Page 20 – Life Beyond Borders

How I became ‘Greek’ without actually being ‘Greek’

My Expat Experiences

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November 15, 2011

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Was it when I hailed a taxi driver from across a busy street and he yelled at me

“Pou?” and I knew he was asking me “Where [do you want to go to]?” as opposed so “Pooo! You smell like poo!” ?

No, it wasn’t then.

Was it when I could lipread two friends greeting each other on the trolley in Greek [whilst listening to my iPod] and asking each other how they were?

No, it wasn’t then either.

It was when I picked up the phone, today, to speak to the lady who runs the maintanence of our building. Let me explain:

In Greece, most blocks of flats are quite old (especially in Athens) and built around the 1960’s/1970’s. The central heating in these flats are centrally controlled, ie: the people who run the maintanence of the building purchase oil each winter and collect money from each flat for it.
Now then – as we all know, this year has been a disaster for Greece and Greeks and many people do not have money, not to mention the price of purchasing a litre of heating oil is exactly the same price as purchasing a litre of petrol at the pump (nearing 2 Euros). I have no idea how many litres of oil is required to heat an entire building with 50 flats in it, but I am guessing it’s a lot.

And people haven’t been paying the oil bill – so, the heating’s been left off until more people pay (this is one thing I DO miss about the UK: individually controlled central heating).

So, back to the matter in hand – how did I know I’d become ‘Greek’?
I call the woman today, after trying to get in touch with her since the weekend – it’s 9 degrees outside and windy. I SCREAM at her, I mean SCREAM that it is COLD and she needs to arrange to get the heating put on a.s.a.p. She has already bought the oil needed (with the money she already has – of which I have contributed I might add) and the conversation is one of YELLING (from me) and PLACATING (from her).

Guess what? Within the hour, the central heating is on for the first time this winter.

I don’t like yelling, but those of you who know me would agree that I am slightly more outspoken and brutal than your average Brit – hence maybe why I suit this environment?
And did it feel good to yell like that – hell yeah! I might have to learn to do it more often.

Godzilla – watch out.

“Those of us who wander…”

My Expat Experiences

Bex Hall

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October 2, 2011

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“…are not necessarily lost.” I really like this saying. A friend of mine told me about it today.
It got me thinking: I am (currently) in the EFL industry (English as a Foreign Language). For those of you who’ve read my profile, you’ll see that I have been to various countries, both as a tourist and also spending significant amounts of time there, teaching English/integrating into society and trying to gleen a better understanding of the world around me.

There are those that meet me, hear about what I do and you can see something cross over in their eyes. A sort of “Oh here we go: another one who is on the run from something.”

It’s interesting how people automatically jump to the conclusion that just because you travel, spend time in other cultures and don’t ‘settle down’ with a wife/husband/kids that you must have some deep, dark hidden secret or childhood angst that you’re running away from. And TEFL seems to be the obvious choice – it allows you to travel to all sorts of places.

Sure – I am sure there are people out there who MIGHT be running, but who are we to judge them?
But remember, there are equally people out there who actively ENJOY being in new cultures, learning about what makes and shapes a culture/country. Greece is going through SUCH interesting & difficult times at present and I feel privalaged that I have the opportunity to be here, learning and still able to earn a wage in the process. Oh, and I happen to really like the kids/adults I teach. I also learn from THEM, they teach me things about the country, and about myself, all the time.

I hope, one day, I manage to get my book on the shelves. It will make interesting reading I think (if I can tear myself away from the day job!).

What IS it about Greece?

Bex Hall

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September 18, 2011

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I’ve been doing a lot of thinking lately (and my head hurts) – I am in a state of flux at the moment:

How I am living in my late 30’s vs How I feel I SHOULD be living in my late 30’s (or society feels).

I live in Greece at the moment. The bottom line is, I am HAPPY. No, I am not married with kids (shame on me) but I am doing a job I love, helping cats through www.ninelivesgreece.com and attempting my writing.
Am I about to wake up from this ‘ideal’ with a rude bump to earth?

Am I really a butterfly, dreaming I’m a human?

Am I SELFISH for enjoying my life?

(blah blah blah, you get the idea).

Now then, I also got to thinking: WHY does this country – that is suffering so much economically and is corrupt from the very top – make me happy? It can’t just be a weather thing (although this DOES help).

Is it the fact that I have made more friendships here in my 2 years than I have in my lifetime in the UK? And WHY is that?
How come a country that is so corrupt attracts so many people to want to up sticks and move here – for Greek people who’ve left to eventually end up back here?

In short: What is it about Greece???!!

Answer in the Comments section please.

Conc: Or maybe I should just shut up and appreciate what I’ve got and stop thinking about it too much – the thing is, one day I’ll wake up and it’ll be 22 years later.

Next bus out of here

Mainland travel

Bex Hall

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September 9, 2011

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Fishing boat with nets

It’s hot, still, in Athens – 32 degrees C today. As I don’t start teaching till next week (Monday), I thought I’d take myself off somewhere again. But I didn’t want to spend a fortune on ferry tickets and I also wanted to return to Athens the same day as I have a new little cat to look after (more about him in a seperate post).

And so, liking the concept of just turning up and seeing where the ferry took me:

http://leavingcairo.blogspot.com/2011/09/put-me-on-next-ferry-out-of-here-please.html
I decided to hop on a bus instead. Decked out with beach gear, I turn up at the nearest bus station (more a gathering of buses out on the street). I go to the first bus:

“Are you going to the beach?”

Bus driver: “Where you want to go?”

Me: “The beach”

Bus Driver: “I’m going to Oropos”

Me: “Is there a beach there?”

Bus Driver (looking a bit impatient now): “Nai Kirya (yes, lady)”

Gorgeous views from the bus

So I get on this bus – having no idea where this ‘Oropos’ place is. But I settle back into my seat and get an even more pleasant suprise when the conductor charges me 4Euros and 80C! Blimey, that’s cheap. I think I might come to this ‘Oropos’ again.

