Yasu from Greece!

Hello from Greece! Hope everyone is doing well and GO DUCKS!!

It's hard to believe that in the last week, I've traveled by plane, train, subway, ferry, shuttle, bus, car, and by foot. I have also managed to sleep in beds, bunks, chairs, benches, boat decks, the floor and somehow am still alive and kicking. What an adventure!

My plane ride to Greece was quite uneventful, I had a wonderful flight attendant that allowed me a window seat at our descent to be able to view the beautiful islands as we flew into Athens. The water was a deep aqua blue and from the plane we could see boats dotting the calm waters, and perhaps even a dolphin or two. As soon as we departed the plane, I booked it through customs to go find Scott. I was initially a little worried that we weren't going to be able to find one another, but as soon as I headed toward the exit, the sliding glass doors opened and I saw his head bobbing in a sea of people. What a great day! I hadn't seen Scott in over 2 months and it was so good to finally be able to talk and pick right back up where we left off. As I was pretty jet-lagged, we headed to our hotel to drop off my backpack and take a nap. That night, we walked around and found a kebab shop where we had a delicious kebab pocket. There are apparently kebab stands all over Europe, and I now understand how people live off of this for every meal. My kebab was basically two grilled chicken skewers that were wrapped in a pita pocket filled with lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, tzatziki sauce (kind of a cucumber/yogurt mixture) and some spices. It was also only 2 euro which is incredibly cheap for a meal, as I have learned in this past week. We also sat in this beautiful square where there were many locals and couples sitting around, listening to an impromptu band, enjoying popsicles and other ice-cold treats. The later it got, the more merchants we saw come set up blankets with fake name-brand purses, belts, sunglasses and other items. I guess big cities are the same in this way everywhere!

My first meal in Europe at a local kebab and gyro stand. They shave the meat off these packed meat skewers and fill a pita with the delicious seasoned meat, vegetables, and different types of sauce and they are topped with french fries in Greece. Delicious!

The next day in Athens, I was still battling jet lag, but we started off the early afternoon by a trip to the Acropolis. We had previously seen the Acropolis lit up at night as it was quite close to our hotel. It's really fascinating here how there is all of this incredible history and architecture, yet a modern world of people living in the midst of it. I can't even fathom waking up in the morning and looking out the window to see the Acropolis, or living in buildings with foundations that are centuries old, it's really kind of magical. My impression of the city of Athens was that it reminded me a lot of my home town of Taipei, Taiwan. Between the Diesel-fuel-smelling air, the motor scooters and cars not seeming to follow any sort of traffic law, the mangy dogs on all the streets, vendors and merchants set up on every store front, I really felt kind of at home. Scott and I even practiced a bit of bargaining with a street vendor for some sunglasses. The only thing I didn't really enjoy was the constant smoking everywhere and the litter of cigarette butts everywhere. This has been prevalent throughout Europe so far and I really will be looking forward to the clean, breathable Oregon air and delicious tap water.

The Acropolis at night, lit up in all its glory

Patsa stew. Soup made from the intestines of a pig. It's supposedly great for hangovers and certainly was a great chicken noodle soup replacement for our colds

At the Acropolis, I saw some other fellow Asians that would end up being some of the only ones I saw so far in Europe. There are simply no Asians anywhere, except Japanese tourists, whom are apparently joked about in a friendly way across Europe. People have been very curious as to my heritage and I've even had random people come up to me at train stations or on the rain to say "Asiatica?" or "Where are you from?" It's been quite interesting and definitely made me more aware of my skin color. The best part is when I walk around with Scott, people almost always automatically speak to us in English or try to con us into buying expensive trinkets. I guess we stick out like sore thumbs here, haha. The Acropolis was very beautiful and ancient. I couldn't believe how it withstood so many wars and natural disasters to still be standing. There are constant relief efforts and restoration projects to help preserve the structures even more. It is also amazing that all of the building materials and marble were hauled up this hill and everything was built with such thought and care to the point that each column has significance and is built slightly curved so that when looked at from different angles, one actually sees a straight line. We also visited the Ancient Agora of Athens where we saw the ruins of a famous concert hall where we could envision the many festivals and musical acts that occurred there. I am excited to hopefully see a concert soon!

