Greeting from Athens

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Greeting from Athens
I've given up on adding photos. Access to computers when you travel are near impossible. In theory they should work but in reality they just don't, especially when you have written something particularly witty or interesting, the power drops out or the email just vanishes in a POOF just as you hit send... photos? you are kidding, very few have places where you can sitck in the thingy... maybe you are thinking that it could possibly be my computer skills? Kate and Ryan, your blogs are amazing... maybe next time I'll travel with you...just for the blogs!
Anyway, the travel and the interesting sites have been fantastic! We are really enjoying the journey. Erica is a delightful travelling companion as was Rosemary when we were all together in Asia. We are out and about early and then stagger home each night exhausted and drop into bed each night before 9pm.
Anyway, back to the dodgy computers...The number of time I've written great epics or witty snyopsis of our daily travels...only to lose it all in a poof! ?? The worst was on Koh Pangnan near Koh Samui we were really remote, so what so I expect... remoteness and hi-tech? But the power was always dropping out. Rarely does it work at internet places and even when it does you may be comfortably writing but your legs are being attacked by malaria carrying mosqueitos or the computer owner sits chainsmoking in your face next to you or the whole family is watching some stupid Asian comedy with the volume up high so that your brain is frazzled when you try to compose something intelligent and then just as you go to push send, the whole email vanishes...poof!

Other than the email situation the travel experience has been great- food, people, weather and sight have all been fantastic! We have been in Athens three days and have seen some amazing ancient history.
We are booked on a ferry tonight to take us to a few islands. We will be on and off islands and ferries for the next 7 days and then we'll end up at Crete where we'll take a bus along the top of Crete and then a ferry around the Pelopenese region - Sparta, Olympia, etc. So that will be about two weeks total and then we'll take an overnight sleeper on the train from Athens to Istanbul.

Yesterday was our only travel glitch and it was all my fault. With no maps and no information I convinced Erica to hop on a 2 1/2 bus ride up to Thermopolyae to see the ancient site where the Spartan King Leonides led the 'immortals', 300 of the best Spartan fighters held the pass from a land invasion of over 5000 Persians warriors led by Xerxes. All 300 'immortals' died defending the pass at Thermopolaye but they have been remembered in history. I do a great lesson when I teach about the Spartans and heros and use the poem 'Old men safe in your beds, we followed your orders and now we are dead.'
So I'm all geared up emotionally to see this historic site, to stand where these heros fell...to honour their memory...literally tears are in my eyes...
We take this rickety bus hundreds of mile into nowhere. Passengers are being dropped off along the way in the middle of no where and there are very few towns...each time the bus stops to let a passenger off in the middle of no where or a passenger standing at the side of the road flags the bus down from no where on the side of the road... Erica turns to me and says...' We are here with no maps, no guide books and just your fantasy idea of a battle from 5000 years ago...I have no reply but hope against hope that there will be at least a plaque commemorating... but no... we are let off at at least a very small town. We walk a few block this way and a few that way and come upon a small church where the door are open and there is a funeral for an old man lying in an open casket. The whole town must be there about 10 people... we walk across the highway to a tavern where a few old men are sitting under grape vines. Erica shout does anyone speak English? I'm thinking 'duh', Erica, what a stupid question, so I simply pull out our return bus ticket which is all in Greek anyway and an old man mearly walks us back to the road and points to 'Athena' (which is Greek for Athens). Thankfully he flags the next bus over and we gratefully sit on the rickety bus for another 2 1/2 returning to Athens. The moral is to be prepared, read a guide book. We have lots for Athens and the Greek isles, but none for the centre north where we stupidly travelled. I did glimpse a pass in the mountains...maybe that is where the heros fell all that time ago...
I apologized to Erica and we had a lovely refreshing lunch when returned to Athens after the 6 hour bus journey to no where...
Happy tralis,
Love,
Connie
Photos will come when they come. I've taken heaps with my new camera which work perfectly- I just can't seem to work it out on the various computers and how to add them. But we are having a great time and enjoying the journey.

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