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

From the NY Times: The war in Ukraine has transformed Europe more profoundly than any event since the Cold War’s end in 1989. A peace mentality, most acute in Germany, has given way to a dawning awareness that military power is needed in the pursuit of security and strategic objectives. A continent on autopilot, lulled into amnesia, has been galvanized into an immense effort to save liberty in Ukraine, a freedom widely seen as synonymous with its own. No more so than my last trip to Europe in November, the war has changed Europe forever. And I think it has changed many of us across the ocean as well. I now hesitate to visit countries on the Russian and Ukrainian border. I see more armed soldiers than just about any time since the Cold War. In ... read more

My flights to and from Europe on Tuesday will be a bit different this time. Why? Let me tell you. Fresno to Paris will cost $5.60 plus a few American Airlines miles, business class. The return is Frankfurt to Fresno, will cost $134.65 plus a few United Airlines miles, business class also. My total cost will be $140.25. Such a deal! I normally use my frequent flyer miles for upgrades. But these days, upgrades are difficult to impossible to find or book. Most airlines will put me on a wait list for upgrades. So, in my old age, I say, why take the chance?? The only downside to this strategy is that I will not earn any frequent flyer miles for this trip. The last time I flew coach class to Europe was on Aer Lingus. ... read more