If It's Monday (Is it Monday??)

We flew to London on Monday the 7th. I was really looking forward to being in an English-speaking country again. But something I’ve learned about traveling, particularly in foreign countries, and even if they speak English, is that it takes longer to figure things out than you think it will. For instance – where is the bus stop and the subway depot? I could see the subway info on the map, but the bus info seems to be quite a secret. There is a map on line, but it’s so small you can’t read it! We eventually took a very expensive cab ride to the Lancaster Gate Hotel in Westchester.

I scouted outside the hotel and found the bus stops, the tube stop, and eventually an ATM in a market quite close by. We had tickets for the theater (Noises Off) and made it just in the nick of time, about 30 seconds before the curtain rose. The play was hilarious, and even though all of us knew the play well,(Evan had been in it at South) we laughed a lot. The old, ornate Novello Theater was charming.

Tuesday was The Making of Harry Potter at the Warner Bros. studio. What a treat it was! The props, the sets, the information, the videos of the actors and producers...even though you would think it would break the enchantment, it didn’t. That evening we saw Sweeny Todd. We took the Tube like pros to the theater. We had a dinner deal with our tickets, so we dined at Porters before going to the Adelphi Theater and enjoying the magnificent production. The woman who played Mrs. Lovett also played Delores Umbridge in Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows.

On Wednesday we hit the wall. We missed the train to Stratford after taking a long bus ride to the station. Evan was starting to get sick, and we were all pretty cranky. We tried to get to a production of Twelfth Night in an off West End site, but couldn't get hold of them to find out if they had tickets. So....the women went shopping and the guys stayed behind to watch TV and use the computer.

Thursday was an early morning start, as a shuttle bus picked us up from our hotel to go on a tour of Salisbury, Stonehenge and Bath. Salisbury Cathedral was amazing. Built between 1220 and 1258, it houses one of the original copies of the Magna Carta. Ted found a floor stone dedicated to a couple named “Poore” which was his aunt's middle name and a family name at some point. We were rushed a bit though --- the theme throughout the tour. An hour and twenty minutes seems like a lot for a stop in one of these places, but it is just enough to whet your appetite. It was still amazing though.

Stonehenge was the next stop, and it was not quite as thrilling as anticipated. This was due to lots of things: the weather sucked, with a light rain falling the whole time we were there (and my umbrella safely tucked away on the bus until too late); it was smaller than I imagined (although still impressive when you think about when it was made); and you couldn’t get anywhere close to it (which I totally understand, but it’s still disappointing). All in all, it was worth it to say we had seen it, and I trudged all the way around it even in the rain and the mud, but I think I might have been a bit more in awe if I hadn’t been soaked!

Bath, the home of ancient Roman baths that were originally built in the 1st century, were impressive by any standards. A huge pool in the center, with two smaller pools on the side which were built when Emperor Hadrian determined that women and men could no longer bathe together. Ancient artifacts abound. It was the site of worship to the goddess who had the hot springs all to herself. You could get a glass of the potent mineral water that bubbles up from the ground – I passed, but Emily drank some and said it was terrible. (If you know Emily, you know she said something more colorful.) The town itself was quite enjoyable, but of course we had little time to enjoy it. These tours really make you want to come back and spend a couple of days at the sights – with the exception of Stonehenge.

Evan was pretty miserable the whole time, but was a trooper. He had a fever the evening before, but it had broken thankfully. He walked around Stonehenge in its entirety, went through every sight, and even though we didn’t get him extra medication until Bath, he hung in there. Emily got carsick on the bus, and then woke up with a bad cold the next day, but she too stayed up and moving.

We came back from the tour and immediately grabbed a cab to go to the Queen’s Theater to see “Les Miserables”. Once again, a very fine production. The stage was a rotating circle that kept the action moving. It was quite spectacular.

Friday we spent the day doing the hop on/hop off bus tour of London. We spent six or seven hours and still didn't see everything. Traffic is really heavy, and moving from one site to another was not a quick proposition. But we did see most of the major points. London is an amazing city, and I would gladly go back for another week or two in order to peruse the museums and go through all of the sites. We really experienced just enough to know what we'd really like to delve into if we had the chance in the future.

Tomorrow I'll post about our trips to Paris and back to the US.

Consumed by Time Travel

The intention to blog daily on this trip has been good, but I am hoping that I am not making bricks for a road to an unpleasant destination. Days have been long; everything has taken longer to accomplish than planned; and internet access has not been as readily available as I had hoped. But I am going to give you some highlights from the last few days in Greece.

We visited some amazing ancient ruins in Delphi, another fabulous set of ruins built upon the side of a mountain. I made it about half way before I wimped out. There was another theater there; truly theater was a very important part of that ancient civilization. The countryside on the way to Delphi was so picturesque. We wound our ways from the valleys rimmed by green and craggy mountains until we were upon the mountains themselves. The views were breathtaking.

