. The road was narrow with houses along the side of it. Some places we would hurry to get around a blind corner before traffic came. If we could hear approaching vehicles we would wait for them to pass. We could tell when we were approaching Argasi as there were hotel signs pointing up little side roads. Eventually we were on a pathway and entering town . It looked like a tourist town that had rolled up its welcome mats until the next season. Almost everything was closed. A small group of tourists were standing waiting for a bus and I said to Dad "not a good sign if even the tourists want out of here". There was a sign that said Central Beach. We walked the block to the sea and oh what a site! This time I shall not be using any of my fabulous superlatives. Instead I shall say dump yard! The beach was littered with plastic bottles and bottle tops, paper and plastic and old rotting seaweed. We were met by a smell of composting sea litter and a swarm of sand flies. There was an old wrecked boat that must have sat deserted for years. Litter pick up is not the norm in this county. The only cool thing was there were structural remains of an old arched building that was now sitting 10 feet out in the sea. The date over the door was 1850. There some private beach areas further along that were very narrow but looked like they at least had some clean sand and water. We walked further up the way looking for an area that had public access but all the beach area was filled with commercial endeavors. I crossed Argasi off my list of places I may want to return to and we headed back to Zakynthos town. We stopped to take pictures of an old church and wade in the clear water along a rocky stretch of beach on the way back to town. The afternoon was spent poking around the town, we bought our bus tickets for our ride back to Athens tomorrow and had a little siesta. It was definitely a taste-the-real-culture kind of day.

Superlatives Spent

Thursday October 13,2011

I was awake early as it was our last day at Porta del Mar and I wanted to catch the sunrise. The moon was still bright in the western sky and the morning was calm, warm and beautiful. I snapped a few pre-sunrise pictures as the sky was pink with the promise of a sunny day. The early fishing boats were getting set for their morning catch. I heard the distant sound of a rooster crowing. Rex hadn't followed me down to the beach as he wanted to post some pictures and had failed because of internet trouble the night before. I was soon back coaxing him out for a walk up the beach. As we stepped out on to the veranda the bright red globe poked up from behind the distant trees and another fabulous day was born. We walked up the beach, encouraged by the light glinting off a fishing boat with its net bobbing in the water. It looked like the perfect picture opportunity. We hadn't been up the road at the far end of the beach so on we went. The morning sun sparkled in the dewy leaves of the olive trees and the open spots were a yellow green in the warm light. Three goats were staked in one field. The two white nannys glanced our way but looked disinterested as we walked by however the black billy watched us curiously, his tidy black beard giving the impression of a little old man. One thing I have really enjoyed about this area is the peace and quiet. Besides the occasional bird and sound of a barking dog the morning was quiet. Most of the places we walked by looked closed up for the season. We did pass a farmer on a tractor spraying weeds along the road side but that was the only person we saw besides the fisherman. We wandered back and had french toast for breakfast and then I quickly tidied up so I could have another hour down in the sea before it was check out time. The water was still and warm. I can't get over how clear and clean it is. I think that is really what I can't resist. All too soon it was time to pack up and wait for the taxi back to town.

We decided to spend the last two nights on Zakynthos Island, in the town. Our hotel is right on the busy water front and has been the best perch for people watching ever. We watched the comings and goings of a cruise ship in the bay, the ferries arriving, the fishing boats coming home for the night as well as the busy comings and goings of the town. We walked about, had a lovely Greek supper at an open air taverna and walked the main shopping street that is all lit up in hopes a few more ships will bring the customers before the season is completely ended.When we got back to our hotel the moon was showing off, glinting in the harbour, lighting up the sea beyond the habour walls. A enchanting end to another glorious day.