And I am rewarded for my spontaneity – the journey is beautiful as the bus meanders out of the city smog – all the worse for the heat – and into pine clad hills and small villages until an hour later, we wind our way down the road to the coastal town of Oropos. You can catch a ferry here to Evia, the largest of the Greek Islands as Oropos is apparently situated directly opposite it.

Old men drinking their coffees

Such is that I spend a delightfully restful 5 hours swimming, watching the car ferries shuttle to and fro between the mainland and Evia, old men drinking their coffees and families all playing in the sand.
I return to Athens late afternoon and head home for a shower and a snooze. Being only an hour away, I think I’ll do this again.

Lovely beach

Ah, what a way to spend the day.

Pretty harbour

My favourite Greek saying

My Expat Experiences

Bex Hall

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August 30, 2011

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I dropped a watermelon on an old man’s foot this morning when in AB, the local supermarket (pronounced Alpha Vita). By accident you understand.
“Signomi!” I fuss over him (“Excuse me!”)
“Den pirazi” he replies (“Never mind”)

I had a think about this – I have heard this a lot in my time in Greece:

I went to see the brilliant Kevin Spacey in Richard III at Epidauraus (http://leavingcairo.blogspot.com/2011/07/evening-at-epidaurus-with-richard-iii.html ). You will note that when exiting the gorgeous amphitheatre, I stupidly wore platform heals and stumbled, almost toppling a man over. “Signomi!” I fussed that time too – guess the reply as he brushed me down,
“Den pirazi, den pirzi copella” (‘Copella’ = girl)

I wonder: a man discovers his next door neighbour is sleeping with his wife – “Den pirazi” this time??
(Maybe he’s secretly relieved as he won’t have to admit to his own affair with his 20 year old secretary – this is continental Europe after all).

“Den pirazi” has become my favourite Greek vocabulary. It isn’t just a saying, it’s a way of life – a cultural adaptation. Their economy is falling down around them – “Den pirazi…we have our sunshine, our family, our tomatoes and our love for life”
THIS is why I love the Greeks so much – maybe instead of criticising them all the time, we can actually start learning something from these sound, traditional people.
(I must remind myself of the “den pirizi” saying the next time I’m at the unemployment office, or anything else bureaucratic).

Athens outdoor cinema experience

Bex Hall

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August 25, 2011

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Greeks love to go to the cinema and a night at an open air one is more of an experience, not just an ‘if all else fails and we run out of ideas, let’s go and see a movie.’

The night I chose to go was one summer at the end of July. I obviously wanted to see a good film, but more importantly for me, I was keen to visit Cine Paris in Plaka. The website describes it as originally being opened in the 1920’s by a Greek hairdresser, closed during the 1960’s and then re-opened in 1986 until the present day.

Cine Paris is situated very near to the Acropolis, in fact – you can see it whilst enjoying your film.

You can just about see the Acropolis. It's especially visable at night when it's all lit up — You can just about see the Acropolis. It’s especially visable at night when it’s all lit up

I arrived earlyish and looked around the paraphernalia on display and for sale in the foyer – things such as old movie posters and an old film reel.

Upon making my way up to the roof top, I was rewarded with a wealth of places to choose to sit (it helped that I had arrived early – with about half an hour to spare) and a beautiful rooftop garden with a variety of flowers such as honeysuckle, which emitted a beautiful smell in the early evening.

I chose to sit myself on a small balcony. I don’t REALLY mind sharing it if I have to, but luckily no-one else wanted to sit there, so I had the balcony all to myself.

Looking to my left I could see the lit Acropolis through the trees. I settled back in my seat, watched the waning dusk turn into night and the stars around me.

Altogether, a beautiful experience!

Facts

Outdoor cinemas usually start sometime in July until September. Some may even start mid May or June
Two showings a night: one about 9ish and the late one at 11ish
Either located on a rooftop, or in a garden
All films have intervals
Refreshments available: nachos, popcorn, soft drinks, beer and alcohol – some even serve cocktails
Some also show old classics such as Cary Grant films, Betty Davis, etc. Personally I think there is nothing more enjoyable than watching an old black and white in beautiful surroundings

Outdoor Cinemas in Athens

Most neighbourhoods have outdoor cinemas. Here is a list of some of the more popular ones:

Cine Thision: With a view to the Acropolis, this is a CNN award-winning cinema. Website in Greek/English
Cine Aegli: In Zappion Gardens, Syntagama, this is a garden cinema in beautiful surroundings
Cine Dexameni: Near the 5* St. George’s Hotel in Kolonaki. Garden cinema. Link is to their Facebook page in Greek
Cine Ellinis: Near Ambelokipi on Kifissias Avenue (no. 29) (no website). Beautiful gardens
Cine Psirri: In Central Athens, near Monisteraki metro. Garden cinema. Link is to their Facebook page in Greek

Be sure to look out for one in your local neighbourhood. There is bound to be one!

Ellinis Cinema - 29 Kifissias Avenue — Ellinis Cinema – 29 Kifissias Avenue

Warnings

Take mosquito repellent
You may be more enamoured by your surroundings than by the actual film!

Venice – Patras. Italy to Greece by ship

Bex Hall

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August 24, 2011

5

Venice – Patras. Italy to Greece by ship

So there I was, happily mooching around Venice: eating pasta, taking photos of gondolas (not riding in one for 80 Euros a pop, you understand) and thinking romantic thoughts on the bridges. But I had to leave at some stage. And so it was that I made my way across to the port to board my vessel. I was to travel from Venice to Patras in Greece by ship.
This post will be about travelling from Italy to Greece by ship.