We stopped on the toll highway on the way back to Athens for a snack. There was a busload of older Greeks that came in right after we did. It reminded me of the FUNagers on a field trip, except many of them were smoking their cigarettes, even though the signs said there was no smoking indoors. Smoking is very prevalent in Greece, and it did not bode well for Jason, who was wearing nicotine patches that made his skin break out. By the way, I need to applaud Jason's skills at driving the roads in Greece, particularly in Athens. He was a ROCK STAR and kept us safe and got us to our destinations while remaining calm and focused. We would not have been able to do much of what we did without his expertise.

On Sunday we were determined to get out to one of the Greek islands, looking for a beach to play upon. According to the Lonely Planet guide book, we could find a quiet beach on Andros. So we took a very early 2 hour ferry ride to get there. What the book didn’t tell us is that the great beaches and the best town was on the OTHER side of the island from where we debarked. And we didn’t bring the car because of the cost. So the four Goldt's packed into a tiny taxi (think clown car without the red noses) and Jason rented a scooter to go to the next town, about 3 miles from the port, in search of a beach. Let's just say that the REALLY good beach (I assume this to be true) was an hours drive away, prohibitive by clown car and scooter. At least we could say we went to a Greek island.

We departed Greece on Monday morning, spending a long time at the airport because the rental car had to be returned and Jason's flight was at 7 am (ours wasn't until 1) and there was no way that I was going to drive in that traffic.

London
The other thing I’ve learned about traveling, particularly in foreign countries, is that things you take for granted at home are not so easily found here. For instance – where is the bus stop and the tube depot? I could see the tube info on the map, but the bus info seems to be quite a secret. There is a map on line, but it’s so small you can’t read it! Where is an ATM? So we took a cab in to the city from Heathrow, a very expensive proposition, but the only way we could see at the time. Fortunately London cabs were adequate for our needs and we were able to leave the circus get-ups behind.

I'll try to post later about London. Right now I've got to get ready to go to the Ebenezer Baptist Church for today's Festival of Homiletics session. (Homiletics = art of preaching; you're not the only one who didn't know that, so I thought I'd explain it.)Yesterday was AMAZING, and I can't imagine what today holds.

Athens

We made it to the National Archeological Museum today. It was as impressive as promised, and the exhibit of the treasures found on a ship that sunk in the 1st century BC was pretty spectacular. But I will be honest: I am on antiquity overload. I was not unhappy that the museum closed earlier than we thought it would today. But just like any great museum, it is meant to be digested in slow pieces, and I bit off as much as I could chew today.

The presidential elections are happening here on Sunday. There have been political rallies outside of our hotel and throughout the city. Nothing violent, but police, including those with riot gear at the ready, are HIGHLY noticeable in the populated gathering areas. Although our hotel is in a less desirable part of town (at least based upon our observations), the only police we see regularly here are the ones directing traffic at the 5-way corner outside our window at 7 am. But I feel safe, even though I’ve been told that my sons have witnessed people shooting heroin on certain streets. It is not unusual here to see a fairly high-end type of store right next to a boarded up, graffiti-tagged building. There’s LOTS of graffiti here, most of which I attribute to the economic situation and the elections. We haven’t watched much TV, since the only channel that is completely in English is the BBC News, and it is coming over an internet feed and stops to buffer every 15 seconds. But right now I have the station on a movie in English (with Greek subtitles), and there are definitely political commercials happening. Even though they are in Greek, it is easy to recognize the camera angles, the earnest speech, the insinuating attitudes against the opponent – politics is pretty much the same no matter where you are.

This evening we went to a very pleasant shopping area in the Monastiraki section of the city. There were tons of people and a great fun atmosphere. It was several blocks of brightly-lit shops, some of which were very American. We ate at an outdoor café and had some remarkable Greek food that was CHEAP! We each had a shot of Ouzo, which was SO good. The moon is full and the night is incredibly beautiful, with a beautiful view of the Acropolis above us. Tomorrow we plan to visit Delphi. Unfortunately, it is too far to drive to Thessaloniki, but the places we are able to reach in a day is fine by me.

Corinth, Epidauros and Nafplio

After arising very early again, I wanted to go to one of the top Archeological Museums in the world which is only a few blocks from here. However,communication between the five of us did not go well, so we didn’t hit the street until after 10:30. We had planned a trip to Corinth, so we skipped the museum and headed out. It’s a little over an hour’s drive to Corinth. There is the new city and there is the ancient site where the Apostle Paul addressed the Greeks. We learned that in the earliest years of Greek civilization, Corinth was more important than Athens. In the small museum next to the ruins there were some very impressive sculptures and artifacts from the four different periods in which Corinth was significant, some dating back to 1500 BCE.

