Traveling during a pandemic

 Because of COVID we had to put our passports to rest for a while.  We did this to protect ourselves, our loved ones, and those we have never met.  To come together for everyone.

But now people are starting to dust off their passports and travel again.  For some travel is a pleasure, for others it’s an escape.  But for a few of us the wider world is where we truly feel at home.

The USA

 

There are lots of wonderful things to say about the USA but one thing I don’t miss is how terribly divided our country is right now.  Politicians focus on how to attack the other side rather than what is good for the country as a whole.  It divides friends & families.  It also doesn’t go unnoticed by other countries we visit.  But you have to have hope.  A very wise man I know said you need to try to meet people half way and have a conversation about the things we can agree on.

Good bye to kids

 Fortunately out of all of the kids in the world I have the very best ones!

We had a week filled with fun, energy, laughs and fascinating thoughts & ideas.

Ps; get well Mike!

19 shades of blue

Why is the water so vibrant blue?  The water exchange with the Atlantic is very low which greatly limits the flow of nutrients to the sea.  The lack of nutrients leads to less algae making the Mediterranean clean and crystal clear.

They say there are 19 shades of blue in the Mediterranean, I believe it!

 

Greece - Crystal clear water at Balos bay

 

Travel opens your heart and broadens your mind…

Chania

We we had a great time in Chania yesterday.  Last night Alan & I put our feet up while my kids partied on like rock stars.  I guess that’s easier to do when you’re 30 and only have a week to get the most out of your holiday!

Today we’re climbing up to a castle and taking a boat to the famous Balo’s beach.

 

Line dancing - Greeks know how to have fun!

We went out to dinner last night at a restaurant with live Greek music and line dancing.  Everyone in the restaurant joined in the dancing, some knew the steps (others of us) learned on the fly. Greeks know how to enjoy life!

 

Greek life

 

My kids are embracing the Greek way of life…the food & wine, the sun and the sea. Tonight it’s Greek line dancing, there’s no slow in this group!

My Kiddos are here!

My kids are visiting us in Greece for a week!  I missed them so much!!  Lauren, me, Zack, Danielle & Alan.  Unfortunately Mike is recovering from back surgery and couldn’t make it.  We miss you Mike!
 

9/11

 20 years ago on 9/11 terrorists took the lives of over 3,000 Americans changing our sense of security forever.  We took the afternoon to visit the German Cemetery in Crete.  Just over 80 years ago, Germany invaded Crete during WWII.  The “Battle of Crete” left over 4,000 German soldiers dead and they are buried here.  Over 6,500 Crete citizens also died defending their island.  

Will humans ever learn?

Everywhere you go becomes a part of who you are

 

We have been traveling through Europe for 4 months now.  The plan was to spend a month in each of the countries we selected.  I am a big fan of VRBO/AirB&B’s rather than sterile hotel rooms.  We are temporarily living in someone else’s vacation home but we treat it like it’s ours. Why are we here a month?  It takes at least a week to feel acclimated to an area, the 2nd week we do lots of exploring but by the 3rd and 4th week we feel a part of the community.  We get to know some of the people here, find our favorite…bakery, coffee & restaurants .  We start to understand how people think here and we learn to understand why they live as they do. 

I begin to bond with the home we are in.  I always say; wherever I am traveling in the world is my home.  

I have my favorite reading spot (with HoneyToo close by).  When it’s almost time to leave it’s exciting to think about the next place we are going however I also feel a sadness in saying good bye.

Greece and the Sea

 

Greece has always had a special relationship to the sea.  There are over 2000 islands in Greece, 170 are inhabited.  There is no place in Greece that you are over 85 miles from the sea.  The great seas that surround Greece are directly linked to their wellbeing and their economy.  They provide fishing, transportation, tourism and a way of life.  They seem concerned about the health of the seas.  The prime minister wisely states; “the environmental problems we are about to face are not someone else’s concern, but our own”.

A little rain must fall

 

We had two full days of rain.  Summers are hot and dry here so it’s a welcome site to the locals.  Day one I read almost an entire book.  On the second day I found an umbrella and took my camera for a walk.  The air felt clean & fresh and every living thing seemed to be celebrating the rain.  It promises to be sunny and warm again tomorrow.

