Category Archives: Greece

Ionian Islands

September 8-16, 2023

As is often the case after a trip, I quickly returned to the rest of my life and got distracted from finishing my last blog entry for Greece, so here it is, more than a month after I got home.

After leaving London, I returned to Athens and spent a week on a 46’ sailboat exploring the Northern Ionian Islands with my friends Lynn, Sue, Monica, and Shoshana. On the boat, even more than the rest of my trip, days ran together and if not for date stamps on photos and notes on my phone, I’d have no idea where I was or what I did on any particular day.

Each day we ate breakfast (typically yogurt with fruit, almonds, and honey) and lunch (sandwiches) on board, and went ashore for dinner. (I can eat wheat in Greece without getting an upset stomach; avoiding nightshades is a challenge).

We typically stopped at two coves each day to swim and paddle board, then in a third to spend the night. I didn’t bring my waterproof camera, which is just as well since there were only a few small fish to be seen. The water was clear and the seafloor was mostly pebbles and seagrass, sadly more dead than alive.

We hired a captain, Andres, and had intended to help crew the boat, but the lines were too thick and the winches were too weak us to help with them. Instead, we took turns lowering and raising the anchor, and swimming ashore to tie and untie lines.

It was a very relaxing week spent in a swim suit and shorts.

Friday, 8 September – Back in Athens

My early flight from London was delayed (they had to swap planes due to a mechanical problem), but was otherwise uneventful. Unable to sleep with non-reclining Wizz Air seats, I finished listening to my audible book, Circe. We arrived about an hour behind schedule so I’m glad I didn’t have a connecting flight.

I took the train from the airport to central Athens. The 40-minute ride is supposed to run every 36 minutes; I stood and waited more than that. Flagging taxis was a challenge, and the first driver took a look at my destination and shook his head. I picked up the Airbnb key from a restaurant then wandered up and down the street several times, lugging my luggage, before I found the right door. By then it was 19:00. Lynn and Sue arrived later, having spent many hours waiting to get into the Acropolis. We figured out how to turn on the washing machine labeled in Greek, then met the others across the street for dinner – bread, olives, a yummy salad, house rose, and a large piece of tuna (which I finished eating for breakfast the next day).

Saturday, 9 September – Getting to Port

Our clothes dried overnight on the windy balcony. We had a few delays getting out of town; the driver initially went to the wrong destination and we got stuck in a bit of morning traffic. It’s about a four-hour drive to Preveza, the port town where we boarded our boat.

At our first rest stop, we walked across a bridge over the Corinth Canal. This narrow shipping channel, built about 80 years ago, connects the Aegean and Ionian Seas. At another stop, we picked up food for lunch and ate in the van (our driver was worried that he wouldn’t get back to Athens in time for his next ride).

We reached Preveza around 14:00, and hung out at café while waiting for the boat to be ready. Lynn dealt with the paperwork and we learned we needed to pay more than anticipated and it needed to be in cash. Andres, our captain, gave me a ride to an ATM on his scooter, and when we got back, he took Shashana there too. We unpacked our provisions and luggage, and walked to local restaurant for dinner; it was Lynn’s turn for a ride on Andrea’s scooter. I shared my overcooked chicken slovakia with a few cats. We took a different route back to the boat and discovered a lively street filled with shops and restaurants. The pharmacies were open and Lynn was able to get more medicine for the cough she’s been struggling with for weeks.

Sunday, 10 September – Sailing Day 1 – Preveza to Sivota Lefkada

The island of Lefkas is connected to the mainland by a floating bridge, which moves aside once an hour to allow boats to pass. We started motoring at 7:45 so we could get there in time for the 9:00 opening. (Most sailing trips through the northern Ionian Islands begin on Lefkas, but we started Preveza, a mainland port, since that’s where the boat Lynn selected is docked).

After motoring through the channel, we sailed a bit with Lynn at the helm. We stopped at two coves on Lefkas, somewhere near Lefkada and Poros, to swim. Thinking we were done swimming, I changed into dry clothes and later regretted now joining Lynn and Shashana for a swim into Papanikolis Cave, named after the submarine that hid there during WWII.

We docked in Sivota Lefkada for the night. Sue and I took a walk through the small town and picked up a few provisions, then met the others at a Stavros Taverna for dinner at the end of our dock. Since this town specializes in fish, three of us ordered sea bass.

