Greek Summer ~ Time to Halara under the Almyrikis

That title sums up life in our slice of Greece right now. 

Halara under the Almyrikis translates to relaxing under the Tamarisk trees.

Almyriki on Pantazi Beach, Mani

Halara, or xalara, (ha - laa - RRRAAH) the newest word in my slowly increasing Greek vocabulary, might just be one of my new favorite words as it so perfectly describes the state of mind one must be in to survive summer in Greece.

Almyriki shade on Pantazi Beach

Almyriki, or Tamarisk, trees are unofficial symbols of summer in Greece as many beaches are still lined with these gentle giants sporting wispy green feathers of foliage.  Beachgoers vie for coveted spots underrneath them.

Our Stone House on the Hill in the Greek Mani

For those who are new to this blog, we are Americans from the Pacific Northwest who left that life behind for an expat adventure in Greece's rural Peloponnese.  Summers here remind us of summers in the arid and irrigated regions central Washington State where we grew up. In fact, as I write this, Greece is under an 'excessive heat advisory' just as is Washington. But Greece is actually several degrees cooler right now.

Almyriki tree in the village

Today after a sweat-inducing hour or so of watering our plants we headed out to accomplish the simplest of tasks in the village and found ourselves in need of both coffee and halara before we got home.  It was while we were sipping cappuccinos at a table under an Almyriki tree, running our flip-flop-clad feet in the sand that I finally understood how perfect the word halara is for life in Greece.

A few almyriki line the road to the village

A waiter friend who has been advising me on everyday Greek words, offered the word a few days ago when I had told him to 'take it easy' or 'not work too hard'.  He gave me a sly smile and said, "Your new word is 'halara', to relax.". For those who like to double check the things that I write, if you look this one up, it will tell you it means 'loose'. If you look up the slang, it will tell you to 'hang loose', 'relax' or 'take it easy'.  

Bits and Bobs

While kicked back under that tree I thought of a few things I've not told you about in recent posts so as our British friends say, here are some bits and bobs of travel news:

Stoupa Beach awash in sunbeds

* The Greek tourism folks have projected more than one million visitors will be arriving the first week of August. The most popular destinations are Athens, Thessaloniki, the south Aegean islands, Cyclades, Crete and Corfu. (From the looks of our crowded restaurants and beaches, I'd say our Mani is also drawing a lot of them this way!)

A trip to Greece for medical tourism someday?

* Greece's Health Tourism Council is working in partnership with Athens International Airport to develop a medical tourism package. (They must have read my post about our health care in the Mani and our recent colonoscopy experience!)

Under construction in March, the W Hotel opens in August

*W Hotel is the newest in the Marriott Bonvoy group to come to Greece. It opens in mid-August at our plush Costa Navarino resort on the 'finger' to our west, about an hour and a half from us. With room prices in the 650-euro range, we won't be staying there until some very low season rate tempts us.

Award-winning Athens Airport

*A headline appearing in social media yesterday shouted the news that "Athens Airport Named the Best in Europe" however if one reads the whole article, you learn it is the best in Europe to be in if your flight is delayed. And a lot of them are right now. While I can't say any airport is great when it comes to flight delays, I do have to sing the praises of our Athens' airport: modern shops, restaurants, bars and cafes, baggage storage, museum and archaeological displays not to mention cultural shows every so often to entertain travelers.

Can You Go Home Again?

That flight delay headline was a good segue into a question a few of us from the States are asking ourselves this summer. There is nothing philosophical or political about the question, it is a matter of logistics.  

May not take this many bags back to the US in August

The chaos occurring in airports throughout Europe and being reported in mainstream and social media is very real. London's Heathrow capped the number of passengers to whom airlines can sell tickets through Sept. 11 in an attempt to get control of its spiraling out of control situation. KLM banned checked baggage for all connections through Amsterdam's Schiphol airport. Malaysian Airlines has banned checked baggage on flights coming to several European airports. Lufthansa, the German airline, cancelled more than 1,000 flights on July 27 as result of a one-day strike by employees.  

The Road Home in Washington State

The Scout and I have now booked tickets to Seattle, cancelled the trip, and rebooked other flights as has another expat friend; all of us hoping to get back to Washington State.  We continue to monitor our reservations to make sure segments haven't been cancelled without notification (yes, that does happen these days).  