Sunrise from on board – Italy to Greece by ship

Eventually the vessel pulled off (it was a huge monolith of a thing, that Minoan ‘ Europa Palace’) and initially ‘yippee!’ I had a cabin all to myself. I had paid €178 for a 2 bed cabin to share with another lady, but was holding my breath as so far; no-one had been put to share with me (it can often happen this way when travelling on a Greek ferry). But my luck ran out. After spending a good half hour on board waving goodbye (and taking some fantastic pictures) to Venice, upon entering the cabin I heard a woman singing in the shower. She poked her head out, wrapped in a towel:

“Maria from Prague” she shook my hand. And so began a 2 day ferry friendship.
We lazily sauntered on deck again where I marvelled at the pilot disembarking our huge ship back onto his speedboat. This entails a rather Bondlike manoeuvre whereby the smartly uniformed pilot climbs down a rope ladder at the side of our ship whilst the speedboat driver is maintaining the same speed alongside. Then the pilot reaches over and jumps onto the speedboat, we all cheer at him as he gives us a little salute/wave and says into the radio to the Captain “Thank you for visiting Italian waters” (actually, I don’t think he really does that, but they do in Air Traffic Control towers, I’ve heard them: “Thank you for visiting Dutch (etc) airspace.”) We are all cheering the fact he hasn’t

1) fallen in at high speed

2) been squashed against the side of the ship.

Pilot leaving the vessel - ferry Venice to Patras — Pilot leaving the vessel – ferry Venice to Patras

And so, with the old Milk Tray advert playing in my head (my British compatriots will remember this); my cabin mate and I head off for dinner.
We left Venice at 5pm on Monday 22nd August. By Tues 23rd August we were mid-Adriatic and Maria had dragged me out of bed (I seemed to want to sleep a lot) to inform me that the swimming pool was now open and I should come swimming with her. I say swimming pool, it was more a ‘swimming hole’ but none the less, enjoyable. It was more the novelty factor that I was swimming in a little pool in the middle of the sea. By 5pm that night we spied land! Albania to our Port (left) side and Italy to our Starboard (right). After lots more photos, Maria and I went to eat again.

Swimming pool on board Europa Palace, Venice to Patras ship

The journey until 5am the next morning (Wed 24th) continued much the same: taking photos, doing Sudoku and swapping life stories as well as slipping in and out of weird lucid sleep with odd dreams involving pilots of aeroplanes trying to steer our monolithic ship and failing, thus crashing into the Rialto Bridge (told you I have an overactive imagination).

Our first stop in Greece was the evening of 23rd August, in Igoumenitsa, North-West Greece. Then a stop in Corfu before our final destination of Patras. I bade Maria farewell (her husband had kindly travelled overnight by bus to meet her off the ferry and drive the car for her) whilst I boarded a special Minoan Lines organised bus to Athens, which met us at the port.

Facts and Thoughts

You can find here a comprehensive list of up to date prices of the route Venice to Patras, Italy to Greece by ship, and visa versa. It’s operated by Minoan Lines.
Minoan operate a special bus that meets the cruise ship on arrival in Patras and takes people to Athens for €19.
If you have the time to travel overland to Greece, or visa versa, I highly recommend a ferry/cruise ship from Greece to Italy. It’s really quite luxurious, and good fun.

Featured Photo by Robert Cutts (pandrcutts)

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From Paris to Venice by train – Eurorail

Overland London to Athens

Bex Hall

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August 22, 2011

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From Paris to Venice by train – Eurorail

My first installment of this Eurorail trip got me as far as Paris Bercy. I’ve told you about the excruciating smell of Parisians on the Metro and waiting for the train in a small, packed station. Now let’s look at the next installment: Paris to Venice.

I managed to find a quiet platform to await my Venice train and plonked myself down, ready for the arduous wait. It was only half past six in the evening, my train wasn’t until half eight. Not too long I guess.

Whilst amusing myself with the sight of people crossing the train tracks from platform to platform, blatantly ignoring the “Danger! Do not cross the tracks!” sign, I heard an announcement, followed by a scramble of people to the cafeteria.

Hmm, what’s all this about?

Apparently the announcement said that due to the air conditioning breaking down, there will be no buffet car on the Rome or Venice trains.

“Family pack of Maltesers it is then.” I was eyeballing the queue to the cafeteria as I thought this.

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The train pulled up—miraculously alongside the same platform I happened to plonk myself on. Finding the right coach and cabin, however, was hilarious! If I thought the queue at the cafeteria was bad, the pushing and shoving to get to this train was mayhem. I managed to find my coach (for some reason, the coach numbers had been stuck on with paper). Each coach had an Italian man in charge of it. He looked down his list and yelled

“Cabin 1 – all yours” with a flourish of his hand.

I find Cabin 1—yes, it was indeed all to myself. I spread out and got busy making my bed located above the seat. When I eventually get to bed, I end up sleeping with about two sheets and two blankets on top of me: what air conditioning was lacking in the buffet car seemed to have been transferred to my cabin instead.

The little Italian guardman turned out to be either 1) passionate about his job or 2) a little unhinged.

I went to the toilet as we were pulling out of the station and upon returning to my cabin, found him appear from nowhere, rushing at me wagging his finger.

“Close the door! Close the door!” he yelled. I tried to explain that I thought I had (it isn’t possible to lock the cabin door from the outside) but I couldn’t get a word in edgeways. I just smiled and aimed a pretend gun at my head, thinking it best to act like a dumb English girl. And besides, I received back up when three young Italian girls came along with a trolley load of sandwiches (in place of the buffet car). One young girl looked at the guard, looked back at me and rolled her eyes.

“He’s a little crazy” she assured me. “Make sure you lock your door tonight, if anything to keep ‘IM out.”

Looking forward to getting tucked up in bed

It was eleven pm and dark.

I had shut AND LOCKED my cabin door from the inside, pulled the blinds across the door (not at the panoramic window to see outside) and felt all snug. I clambered into my bunk, pull up my sheets and blanket and fell into some sort of weird lucid sleep.

Upon waking, I looked out the window to see that it’s one a.m. and we were in Lausanne.

Sitting on the bottom seat, I gazed out the window for a good 20 minutes. We continued on through Switzerland (the slightly crazy guard had my passport as he told us that the border police boarded in Switzerland to check all passengers passports and he—the guard—didn’t want to wake us up) and I marvelled at the night scenery…illuminated by a half waning moon and oh, the stars!

Smiling I went back to bed for yet more weird dreams: an American man disembarked in Saltsburg and shouted on the platform “oh it’s so beautiful! I’ve never seen anything like it before, except in Seattle.”

I still can’t work out if it was actually real or not.

