August 2011

The last 2 stops on our trip have both started with the same letter but couldn’t have been more of a contrast.

Santorini was gorgeous and exactly what I pictured Greece to be like. Corfu and Argostoli were nothing like Santorini, their architecture was much more European than the whitewashed cave houses we expected to see. We were a bit surprised by this. Both Jared and I were expecting all of Greece to be just like the pictures from the internet but really, the images most of us have in our minds are contained on this one small island.

We started our day off with a wine tour which was so interesting. Wine is grown very different on the island of Santorini then any other place in the world. They make little baskets close to the ground and lie the grapes beneath the leaves. Apparently this is an ancient technique that has never really changed her through out the centuries, despite new innovative techniques. The reason is the lack of fresh water for irrigation. Keeping the grapes close to earth under the vines contains the humidity and protects them from the sun. Although Santorini doesnt export its wines, they are considered the oldest vines in all of Europe. Because the land contains so much volcanic ash, it was the only place this side of the globe that didn’t lose their crops to the beetle that forced european wine makers to import vines from North America.

They mainly only produce white wine on the island…..and I guess I know why…you drink it cold.

It is farging hot here. Like nothing we get at home….high 30’s everyday but with the humidity it makes it much hotter and I am sure close to high 40’s. I am a sun baby and even though I am reluctant to admit it some days are just a tad bit hot even for me.

But despite the unbelievable heat, Santorini is simply phenomenal. There is a beautiful side and an ugly side…or so they tell us, although being a foreigner I’d never be able to tell the difference. On the beautiful side you can look out at the caldera. The portion of Santorini that is inhabited was formed from the volcano explosion of the 1600’s….. apparently the volcano is still considered active and our tour guide shared with us that according to the pattern of activity the volcano next eruption should be about 72 years after the last one….or in other terms….this very year.

Jared and I had to have a chuckle….wouldn’t it be our luck?

Thankfully though,the only terrifying thing that happened to us on the island of Santorini was the donkey ride we took from the top of the cliff down 600 steps to the bottom of the old port. Good god!!!!

Try to imagine….20 people all tied together. Each stair uneven and made from cobble stones….trains of people going up on donkeys and the same amount going down, people trying to walk in between…the smell completely foul…and the heat more intense as it radiated off the sweaty animals.

Loggie was on the last donkey of the donkey train and her mule kept slipping all the way down….she was crying and wailing about how freaked out she was and how much she hated the ride. All the while the lovely Grecian man,who led the pack of animals, screamed back in her direction every time she made a peep (we are still not sure if he was yelling at Loggie or the animal). For some reason my donkey felt inclined to shit all the way down while dragging his backside up against the cement wall, which meant I had one leg in the air and only one hand to hold on….(I couldn’t bare to let go of my 3 bottles of Santorini wine).
Then there was Jared and Brody both completely allergic….sneezing and rubbing their eyes…Jared with a disgusted look on his face and a bit of hatred (I can tell you right now we will never own horses) and Brody squealing every 30 seconds about much his swollen balls hurt!
And every time I would fan back to check on my distraught Loggie …through her tears she would through out a comment like….”do you know how much I hate this….great idea mom….what if I have seizure right now…fell off the donkey onto the ground and into the shit piles, hit my head and got stepped on by a donkey….it would be all your fault”

Ahhh, lovely family memories….but all the while as I was riding all I could do was laugh out loud because my poor brother shared with me the week before I left on this trip, that on his honeymoon he had to run up that donkey trail…mid day…40 degrees with no water….to get to a bank machine since he failed to bring enough money to get his pregnant wife up the hill via cable car. And for any of you who know my brother well, you know he has the worst gag reflex in the world….anything smelly and he pukes instantly. So all I could picture on that donkey with my own family freaking out was my baby brother gagging and vomitting his way up the 600 stairs in between the donkeys, eyes watering….mouth frothing….and the first thought that came to mind was once a Griswald always a Griswald!