There is always the chance they will be cancelled at the airport so we find ourselves in limbo as to making hotel reservations for the overnight we will have in London enroute to Seattle, we hesitate to make legal and medical appointments that are on our 'to do' list back in the States. 

That '71 is the graduation year - not our ages, . . .yet!

For those wondering why we are traveling with such chaos and uncertainty in travel, when we are retired and could travel at any time, it is because I have a high school reunion to attend back in my hometown. A Big One. One that was postponed from last year, thanks to Covid. And I am the reunion co-chair.  I need to be there. . .simple as that!  

The good news is that we are allowed to go back to our home country while in the residency permit renewal process in Greece. . .and that is good news because we still don't have renewed residency permits and are doubtful we will have them before we leave.

Halara

Under the Almyriki trees

So, for now we will stay sittin' and sippin' under the Almyriki tree, enjoying the cooling breeze from the ocean. It is Greek Summer. . .time to make the most of it!

Our wishes for safe travels to you and yours. A big welcome to our new subscribers! Thanks for joining us and to all of you for the time you spend with us. 

Travel: During The Best or Worst of Times

 We just returned from a week in a mostly windswept, rain-drenched Italy. A storm system arrived two days after we did.

Under the Tuscan Sun. . .briefly

Locals lamented our timing. "It was beautiful last week and it will be next week," we were assured time and time again as we made our way from Bologna to Florence and finally, Rome. The two photos taken on our train trip between Florence and Rome illustrate the fickle weather we experienced. The rain spells lasted longer than the sun bursts.

Tuscan rainstorm washed away the sun

Memories of what had been the weather and promises of that which was to come would do us no good - we were there for a week. While it certainly wasn't the best of times for a trip, it certainly wasn't the worst either. 

Pasta with cinghiale, wild boar, ragu

Walking between four and five miles a day, consuming as much pasta and Italian wine as we could and absorbing as many sights as possible in each of our stops made the week speed past. It will go down in the memory book as one of the best of times.

Travel Timing

We continue to read of people, Americans, in particular, postponing travel to Europe because of  'all that is going on over there' -  referencing Covid transmissions, Covid travel regulations/rules, and recently, the potential impact of the conflict in Ukraine. Some cite fears of food shortages and/or increased prices for food and fuel. 

For those folks concerned about one of more of those topics, this would be the worst of times for travel no matter what assurances I tried to provide. But because of those hesitant to travel, we decided it just might be one of the best times to travel.

Waiting to get near the Trevi Fountain - Rome

I guess we believed those headlines about tourism being down and people not traveling were painting an accurate picture of tourism. The reality is: people ARE traveling. Lots of people!  And many of them Americans.

It was most evident in Rome where prior to our arrival I had said I wanted to see the Trevi Fountain again  'before it was again overrun with tourists'.  It is the fountain, the centerpiece of the 1954 movie, 'Three Coins in the Fountain' where you stand near its edge, facing away from it and  toss a coin over your shoulder and make a wish to return to Rome.  Well, had I really wanted to make that wish, I'd probably still be standing there waiting to get anywhere near the fountain.  

Midway point in the line to enter the Pantheon - Rome

Moving on, we found ourselves nearing the Pantheon, I asked The Scout if he wanted to go in, as it has been years since we 'd last done that.  Luckily he didn't have his heart set on a return visit as we'd still be standing in the entrance line that stretched across the piazza and down a street.

Italian cappuccino can't be beat

Yet, the crowds haven't reached the pre-pandemic levels and we often found ourselves on small side streets meandering past shops and bars still frequented primarily by locals.  Those were some of the best of times, even with the umbrella unfurled and braced against the wind.

A highpoint of travel in Italy is indulging in cappuccinos,  - standing at the counter as locals do in the neighborhood bar.  The price had not changed: still 1.50 euros when consumed at the bar in the places we stopped. The cost goes up if you sit at a table but still is no more than what we pay in Greece: about 3 euros a cup.

A neighborhood bar in Florence

And when I write about drinking coffee or wine at the neighborhood bars, I am talking about tiny little places like the one pictured above.  