The Blue Zones

 

The Blue Zones is one of my favorite books.  It talks about areas of the world where people live much longer & healthier lives than anywhere else.  One of the places in the book is the island of Ikaria, Greece.  On average people in Greece live 10 years longer than the rest of Europe and the US.  Some of the reasons for this include; warm climates that provide access to fresh, healthy food, exercise that often includes walking steep hills, a close family network, low stress, clean air and a spirituality to name a few.  One more thing I found interesting about the book was that the Blue Zone areas did not seem to include many wealthy countries with access to the best health care?

Biking on the island

We went for a 4 hour bike ride a way from the coast.  There were hundreds of orchards filled with olives, oranges and limes.  The air smelled heavenly.

Tip of the day; don’t drink too much Raki

 

Raki (pronounced Rocky) is to Crete what Tequila is to Mexico.  It’s made with grape pomace & anise.  You will not be in Crete long before being offered Raki.  The Cretans drink it when greeting friends, when friends are leaving, before dinner, after dinner, on good days, on bad days and any other day… you get the idea.  It is considered rude to not offer someone Raki that is visiting your home.  We learned the key to drinking Raki is moderation.

Authentic Travel

 

Authentic Travel is a term I use often.  I googled it and it’s definitely not exclusive to me however the meaning is subjective.  My definition is to take a genuine interest in other people and their culture.  I’m curious and I like to talk to as many local people as I can.  I ask a lot of questions.  I slow down, listen carefully and respect their differences.  I try to remember names.  If I want people to be genuine I have to be genuine myself.  I try to be open minded.  Eat where the locals eat.  Read about their culture before I arrive.  Learn some basic language.  At the end of the day peoples hopes and dreams are more alike than they are different…..

we are all citizens of the world.

Day at the beach 🏖

You can’t beat a day at the beach!  The water is very warm in the Mediterranean in August.  It was a great day to relax and hang out.

 

Travel

 

      Traveling has a way of stretching your mind…

Olives - the pride of Crete

As I mentioned olive trees are everywhere here.  In fact there are over 30 million of them.  Their oldest tree is over 2000 years old.  Crete is one of the few islands in Greece that could survive on their olive industry alone (without tourism).  Every fall the olives are picked.  They put mesh material on the ground and rake the olives off the trees.  It’s a social event and keeps families connected.  In the fall the rich scents of the olives fills the air.  The best olive oil is extra virgin cold pressed meaning no heat or chemicals are used to extract the oil.  According to the locals ALL of their oil is extra virgin cold pressed!

Old Town in Chania Greece

 

This is the harbor they call “Old Town”.  It was a great place for a casual walk and lunch.  The shades of blue in the Mediterranean are sooooo beautiful!

Gyros

 

A gyro is a very common food in Greece.  We did some R&D to find out which restaurant makes them best!  We rode our bikes 4 miles to Grillaki Restaurant to try one.  They really were very good!  Our waitress was Maria, she spoke very little English but was happy to teach us words in Greek.

Greek Dancing

 

Greek line dancing is an old tradition and couldn’t be more fun to watch.  It’s a dance of joy with groups dancing shoulder to shoulder.  It’s done at Greek celebrations of all kinds (including weddings).  The music is infectious and when you see it you can’t help but want to join in!  If you want to give it a try go to YouTube and learn the basic steps.  I promise it will make you smile.

Greek language

 If we are lost we can just refer to the signs…or not.  The Greek language uses letters and symbols which makes it much more challenging.  In other European countries we could just enter a word or sentence into a translator ap on our phones but here we don’t have the ability to enter symbols.  The good news for people from English speaking countries is English is the second language most spoken in Greece.  If you came here and didn’t speak Greek (or English) you would have a hard time getting around.

Rose colored glasses

 

                                   

Alan claims I see the world through rose colored glasses when I travel.  In other words I see all the good but not the bad.  He might be right….but I also think that’s a good way to live 💞

The photo is a sunset from our deck.

Pool kitty

 

This is our kitty that lives in our pool/patio area.  She thinks she owns this place and is letting us stay here for a month.  (Or maybe she allows us to stay because I give her bacon?)  I named her Honeytoo after Lauren’s cat; Honey.

High tide

 

We walked to a little town called Platanias and spent some time on the beach.  The surf was high today but the water was warm and it was just fun to be there.  This beach has smooth round rocks rather than sand.  Crete is much more laid back then some of the other Greek islands.