Parthenon at the Acroplis. Notice the machinery as they are continually working on restorations due to structural complications from environment, war, and previous botched restoration efforts

The Erechtheion at the Acropolis where Poseidon struck the ground with his trident and where Athena produced the olive tree

After another night in Athens, we left the city by train to Patra, Greece where we were planning to take a ferry over to the island of Corfu for a few days. Patra was a quaint little town and there, I had my first experience with a child beggar. I don't know if it was the fact that we looked American or were eating outside in a cafe, but halfway through our meal, this young girl approached us with sad-looking eyes, pointing at our food then to her mouth, speaking Greek the whole time. She looked dirty and like she could use a good meal, so I went to get a to go container and gave her my leftovers. She immediately began chowing down on my leftover kebab and I felt better knowing that she was having the food rather than I. However, pretty soon after this, another little girl approached us and was insistent upon us giving her money to buy a kebab. We could tell she was begging in Greek, saying "please, please, please" over and over again, and it broke my heart to say "sorry" and walk away. As we headed away from the cafe, we saw her approaching other customers, and then saw a square full of kids about her age all presumably beggar children. It was at this time that I was thinking it was about time to get out of Patra.

When we got on our ferry at midnight, we had no idea it was going to be rather a large ship, almost like a cruise. There was a swimming pool, showers, a bar, restaurant and probably just about any amenity you could imagine. This was, of course, for the delux patrons who had rented cabins or rooms for the night. We had decided on deck passage to save quite a bit of money and figured that it would be warm enough and a short enough ride (6 hours) that we would survive. So we go to the top deck and find two lawn chairs, place them side by side and put on some warm clothes to bunker down for the night. All was going well and we fell asleep even before the ferry took off from the dock. Then, all hell broke loose. I woke up freezing cold after an hour with wind blowing off my towel/makeshift blanket and tried to rearrange myself so that I was curled up into a ball. Scott and I tried to cuddle for body heat but we kept a fitful sleep for the next few hours. Finally, I couldn't take it any more and announced that I was going to go sit downstairs where it would hopefully be warmer. Keep in mind that when we got downstairs, all of the benches and floor space had been taken up by other deck passengers, who were more saavy and had brought along sleeping bags, hammocks, and some even air mattresses. Scott and I found a spot on the ground by a wall where the wind would hopefully be blocked for the last hour of the ferry ride. We fell asleep for a short bit, then I woke to the feeling of wetness along my side and back. Of course, it had begun to rain, and our packs and towels and clothes were now wet. We decided to take our chances and go inside the ferry, where we saw nice, dry, warm families who had camped out in the entrance area on the rug. If only we had known this was possible at the beginning! The rain did not stop when we docked, and continued for the rest of the day. I had conveniently looked aside at the guidebook which had said Corfu was one of the "greenest and most beautiful islands of Greece, with the highest percentage of rainfall." I suppose that was a good learning lesson, haha. Our hostel sent a van to pick us up after a few hours of waiting at the ferry dock. We were quite tired and wanted to just go to sleep. By the time we got to the west coast of Corfu, we had seen the foliage and greenery and breathed the incredible-smelling mountain air. Because of the weather, lots of herbs and olive trees grow in Corfu, combining to give the air a fresh smell. Upon our arrival, our hostel hostess gave us a warm welcome with tea, and a delicious omelette breakfast with home-made feta cheese. What a wonderful welcome! I was beginning to like the island more and more. We also were checked out by 3 kittens who had apparently been strays and congregated at the hostel where the owners fed them. They were so cute and a nice friendly change as both of us were missing our animals from home. We then took a nice, warm nap as the rain pitter-pattered outside our window.