Table wine purchase by the half liter - 3 euros

Our whirlwind trip began in Bologna, the city we visited last fall. We found it far busier that it had been a few months ago but food and drink prices remained much as we remembered them being - quite reasonable. We stayed at the same hotel -- in the heart of the city's historic center - that we had last November. We were delighted to find a grocery store had opened across the street since our last visit.  I can report that shelves were full of essentials as well as gourmet treats.

The photo above was taken at a restaurant just off the Piazza Maggiore in Bologna.  The house red wine was served as it is in Greece, by the liter. This is a half liter that cost 3 euros - and The Scout deemed it the best 3-euro half liter of wine he'd ever consumed!

Time to Travel

Florence at night

For us the time to travel is now.  We've lost two years to Covid.  Soon we will find ourselves again unable to leave Greece as we begin the renewal process for our residency permits. It is a slow process made slower by backlogs from the Covid lockdown and a new online application system that doesn't seem to have streamlined the process at all.  

Street side restaurant Bologna

In the last year we've lost good friends - and fellow travel enthusiasts. Each loss has been a sad reminder to carpe diem, seize the day. Tomorrow's travels aren't promised.  

The question of best or worst of times for travel must be answered by each individual traveler. I can tell you that the European Union is slowly lifting travel restrictions and requirements, making travel seem much more like it used to be. On this trip we were required to wear masks inside airports, public transport, hotels, retail and food and beverage establishments. Waitstaff told us on several occasions that Italy plans to discontinue the mask requirement the first of May. But aside from being rather tedious to wear it - it didn't impact the travel experience.

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We hope that if you are traveling your experiences are good ones. Write and tell us about them in the comments below or shoot us an email.  We will continue the Italy tour in our next post. Until then, happy travels ~ be they be in real time or by armchair.   And welcome to our new subscribers, it is nice to have you with us!!  If you haven't yet signed up (subscribed)  to receive these posts as emails, (for free), just fill in your address in the box on the home page.

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That Night in Verona. . .

 'Romeo, Romeo. . .wherefore art thou Romeo?' Juliet called out in Shakespeare's tragic tale of two star-crossed lovers.

Verona Italy street scene

Romeo was in Verona, Italy, as was his love, Juliet. 

And on a chilly weekend not so long ago, so were we.

Verona at Night

We were here as part of our 10-day Italian Escapade that began in Bologna (see previous post) and ended in Venice.  Both cities have charmed us on past visits. We'd decided to include a one-night stay in some place we'd never visited before - one located along the train's route between our two old favorites. A mix of nostalgia and new is always a good travel combination.

Verona - a stop between Bologna and Venice

After much pondering and a bit of research we decided that night would be spent in Verona, a city of 265,000.  

That Night in Verona

Rooms, considering it was late November, seemed surprisingly scarce and rather expensive. As it turns out we were visiting on the weekend of the Verona Marathon - an annual event that traditionally draws a couple thousand runners to the town.

We ended up paying a bit more than we had planned for a hotel room, but in return, got more than we ever could have imagined. Due Torre Hotel was a few blocks from the city's main square, a few blocks from the winding Adige River and opened onto Piazza Sant' Anastasi. 

Piazza Sant'Anastasia - Verona

In other words, a perfect location for setting off on foot to explore.

Lobby Due Torre Hotel - Verona, Italy

I have to admit that I could have spent my short stay just sitting in the lobby of our hotel, a former palace of the Della Scala, a Middle Ages clan who are remembered for both being murderous tyrants and patrons of the arts.  Quite honestly it felt we'd stepped back in time (despite all the modern conveniences) and were staying in a palace!

The Lobby Bar - Due Torre Hotel Verona, Italy

The Italian hotel group that operates the hotels outdid themselves on restoration of this facility. The lobby and its elegant bar were among the most stupendous we've ever seen. Breakfast, included in the room rate, was served one floor above the lobby in an equally elegant dining room..  And I just have to add for all my fellow pet lovers, the posh palace welcomes animals. These two four-footed guests were adorable!

Four-footed guests are welcome at the Due Torre Verona

Romeo and Juliet 

Back in 1562 when Shakespeare created the two lovers, he had no idea of the 21st century marketing tools they would provide this northern Italian city. Souvenirs of every size and shape pay tribute to Romeo and Giulietta, as Juliet is known here.