But Jared and I will return. We promised each other we’d see the sunsets we heard are the best on earth and swim at then black sand beach. Santorini life would be the kind of life I could easily adjust to…..apparently everyone sleeps till about noon, then swims and sunbathes most of the day….heads to the tip of the island to watch the sun go down and then dances and drinks wine until the sun rises in the morning..and they wonder why their economy is in the toilet….who’d ever want to work?

Sicily however, I have only one word….. YUCK….Catania anyhow.

It is absolutely filthy…..like nothing I can even explain….dead birds and dead rats everywhere….graffiti,on every building…and at times an even fouler smell than the donkey trail. We did the hop on hop off tour….and decided to hop off at the main cathedral. Big mistake. We walked a few extra blocks and got lost….in the wrong part of town.
So much poverty and beggars around. It was the only time on this whole trip where I felt a bit unsafe. The buildings all seemed like we were in East Hastings and the people weren’t much better. One guy with a toenail like nothing I’ve ever seen…(it was some sort of fungus that grew up about 15 cm high) actually jumped out at Brody. Scared the shit out all of and made the toenail seem like nothing. There were women begging with their breasts out feeding their 5 year old kids….and an out door market where people were like savages as they rummaged through the piles of clothing and bargained on the cheap cuts of meat that were rotting out in the sun.

I have to wonder if any of it has to do with the fact that the city is still controlled in part by the mafia. I can’t say for sure but it seems like a place where people have very little respect for their city and there is mafia symbols and grafitti on almost everything.

They don’t water any of their grass in Catania so everything is brown and dead….there is garbage everywhere….and I mean everywhere. People literally finish drinking their can of coke and then toss the can and don’t think twice about it.
And there are no cabs if you want one to get you back to ship….we walked for miles before we finally found one and when we asked him for a ride he looked at us and simply said no, before he turned away from us and parked his car and headed into a coffee shop. Wtf.

In the end we walked over an hour and a half , through the filthy streets, almost getting hit by dozens of cars…(the pedestrian definitely doesn’t have the right of way here and there are no crosswalks) back to the port.

But when we got back we met a Sicilian women who organized a trip for us to visit the military museum. So, we left the kids at kids club and ventured back out. Jared’s papa fought in WW2 in Sicily so it was on his “to do” list while we were here, and I am glad we did. Despite being ripped off on the taxi ride there and having to walk back (again) it was so interesting and informative to tour the museum. Such a different perspective here on the war vs. what we have. The sicilians were aligned with Germans during the war so to them us North Americans destroyed their country. I am sure in the long run they know that none of the war was good….but I couldn’t help but sense the undertone of disdain our tour guide displayed when Jared shared that is grandfather fought in the war. Jared pointed out how the Americans regularly call their military action a liberation for a country…..talk to the citizens…..they simply call it an invasion…

And we wonder why the middle east is breeding extremist groups and generations of haters…can you even imagine being invaded for 25 years like they have?….no wait….don’t answer….we as privileged Canadians can’t even fathom it. Thank god….

Yes, the museum was the best part of Sicily by far, oh and the white chocolate pistachio spread we bought.

No wait, on second though, the best part of Sicily is right now….lying on the pool deck….sun shining….cold Corona on ice beside me and the horn blowing signaling we are pulling out of this port on our way to Naples and the Amalfi coast.

I can’t believe in one weeks time we will be returning home…..leaving on this trip, I thought a month would be too long….especially considering Logan’s newest seizure diagnosis, but now I know without a doubt I was born to travel….this month has felt like a week and I could easily do this indefinitely….throw in all the circumstances you want….(ok I take that part back)

Of course saying that, I would miss my family and friends but trust me….once you came to visit….you wouldn’t want to leave either….I promise I would find the most perfect spots to take you!

The world is just so beautiful….I am glad there is so much more for us to explore! But in the mean time I won’t fast forward, or wish for any more….I will just bask in the beauty of these last 7days.