I panicked slightly when I woke at a long stop,

poked my head out of my cabin to see we were at a huge station, but I could see no name. I find an equally panicky Australian man in the corridor and he went to find out—we were in Milan, Venice was three hours away.
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The Australian man and I settled back in the corridor and discussed the beautiful sun rise, the fact he drove freight trains across Australia and the fact that we thought our guard was a little crazy (the guard obviously made an impact).

Three hours later, at 09:33 we arrived in Venice.

I felt well rested, a little hungry but excited about this beautiful city. I had over 24 hrs here before I heading off on the ferry to Patras. Oh, and apparently I was entitled to a refund as they didn’t operate the train they said they would. The guard started telling me this, but I left mid-conversation with the Australians as I really couldn’t follow him, and his gesticulations were getting a bit worryingly excitable.

View as we trundle through the French countryside before dark

Advice:

Research to make sure that Paris Bercy isn’t your main departure station. If it is, check all you can about the stations. NOTE: It may have been upgraded now—2014.
The cabins, even though not the intended train, were comfortable and yes, the staff on board provided light entertainment for a while.
Book your Eurorail trip through www.erail.co.uk

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London to Paris by Eurostar

Overland London to Athens

Bex Hall

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August 21, 2011

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Back in 2011, I decided to travel back to Athens from the UK overland. This entailed train, ferry and coach.

I started my journey from London St Pancras and travelled to Paris Gard du Nord by Eurostar.

From London

VERY straightforward, except the problems with the London Underground from Paddington Station to Kings Cross St Pancras. London Underground had, in their wisdom, decided to close most of the underground lines running out of Paddington that day, so consequently a 7 min journey took me about half an hour and a change. Still, never mind – I figured this was all part of the experience.

Seat 25 - Eurostar — Seat 25 on Eurostar

We boarded on time; I found to my seat…Seat 25 all to myself with table, as in no-one sitting opposite me! I settled back to watch the grey English countryside roll away and await my promised ‘three course meal.’

The meal arrived, but you should think airplane style three course meal instead. Not that it wasn’t nice: mackerel paté, potato salad was OK, but the pasta was really bland.

The actual under the tunnel / English Channel section took 20 mins. I would recommend taking earplugs because, unlike an airplane, the pressure goes up and down quite frequently, playing havoc with the popping in your ears.

Paris

When I arrived in Gard du Nord, it was about 30 degrees and humid.

I have to make my way across to Bercy, this entails two metro changes, and the Paris metro seems even more complicated than the London Underground. Never mind, I had confidence in myself and knew I could do it, but it was so hot and Parisians—it seems—do not use much deodorant. So I was gagging by the time I surfaced.

Bercy

“Ahhh Bercy!” I think, “Fresh air in an over ground station.” Yeah right…has anyone ever been to Bercy? I got chatting to a French gentleman who informed me that usually, the long distance trains go from Gard du Lyon, but they’re doing extensive works to it (at the time of writing).

Bersy station in Paris was slightly chaotic

So I found myself a quiet platform to plonk down on, away from the ever present smell of B.O. and I wait patiently for my train to Venice…all will be revealed in the next post!

Having read this back to myself, it reads terribly negative so far. It really hasn’t been a negative trip at all: the stewards on Eurostar were really friendly and chatty, helping you to store your luggage on the train. And when I asked how to get to Bercy, the one who helped me produced a map of the Paris Metro and helped me decipher it. In fact, one guy in the Metro helped me to pull my case onto it before the doors closed too – so there you have it, although slightly wiffy, I excused him at least.

Athens vs London

My Expat Experiences

Bex Hall

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August 9, 2011

3

The translation reads “Revolution first and always”

Here’s a thought: Maybe now, people won’t be so quick to judge the Greeks as being barbarians after recent events in London eh?

Take a look at these two YouTube links:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPZXl3XtUWw
Now, this one deals with an intelligent young student, explaining why she protests. Admittedly it is reported without any violence erupting, but listen to what she actually says. She makes reference to anarchy – note she does not support anarchy.

Then we have this one: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXcI-NL3Tro
Without being direspectful to the UK public being affected by what’s going on, I’m sorry but I laughed at this girl till I wept.
“I’m getting my taxes back,” her justification for taking off with a handful of goods.

???

Yes, I had no words but to laugh a little hysterically I’m afraid. Oh, and btw – Waterstones book shop left alone? Why am I not suprised?

So, think twice, please, before you judge these ‘barbarian’ Greeks. Maybe you should be looking a little closer to home. And before you become critical of the policing in the UK, be glad you don’t live in a city where they police like this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZkiu25nfuc Reporter shouting in Greek “Shame on you for beating up a 15 year old kid!”

and this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2j67t7dHwc

The ‘fog’ is tear gas – regularly used here. And it’s not nice, it first clogs your throat, then the eyes start to stream.

You know I welcome your comments – feel free to post.

Levadia, Viottia. My first experience of Greece

Bex Hall

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August 4, 2011

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It struck me that I’ve been writing this blog for about a year now and followers will have gleaned that I am based in Greece, after having left Cairo. But, I never mentioned my first ‘port of call’ in Greece. No, I didn’t immediately come to Athens – I went to a smallish town in Central Greece (nr Mount Parnassos), called Levadia.

Now then, I really didn’t know what to expect initially. I could speak a SMATTERING of Greek, but that was about it. I wondered to myself, silently as I waved a teary goodbye to my sprightly dad at LGW: 1) what the hell was I doing and 2) would I be all alone, not having anyone speak English?

Well, my year in Levadia taught me one thing – more than one thing actually, but mainly:
Greeks are INCREDIBLY hospitable people. They are warm, interested in you and go out of their way to help you. Some can be suspicious of a foreigner, but once I became a regular at the local taverna – then this was overcome. The best tavernas in Greece, btw, are the ones with no tourists inside, no menu as such and where you just go to the counter and look at their freshly cooked dishes on offer that day. I tended to do this regularly and just point at what I wanted:
chicken
moussaka
pastitsio (a sort of lasagna, but made with tube pasta – an influence from Italy)
not forgetting gyros! (a Greek fast food of chicken or pork, tomatoes, onion, mayonnaise or tzatziki with chips wrapped in a thick pitta bread – yum! Even their fast food is healthy!)

