To Texas and Beyond

Wednesday – Monday (3/9-14). Finally. The 1st leg of our journey is underway.  Flagstaff to San Angelo, TX to visit our nephew Eric at Goodfellow AFB.

Many thanks to Werner, a lifelong resident of San Angelo who met us at the airport and transported our boxes to the hotel. We had a day before Eric was available, so we explored San Angelo, and were pleasantly surprised by what we found.

Over the weekend, we roamed around San Angelo checking out the indoor and outdoor offerings, as well as several local restaurants. Saturday Eric’s roomate Jack joined us for a stroll around the nearby state park and an amazing burger at Twisted Root.

Special shout out to Pastor Peter Heyn, wife Andrea and longtime member Werner. They stepped up big time helping get oversized boxes to and from the airport. We very much enjoyed spending time with them on Sunday morning.

Monday – Tuesday (3/14-15). The Big day! Werner once again was kind enough to deliver all our cargo back to the airport. Then it was one hour to DFW. An hour and a half weather delay, then eight hours to London. A three hour layover and three plus hours flight time was all it took to get to Athens. Safe, sound and extremely jet-lagged.

Tuesday (3/15). 6pm local time…Athens airport. Suddenly the trip has gotten very real. Security. Customs. Rebuild bikes. Load bikes. Suddenly we are free to roam. Our first stop is Porto Rafti, a small seaside village thirteen miles from the airport. Unfortunately, the timing of the flights meant that all thirteen miles were done in the cold and dark. We didn’t arrive until 9pm. After steamy showers to warm up, we were fast asleep in no time.

Wednesday (3/16). Wow! We’re in Greece! On our bikes! How awesome is that? After a massive lie in, we wandered our little port city on foot, and by bike. So many lovely images already. A fisherman sitting on his boat, singing to himself while mending his nets. Next door locals  haggle for the days catch over the stern of the boat. Old men fish. Couples sit on water-front benches  and watch life pass by. Children run from school with shouts of joy and play along the waterfront. With no language in common, we manage to procure delicious souvlaki for lunch. I think we’re going to enjoy this.

Thursday (3/17). First real day on the road we decided to ride a tailwind south to Sounion and beyond.

Friday (3/18). Crazy day. Temps in the 40’s with heinous headwinds. Felt like we were back in AK. Once again the coast is gorgeous. Riding into Athens to our AirBnB was an adventure. One must boldly assert one’s right to one’s personal space…even while on a bike. Having said that, most cars were only twice as big as our bikes, and drivers were generally very gracious. We ended up in a very nice apartment in what is clearly the muslim middle-eastern quarter of Athens. All the markets are halal. Tonight we ate unfamiliar menu items at the Kabul restaurant. Interesting!

Early observations. 1. The Aegean coastline is beautiful – and hilly! 2. We are way ahead of the tourist season. Good news/bad news. Good news – no crowds. Bad news – outside of Athens many towns and services are not open yet. Bad news for hungry cyclists! 3. We are finding our minimal to non-existent Greek language skills to be just about equal to the locals’ English language skills. Lots of blank looks, gesturing, smiling and pointing. We expect this to be our new norm for the next five months. 4. Apparently Greeks haven’t gotten the memo that smoking is bad for you! 5. Just a reminder, used TP goes in the garbage can – NOT in the loo. 6. Cats rule in Greece.

Saturday (3/19). First day sightseeing in Athens. Don’t want to over state this, but “Wow!” Took a walking tour – absolutely fascinating, and met some lovely people to boot. My education was extremely heavy on Greek and Roman history, but actually seeing all that history on display here will literally cause your brain to melt. And all we did today was nibble around the edges. Tomorrow we’re going in for a deep dive (and possibly another visit to Beer Times 2 for 1 happy hour!) I could ramble on, but suffice to say only four days in and we feel we’re off to a good start.

So there’s a tiny taste of Greece so far. As we’ve learned to say here…”poly kala!” Very Good! Until next time – STC!