Why do we get labeled the ugly or privileged Americans?? Check out this gal taking up THREE seats in the crowded waiting area at C de Gaulle. Wait, she is French!!! But the loud American has long been passed by the loud Frenchman. But now, I vote for the totally unfiltered Chinese tourists. They figure we can't understand a word and have carte Blanche to throw in the F word as well!! I met the hardest working flight attendant on my Aegean Air flight from Paris to Athens. She was the Everyready bunny and Harriet Nelson combined!!! Those of you headed to Europe this summer, be warned. This is the busiest I have seen Europe in the last 3 years. And prices are still going up. I would increase your budget by at least 33%. Even ... read more

Did I ever think I would visit the famous Palace of Knossus when I took Classics 17AB at UC Berkeley in the 60s? No, we only took the class to fulfill the humanities requirement, and pad the old GPA, if you know what I mean. From Live Science: The Palace of Knossos is located just south of modern-day Heraklion near the north coast of Crete. Built by a civilization that we call the Minoans, it covers about 150,000 square feet (14,000 square meters), the size of more than two football fields, and was surrounded by a town in antiquity. The site came to prominence in the early 20th century when it was excavated and restored by a team led by British archaeologist Arthur Evans. When the palace was first constructed "it must have been a remarkable ... read more

The largest (fifth largest in the Mediterranean Sea) and southernmost island in Greece is none other than Crete. Crete's most famous author, Nikos Kazantzakis, wrote Zorba the Greek. His words: “The mystery of Crete runs deep. Whoever sets foot on this island senses a mysterious force coursing warmly and beneficently through their veins, sensing their soul beginning to grow.” Crete is long and narrow, from east to west only 160 miles, and a width of 7.5 to 37 miles. The administrative center is Heraklion. The island is home to roughly 600,000 people. As you might guess, the service sector, aka tourism is the largest portion of the GDP. Only a third of Crete's land can be cultivated, with olives, grapes, vegetables and fruit grown ... read more

Now, on my fourth trip to Greece, and Athens, I should tell you something about feta. You may be surprised by some of this information, as I was. The ubiquitous Greek salad always contains feta, either crumbled, in chunks, or in a large block. Needless to say, I almost always order a Greek salad at dinner, or maybe have the Greek salad for lunch by itself. From Culinary Backstreets: Feta must be one of the world’s oldest cheeses, it’s certainly one of the most famous, and it’s practically never missing from a Greek table, no matter the time of day. A person might grab a chunk of this chalk-white substance for breakfast, crunch through layers of feta-stuffed phyllo for elevenses, put a slab of it on her village salad for lunch, have it for supper along ... read more

From the article: Jet lag happens because the body’s internal clock is thrown out of sync and produces symptoms, including lack of sleep, drowsiness, and impaired mental and url=https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=2ahUKEwiRjLbSs4H8AhXdS_EDHSaQCdwQFnoECC8QAQ&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.sleepfoundation.org%2Ftravel-and-sleep%2Fjet-lag&usg=AOvVaw18PW95_8ljpB2B9jAIMGU9physical performance. “Most of the time, our sleep habits are changed when our bio rhythm is disrupted,” explains König. “There’s a greater likelihood of this happening when we travel due to a new environment, a change of time zone, or sleep disturbances. To combat this, it is very important to schedule enough sleep time and ensure the typical sleep duration remains the same. When changing time zones especially, one should adjust themselves immediately to sleeping in the new tim... read more