Life is so good

Wednesday Oct 12, 2011

This was the kind of day that one stores away in memory to bring out on a -30 day in mid March when it seems warm sunny days are so deep beneath a harsh prairie winter they may never come to surface again. This day was absolutely beautiful! We just lazed in the warm gentle rays of the October Mediterranean sun and read and dozed. The clear turquoise water licked the warm, sandy shore in a rhythmic beat that calms the soul. I watched sail boats in the distance. It was peaceful with the only sound to mingle with the sea's song was a happy sing song of a little girl playing in the sand while her parents lay reading. Eventually I couldn't resist the beckoning water. It was warm and buoyant and so refreshing to paddle and float, letting the lapping water carry me back to shore. I opened the lid in my mind and bottled away every little bit of the day and know it shall bring sunshine to long winter days.

We cooked a yummy omelet supper in our cute little kitchen, went out to catch the beauty of the rising moon and enjoy a cozy evening together. Life is so good!

More Magic

Tuesday Oct 11,2011

Though it was no longer howling like a Nor-westerner bringing early winter, the morning still bode a windy day and the sea still had small white caps. A day for exploring Zakynthos town. The town is 12 kilometers away with a narrow windy spiderweb of roads that wend their way through olive orchards, little towns and a myriad of summer houses, most of them now shuttered and waiting for tourist heaven 2012. Unsure if we would even end up where we wanted to be we asked our hosts about the best way to get to town, Luckily Pavlina our hostess, was leaving for town in twenty minutes and was glad to take us along She dropped us at the road leading up to the old acropolis where, like most old towns, there is a walled fortress. This one had few buildings and mostly just foundations left inside but it was very interesting. The Turks had destroyed it in 1479 and then granted it to Venice a few years later. The walls now standing had been constructed in 1646 under the Venetian rule. In the enclosed area there are foundations of at least 6 churches, two standing gunpowder stores and the prison. Its narrow stone beds, barred windows, and mud floors were less than 1 star accommodations. The view of the town was spectacular. The buildings have a very Venetian look to them and the town had a colourful, tidy appearance from the hilltop view. It was interesting to walk down the stone path into town past 3 and 4 story immaculate Mediterranean style homes and then just a ways further past tiny little huts, still lived in, with lace curtains in the windows and cars parked on the stone walkway close to the house. This kind of disparity is everywhere in Greece. We wandered the shops, grabbed a few vegetables at the market, and explored the waterfront and main square where we ate the lunch we had packed, so we could use up some of our left over thanksgiving chicken. The weather was warm and we wondered if it was better back at Psarou Beach. We found a taxi driver that could get us back. He did not speak English but he recognized the name Porta del Mar. It was a dizzy roller coaster ride back at taxi driver speed. We were pleased to feel the sun warm and see the palms fairly still. We sat in the sun and read for a while and I felt warm enough that I was ready for the real thing. Time to don beach wear and fill the last check box on my list of have-to-dos...swim in the sea. Like everything else on this trip it exceeded expectations. When we got down the the beach the breeze seemed cool and I wasn't sure about getting wet but the sea was a brilliant blue with white cap waves rolling in to shore and I just had to try it. I could not believe how warm the water was! It was like the first 6 inches of water at Wasa on a hot day but all the water was that warm. I loved jumping into the waves and had to urge Dad to hurry up and come out. Tonight after supper we walked down to the beach again and had the icing on the cake as the full moon reflected on the water and the lull on the lapping ocean brought a magic end to another amazing day.

