Having a Frappe at a beautiful seaside Cafe Bar…Republic. Smooth creamy Frappe harmonizes with the contemporary and lush lounge like outdoor setting. It is a pretty place to have a coffee, drink, light meal or snack. Sit in the outdoor lounge or idle your time away relaxing by the seaside across the Cafe. The scenery and refreshing breeze will have you smile and say I am glad Eleni Sent Me!
07.22.10Weeds and Roots
Sometimes when all we see are weeds we forget that hidden amongst them are precious roots that are not dormant. Greece may appear to the world ridden with weeds but all I feel and see are the roots that have sustained this Ancient civilization in every moment and every travel experience I have here. This summer marks a year to the date of my accident in Santorini. It has been a challenging year and I feel like Greece having ridden a roller coaster of turmoil and yet here I am again in entirely different circumstances and ready to be part of a world I love and adore, my Greek world. This is a time of rebuilding for Greece and there can be no growth without first seeing which parts…the weeds that have strangled the country’s soul are finally acknowledged. The uprooting is vast and it will take a long time. Below the surface it is the roots the world does not see that endure and will continue to sustain it’s people. Time heals and spirit rebuilds. If you are travelling this summer in Greece, remember weeds grow everywhere and wherever you may venture look past them to see the roots and I promise you will see the true spirit of Greece. Tell it that Eleni sent you… I am looking forward to writing daily as long as I can seek out consistent internet connection!
Kalo Taxithi Travellers!
Greek Day 2010
08.05.09
Walking down the street, thinking about the familiarity and love I have for this ethereal island, am suddenly thrown upward and land on the pavement with my head meeting it first…I can not comprehend what has happened, one minute I was walking and the next I am blacked out. Voices ring out at me and I am sitting in a plastic chair by the side of the road dazed and scared out of my wits because I have a head injury and thinking about my children and this moment in my life.
An ambulance whisks me to the Santorini Medical Center which is small, sparse, and does not have facilities to accommodate all injuries. A Policeman tries to interrogate me and define what course of action I need to take, a nurse is connecting a saline drip and somehow it is not working… it is finally in and I am transported by wheelchair across the busy street with a collar bracing my neck to get some xrays.
Later lying in the hospital, I am moved by the love and concern from the people I have grown to love and care about and I understand the depth of the Greek spirit to transform compassion and love into action. My children are taken care of and I look around to find an emergency room filled with people I have supported, worked with and spent holidays with living a simple Santorinian life with. The owner of the Hotel Margarita Mr. Yiannis Kafieris, his parents Mrs. Mina and Mr. Niko, his wife Poppy, my dearest friend and Dimitri one of my first aquaintances who connected me with all these people and who held my IV all the way across that busy street! They left their jobs and responsibilities to be there for me. To be in the presence of such loving, open hearted people is an honor that I hope many people will experience.
My other beautiful friends Odysseas and Angie in Athens arranged to pick me up in Athens where I went to the private hospital Eigias and was able to see their friend, the director of Orthepedic surgery. After a CT scan, I flew back to Santorini and the next day results confirmed I would be okay. Today four weeks later after taking time to recover, enjoy being still and contemplate how lucky I have been, I am able to resume my activities but I am taking time to smell the Jasmine. Many thanks to the Santorini Health Center that despite their small resources were able to stabilize and assess me with integrity and professionalism. Thank you Dr. Elina for not compromising, leaving no stone unturned in my assessment and being a stand for quality medical attention.
Later that day, a woman who had witnessed my accident told me that I had been struck near a small chapel named St. George. Hmmm. That is the name of my Parish church in Vancouver that I attend…she said ” oh St. George is fast… he is there quickly when needed” He is known as the avenger of women.
St. George, Thank you.
If you are ever in Firostefani, look up the chapel and light a candle….tell him “Eleni Sent Me”
A week before a woman the same age had been struck by a motorcycle, but unfortunately was pronounced clinically dead on arrival.
I wake up alive and happy to see what my day will unfold. Whether you are on holiday or not…it is a good way to start life.
07.03.09The Acropolis Museum Unveiled
Back in Athens finally! It has been while since I diligently wrote in my blog and I apologize because many of my readers have contacted me and expressed their disappointment. So here we are, another summer in Greece and I will be diligent about posting. First of all, for the past 5 summers I have been tracking the building of the New Acropolis Museum. I remember the presentation center and I could not fathom the scope of such an endeavor. Today as I walked to the Museum and approached it’s sleek contoured lines rising before me, I felt like I was entering a temple…only this one is technologically streamed and conveys the austerity of a dream realized from the depths of nothing. This building is breathtaking and as you approach your senses are bombarded by it’s beauty, design and the smell of jasmine intermingled with fragrant herbs wafting like fresh baked bread all around you. I am a very visual person and this experience fulfilled it to the extreme. Apparently, you are supposed to book your tickets online due to the long line ups, however if you arrive early in the morning as we did, you will have no wait and the bonus is that the museum is not crowded. We left at noon and the line up already was about an hour and a half wait. As you approach the building, under plexiglass walk ways you see excavated exposed ruins that literally stop you in your tracks. When you recover you are again overwhelmed when you enter because the museum is so vast your head is spinning trying to orient yourself amidts it’s cool contents. Cool as in the reverence that this space evokes. You have to walk slowly and savour every piece that surrounds you and even if you try to rush, you are pulled back and forced to slow down just by the sheer awe you are in. I have been to many museums in Greece but this one takes you by the hand and walks you through history as if you are walking hand in hand with Theseus. You are looking around, up, through and your eyes become swollen with the sheer magnitude of the existing artifacts, sculptures and displays. I especially loved the presentation on the second floor of the history of the Acropolis and Parthenon. My son and I were mesmerized by the images and the digitalized versions and reenactments of different parts of the historical facts. It was like a lesson in Symmetry, history and literature all neatly laid out and after the presentation you leave feeling very humbled at the complexity and the history of this wonder of the world. A beautiful cafe set inside and on a large terrace overlooking the Acropolis makes you sip your coffee at the slowest pace possible and it’s peaceful beauty makes you want to sit in silence just being with the natural rawness of this slice of history. All in all, a beautiful landmark and it should be the first stop in Athens before anyone heads up to the Parthenon.