Levadia is very well know inside Greece for her meat and Easter Sunday, one finds it difficult to see one foot in front of the other due to the thick BBQ smoke with the lamb roasting on the spit in every garden of every household, as well as in the town square where everyone can gather to partake in a more communal affair.

Yes, it can snow in the winter!

Below are some snaps of Levadia – enjoy them and do come and visit Greece soon – she has so much to offer the discerning visitor, apart from the islands and the occasional riots.

The beautiful waters and the lady of Krya

Waters of Krya

Gorgeous walks through the countryside

Even Levadia has her own amphitheatre (I never knew of any performances, alas)

Too hot in Athens? Then head to Pireaus port, see where you end up…

Poros

Bex Hall

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July 12, 2011

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Too hot in Athens? Then head to Pireaus port, see where you end up…

And I ended up in Poros (not PAROS, POROS).
Poros is an island in the Saronic group of Greek Islands, about 58km’s from Athens, therefore not very far.
You can choose 2 ways to travel: by high speed catamaran or by ‘slow boat.’ Personally, I prefer the latter as I have experienced the former on another trip (to another Saronic Island, Spetses – see past Experience) and was violently sick! Yes, it IS quicker (by about 1hr 15mins) – but to me, the journey is all part of the holiday, not just the destination.
I was intending to merely find accommodation when I got there, but I was lucky: a crew member saunters up to me and explains he runs a small place with 7 rooms to let. We agreed a price of…

25EUROS a night, and I was set!
The journey by ‘slow boat’ took about 3 hrs – but as I say, I got to enjoy the scenery on deck (because the catamaran travels at such speed, you have to stay inside) and generally while away the time.

Poros is a pine clad island and the 3 nights/4 days I spent there were very peaceful indeed: hopping on the local bus to take me to the beach – in fact, the bus driver got used to seeing me and in the end, stopped charging me the 2 euro fare! The beaches are clean, a little stony but buying shoes to wear in the water helps overcome this (heck, I’m in my 30’s, I no longer care what I look like in the water!).

There IS nightlife in Poros Town, but personally I was in bed by 10 every night after rising at 8 every morning, having breakfast by the quayside and spending all day in the shade of a pine tree, swimming and reading.

What more could you want from a short break?

Booking the journey – London to Athens by rail

Overland London to Athens

Bex Hall

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July 11, 2011

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Booking the journey – London to Athens by rail

And why? Why travel London to Athens overland? Isn’t it a hassle/expensive?

Why

Haven’t you ever thought to yourself that there has to be more to a ‘holiday’ than merely arriving at your destination? For me, my holiday starts when I 1) step foot on the plane or 2) step foot on the container ship (that’s a story for another day) or ferry or train or whatnot.
So, with this in mind, I decided to save time by COMING to the UK, so I could spent precious time with my dear, dear dad. The journey back to Greece I decided to make ‘exciting.’ Despite being in my 40s, I still get a little tearful when I leave my dad, so I decided to make my return journey something to take my mind off the potential floodgate farewell.

Expensive?

Well, the ticket from London St. Pancras to Paris (1st class don’t you know!) and then in a single sleeper overnight from Paris – Venice cost £415. I arrive into Venice early morning (09:30) and have decided to stay one night there – the hotel, found on www.expedia.com cost me £75 for a double room near St. Marks Square, then the ferry from Venice – Patras (in Greece), 2 nights shared cabin with one other ‘person of the same sex’ (damn!) cost 178 Euros (you do the maths).
I should add the ‘ferry’ is more like a mini-cruise as it’s 2 full nights, has a swimming pool and entertainment.

Am I happy? YES! To me, it’ll be totally worth it. I’ve never been to Venice and am looking forward to it – maybe I should have also booked one night in Paris, but never mind.

So, keep following this blog – when I set off, I shall update you as and when I can. Oh, I should add the following websites that are great for booking overland European rail:

Rail Europe

Aegina

Aegina

Bex Hall

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June 13, 2011

0

I’d recommend Aegina to anyone who wants to escape Athens for one night/2 days. It’s beautiful and luckily only located about 1hr 15 mins from Athens by ferry (less time if go you choose the Speedcat).
As you know my past experience with Speedcats has been, somewhat, dodgy.

Gorgeous old buildings

So I prefer the slow boat option: can walk around on deck and have the HILARIOUS task of trying to board the thing and learn how to be ‘Greek’ about it: keep your bulky shoulder back on said shoulder and BARGE your way through the crowds, knocking people into the water as you (well, not literally, but nearly).

Fishing boats

It WAS funny though. The port policeman was yelling at an old lady to stand behind the yellow line as she may get hit by the ‘flying ball’. This is when someone from the ship throws down the huge rope to the man on the ground, the man then attaches it to a ‘post’ on the ground to keep it stable. But the rope is attached to a smaller rope and all balled up at the end, so it’s THIS that is thrown, then the huge rope follows.

Back to Aegina: it’s part of the Saronic Isle (not sardonic as in sarcastic). Not many sandy beaches, but lovely rocky ones and I had my first swim of the year (yippee!!) Also caught out in a massive thunderstorm and what can only be describes as monsoon! (See pics).

Small flood at our table!

So, after all the stress and tension these days, it’s nice to escape – and after my first swim and lots of fresh air, I feel sleep too – off I go to bed then.

Nice places to have coffee

Rome or Athens?

Athens
Italy

Bex Hall

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May 1, 2011

19

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Having never been to Italy before, I was looking forward to the pasta, tiramisu and panacotta yet also frustrated as my sense of taste had disappeared with a cold that was still hanging around.

Oh well, Rome is the Eternal City and there’s no way I was going to miss out on this trip – even though the cabin pressure in the aircraft made my head feel like it was going to implode (note to everyone: really, flying with a cold is NOT a good idea – never mind the other passengers tut tutting and giving you daggers in case you infect them…think of YOUR head and how it feels like an elephant’s taken up residence on it – ears desperate to pop but can’t quite get there and eyes watering).