Happy Thangsgiving

Monday October 10, 2011

Thanksgiving Day! We lay snug in the shelter of our little stone house all night as the wind howled and the palm branches fanned the walls wildly. It sounded at times as if we were camped in Waterton! As we stood this morning down at the beach and watched the waves roll in. the sky dark with wind swept clouds I wondered if Odysseus had sailed by and one of his sailors had opened the forbidden bag of wind. We let Kostas cook us omelette breakfast at the Cafe Del Mar. Since the forecast was not too promising for a lay-at-the-beach kind of day, we choose a DVD and some books from the library and planned for a more indoor kind of day. In the late morning we made our way a couple of kilometers down the road where we knew there was a market and hoped it was open today as it was not Sunday. It was dark inside but it was open. The shelves were a bit bare; looking like it was end of the season and soon to be closed. I was happy to find fresh bread, some salt which our former meals had badly needed, and a few other things but no meat of any kind for a Thanksgiving dinner. I did have some potatoes and tuna so we could manage if we were not able to find anything more fitting. We had toasted tomato sandwiches for lunch and then I suggested trying the other little market which had been quite limited. Like the other it was dark inside with no lights on but it was open and they had bacon for a price and I asked about chicken. The proprietor called her son to come translate for her and then he inquired of us "frozen?" I nodded and the lady took us out to the freezer and produced a small frying chicken. "Yes that will be perfect" It was gourmet price but turned out to be the best Thanksgiving dinner we could hope for. I had garlic to rub it with, some salt and oregano for seasoning and for the last hour I added onion and potatoes-missing carrots but oh well. We had apricot jam in place of cranberries) The thing we missed most was company. I wished I had told the young English couple we met at breakfast it was our Thanksgiving and invited them to our meal, though at the time I wasn't sure what it would be, but it hadn't crossed my mind until I was setting it out and wishing we had someone to share it with. I am beginning to see how couple missionaries feel in a strange land, trying to figure out if the bag with strange writing says salt or sugar and trying to cook with a limited assortment when you are used to having access to anything one wants. Oh are we spoiled and did I ever make a mental list of all the things I take for granted in our land of plenty. How we also missed family today and love you all and are so grateful for all our happy associations with you. Happy Thanksgiving and don't forget to count your blessings!

Relaxing Sunday

Sunday Oct 9, 2011

We awoke this morning to mostly cloudy skies with a little sunshine poking through. Mom made french toast for breakfast. It was good to have a fresh cooked breakfast. I guess that I was getting tired of the buffets. As we ate, the sky cleared and the wind died down so we took a little walk down to the beach. It was wonderful, really wet, but wonderful to look at. Almost idyllic. We did not stay out long but came back so that mom could finish her blog and I could add mine. We sat out on our patio in the sunshine and just soaked in the beauty of it all. Just as we finished, the sky clouded over and the wind came up. The sea grew rougher again and we could hear the waves crashing against the shore. We quickly moved our computer and tablet inside. Then it started to rain. So we connected to the net and watched the Saturday morning session of conference. Loved the talks and music. When it ended mom made some spaghetti for supper and we cleaned up. The sun was poking through again so we went for a walk up the road in the opposite direction to where we went to the market yesterday. We took our raincoats, just in case, but never needed them. We saw amazing olive trees, dilapidated and derelict houses, fancy hotels and bed and breakfasts and gardens with all kinds of produce, including large squash hanging 6 feet in the air. We got back and walked back down onto our beach again. very relaxing. I was going to blog but the internet connection was too weak to get on so we watched the BBC news for awhile. I tried the internet again and was able to get on, so we checked our email, blogs and facebook. The wind and rain returned but we are toasty and comfortable in our villa. Just a relaxing Sunday.

Baby steps

Saturday October 8, 2011

We are on our own, no one to make sure we get to our next destination! Yipes!! Am I ready for this? Traveling with the Insight groups was so wonderful because every moment you felt completely taken care of and now we feel like a couple on the Amazing Race just trying to figure it out for ourselves. The butterflies in my stomach kept me from eating much for breakfast or maybe I was just not hungry after such a gorge the night before. Our taxi driver sped through the streets like he was a Indy 500 driver honking at anyone who might encroach on his lane and we arrived at the bus depot in less than twenty minutes. It was barely 8:00 The station was huge with buses everywhere. The girl, whom we asked for directions to where to buy a ticket, said Platform 38 through the door and to the right. We stepped through the door to a huge area with buses parked every where and a myriad of Greek signs but yes there were numbers and I could read them and to the right was Number 38 and I recognized the Greek spelling of Zakynthos. I was relieved the man at the desk spoke and understood English unlike the Indy 500 cab driver. I was disappointed but not surprised when we were told the bus to Zakynthos had just left 15 minutes earlier and the next one would not be until 12:00. He encouraged us to leave our luggage in the baggage room where it would be safe and take the bus downtown for a while. Oh yeah "great idea". I had just been so relieved to get to the bus station in one piece and now I am considering going somewhere else in a maze of foreign chatter and then make my way back here again. Then I looked around, there was really little comfort in hanging out in this fume filled station for 4 hours. “Come on Bet what is the worst that could happen” I chided myself and then made sure not to think up too many scenarios as I'm sure I would have immediately taken the fetal position in the nearest bench.

