The Rugby League

When I'm here in the UK I like to pop up to Rugby, which is in Warwickshire in the middle of England, where I used to work to visit with the top group of ladies that I worked with at St Marie's Catholic Junior School.  I taught grade 3 with a gorgeous New Zealander named Bec and I fell in love with lovely ladies there.  So I like to come back and visit when I can. 

This year Miss Polly put together a dinner at the local Mexican restaurant where clearly, Mexican fun ensued.

The newly engaged Miss Emily, Will, you are a lucky man!

                                      Miss Sue                                                     Miss Mandy

Miss Liz, Miss Pam and Miss Sue 

Miss Shell, Miss Polly and Miss Karen

Thank you ladies for making the effort to come and out and see me.  I'm already looking forward to the next one.

Tori and Bec, you were both missed!

xxx

Thinking I was really clever, I booked a hotel in the middle of Rugby town centre.  My thoughts were that I could have a couple of drinks and walk back to the hotel - easy!  What I didn't consider was that the hotel was also next to a couple of quite loud hotels playing very loud music.  I also didn't consider that because of the age of the old coach hotel that the walls and doors and windows might not have any sound proofing at all and so when someone was walking past the room, it sounded as if they were in the room with me.  I felt a little alarmed at first, but as my eyelids grew heavier and heavier, I occurred to me that if somebody did get into the deadlocked room, it would be more scarier for them!

A Little Bit Of Magic - Right There

Flying back to London from Athens over the Swiss Alps and I happened to pop my head up and look out the window as were passing over a very rare sight for this trip - snow!

Our Last Night In Athens

After walking around steaming hot ruins all morning and through the hot, touristy flea market, it was time for a good sit down and a bevvy.

There was only one place that could be seen with a water spritzer fan and we headed directly there, ordered wine and everything was fine with the world for a brief moment.

This is Lazarus, our hilarious waiter.

All the waiters were good fun and joked around with us about our Greek language skills.  I was using iTranslate - an iPhone app that is supposed to directly translate what you say into the language of your choice..... however, as we were trying our best to talk to the waiters, it became apparent that iTranslate wasn’t all it was written up to be.  When asking for the bill, I actually called the man an asshole.  The look on his face told me that I had said something wrong.  So he took my phone and tried it for himself.  Here are some of the results:

The same Greek words - the word for ‘The Bill Please’ came up as the following meanings each time it was spoken into the translator:  

Conjuration please

Experimentation

Balance Sheet - sort of right?

Instrumentation to

Solidarity 1

Extract

Gigantism

So the app was put aside and and we learnt the old fashion way, by talking to a Greek speaking person.

We finished off our bottle of Greek vino with the best espresso Madds had tasted in Greece and I opted for a Cappuccino Freddo and it was goooood.

For our last night we wanted traditional Greek fare to finish off.  We walked past a number of Italian and Indian and Modern cuisine restaurants before we found a little taverna with live music and we knew this was the place.

We ordered moussaka, which was unfortunately very average, even though the waiter raved about it.  Funny how he didn’t ask how it was when he saw the big slabs of it still on our plates!  We also had the lamb that just fell off the bone.  Itan nostimototo (Greek for “It is delicious”)  I tell you, we’re fluent.

The live music was two men playing guitars and singing.  It was lovely background Greek music, when all of a sudden we heard the most beautiful tenor voice.  When we looked around to see what was happening, there was a Japanese man, who was dining with about 20 other Japanese people, who had asked if he might sing with the band.  He cut out a couple of strong ballards in a Pavorotti type of way.  When he finished, we realised that an older Japanese woman, perhaps his mother, was filming his every move and another younger Japanese woman, perhaps his sister, was photographing everything he did.  Madds and I were discussing how possible it was that he was in fact a famous Japanese tenor and that we were randomly in the presence of a one off performance in a random Greek Taverna in Athens.  Maybe they were filming a documentary ala In Bed With Madonna or that similar one that Ke$ha just did recently.  We googled Japanese tenors and there weren’t that many, so we named him Yoshi Pavarotti and decided that our story was absolutely true.

And so here ends the MediterraneanMaddfest leg of this tour.  It has been a wonderful trip.  with some wonderful people.  We saw some amazing places and did some amazing things. We learned some languages that we might not have otherwise been required to, although Lu’s Greek was a little dodgey! and we earned ourselves an extra 70 days added onto our lives by trying new food and wine and experiences.  My lovely mother, Jenny told me once that every time you try something new, you add 70 days to your life.  Not only is it a great way to get kids to try things, but even as an adult, it can’t hurt - right? Just in case she was right!