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Such was the start of the trip for me to the Eternal City.

Oh, another warning: be careful of these low budget airlines – specifically easyjet. Easyjet = very good on the Athens to Rome flight ie: allowing my (tiny!) trolley bag into the cabin – also my friend’s rather larger trolley bag…hence we could just walk straight through upon arrival at the other side.

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And thank God for that! Another word of warning: Fiumicino airport (FCO). OMG!!!! What a DISASTER area! Athens Venizelos airport is a DREAM: smooth entry/exit processes, baggage area not resembling a shack, Arrivals (unlike FCO) with bigger space.

We get the train from FCO to the centre of town.

This is where we discover another strange thing about Rome: the underground system. In most cities at least in Europe (London, Paris, Athens) there is the opportunity to change onto a different line at various stations:

Source: http://www.greeklandscapes.com/images/maps/athens-metro-map.jpg

Can you see this example of Athens metro (above) – only 3 main lines (blue, red and green) and various interchange points. Now, Rome:

Forget the greenish line going out to FCO airport – there are only two lines and ONE INTERCHANGE POINT (Termini). Can you imagine how busy this Termini station was?

But I am getting a little ahead of myself here – I haven’t been too positive so far about Rome and we are still on the train from the airport.

I notice how GREEN everything is and upon checking into our hotel (tiny room in an old, old building that is boiling hot) and then going about a city tour (there are various bus companies that operate the hop on/off tours and all seem pretty good), we commented on how much greener in general the city seemed – not just on the ride from FCO airport (which seemed stuck out in farmland), but also around the city).

The hotel was a bit of a laugh:

Now, do not be lulled into a false sense that the rooms are as big as depicted in their pictures – they are NOT, or at least, ours wasn’t. Still, it was clean and also in a very, very central area. Oh, you also get charged 2 euros ‘city tax’ per person per night and have to pay this upon check out. It never gets pre-charged and don’t ask me why they charge it locally – they just do.

What’s the #1 hotel in Rome? Read reviews & find hotel deals on TripAdvisor!

I wanted a shower after we’d sort of settled ourselves. But could I get the hairdryer to work? Nope.

So, finding a plug that works in the corridor – topped off by the fact I have no shame – off I trot with a towel around me and start to dry my hair in the corridor. Queue Luca, the nice man from Reception, to open one of the bedroom doors and see me, semi naked in the corridor.

“Is there a problem uh?” he asks.

Upshot is, he fixes the plug in the room (we just needed an adaptor plug) and marvel at how he seemed more embarrassed when my friend asked what his name was when she thanked him, rather than seeing a semi naked girl in the corridor of his hotel.

I should also point out that he didn’t actually say ‘eh?’ – it is my way of portraying to you that Italians have a really enduring of saying ‘eh’ or ‘uh’ at the end of every sentence.

So ‘Are you OK?’ sounds like:

“Are you OKuh?”

Skipping quickly on – the Colosseum was beautiful and then we get to St Mark’s Square and the Vatican.

The QUEUES! Luckily one of these bus tours includes tickets to go into the Vatican and the Sistine Chapel without the need to queue, otherwise the queue would LITERALLY have taken us about 6 hrs, I am NOT kidding.

The Sistine Chapel was somewhat spoiled by the sheer amount of people and also the 2 guards – Tweedledum and Tweedledee. They took it in turns…

1 = “Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh”

2 = “No photo”

and visa versa. Ironically, the only ones making any noise were actually THEM!

One thing I loved there was their hot chocolate…none of this watery rubbish – just LOOK at it:

This is the proper stuff! You could stand a spoon up in it. I think dipping a donut into it might also be a reason to celebrate!

Finally – the fountains. I’ve never seen so many of them! Again, here is one of my favourite’s:

Now the question: Athens or Rome?

Well, Rome has many, MANY monuments, a lot of greenery and is no doubt a beautiful city – but I have to be a little biased when I say I still think Athens wins. Here are some reasons why:

Metro system

Easy to use and SO much cleaner/less smelly (but it was raining like mad the day we used Rome’s one).

Friendliness of the locals

Despite the enduring ‘uh’ at the end of each sentence, Rome seemed to be ‘tourist weary’ and almost bordered on rude to tourists at times.

Airport

SO much more efficient than Rome FCO. If I every fly easyjet again, I am flying it one way only out of Athens as the airport staff there are so much more relaxed. FCO easyjet staff were AWFUL, I mean AWFUL.

Safety

Whilst I didn’t feel unsafe in Rome, I could sense that it had more crime. My friend commented on this as all over even our small hotel were security cameras.

What about you? Where’s your favourite destination out of the two?

PIN for later

British tourists – the worst in the world?

Lifestyle and culture

Bex Hall

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April 1, 2011

4

I read an article in Wanderlust Magazine today, about how British people have voted THEMSELVES to be the worst tourists in the world (by voting themselves, it seems as if they’re proud of this fact!)

http://www.wanderlust.co.uk/magazine/news/british-tourists-vote-themselves-the-worst-in-the-world

So I started to wonder – ARE we? Well, as you know I am an expat who resides in a foreign country, so I wouldn’t really call myself a ‘tourist.’ The categories of being voted the worst included:

Lack of trying out the local language
A desire to only eat their own food in a foreign country
Disgraceful drunken behaviour

I can DEFINITELY say that No 3 is correct. As I currently live in Greece I have had the misfortune of trying to have a quiet holiday on an island and there I am, on a beach minding my own business, reading a good book when a group of ALREADY DRUNK at 10am English guys (AND girls) roll along the beach like a tsunami, destroying everything in their wake.
Living abroad, there have been many occasions when I groan out loud about the fact I’m British – I mentioned it in a previous post about the contemptuous attitude the Brits can sometimes express. Well, the drunken behaviour is another one of my bug bearers. The amount of times I get asked by local Greeks:

“WHY do your people feel the need to have fun by drinking themselves into a coma?”
and I have to reply “I’m so sorry – but I honestly don’t know!”
In fact, the owner of some rooms to rent in Crete told me once that he charges higher rates to British tourists because of the repairs to the rooms he has to make once a British tourist has stayed in it – the amount of damage they make warrents him charging almost double per night for the room.