The practice of taking found ruins and adding material to complete the original piece so that the observer can truly appreciate what the artifact represents got me to thinking. It’s a perfect blending of the ancient, original design blended with new materials to make something that elightens the one who is viewing it. I’m playing with what significance that might have for the church. “Emergent” is said by some to be ancient/future church; hmmmmm.

I haven’t mentioned the hotel here in Athens yet. The Hotel Art is on a rounded corner in the heart of Athens. We are actually in a room at that corner.The hotel has lots of “art” in the lobby and throughout the building–hence the name. The most fun piece is the chair that Evan is sitting in here. The foot rest is actually a ball! The whole thing is very rounded and is certainly supposed to be art rather than a chair. But it actually looks very comfortable. .

We visited the Theater at Epidaurus after we left Corinth. What a wonder! 14,000 people can sit in this remarkable place. When you stand on the stage you can speak in a normal tone of voice and be heard throughout the theater. It gives the speaker the same feedback that you hear when you speak into an electric microphone. I declined to climb to the top, but you can see that Evan and Emily did

We ended our day in Nafplio on the Western coast of the Peloponnesus area of Greece. We dined on an entire fresh grouper, which was served with vegetables and bread. In addition to being delicious, it was healthy! We returned to our hotel about 2 hours later. It was almost midnight, but plenty of people were still moving around, so Emily and Evan ventured out for dessert even though their mother was a bit nervous. They found some great crepes and returned safe and sound. I haven't had a chance to download Emily's pictures for the day, but there will be more to come.

Getting High

The time had arrived to get to some serious investigation of the elevated places of Greece, of which there are many. Also, in keeping with the theme of my sabbatical, we were going to start exploring ancient Greek theaters. The first ancient theater we visited was at the Acropolis: the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It was built in 141 B.C. to honor Herodes Atticus late wife. (Odeon: A kind of theater in ancient Greece, smaller than the dramatic theater and roofed over, in which poets and musicians submitted their works to the approval of the public, and contended for prizes; - hence, in modern usage, the name of a hall for musical or dramatic performances.) It’s located at the base of the hill on which the Acropolis is built. At the center of the Acropolis is the Temple of the goddess Athena (also known as the Parthenon.)

There is an excellent museum that is built over ancient ruins that you can see from through the floors in both the outside entryway and indoors on the main floor. Eventually these ruins will be open for the public to walk through. Inside there was an impressive collection of sculptures and other historical artifacts from the original site. Although this site is known simply as “The Acropolis”, as it is the most famous, there are many other of these high fortifications throughout Greece.

Athens is VERY difficult to navigate while driving. I am so thankful that my son Jason came with us to be our driver! Signaling for turns is unheard of. Lots of motorcycles and scooters here, and they zip between lines of traffic without even blinking. ( I have to say I understand the choice of vehicles: gas translates to over $9 a gallon!) We went looking for a show that explained about ancient Athens and a ten minute drive became 30 because our maps were less than wonderful, and we don’t have GPS. It turned out that the only show in English was in the evening, so we'll try again another day. Then we went looking for a certain shopping district and had very little luck with that. So we ended up back at the hotel at 6:30, and decided it was time to go in search of a meal. Emily has been keeping us informed of the best places to eat based on Foursquare and other reviews. We decided on a place a little over half a mile from our hotel. (Ted stayed behind and ordered room service.) Emily and I were in favor of Greek food, but we deferred to the guys on this one. After all the walking I was done in early. I had been awake since 4:30 Athens time, so I was in my jammies by 8:30. I hope tomorrow to be a bit more acclimated to the local time!

Greece

So....we're here in Greece! Stayed up all night Sunday/Monday morning and headed for the airport a bit after 5 am. Landed at LaGuardia in NYC about 10:30 am, then transferred to JFK, leaving at 4:30 pm. The best I can determine, we arrived at 2:30 am our time, 9:30 am Greek time. We tried to sleep on the plane, but that wasn't nearly as successful as we had hoped. There some issues picking up the car we had rented, but we finally arrived at our hotel safe and sound. The first order of the day was to take showers and naps; now we're up at what would be our dinner time, but I understand that dinner is usually much later in Greece. We're still adapting. We are in the heart of Athens. The hotel we're staying is called Hotel Art --- and it is filled with art of all types, not only on the walls but even some of the furniture. Inside the hotel feels cozy and secure; outside is a bit more mixed. Add to the adventure that signs are not only in a foreign language but in a foreign alphabet, and it will be interesting to see how we navigate. We'll start our serious sight-seeing tomorrow, so I will be sure to post more then. επιφ!