In Greece

Made it to Athens, the first stop for our time in Greece. The last time I was here I got my pocket picked on the way into Athens. This time I was over cautious. Tina picked a great hotel in the middle of the city with a fabulous view of the Acropolis from our balcony.

I noticed that we are in another time zone here in Greece. So Emma is just four hours ahead of us here. In CT during daylight saving time there is a twelve hour difference. That makes me feel very far away from her.

Heard from Jim. When we left for the airport he was on his way to Naples for a soccer (football) game. Evidently Naples won and Jim was in all the excitement.

Second day in Greece and we are on the go again. Off to the bus station to find the bus to Kalamata. I heard that the bus makes no stops so I refrained from coffee this morning.

Got to the bus station to make the 11:00 am bus. It was fully booked. So we got tickets for the 12:30 bus. The Athens bus station is definitely not a tourist attraction. But what bus station anywhere is anything but a necessary stop. The gypsies in the bus station sell necessities such as small packets of Kleenex. I recall them from the last time we were in Greece. Can be really pushy and annoying.

Found out that the 11:00 bus was an express, the 12:30 is a local.

Made it to the resort. Very nice. Style is very Scandinavian: sauna, steam room, lots of wood and a large variety of massages, Tina will like that. Since we are next to the water we can hear the surf.

The place we are staying the first nights in Kalamata is very Scandinavian. Minimalist furniture, a spa, a sauna and a lot of German and Scandinavian guests. Very nice with sweeping views.

They have the apparatus to make Greek coffee in the breakfast room. The waitress taught me the process and I made a cup to take to our room.

It is fun and it tastes great.

We noted that the rain was muddy. Upon doing some research I found out that during this time of year there are duststorms in the Sahara. The dust in the air mixes with the rain. In the uncommon times when the dust is red, it is called a “Blood Rain”. It reminds me of times in the southwest when it would rain mud.