Monday, 11 September – Sailing Day 2 – Lefkas to Ithac

I was up early and went to the bakery for bread and a pastry, took a free shower at the restaurant, and finished breakfast before the others were up. (The pastry was so good that I unsuccessfully tried to replicate it at other stops). Then, with time to sketch, I couldn’t find my sketching supplies. (I thought maybe I had left them back at port, but later learned they were gone for good, lost somewhere between London and Preveza).

Our first stop was a small cove east of Frikes on Ithaca (Ithaki to the Greeks), our second a small beach near Paralia Gidaki northeast of Vathi. There I tried paddle boarding; the boards were very tippy, I fell off multiple times and couldn’t say up. We docked in Vathi for the night. Lynn, Sue and I wandered through this cute port town. I bought a shirt and we enjoyed another yummy fish dinner.

Tuesday, 12 September – Sailing Day 3 – Ithaca (Vathi to Filiatro)

I went for a short walk before we left port, and picked up bread, pastries, and water. Our first stop was a rocky coastline near Vardiola Beach, close to Vathi. Lynn and I both successfully stood on the paddle boards; I stayed upright from the boat to shore and backsyno. I also painted a watercolor (borrowing paint from Sue and paper from Shoshana). At our next stop, Talaros on the southeast coast of Ithaca, I sat on the paddle boat and paddled like in a kayak so I could take me phone to the coastline and take pictures. We anchored near Parlia Filiatro and motored ashore for dinner, a small scenic spot with one restaurant. My meal was delayed so long that I canceled when the others finished eating, having nibbled enough from other’s plates to sustain me.

Wednesday, 13 September – Sailing Day 4 – Ithaca to Kefalonia

The sunrise was beautiful. After breakfast, we motored a short distance to a lovely small white sand beach. Taking a clue from another swimmer, I gave my skin a sand scrub, and the other women followed suit. It felt wonderful.

After lunch, we again used the paddleboards as kayaks, this time to explore a cave near Fiskardo on Kefalonia. The others walked through it. I paddled around to pick up Lynn and Sue on the other side. We docked in Fiskardo, a lovely port town where we took walks and enjoyed yet another yummy fish dinner.

Thursday, 14 September – Sailing Day 5 – Kefalonia to Kastos

Early in the morning, while the light was beautiful, Lynn and I walked up to the two lighthouses, a Venetian one built in the 16^th century, and a Victorian one build in 1892.

We sailed much of the way to our first stop, a small beach on the east side of Kastos, where I paddle boarded along the shore for quite a distance.

The mistral winds were favorable after lunch and we really sailed for the first time, Lynn at the helm most of the time, with Andres prepared to grab a line if need be. We opted to keep sailing and skipped our second swim spot.

Friday, 15 September – Sailing Day 6 – Kastos to Preveza

After another pretty sunrise, we began our journey back to port, stopping at Plagia Cantina on the way. Lynn, Sue and I took the dingy ashore and walked along the small beach. We were hoping to buy ice creams but their refrigeration was out of order. On the way back, a line got tangled in the rudder and before Lynn and I figured out why the engine stopped, a nearby sailor spotted us and towed our dingy back to our boat.

We motored back through the Lefkas channel, waited for the floating bridge to move aside, then sailed a bit on way back to Preveza. Once docked, we collected our luggage, toasted with champagne and a bit of cake to celebrate Lynn’s birthday. It was a special one, months ago, and the reason for this trip.

Saturday, 16 September – Flights Home

My flight left Preveza at 9:30, so I was the first one up. I walked to a bakery we found last night, but alas, it wasn’t open. A taxi picked me up at 7:45 for ten-minute ride to airport. I flew to Frankfort where I had a six-hour layover, almost enough time for a museum visit, but considering how long it took to get my luggage, and the complexity of the airport, I opted to stay nearby. (Why don’t airports provide seats in baggage claim areas)? I ventured across a sky bridge to a quiet restaurant for a sit-down lunch, then wandered in search of electrical outlets and sat on a cold tile floor while my devices charged.

Fortunately, I had a seat in Economy “Plus” so I wasn’t as uncomfortable as I otherwise would have been. I didn’t sleep much on the 11-hour flight, instead watched a movie and sorted photos. Customs didn’t take long at SFO and I didn’t have to wait long for the 20:30 Airporter. Linda picked me up an hour later and Sage was happy to see me when I got home, about 24 hours after I departed the boat.