Has anyone ever stopped to wonder that? Have you ever stopped to look at your behaviour and wonder why you have to get ‘off your face’ in order to have a good time?
One of the BEST things about being in Greece is that ALL age groups mix well together…you can be out in a bar until 5am with your friends, not a drunk person in sight…happily sipping wine and then moving onto coffee or, as I saw last week, a GORGEOUS Greek boy in his 20’s, dressed in a pink shirt (that really suited him) sipping a hot chocolate (with his girlfriend ) at 2am.
And next to this small group, an ‘elderly’ couple (in their mid to late 50’s?) also in the same bar, happily with a group of friends of a similar age, out until 2am.

Me? I had one Bailey’s, a hot chocolate and then stuck to water for the rest of the night…danced away on the dance floor and rolled into bed at 9am – not an ounce of disgraceful behaviour.

:0)

Getting involved with charity work abroad

My Expat Experiences

Bex Hall

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January 9, 2011

4

As most of you know by now, I was looking after a small cat named Linguine. You will also know that I live in Athens, Greece and if any of you are familiar with

Greece

, there are many cats running around that are not well looked after.

So how did I end up looking after a Greek cat called Linguine? Well, being a cat lover, I wanted to find a charity similar to the RSPCA or Cat’s Protection (in the

UK

) that would allow me to take in and re-home a cat. Ha! This is

Greece

! No such thing as animal charities here – or so I thought…

After an exhaustive search on Google, I eventually came across “Nine Lives Greece.”

The rest is history and I managed to get Linguine – but I was intrigued to find out more about this wonderful organisation and the work it does. So I popped along to visit Cordelia Madden-Kanellopoulou, one of the society’s founders, for a cup of coffee and to have a chat.

So! Nine Lives – how long has it been running?

(Cordelia, in perfect Greek, orders herself a ‘tsai’ (tea). She’s English, I should add).

Well, we became an official charity in 2006, but all of us who became founding members were helping stray cats unofficially in Athens for about 10 years before that.

Feeding in Parliament Gardens, Central Athens

Unofficially?

Yes, feeding and neutering stray colonies of cats in central Athens, for example in ZappioGardens (the gardens near Parliament).

More feeding

And what exactly does Nine Lives do?

We focus on the capture, neuter and release of stray cats, to humanely reduce the stray cat population. We also feed several large colonies of cats in Athens on a daily basis and we try to find loving, responsible homes for as many cats and kittens as possible, either in Greece or abroad.

..and caught for neutering!

Capturing for neutering

Abroad?

Yes, we do have friends and family abroad who are aware of our cause and, even with the vast numbers of animal charities in their own countries, are sympathetic to the plight of stray animals in Greece and are willing to pay the necessary costs to bring a cat over. Several of ‘our’ cats have been adopted abroad, and we keep in touch with them, receiving photos and updates about their happy new life.

And what motivated you to set up Nine Lives?

(sipping on previously mentioned tsai and thinking): Well, there was no single charity in Athens focusing on the neutering and release of stray cats. There were and are charities that care for stray dogs, and the Athens municipality runs a catch-neuter-release programme for dogs (municipalities are by law responsible for strays and required to carry out catch-neuter-release, but only a handful of them actually implement the law) but for cats, there was nothing.

Some of you readers might not be aware that in Greece, the number of stray cats is PHENOMENAL! Many Greeks do not agree with neutering their pets, they view this as cruel. Cordelia discussed this a little:

Sadly there are people who believe that it is crueler to neuter than to leave their cat on the street when they become bored of it as a pet, or to leave its kittens in the dustbin, or to place poison around to get rid of unwanted cats. Thankfully, this is starting to change, very slowly – at least in Athens the occurrences of deliberate poisonings of animals are becoming rarer – but it is still hard to convince many people that neutering means healthier, happier, longer-lived pets and controls the spiralling overpopulation of strays.

Even the WHO (the World Health Organisation) maintains that neutering is the only humane and effective way to control the stray animal population.

Vet examining a newly found stray

So it must take up a lot of your free time then (for this is not Cordelia’s main job)?

(laughs)

It takes up ALL of my free time! Animals don’t have a 9-5 schedule. I’ll give you an example run-down of my day:

9am: Check Nine Lives emails. There’s one from the son of an old lady who has about 20 cats in her home, but has recently had a stroke so will remain in hospital and the cats all need to be relocated. I spent some time trying to work out how on earth we – as a tiny volunteer group with no facilities – can deal with this, probably through splitting up the cats among various animal welfare societies here so that we all try to re-home 4-5 each.

10.30am: Went to trap 2 cats for neutering in Kolonaki area of Athens. They are the final 2 that we hadn’t yet managed to catch and neuter from a colony of around 8 cats looked after by an Austrian lady. Arranged with the pet taxi to collect them on Monday. I then went to the vet to collect 4 newly neutered cats for release: 2 into the Plaka area and 2 to Koukaki

11am: Received a phone call from a newly set up animal welfare group asking for advice on how to trap cats.

Also received a call from a girl asking advice on neutering two young cats that she feeds in a small park in her neighbourhood.

11.30am: Called another vet who we work with to discuss the re-homing of a kitten that we picked up last week from Plaka. This kitten’s brother had been badly mauled by a dog (and will be at the vet for the foreseeable future) and his sister had disappeared, so he needed to be taken in. Luckily, a good friend of mine has offered to foster him until we can find him a home.

12am: Spoke to a friend to discuss the progress of a cat that we had caught together two evenings ago in Kolonaki. This poor cat, who was an absolute darling who purred and rubbed my hand while he was being examined by the vet, had been very badly injured after being hit by a car.

And all this before Cordelia met me for coffee and before her day’s even properly begun!

What are your hopes for Nine Lives in 2011?

