The trip home was uneventful. The partner of our guide on Tuesday, whose name was also Stavros, picked us up from the hotel on schedule and we made the airport in plenty of time. With the exception of the problems with the honey and olive paste which were confiscated, (we should have put them into checked luggage), everything went smoothly on the flight to Zurich, the transfer at Zurich and the long (and rather bumpy), flight home to JFK. A quick cab ride and we were back in Reade Street again, Greece seeming a long way away. The cats, ‘seemed’ to be glad we had returned but they had been looked after well enough by our cat sitters.
So, what of the trip? We enjoyed Cyprus a lot, it was relaxing and enjoyable to spend time without too many deadlines or sightseeing trips. Although we did not see much of the island, that wasn’t the point. We were able to spend quiet time with Helen, Simon, Lucy and Millie and that was enough. We did have a few excursions and that gave us some sort of impression of the island. We have to thanks Helen and Simon for letting us stay in their lovely villa and giving us such a good time as well as doing all the washing, washing up, food preparation, etc. which was luxury we did not deserve. We would also like to thanks Steve and Jeanette for showing us the beautiful area of St George’s.
Greece was much more active but we were well prepared for it after our rest in Cyprus. We have to thanks Miranda-Maria our excellent guide at the Acropolis and Sounion, Stavros for a great day out at Corinth, Mycena and Nauplia and Ianni and Maria, our guides at Delphi and Meteora, respectively. They all were very helpful, informative and presented the information they gave in a very clear and understandable way. We also want to thank Angelo for the great walking and eating tour of Athens which took us to areas we would never otherwise have gone. The people of Greece were friendly and helpful. We didn’t learn the secrets of the universe from the Oracle at Delphi and from the stories we were told, not many others di either. Still we did learn that Aesop was one of the earliest ‘whistle blowers’!!
Talking to the locals, there was not always much optimism about the economic situation and people have certainly been hit hard by the recession. Whether or not you feel that they were ‘featherbedded’ before with their benefits and social programs, to have them essentially ripped away is not easy for them to take. Miranda-Maria, looking forward to retirement was suddenly faced with another 5 years of working at one fell swoop and she said the day she heard she cried all day. Prices have risen for many things and wages are falling all the time in both the public and private sectors. Despite all this, Athens looks well enough although many projects have been suspended due to lack of money. One hopes that this ancient city will not allow the heritage to deteriorate too much. One problems which is prevalent the world over is immigration and there is much of this from Turkey. This is not the Turks, their economy is in good shape but through Turkey is the route of choice for those from Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and Iraq and other countries to find their way to the West. This is causing many problems for the Greeks as the inevitable unemployment of these immigrants their demands on social services, etc, are causing friction with the local populace ands are the possible cause of increased crime rates. The EU has quite strict rules for dealing with immigrants and they cannot simply be sent back to where they came from.
Certainly Greece (and Cyprus too), has its problems to face but it is a wonderful country with a great climate and nice people. I hope that it can overcome these problems, it was, after all the first democracy in the world, it has the history to do so.
I have only included a fraction of the photos I took and MAC took just as many but I hope the ones I have included give some good impression of our trip.
