Ahh Vacation . . . Wait I'm not relaxed!

Hey everyone,

I have left Thessaloniki . . . at least for now. I found myself in Athens at six a.m. on Easter Morning; not good. I have decided that Easter is the most inappropriate time of the year to be traveling in Greece as the Eastern Orthodoxy has made it a pretty big deal; thus everything is closed, not only on Sunday, but Monday as well.

So, yesterday I spent my first 3 hours in Athens sitting in a chair reading outside Everest (no, not the mountain, but rather the Greeks answer to Mc D's). At nine I was allowed to check in to my room at the Hostel Aphrodite, a very nice place, and drop my luggage. After answering a few e mails I was off and running. I have some theories about traveling that, when I have a bit more time, I might expound upon the masses; the most important of these theories however, is that the first day you are in a new city you should spend your day wandering, put your map away and wander. Thus, after leaving my things at the hostel I left and wandered for about 7 hours (2 of those were spent on a park bench napping; that is another one of my theories). I walked all over, the weather was wonderful, the streets were quiet, and best of all there were not too many tourists. I saw the Acropolis, Pan's Cave, the Olympic Stadium, and many other sites that make 1492 look like it was a week ago. Athens is an impossibly large city, as you will see when I have an opportunity to post pictures. It sits in a basin with the Acropolis as its center point. There are old things everywhere; above the city, below the city, and built into the city. I am however, a bit disengaged from all of this; by this I mean that I feel like I should be more relaxed.

So, Ian, why are you not relaxed? Well . . . I am trying to schedule my days so that everything will fit; this, by the way, goes against everything that I believe in as a traveler; unfortunately, I do not have the funds to be spontaneous and free spirited. I have my credit card, but, as you all are well aware, I will have to pay that also. And it is not the money that is stressing me out it is the need to look ahead and figure out what I will be thinking in five days so that I can contact the right people so that I will end up in the right place, at the right time, with the right connections, places to stay, train tickets, ferry tickets, whew . . . .

I suppose though that I should not complain. I am leaving in about three hours for Kalymnos. A small island in the south Aegean, near Kos. Every time I tell a Greek where I am going they close their eyes, tip their head back, wave their hand, and say, "Poh Poh" (this is the most awe-inspiring of reactions). Kalymnos is an unspoiled island that is known for its deep-water, free-diving, sponge-catching fishermen; more importantly, for me, is that within the last few years it has become one of the premier sport climbing areas in the world. I checked the weather and for the week it is in the low 70's with full sun. So. . .

Where to from there? Well I am back in Athens for a night, then to Patras, from Patras to Brindisi Italy, and on up to Milan where I will drop my luggage for the remainder of my journey. I will move on down through Italy for about a week and then over to Madrid for about ten days, maybe a day or two in Mallorca, and finish the trip out with a Flogging Molly concert in Barcelona. I fly out of Milan on the 28th of May to complete my four months on the east side of the Atlantic.

Now you know, and knowing is half the battle. Please leave your comments, as I love to read them, and I will try to post pictures and such when I reach Milan. Thank you for all of your support and I will catch up with everyone soon.

Peace, love, and happiness
ian