I’ve also learned that heat and travel don’t mix all that well.  I can’t quite believe that I didn’t realise just how hot it would be, even though Lu, who had been there in the same month 13 years ago assured us that it would be stifling...... so parakalō (Greek for ‘please’) remind me of this trip the next time I talk about going to Europe in August!  They were temperatures so high that if we were back at home we would have never left the house.  I’m talking in the 40’s - consistently!  That’s just not right, but we soldiered on making out way through 4 bottles of sunscreen and a bucket load of after sun cream. We hiked in the heat, we sight saw in the heat, we stood and listened to boring tour guides in the blistering heat and mostly without complaint.  Those who know me might know that I don’t deal with the heat well, so I’m super proud of the way that I handled myself in such conditions...... sure, it’s not the worthiest of accomplishments, but for me, it’s up there!

Something I have noticed is that the Turkish men (well some of them) have had a little thing for me.  I haven’t had much luck with men thus far in my life, so who knows?  Maybe I've been looking in the wrong places?  Melbourne has a big Turkish community, maybe I could try my luck there?  Kebab anyone?  However, it was all short lived as I seem to have lost my allure once we crossed over to Greece, so my mojo clearly only works north/east of the Aegean Sea!  It’s a fairly specific area, but we’ll see how it translates back home.  

My fluent Turkish could perhaps be seen as an asset.

So.....Madds is heading back to Brisbane, Robbo will be happy to know, and I am heading back to London for the biggest wedding in the UK..... a bag and shoes have been purchased for the event.  But fear not my faithful followers, the blog will still be plodding along.

Adio Greece!

Toilet Paper!

The one thing that I will not miss about Greece is that you can't put toilet paper in the toilet!  Apparently the pipes all over the country, especially on the islands are so small that even a postage stamp of toilet paper can clog up the system.

I wonder if that has anything to do with their economy?

I'm Tho Thorry About What I Thaid!

On our way up to the Acropolis we came across this little street full of restaurants.  The owner was a ginger nut.... the only redheaded Greek in the village you could say!  He was so lovely.  He smiled and talked to us and gave us directions to the Acropolis.  Sure we could see it from our hotel, but getting there on foot was a different story. We decided to back track after our walk to eat there and a share in well earned drink.

He was as happy as Zorba that we had come back and was super keen to chat to Madds.  

 Now we had been practising our Greek for the past few days and we had our hellos and goodbyes and thank yous and pleases down pat!  

However, when we spoke to this chap, Madds said, "efcharisto" meaning 'thank you', but because she has a slight lisp, to the untrained ear it sounded a little like "efcharithto".  The man, happy that she was giving it a crack replied, "That was very good, but when you say it, you don't say 'efcharithto' because you sound Spanish."  Madds was a little taken aback, but explained that perhaps it was her lisp....... the man was mortified!  And we've never laughed so hard.  For the remainder of the dining experience we all spoke with a lisp.  He even came back and said "I'm tho very thorry for thaying that thing that I thaid.  Please exthept theethe kitheth." 

 Hilarious!

Demetri - shortly after unknowingly correcting Madeline's speech impediment

If you are ever in Athens...... have a look at this place Geros Toy Moria  the food was outstanding!

Another reason we love this place is that we were sitting inside and a big group were sitting inside but with big open windows.  We thought how lucky we were that there was nobody near us smoking and that the people inside surely wouldn't smoke..... never assume, you know what happens there!

The lady directly behind me, we could have reached out and touched we were that close, lit up a dart and we immediately started looking around for another table.  When I caught the waiter's eye I asked if we could possibly move because of the smoke.  He said "No, I fix this problem."  And he popped inside and said to the lady, "Lady, there is a problem with the smoke."  She put it out and all was well.  Well, when I say well, we were happy.  She tried to give me a couple of daggers, but I fended them off with my 'Evs' look coupled with a little shrug.  We may have won this battle, but the war is certainly not over... especially not here in Greece!

After lunch we had decided that we would give a traditional Turkish Bath a go.  I know we're not in Turkey, but they had one there and it was hot and we were sweaty.

However, when we go there, it was a museum and not for actual use anymore.  Luckily we didn't get our gear off!  The little guide followed us through the 6-7 rooms standing quite close behind watching like a hawk in case we did something we weren't supposed to.  We asked if we could lay on the marble table that was used for massages for photo purchoses only and she said she didn't think it was a good idea, so I just leant against it gingerly.....

Then I put my face on it give the effect of the massage and she said "no, I don't think that is a good idea."  I don't think this girl would know a good idea if I threw it at her.

Heavens - imagine how short people were back then.... 

The washing area

The bathing area

The change rooms

The whole tour took about 4 minutes and it cost €2 each.  

We do what we can to help the Greek economy.