Delphi

Tinos

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August 2023 – I spent a week with my painting workshop on Tinos, the windiest of the Cyclades Islands. While cooler than Athens, it was still hot by my standards and I spent most of the time in capris and flip flops. In addition to painting, we visited Pyrgus, a village on the opposite end of the island and I took daily walks along the shore.

Wednesday, 23 August – Ferry to Tinos

After a tasty fish lunch in Rafina, we boarded a large ferry for the two-hour ride to Tinos. I wish airline seats were as comfortable. I walked up to the deck a couple times, but it was way too windy to stay long. A bus was waiting at the Tinos port for our 15-minute drive to our lodging, Porto Raphael in Agios Ioannis.

Susan and are sharing a large room with a balcony overlooking the Aeronian sea. After getting settled, we joined the group for dinner at 7:30 (19:30). We have two large tables reserved for us in a shaded spot on the veranda. Here we ate all our meals. The breakfasts were at 8:00 buffet style; I had spanakopita and yogurt every day, and too many pastries. Lunches, at 1:30 (13:30), were light with bread, tziki, and delicious green salads, including one with shredded zucchini for which I now have the recipe. We had two entrée choices each evening, none very appealing, and all vegetables over cooked. It was a challenge to avoid nightshades. The sunsets were lovely.

Thursday, 24 August – Painting

A handful of us started sneaking out food with every meal for a mama kitty and her five kittens. They were ravenous. Some of the many cats on the island have clipped ears, indicating they have been neutered, but not many. When we left, we donated money for them.

Our routine most days was to work on one painting in the morning, another in the afternoon. I decided to start with a painting of the chapel. There was a shaded nook near it and this is where Doug and I set up, after collecting rocks to hold down our drop clothes and palette paper. I also hung a bag from my easel to keep it stable. While we were mostly protected from the wind, gusts were frequent. A few people painted on the veranda, while others painting outside their rooms.

In the afternoon, Susan and I painted on our balcony, also using rocks to keep things in place.

Friday, 25 August – Painting

I took a morning walk with Meghana, Jeanette, and Susan. We saw goats.

My painting suffered overnight. Apparently one of the workers, thrilled to see a painting of the chapel, picked it up and hugged it, getting paint on his shirt. It was then left on the ground and the wind brought in dirt. Fortunately, it was only the first layer, so I wiped off the dirt and continued. It was a bit cooler and windier than yesterday.

I took a short refreshing swim in the pool before lunch and a nap after. I painted later than yesterday, and had just enough time for a shower and cocktail before dinner. There I saw Shahrazad with her leg propped up on a chair. While walking down to the beach with Meghana, she slipped and twisted her ankle. She took a taxi to the emergency room and confirmed that it was broken. An appointment with the next day confirmed two breaks, and she was told that if she keeps all weight off it, she probably won’t need surgery.

Saturday, 26 August 26 – Pyrgos

I took a walk with Jeanette and Susan to the two beaches near us before breakfast. There are several restaurants and places to rent chairs and umbrellas, quiet in the morning, busy in the afternoons and evenings.

We took a field trip to Pyrgos, where we visited the Museum of Marble Crafts. There are many quarries in Greece, most of the marble is white or grey, but it is also found in a great variety of colors. We learned many techniques for splitting and transporting heavy blocks. While we were inside, it started to rain and the goats began to run down the mountain. They must have known a thunderstorm was coming. It was very loud and one lightning bolt hit the large crane outside the building. I’m glad we were indoors and not driving on a narrow, windy road when it hit.

The storm ended as we left the museum and we wandered around this cute town with narrow, twisting streets. We ate lunch at Dough and Shakers, specializing in pizza and cocktails. I opted for ravioli and a fancy drink, Chalepas (The Greatest Tinian Sculptor). I bought a metal fish to add to my growing collection of backyard art pieces. On the way back, I continued listening to an audible book, Circe, on the hour bus ride, hearing stories about the gods

I painted from 4:00-7:00 pm.

Sunday, 27 August – Painting

I was awakened early by flashes of lightening, and got up to watch the storm from our balcony. Susan and I met our walking buddies by the pool. The four of us wandered around by the rocks, then Meghana and I headed up the mountain. We took a higher road than last time and were able to see a bit more to the east.

I worked on my chapel painting in the morning. The mineral spirits we are using are not odorless and the fumes were bad in alcove. I stopped an hour before lunch so I had time for a very refreshing swim in the sea. It’s cooler today and still very windy (according to the weather app the wind is 15-25 mph with 35 mph gusts)

I spent a pleasant afternoon painting on our balcony until 7:00 pm, listening to Greek music drifting up from the beach bar.

