Blogs from Central Macedonia, Greece, Europe - page 13

We find out that although labeled as a pow wow, this event is not what we consider a pow wow. So, I’ll call it a “cultural festival.” There are five vendors: Lee and I (Sacred Grounds Trading Post), Ethnic Arts, Tdom Bah, George and wife from Athens and Merrick and Agnesta from Poland. We all have diverse items for sale. Johnny also has his cds for sale. The heat is relentless. Hot and humid, humid and hot. I know the guys are uncomfortable in their regalia. The crowd is like the tide -- ebbing and flowing. Not too many people show up during the day -- it is a work day and no one seems to venture out until the sun sets. We drum and sing, Johnny plays his guitar and tries to find songs ... read more

Tuesday - Veria We settled in and trashed the house. Didn’t mean to, but we have soooo many suitcases. Regalia takes up at least one suitcase! Poor things. Our crap is everywhere and we’re too tired to be organized. Sophia made us lunch, and we were very grateful. Showers were a necessity -- 24 hours in a car, shoulder to shoulder, no air conditioning (did I tell you it’s hot?) -- we were overdue! Demetrius took Johnny and I to the local market to pick up some snack food (we are learning to hoard food) and breakfast items. We are always on the lookout for water, no gas, but it appears Greeks aren’t as dedicated to mineral water with bubbles as are the Germans. We ate a late lunch -- I think we snacked for dinner. ... read more

Ale zycie mnie po dziwnych zakretach prowadzi! Juz w poprzednim poscie pisalam, ze zdradzilam stopa na rzecz pedalowania, a jednak plecak na plecy zarzucam i w droge jutro ruszam ponownie! Moje 10 probnych dni wspolnej podrozy z chlopakami minelo i poki co bardzo mi sie podoba. I pedalowanie i towarzystwo. Okazalo sie, ze dobra intuicje mialam zabierajac w ta podoz buty biegowe, bo miesiac przed spotkaniem chlopakow biegalam prawie codziennie. Nie wiem czy dalabym rade wydolnosciowo gdyby nie to. Teraz mamy juz z Tomaszem, moim rowerkiem, pol tysiaca kilometrow za soba. Zdobylismy Olimp, wspielismy sie na meteory i wlasciwie jakos w naturalny sposob coraz czesciej rozmawiamy z chlopakami o wspolnej dalszej drodze. Juz nie tylko Turcja i Cypr, ale tez i Afryka sie w naszych rozmowach przewija...Doszlismy wiec do wspolnego wniosku, ze skoro tak, no to ... read more

Thursday 23rd July The lights of Salonika look like a jeweled necklace when seen from a vantage point not far from Mama’s house. On the TV news last night, a Greek farmer was saying he has to grow 10 kg wheat to get sufficient money for the cost of a loaf of bread. ( 70 Euro cents for a 370gm loaf) Michael used the electric chain saw, the axe and sledge hammer to cut out the rest of the unproductive olive tree that they had cut down last Sunday. Michael said because it has lots of knots in the timber, it is relatively easy to cut into chunks whilst it is still fresh. But if you leave it to dry out, you won’t have a hope After tea, we took a photo of the two storks ... read more

Sat 18th July 2009 Today our friend Joe flies in from Athens. We get to Salonika Airport about 20 minutes before Joe’s arrival and see that his flight is delayed. Apparently a go slow with the air traffic controllers in Athens. Think they are not happy with the current Government’s handling of the economic crisis. Joe said he arrived in Athens on Friday at 7.20am after his flight from Melbourne. He could not get to his hotel till 12 noon, so dropped his luggage off and walked around Athens for about 5 hours. Then went on a bus tour and a meal and show at night. He stayed at a hotel right in the Plaka area. After some lunch we catch the bus at 2.30pm to go into Salonika. Supposed to be 39 C today, so ... read more