We are two hours away from landing in Ancona Italy for the last leg of the journey home. The 21 hour ferry ride on Superfast Ferry VI has been quiet and comfortable. Our 4 bed cabin was cramped but servicable...quiet except for the quartet snoring. Jurg even got to watch his soccer game on TV- but his preferred team didn't win. There are lots of trucks on board but not so many people with cars. A few campers are on the top car deck sleeping in their vehicles and there is a tent on the top deck where a few hardy souls are camping. The only problem we have with this ferry is the smoking. It is all outside...but everywhere outside. And some of the nicest outside shaded bar areas are full of smoke. It seems every Greek man of any substance smokes and would never consider asking before lighting up. Except in the family where we stayed. They never smoke inside...just on the balcony.
The Greek hospitality was wonderful. We slept in the bed of our hosts..Katharina and Agapitos..while they split up and one slept in a small bed in their top floor abode and the other slept 2 floors down in the grandson's bed. The parents and 2 daughters all share one house with each having a floor. The daughter with two children (13 and 18) plus husband were away visiting the other grandparents for Easter, so their beds were available for Rosmarie and Sozon. The eldest daughter and husband, Adriana and Sam, were home and joined us for all the meals and conversation. Adriana did some of the cooking in her kitchen. Quite a close family arrangement. They were so good to us! Hope they can come to Canada!
On Monday we went back on the bus and subway to the centre of Athens. This time we walked around the Placa...the area under the Acropolis and saw some of the amazing ruins that litter the landscape. Children walk and run on the bases of 2000 year old buildings and play among the fallen columns. Tourists take pictures sitting on marble benches from the old Greeks and wander among the standing columns. Quite amazing to me. So many pieces of antiquity that are taken for granted...yet the Greeks are so proud of their ancient history and it's impact on the world. Most had seen that movie...My Big Fat Greek Wedding..and thought it funny.
The current political situation is so difficult and they expect things to get worse as more people lose their jobs. The bureaucracy and corruption are endemic and make it difficult to solve the problems. People don't pay taxes and won't if they think their money is wasted. Apparently the big shipping magnate Onassis offered in lieu of paying taxes to build a rail and highway system around the area south of Athens..Government didn't take him up on it. So, he probably didn't pay the taxes either.
We drove from Athens to Patra on the new autobahn which goes most of the way. The remainder to be finished is quite complicated with lots of tunnels through the mountainous hills and roads that go by the sea. All German money from the EU...I think of it as reparation for the WW2 crimes the Germans committed against the Greeks. Massacres and such occurred here.
We stopped off for a quick visit at a friend of Sozon's who has a holiday place right on the edge of the sea...and I mean the edge. He used to have 30 metres of beach but now he has a wall just off the kitchen with the sea up against the edge. The waves wash right over the patio and once even carried off some of the kitchen pots. Apparently, in typical Greek fashion, he built there without a permit many years ago. So someday, maybe it will disappear into the sea. Squatter's rights are strong here in Greece and one has to watch property, because if someone else comes and builds on it are you aren't watching, they have a claim.
Italy awaits us...my phone doesn't work there. So no texts. We should be home in a day or so..one more overnight. And I hope some good Italian food. Their pasta can't be beat
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