We boarded bus 51 and headed downtown to Omonia Square. I was assured by a young women on the bus that we just needed to catch the same bus at the same spot to get back to the bus stop. Though we were headed for what we thought was a Square everyone got off the bus on a little street in an old area of town as the bus headed back towards the Station so we climbed off too. So where is Omonia Square and where is that in relationship to the area of Athens we were familiar with. We noted landmarks and started in what I figured was the general direction. Miraculously we went left then right and ended up in Omonia Square at this point the man at the Bus stationed had suggested jumping on the metro to get to Syntagma square. I wasn't that brave so we stayed above ground where I could keep track of landmarks. It all turned out great because we came to the ancient university and library that our driving tour around Athens had taken us by, but we had never got back there to take pictures. Now I knew we were only a few blocks from Syntagma square. We explored a while, watched the city come to life as it was fairly quiet when we got to the square but we were just at the front of the first wave of tourists. By the time we headed back to retrace our way though the maze back to the loosely named “bus stop at Omonia Square” the streets were jammed with traffic and every street crossing felt like a death wish.

As we approached the the general area there was a bus 51 waiting- no driver to ask so I asked a young girl there if she spoke English she said “Yes Please Ask me” She then assured us we were on the right bus to go to the Kissfou bus station. When we arrived there she also got off the bus and asked us if we needed help getting tickets or finding our way to the bus. Her kindness was so appreciated and generally what we have found Greek people to be.

We were soon on our way on a bus that I did not hear much English spoken but there was a man who I had asked about loading the luggage and he had answered me in excellent English and said he and his family were headed to Zakynthos where he had grown up. Because the driver always just spoke Greek I would look to him to see what they were doing and kept him in my sight in case we felt we needed a translator. The drive to the port was along different road than we had traveled before. It stayed near the water all the way and so the vegetation was mostly lush with lots of olive and citrus groves and other agriculture and on the whole lovely red roofed houses surrounded by tall Cyprus trees and palms.

The hour ferry ride was pleasant but it was cloudy and threatening to rain a little more as we had seen the first real rain a few minutes before we arrived at Killini (the port town). When we got to the bus station in Zakynthos we were not sure if any one would be there to meet us as we had not been able to confirm our need for assistance after the schedule change. When it was apparent we were on our own and not having any clue where we were going we decided we were at the mercy of the taxi drivers and I just prayed one of them would speak English and know where our Porta Del Mar destination was in an area of thousands of such places. I approached the cabbies all looking for their next fare and said in English “We need help” Two of the drivers looked to the younger of the drivers who came and I showed him the name and address and he said "yes I know the place". We had been warned to always establish the price before you get in so I asked how much and he actually got out a list of places and the prices to go to each so then we knew it was a fair established price. 22 Euros it was. Off we went on a maze of narrow roads and I knew then that my other resort of renting a car and getting there on our own would have been a disaster. We arrived in one piece relieved that this first amazing adventure leg had turned out so well. When we walked into the beautiful courtyard with stone walls draped in flowers and palm trees and were greeted by Kiri Kosta who had been watching for us. We felt we had just fallen into the lap of the god of Paradise. The little stone cottage is beautiful with tile floors and modern appliances. We quickly set out to the little mini market to get some supplies for supper and Sunday. Had a nice meal of grilled cheese, sliced tomatoes and hot chocolate. Our day of baby steps has all turned out okay and now we are settled in for 5 days of utter relaxation!