First few days in Europe

Well, I have arrived safe and sound in Greece.  The weather here is a constant beautiful 80-90 degrees and sunny as could be.  Upon flying over Greece my first conviction when peering out the window was one of sheer awe. The mountains seemed to have erupted out of the azure water.  At this point I had not slept in near 24 hours which aggravated the surrealism of the moment.

Upon landing we found that our baggage had gotten disoriented in its travels and would be arriving later.  Silly luggage. At the outset of our days in Greece we made the determination that we would do our best to learn an appreciation for the local culture and acclimate ourselves to the time mutation that we have undergone. This is my cardinal experience over the "big pond" as my father always loves to call it.  Athens is a city unlike any that I have ever conceived.  It is a sort of cross between what I would imagine a large South American city, Disney World, and the ghetto of any major American City.  Looking out from our private hotel gallery (depending on the time of day) I can see hookers, various people selling random objects, The Acropolis, and hundreds of motorcycles passing by with no regard for any sort of organization or laws.  The motorcycles actually pass the police cars while they have there overhead lights on.
      After a few days of being awake in the middle of the night and taking several siestas throughout the day I have finally settled in and things have gotten intoxicating (other than myself via Ouzo, which tastes like black jellybeans, and does create a slightly befuddled state of being )

     Today I went to a large outdoor shopping center to find "The Poet" , a maker of sandals.  He is known around the world and has made sandals for The Beatles and many other celebrities.  I bought the pair that John Lennon wore. His shop is now run by his son and is a place encompassed with sandals and smiles abounding everywhere you look.  The shop is now run by his son who I talked to while he sat and custom made every pair of sandals for everyone that walked into his shop.

This experience is in all honesty one of my favorite so far.  His son, whose name escapes me, received his MFA in Painting from Purchase University in NYC and is now back in Greece writing poetry and working as hard as ever.  We spoke of Greek, European, and American politics for quite a while.
      After leaving "the Poet" shop we headed to find some more delicious Greek food.  I have been on a mission to find the most disturbing and delicious foods I can find.  Yesterday we had probably the worlds most amazing Gyro Pita (eee-row Pee-tah) from a small shop where ordering from the solo cook that spoke zero English was great.  Today I had fried smelt, Greek Salad, and some Greek fried meatballs, all of which could rival some of the best food of my life.  I am not sure if it is the experience of the place but I truly think it is the actual food and the quality and freshness of the ingredients.  The restaurant that we ate at was in the center of the fish and meat market.  When I say "fish and meat market" this is not like what you would probably think.  Imagine being in a huge factory lined with individual vendors all yelling in Greek as they are trading stocks in the NY stock exchange.  Except they are all wielding enormous knives and covered in all sorts of guts and meat.  Stop for a second and think of the smell.  As I trudged through the inch of fish gut water on the floor in my new sandals I couldn't help but be excited wishing that I lived nearby so that I could eat all of these wonderful things.  The meats were as plentiful as the fast food restaurants in Radford, VA.  If you do not know Radford I will tell you, it is a lot.  Sonja, my friend that I am here with especially loved the rabbits with the furry feet still on them.  It was priceless. Well It is time for me to go and finish my smoked herring, Greek Retsina wine, and Greek salad so that I can go and relax on the hotel roof.

  Tomorrow the rest of the group from my study abroad program will be arriving and we will begin our journey around the ancient part of the Greek mainland and islands.  Many stories and pictures will be soon to follow.

Check out the feet and tails....

My legs are the hairy ones

This is Sonja, see what I am dealing with.... eeeek

That's the meat and fish market in the background.  Nothing like delicious food and the smell of dead animals.

 Who's that creeper in the background?  Is that a nipple I see?

These beautiful little churches are everywhere hidden among overpopulated tourist shops.  Inside that generally are very dark and contain a relic.  I have only been inside one as we will be going to plenty with the study abroad group starting tomorrow.
   That is it for now, off to the roof with me.