It's been a crazy full day, with an even busier night. Spent the late afternoon whipping up a batch of succulent honey-garlic chicken breasts for the family's dinner ~ plus a gorgeously decadent low-fat-yet-ultramoist chocolate chocolate-chip zucchini cake for dessert. Evening saw me running off to take two wicked classes at my BJJ academy (which, considering a pulled back muscle, I totally rocked. Well... especially with the two ibuprofen knocking around in my bellay, but that's life for you). After classes, I came home and brushed the kids' teeth and tucked them into bed, cuddled up and watched Anthony Bourdain explore the exotic culinary boroughs of New York, then got Boy all cozy in bed before giving him the Four-Step Pre-Sleep Special (four, now that I've added a new indulgence to my repertoire: a backscratch!). Since then, I have been researching Greece with a manic fervour and relishing a virtual orgy with the Seattle Public Library's lovely on-line catalogue.
I am on a rampage.
At this point, I have managed to put eleven books and two DVDs on Greek history, guides, and travel writing onto my active request list; all should arrive in my oft-frequented holds section at the local branch well before I'm draped in my seat on that Athens-bound plane with a wineglass in one hand and pen in the other. My heart is thrumming with excitement; my hands are actually shaking as I type. On top of going on a grand adventure, I am going to be spending tons of quality time with my beloved Superstar. Oh, joy.
One of my favourite discoveries tonight is a blog by a girl named Darwin, a 25-year-old PhD student of Helminthology (in other words, a scientist specializing in the study of worms, especially the parasitic variety). She travelled to Greece for a conference, and wrote about it in stunning and irreverent detail; the photographs she took with her fairly crappy point and shoot are mouth-watering, and her written accounts funny and endearing. Although there are countless places I am hoping to visit on this trip, what I'd most like to thank her for is inspiring me to visit Hydra, which reminds me of sweet Venice because there are no cars allowed on the island...
Oh, my fluttery, fluttery butterflies...
From The Darwin Awards:
On our last day on Hydra we (rather ambitiously) decided to trek up to the hilliest bit of the island to see a monastery. Our ferry was due to leave at 10am which meant a 6am start (a good 1.5hour climb to the top). So it was still dark when we set off, guided by the silvery moonlight. It was eerie and spooky but had it's own distinctive charm. The plan was to get to the top in time for the sunrise, and boy, it was worth it. Seeing the first rosy hint of daylight peeping over the hill and gently illuminating the harbour below us was one of the nicest sights I've witnessed. I felt so peaceful up there, and it was one of those moments where I truly felt happy to be where I was.
One of the main reasons we decided to climb up was because we heard rumours about the monastery. The monks there were reclusive, and apparently there was a rather creepy and ominous sight at the top - the past generations of monks who had died at the monastery were buried in a crypt and once the crypt was full, simply laid out in an open pit. Naturally our morbid curiosity wanted to see this and despite having a rough idea what to expect, I still did a double-take when I peered over the edge of the stone pit and saw this:
Although Greece's infrastructure has been heavily built up around tourism, it apparently still has dismal transportation systems due to its general state of national poverty. Nevertheless, I am not daunted; I'll have a guidebook and a cell phone just in case anything too dire comes up. I may or may not be travelling with anyone as it depends entirely on if anyone (Supe, her Dad, or even her boyfriend) will feel inclined on exploring certain places with me, but I remain thoroughly ecstatic and anticipatory... of so many different things.
And yes, I've been hearing from several concerned quarters what to fear about travelling alone as a chica, and honestly: I'm stronger and more adept at self-defence reactions than when I travelled alone while much younger. (On the other hand, if Supe comes with, I'll get to enjoy her protection as she's a brown belt in karate; if her Mountie boyfriend comes, then action might be even more exciting as he's built like Van Damme in his heyday and is a sixth-degree black belt.) That all said, however, I have been working diligently at "building my shield" automatically, would be quite interested to see if I could actually triangle someone to a sleeping finish, and am really not afraid to Chaco the crap out of some blue balls if need be.
Just sayin'.
(photo credit: The etching of "Hercules slaying the Hydra" was done in 1545 by Hans Sebald Beham, and there is also a photograph I included that came off a hotel website. All other photos came from Darwin's site, around which I highly recommmend a poke; she's bright, opinionated, honest, and hilarious.)
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