Monday, 28 August – Final Painting Day

Meghana and I took our longest morning walk, going up and around the bend to the east where we could see another peninsula jutting into the sea. The light is beautiful at this time of day. There was almost no wind.

I painted in the morning, almost finishing my chapel painting and making good progress on the other. Lunch included fish for the first time, anchovies and sardines. Susan and Jenny skipped the group lunch and went to one of the restaurants near the beach for sea bream, our new favorite.

I took the afternoon off from painting and went for a wonderful swim in the sea and took a nap before joining the others for our critique. It was great to see such a diverse set of paintings, some finished, some in progress. While most used oil or acrylic, a couple painters chose watercolor. Several also had sketchbooks; I’m impressed by what some people can draw while standing up. (I was too busy painting to sketch this week).

There was a melancholy feel to dinner as we knew we would all be heading in different directions in the morning. I hope to see many in a future workshop.

Tuesday, 29 August – Farewell Tinos

I packed up my paintings, fortunately fairly dry thanks to the use of mineral spirts instead of linseed oil, plus the sun and wind. I wrapped them in wax paper and put them in a box I constructed in advance. Hopefully that will protect them as I continue with my trip.

Meghana and I took our morning walk up and around the little hill between beaches. After breakfast, Shahrazad was carried to an ambulance, and the rest of us boarded the bus back to port. (She was later taken on and off the ferry in a wheelchair; I admire her good spirts). A handful of us took a short walk through the town before boarding. Larry and Anastasia took a different ferry, heading for another island and a chance to relax without the need to keep track of 15 painters. A dozen of us ate lunch at the same restaurant as on our way out. They were out of the local fish I wanted to try so I had seabass and perfectly cooked vegetables. The proprietor called four cabs for us and we headed off in different directions.

Susan, Jenny and I shared one to our hotel, in a busier location than before. After a short break we walked briefly in the botanical garden, then caught a cab to the funicular which took us up to the top of Hill of Lycabettus, where we had a drink and watched the sunset. They both ordered food, but barely ate any, we were all still full from lunch.

Athens

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I’ve started a four-week trip to Europe with a painting workshop in Greece, with Susan, Jenny and a dozen other students from Larry’s painting classes. We spent the first few days in Athens visiting ancient sites and museums.

Thursday, 17 August – getting to SF

The Airporter, my usual ride to the airport now that I live in Marin, doesn’t run early enough, so I spent the night before my flight in the city. Anne gave me a ride to the Larkspur ferry, which dropped me off at the Ferry Building, and I rolled my suitcase, full of art supplies, down Market Street for several blocks until I found a working escalator. (The elevator was out of service). It only worked for one flight, so I had to carry my luggage the rest of the way down to the BART platform. From Glen Park I hailed a Lyft ride to Susan’s.

Friday,18 August – flight to Athens

Our plane departed SFO at 6:00 am, and after a 3-hour layover at JFK, we landed in Athens at 10:30 am the next morning. (Greece is ten hours ahead of Pacific Time). The second, 9-hour, leg was in Premium Economy, much more spacious than most of the flights I’ve taken. Noise-canceling headphones helped, though I still wasn’t able to sleep much. We were lucky, our flights were on time and our luggage was not lost.

Saturday, 19 August – Cultural Center

We caught a taxi to our hotel, dropped our luggage, and took a walk. Susan bought a pair of pants, we visited Pandora, a gallery with interesting contemporary art, and ate an awful lunch at one of the many outdoor restaurants catering to tourists. We checked into our room, a nice one with a small balcony, took naps and showers, then met up with two other students who were already here, Cleo and Jeanette.

Cleo speaks quite a bit of Greek, which she learned from her Greek grandmother, and directed our taxi driver to the Niarcos Foundation Cultural Center. There were no performances today, but we enjoyed the views and saw “Return to Sender” an art installation by The Next, an African art collective, focused on increasing awareness of textile waste. Many discarded clothes are sent to Africa where they end up in landfills.

Sunday, 20 August – National Art Gallery

Breakfast is included with our hotel, and it’s quite yummy: perfectly cooked eggs, spanakopita, olives, feta and other cheeses, fresh OJ and other juices, meat, rice pudding, a little fruit, lots of dry breads and pastries, …

We learned that Jenny didn’t get to the hotel until 1:30 am after flight delays and changes. Her luggage is still back in Amsterdam. She is the fourth student whose luggage is missing.