More volunteers, more volunteers, more volunteers!! We need more:

feeders (Nine Lives feeds over 200 stray cats a DAY in central Athens)
fosterers (people to temporarily provide a home to cats awaiting permanent homes)
drivers (people to take/collect cats from the vets, deliver to foster/permanent homes, etc)
people who can help with fundraising activities and PR
more people willing to re-home

I would like to believe that 2011 is the year Greece finally implements existing laws against the abuse of animals, eg: fines and prison sentences for abusers, poisoners and abandoners, and I would like to see a total ban on the sale of ALL animals in pet shops (in Greece puppies and kittens are widely sold, no questions asked, at pet shops, as are exotic animals and reptiles, birds, rabbits, mice, fish etc etc).

Cordelia, you truly are an inspiration to the rest of us.

(laughs self-depreciatingly)

You know that Linguine is now gone that I am ready for another cat?

Yes! (beams Cordelia). We have two in mind for you – quite young, they can play with each other to keep themselves out of mischief.

I can’t wait! Next week will reveal all – watch this space!

And finally, for those of you interested in cat adoption, here are a couple of ‘case studies’ looking for homes:

Vasilakis

Vasilakis is a very affectionate 5-month-old male kitten who loves to share your pillow and cuddle in your arms. As he’s just a baby, he is also very playful and inquisitive. He was abandoned in central Athens as a tiny kitten and was badly kicked by someone, as when we found him he had a displaced and shattered hip bone. After one month at the vet, he is now almost 100% well again, but he has a slight limp so he needs to live indoors. Could you offer this little love bug a caring and responsible home? Please email [email protected]

Aliki

Aliki:Beautiful pure-white Aliki was found by a Nine Lives volunteer one evening on the streets of northern Athens. She was very friendly, but frightened of the traffic, dogs and boys playing football. We believe that she was recently abandoned by her owners. She has now been in a foster home for about five months. She is very affectionate and loves being stroked and cuddled, but intensely dislikes other cats and therefore needs a home where she is the only cat. She is around 1 year old and has been spayed.

For more information, visit: http://www.ninelivesgreece.com/

WELCOME TO GREECE!!

Bex Hall

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December 3, 2010

0

Ahhhh beautiful Greece…

…beautiful coastlines…

But then comes…

the standoffs…

Still, at least I get to walk down an empty road (I was actually moved on after taking this pic – by a gasmasked policeman)

and lest we forget the rubbish men are on strike too!

So COME to the land of the Gods and have a holiday to remember (hopefully for the right reasons!!)

Post being nicked and hand gestures in Greece

My Expat Experiences

Bex Hall

-

October 31, 2010

2

Ok – let’s take this bit by bit.

So, the other day a book arrived for me from Amazon. It was left in the hallway of my building, on the desk with all the other post. I’m in a rush to get to work and have a bag full of schoolbooks, aka FULL so I decide against taking said post right now and figure I’ll pick it up on my return from work.
Hmmmmm – only to find on return from work, said post has disappeared.
“Ok,” I muse “let’s give someone the benefit of the doubt and assume they have mistakenly taken it” (God I am so naive sometimes – but I believe, to some extend, in hope. Without hope we might as well all jump off the Golden Gate Bridge).

I digress.

Not there the next day. Nor the next. It is at this point I am pushed too far and let RIP via various text messages to my poor landlady (a very sweet Greek girl who is quite concerned for me and, I think justifiably, more concerned by the number of ‘mad’ ranting texts she’s receiving from her tenant!)
Anyway, she kindly writes a message in English and Greek about the fact a book was taken, I expect it to be returned to the post desk – if it is not done so I can only assume it’s been stolen and involve the police (as if the police here would do anything! But still, that’s not the point…)

And GUESS WHAT?? A week later, the book is humbly returned to the desk – in its cardboard Amazon packaging and re-sellotaped up! I mean, the person even bothered to re-tape it for me (making it obvious someone’d opened it!)

I am JOYOUS by this stage – openly clutching my package in the hallway, ripping down my messages I posted up and smiling broadly – believing maybe there IS hope in the world.
A woman sees me doing this and asks me in Greek if it’s my book (I assume she is asking this, my Greek is still appallingly bad and I decide she’s doing this because she’s pointing at my book and at the place the signs were stuck).
“Nai” I yell happily, “Ego” (“me” is the literal translation and don’t forget I have to use pigeon Greek).
She smiles at me, clearly used to seeing people doing this in the hallway (it’s amazing what Greeks find odd and find normal) and pats my arm, then proceeds do to the following (try and picture):

Hand extended in a vertical position, fingers apart, hand moved in a circle motion near side of head/brain and the other hand (struggling with the dog’s lead) also pointing at the ceiling (with the poor dog almost being pulled up to the ceiling too). She kept repeating “Tesera” (4) and I can only assume that she was saying some crazy person on the 4th floor nicked my post.
I just gave a good natured smile/shrug and repeated the eye rolling/hand circle movement and repeating ‘Nai’ (‘Yes’) ie; “Yes I agree with you, Greek woman, there is a crazy person in this building who clearly thinks it ok to take post.” Meanwhile I am looking worriedly at her dog – she really is straining its lead by pointing at the 4th floor – until I can bear it no longer and pull her hand down whilst pointing at the poor dog and shrugging helplessly. She laughs embarrassingly, then does the crazy hand gesture as herself then takes herself off up the stairs (probably to the 4th floor).

Any other hand gestures anyone can think of? There are plenty in this country – too many for this post alone, but I’m sure we’ll have time to discuss them another day.

Linguini the rescue cat – Greece

Bex Hall

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September 29, 2010

0

A while back I shared a post here about moving into my new apartment and feeding stray cats in Parliament Gardens. I mentioned I’d be getting my very first foster cat, on behalf of Nine Lives Greece.

So, here he is! He’s called ‘Linguini’ and I have agreed to be his foster mum for about 6 months until he can join his real ‘mum’ back in the UK.

He’s only 8 months old and the girl who I am fostering him for literally rescued him from being drowned on Evia, an island in Greece.

He’s now been neutered (a concept that horrifies the Greeks – they say ‘I wouldn’t want it done to myself so don’t do it to animals’ to which I retort ‘So you don’t mind being drowned then?’) and is with me until his quarantine period is up.

He’s already been in the bathtub, the washing up bowl and in places I never realised were possible to crawl under!