Home sweet home

 

This is home for the next 30 days.  We are on a hill facing the sea and it’s pretty private.  We were very active in Switzerland so we both are interested in some R&R for a while.  The air is hot and dry, it reminds me of Arizona.  I’m ready to take a dip in the pool!

Crete is the biggest island in Greece, it’s 160 miles long and about 50 miles wide.  Tourism is still down here due to covid but they say it’s slowly coming back.  Their other sources of income are olives & olive oil, there are olive trees everywhere.

Chania, Greece on the island of Crete

 We just arrived to Chania, Greece on the island of Crete.  Chania has about 108,000 people.  Our villa is about 30 minutes outside of Chania.  It was a long day of travel…

Good bye to Switzerland

 

We both loved Switzerland, I wish we could have stayed here longer!  The people are wonderful, the views are breathtaking.  I hope my photos have given you an idea of just how beautiful Switzerland really is!

Tomorrow we’ll be in the island of Crete, Greece (far from the current wild fires taking place in some parts of Greece).

I wish I’d never traveled…said no one ever!!!

 

Sharing the trails with friends

 

These cute cows are everywhere and you can hear their cow bells from miles away.  Sometimes they walk along the trails with us but eventually they find their way home for milking.

If you are afraid of heights this isn’t for you..

 

We took a gondola up one of the mountains yesterday.  In order to get to the very top you had to take the cat walk shown here.  Of course we had to have our picture taken at the edge that falls to the steep canyon below.

Eiger Mountian (grand but dangerous)

 

This is the famous Eiger mountain that we see from our deck.  It’s 13,000 feet high.  It’s considered one of the most dangerous mountains in Europe for climbers.  It’s famous for its 5,900 foot north face of rock and ice (right of the snowy area).  In German it’s called the Nordwand which means North Wall but more often it’s referred to as Mordwand which means Murder Wall.  Many climbers have tried to reach the top, most turned back, 64 have died trying and 5 have made it.  With those odds I have no idea why anyone would attempt it?

Grindelwald, Switzerland

 

Our home is on the edge of Grindelwald facing the Alps.  In the morning we walked the short distance to Main Street for a few things we needed.  This has got to be the most charming village I have ever seen.  There are flowers everywhere.  

BTW; There are only 8.5 million people in Switzerland or about the same size as New Jersey in the US.  The Swiss have 4 official languages; German, French, Italian and Romansh.  They also have there own language they speak at home or with friends called SwissGerman.  About 1/2 of the people speak English too.  As you may have guessed this is a highly educated country with a strong economy.

We made it to Switzerland

 

We arrived in Grindelwald just in time for a mountain bike festival.  There was great music and everyone was having fun so of course we joined in!  Grindelwald has 3,600 residents.  It’s a beautiful ski village with lots of hiking and biking in the summer too.  The picture of the Alps is from our deck.  (There happened to be a hang glider coming in when I took this picture.)

After a good nights sleep we can’t wait to go exploring.

Good bye to Lake Como

 

Today we say good bye to Lake Como and we’ll be in Switzerland by late afternoon.  We’ll go by train to Interlaken and then a 30 minute train ride to a village in the Alps called Grindelwald.  We planned this entire trip a head of time but we left one week open so we decided to go to Switzerland.  After that we’ll spend a month in Crete, Greece.  Arrivederci Italy 💛

Swimming in Lake Como

 

We leave in the morning so we thought we would spend a “chill” day at the pool & in Lake Como.  I understand now why we don’t see many swimmers, the water is clean & clear but it’s pretty cold.  However it was 90 degrees today so it still felt good.

After spending a month here I kind of bond with the area and the people….. I will miss it 😟

Lovers walk

 

This is another part of the “lovers walk”, I walk on it almost every day.  There are probably shorter routes to the places I’m going but none prettier.

Saturday we are headed for Switzerland, known for chocolate, the Alps, watches, banking (they had me at chocolate!)

Golfing in the mountains by Lake Como

 

Golfing with our new friends George & Elizabeth from Austria (see next photo).  Alan said it was his best day in Europe… since the last time he golfed.

If the world could live as one…

 

Every morning over coffee we like to debate world issues.  I see the US is about to pass a bipartisan infrastructure bill…bipartisan…what a lovely word.  Sometimes I think there’s hope 😇.  

Now if we could just solve the climate change crisis, my heart would be at peace.  (A great way to learn more about it is in the documentary “Breaking Boundaries, The Science of our Plant”).