Paros

Paros is another Cycladian island, which has a very beautiful village called Lefke. We tried to get away from the tourists by staying in this town, because it is more towards the centre of the island and so is a little less frequented.

We got into Parikia, the capital, at a little after 11.30 pm. You might be able to imagine the trouble that this caused. We had to get our hire car, and another taxi, and then we had to drive to Lefke in the dark. Greek drivers are quite interesting and there are lots of signs on the side of the road which say things like "I love life, I drive safely". Contrary to this sign, it seems very few Greek people love life. The island roads consist of very steep hills with too narrow roads winding around them. I tried a bit of driving myself, and I was scared.

Lefke's village was really nice, there was a pool, and the usual white wall blue door architecture that you see almost everywhere in the islands. Perhaps it's mandated by the local government or something. It does make it rather difficult to see for all the glare when the sun is high in the sky.

We wandered around the village a bit. It was said to be the most beautiful on the island and I had to agree. There was an amazing old church which chimed out the half and the hour. You could hear it from the hotel and it was a good way, I suppose, for the people to be reminded of god. Again the streets were a maze, and exceedingly uphill. Even taking the same route to a place and back from it there was still more uphill than was strictly warranted. It could have something to do with having the baby strapped to my front. Actually we've taken to weighing the baby and the baby's backpack and then fighting amongst ourselves as to who was to carry which. Of course the benefits of carrying the baby include every woman stopping and talking to me and her.

We went to the seaside at night and found a carnival atmosphere in the twist of shops, restaurants and people. Octopi were hung out on strings above diners. A sequinned man was juggling and balancing three soccer balls on each other. Children were playing on the swings and older people sat around staring inscrutably at anyone with a baby strapped to them.

More cats too.

Cat

Well, we're on Syros and it's even hotter than in Athens. Syros is an island in the Cyclades group. It used to be the maritime centre for the Greeks in ancient times. Now it is just the centre of the Cyclades. We are staying in Ermopoulous, which is named after Hermes, the Greek god of commerce and also the messenger for the gods. He's the one with the winged sandals that make him travel faster.

We wandered around the quaint town most of the day bu Alice was getting hot so we went back to our old but beaustiful hotel. Outside the front door we could hear some meowing. We looked around for a cat as there are cats everywhere here. We couldn't see one, the sound seemed to be coming from a rental car parked out the front. It sounded like the cat was in the engine somewhere. I got down on all fours and looked under the car and sure enough there was a tail dangling from the chassis. I could see a little kitten sitting under the bonnet.

Well, we tried everything to get it out. We thought the owners might come back and drive off without knowing. We rang the rental company, we asked the hotels nearby, we got a Greek lady to call the company too and explain the situation a little more clearly. We even put a note with a picture of a cat and a car under the windshield wipers.

I went to go for more help and when I got back, Bek said the cat had run into our hotel. So I went inside and we tried to catch it with the owner. It was hiding under the bed and when it saw me crouched down it freaked out and took the stairs at two bounds. And it ran straight back into the engine of the same car. It didn't even think to use the car that was closer to the hotel entrance. Maybe it always lived in that car.

Finally we gave up, we put a little container of water under the car and went for a swim in the beautiful, blue Aegean sea.

They don't really have beaches on this island but they do have small concrete jetties to jump off. We swam about, contemplating if there were anything that could kill us in a Greek sea. It was a bit of Aussie paranoia on our half. Anyway, finally we hiked back up the hill and the rental car was gone! The container of water was still in the road, and luckily there was not blood staining the road. We were thankful that the cat had finally run off somewhere else to hide.

Tomorrow, another island, and probably another cat.

Syros

Hey all!

Now we're in Syros. We had to leave at some ungodly hour from Athens this morning, but my first look at a Greek Island was worth it. The sea is so blue. The place we are staying looks right out over the water. We're staying in this old guesthouse, with all this amazing antique furniture, run by an old American woman. You have to wonder how she ended up running a seaside guesthouse in Greece.

blog won't be long as I'm hanging to go swimming in the fabulous looking water.

Alice is starting to spack so I'd best be going.

:-)
Rebekah

Hat

We had to buy Alice a cute hat for two dollars because it is very sunny and hot all day long. We decided to walk to the Acropolis and it was all uphill. It's still being rebuilt after it was discovered that it hadn't been put together the correct way the first time.

Transit

Hey all,

Sorry I couldn't post earlier but travelling has been extremely involved up until now. The flight from Sydney to Bangkok took about eight hours. I watched three movies and couldn't sleep at all. Alice was very good and didn't cry any more than usual. Bek made sure to breastfeed her during take off and landing so her ears popped and she didn't feel the pressure changes too much.

We didn't even get off the plane in Bangkok, but we did in Dubai, which was another six hours flight. The last leg was also about six hours and we arrived at about 2.30 in the afternoon. So I didn't really sleep for a whole day.

When we got in we took a bus to the Syntagma Square which is in the centre of Athens. We were meant to find a free shuttle bus to the hotel but it didn't seem to be anywhere to be found. We walked past the taxi rank, and some of the drivers tried to tout us, but we politely said no. Of course they still said something rude in Greek to me as I passed them. Greek taxi drivers are not meant to be very nice. It's easy to get lost in the narrow, labyrinthine back alleys. The roads all seem to criss cross and are often blocked or become dead ends.

Anyway, we finally got in and slept until the next day. We met up with Bek's relatives from America the next day. They told us that they weren't allowed to carry anything on to the plane at Heathrow except their passports and tickets. So they had to put all the rest of their carry on luggage into a flimsy plastic bag and put it in the luggage hold. Of course when they got here their bag was missing. Today they got it back, well the part that was still in one end of the now ripped plastic. They lost their glasses, their maps and guide books and some other things .

Yasas.

Not There Yet

This is the first post of our Greek Holiday blog. Of course this isn't Greece, but I'm just testing the blog out. This is actually Alice and me sitting in the back yard. It is not Alice falling out of a tree and me looking away in distress.