Acropolis Now

We arrived in Athens at about 10pm and so everything was dark, but as we emerged from the Metro, nothing, not even the night darkness was going to disguise the filth.  I don't know Athens very well so I don't know if we were just in the dodgy part of town or if it all looked like this, but it wasn't a type of place that you felt ok to hang around.

Our hotel was pretty close to the Metro stop, so it only took us about 10 minutes to walk with our suitcases.  Although we probably ran most of it!  We were so hot and bothered when we arrived the man at reception had to get us a big glass of water before we could begin the check in!

(View from our window)

Have you ever wondered what green grocers do with all those plastic crates?

The hotel was average.  There was a big group of 18 year old Australians on a Contiki tour at breakfast, so you can surmise the quality of the hotel by that.  It advertised that it had a roof top bar........

But I guess you have to admit that it had a pretty good view of the Acropolis!

It was going to be bloody hot in Athens on our one day here and after Ephesus and the 45℃ fiasco, we knew we'd have to get up and get going early to see the Acropolis.  

 Athens, like Rome is all about the ruins.  On our way up to the Acropolis, we came across 100's of sites.  This one ⬇ was the library of Hadrian..... I didn't even know Hadrian could read?!  It's amazing to see the size of the buildings and how they would have built them back in the day with no cranes or heavy machinery.  It's crazy to think about.

I mean - archways.... who thought of that?

And mosaics!  Did someone one day smash something and try desperately to put it back together before the wife got home and then mosaics were invented?

This was the floor to a church...... not much of it left now, but you can imagine what a massive job it would have been.

Out of all the major cities I've seen, Athens has the most visibly homeless people sleeping rough.  I know that there are many homeless everywhere, but I've never seen anything quite like this before.  I didn't want to take any photos of the people sleeping, but I did come across a bench already made up for the night.  I love how this person has kept it all nice and neat.  Every bench we walked past had a person sleeping on it or under it or near it or behind it, and sometimes all four!

Athens wasn't all rubbish though, there were some lovely little pockets, as there are with all big cities.  

We finally reached the the bottom of the hill and started our journey up the hill to reach the Acropolis when we came across two gentlemen who were carving and chiseling stone.  We showed a bit interest in what they were doing so we got a full blown lecture and demonstration on how they restore the stones using old fashioned tools and measuring equipment.  It was quite fascinating.

They'd just finished telling us about their work and how long they'd been doing it.  We told them how appreciative we were of their time etc...... as we left an American woman walked up to them and said "Do you speak American?  Where are the bathrooms?"

A man in a wheelchair was taken straight up the side of the wall, but we went the hard way..... all the way around, otherwise known as....... the Medieval Way - we walked around the whole thing before getting to the front gate!

We did get to see some pretty high tech ancient things such as the Mycenean Fountain

Honestly, I crack myself up!

The whole time we were walking around the wall I kept thinking of Game of Thrones and hard it was going to be scale the wall.  Unfortunately Madds had never seen any episodes so my comments and comparisons were completely lost on her.  In fact, every time I'd mention anything her reply was "I can't be a part of that conversation"  and that tends to kill a conversation right there!

Members of the Night's Watchmen.... or is it Knight's Watchmen?  I was never sure.

How well preserved and maintained is this amphitheatre?

This is still used for concerts and theatre and whatnot.

And it's cleaned step by stop by these two gents.....

What a job hey?

Speaking of jobs...... this man's job was to stand on top of the ruins and either blow his whistle or call out to people who were climbing on the ruins to get off the ruins.

And there were literally 1000's of people to yell out to.  Every couple of minutes there would  be a whistle or a shout out as a kiddie tried climbing up a slopey marble bit and slid down.  People filed in like sheep into the narrow entrance which was also the exit - Greeks are clever people, so perhaps someone foreign organised this system?

Once we were in there - it was amazing.  Hot, but amazing.

I'm admiring the architecture here like I know what I'm talking about!

We did it - our last historical site for this journey!

oh yeah!

This lady may have looked completely silly, but I bet she didn't get sunburnt, wasn't hot and didn't breath in any dust.  Who's the bigger lamo now?

So the crazy thing was that when we got there it was busy, but when we tried to leave there were about 50 times more people and they all wanted to exit at the same time.  It took about 30 minutes of standing in the blazing sun to get out a very small two person wide gap that led into a one person at a time down the stairs.  

Crazy!  

But what is even crazier is that we did the whole thing with no water.  Usually we both carry a bottle, but for some reason, we didn't have one on us thinking that surely we'd be able to get water there..... but it was not to be.  So once we got down we were like walkers from the desert dragging themselves towards the mirage..... but the only shop there had run out of water - can you believe that shit?  So we had to settle for frozen lemonade. I know - poor us!