Jenny, Susan, Jeanette and I took a taxi to the National Gallery, renovated and expanded a couple years ago, and spent a delightful three hours viewing three floors of post-Byzantine Greek art, ranging from the renaissance on the ground floor to contemporary on the top. Though dozens of taxis passed us when we exited, none would stop, so Susan used her Uber app to hail one for us.

Back near the hotel, Jeanette led us to a nearby restaurant, To Katiamo, where we had a nice leisurely lunch. The wait for our grilled Bream fish was well worthwhile. Susan and I had to change rooms since the ones included with the workshop are smaller than the room we had the first night.

We met the group at 4:30. There are 15 students, five of them. Susan, Jenny, and I are the only ones who haven’t attended a travel workshop with Larry previously. Our dinner, in the hotel atrium, was delicious; I had salmon, salad with very tender chicken, veggies, and dessert.

Monday, 21 August – Acropolis

I slept until 4:00, an improvement over yesterday. We met in lobby at 8:30 and walked to the Acropolis, perched on a hilltop overlooking the Athens urban area, which has about three million inhabitants, almost a third the population of Greece.

We met Fotini, our delightful guide, near the entrance and she led us up the slippery marble steps; with skip-the-line tickets we bypassed part of the crowd. Though young, she was very knowledgeable and able to answer our many questions. This excerpt from the web sums it up: “During the past 2,500 years, the Parthenon … has been rocked by earthquakes, set on fire, shattered by exploding gunpowder, looted for its stunning sculptures, and defaced by misguided preservation efforts. Amazingly, the ancient Athenians built the Parthenon in just eight or nine years. Repairing it is taking a bit longer.” During one invasion, columns were pulled down so the lead dowels between marble blocks could be melted and formed into bullets.

It was hot, 96^oF (36^oC), so we stopped often in shady spots to listen to descriptions about Athena’s temple and the Erechtheion, the only temple with maidens for columns, known as the Caryatids (these are replicas, the originals are in museums). On the east side is was windy and dusty, and while the original plan was to wander around and sketch, a half dozen of us chose to head down for a cold beverage at a shady restaurant instead. We reconnected at the Psaras Tavern, where we enjoyed lunch on a shaded terrace.

Drained by the sun, many of us skipped touring the Ancient and Roman Agoras and instead opted for gelatos and showers. Susan and I met Jeanette in atrium/dining room where I made my sketch-of-the-day, later Jenny joined us for cocktails on the roof, with a view of the Acropolis. The heat was more bearable sitting in the shade. After a bit of online research, we learned that the dessert served after dinner was kataifi with cream on top, yum.

Monday, 21 August – Acropolis Museum

Yeah! I slept until 6:00 am, my best night sleep in weeks. Susan was craving real coffee so we headed out early for a walk to a coffee shop, encountering Jenny along the way. She was getting distraught about her missing luggage. She and Jeanette headed to the airport after breakfast and while the rest of us were touring the Acropolis Museum we received a WhatApp message letting us know their luggage had been found, yeah!

The museum is built over an old neighborhood with ruins visible beneath. Inside, we saw many of the remaining Parthenon sculptures and caryatids, other than ones at the British Museum. After lunch at the museum, I joined the majority for a short, hot walk to the Olympieion (a.k.a. Temple of Olympian Zeus). One of the largest temples in Greece, it originally contained 104 of the tallest columns in Greece. Most of the 15 remaining ones were surrounded by scaffolding.

Anna, Meghana, and I met with Susan and Jenny in the hotel lobby and the five of us walked over to the National Museum of Contemporary Art, which focuses on political and social issues, such as climate change, border walls, sexuality. Hot and tired, we only spent an hour and didn’t have time to see every exhibit, which included many videos.

Wednesday, 23 August – Jewelry Museum

With a couple hours to fill before our bus ride to the port, Anna and I toured the nearby Lalaounis Jewelry Museum. Ilias Lalaounis was a Greek metallurgist who specialized in jewelry influenced by ancient Greek designs. He later got inspiration from a variety of civilizations and nature creating an impressive variety of art pieces. The museum also houses pieces by contemporary artists and jewelry-making demos.

We rejoined others in the lobby and boarded a bus which took us to the port for the painting part of our workshop. It was a good time to be leaving; a couple fires started outside Athens yesterday and there was smoke in the air.