Now we all know that they were imagined characters, but that didn't deter city authorities back in the 1930's when they selected a house and added a 14th-century style balcony to it and for good measure put up a bronze statue of Giulietta out front.  

Waiting for entrance (under the star) to Casa di Giulietta

Today this tourist attraction continues to draw hordes of people. If you are willing to stand in the incredibly long lines and buy a ticket, you too, could stand on the balcony. It didn't appeal, especially after seeing the massive number of tourists waiting to get in on a late Saturday afternoon.

Exploring Verona 

We not only bypassed 'the' balcony, we didn't seek out any of the other tourist attractions here. We opted, instead, to simply enjoy the city. Our plan was simple: stroll around the town until we tired, then we'd rest up, and head out again in the evening: 

Verona's porticos

So under ancient wood-beamed porticos we went, past charming restaurants and retail stores.

Piazza's were teeming with people in Verona

Then across piazza's lined with cafes; their outdoor seating areas overflowing with people enjoying the sunshine while sipping afternoon beverages. 

This rainbow of temptations caught my eye in Verona.

It seemed this city had a bakery with windows filled with tasty temptations, on every block. And had we not been 'saving ourselves' for a pasta dinner, it would have been most easy to give in to temptation!

Section of the Adige River in Verona, Italy

We left the bustling central area and made our way back to the hotel through the quiet residential areas fronting the river. The horse-shoe shaped Adige River cradles the city on its route to the Adriatic Sea. The empty sidewalks at river's edge were a striking contrast to the busy piazzas.

Saturday night in Verona

Following our pasta dinner we strolled back to the hotel on once-bustling streets that had nearly emptied. The pace of those few folks who were still out had slowed. It was so quiet that. . .  

Evening in Verona 

. . .with a bit of imagination you could almost hear Giulietta calling out in the distance, 

'Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou, Romeo?'

                                                                             ******

That's it for this Italian stop, we were off to Venice the next morning. And that will be the topic of my next report.  As always, thanks for being with us for this segment of our Escapade and we hope you'll be back for the next installment.  Until then, wishes for safe travels to you and yours~

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Mamma mia! An Italian Escapade

The mist descended like a shroud over the old historic square, softening shadows and silhouettes cast from streetlights. We pulled our wraps a bit tighter and picked up our pace as we crossed Piazza Maggiore on that late November evening. It was rather empty and somewhat eerie; definitely atmospheric as we made our way to dinner. 

Just a couple hours later, under clear skies, we sipped wine at a table to the side of the square. A fickle Italian winter's night, to be sure.

Winter's night in Bologna, Italy

Winter isn't a time recommended by guidebooks to visit Bologna, Italy. But when have we done exactly as was recommended by guidebooks? We were ready for a getaway and Italy was a two-hour flight from Athens. Covid contact tracing paperwork was completed and pre-travel testing was done. We were off!

Bologna's Neptune's Fountain

Looking back, we think early winter was a perfect time to visit because there were fewer tourists, easy access to restaurants, historic and cultural exhibits and hotel reservations were easy to obtain.  

Street scene on a November night in Bologna, Italy

As it turns out we also completed the trip just before Omicron, the new Covid variant, caused a tightening of travel restrictions in December.  Now just keeping track of the near-constantly changing rules for entry into countries has kept us homebound in Greece. 

The appetizers were free, with the two glasses of wine

I chose to call it an  'Italian Escapade' because escapade refers to something daring and adventurous, which in many people's minds is any act of travel in this 'Time of Covid'. (I can assure you it was in reality neither daring nor adventurous - it was delightful.)

Nighttime in Bologna was magical no matter the weather

Our 10-day escapade began in Bologna, considered the culinary capital of Italy. We had a night in Verona and spent the remainder of our visit in Venice. 

Bologna, a city of just under 400,000, is the capital and largest city in the Emilia-Romagna region. Parmesan cheese, Parma ham and balsamic vinegar are among the specialties from here.

So much food and so little time. . .

We gave ourselves three days in which to taste and tour this once-walled Medieval city that boasts the longest continuously operating university in the world. The University of Bologna opened in 1088.  We could have stayed twice as long and still not seen and tasted all that this city has to offer. Our first morning's tour aboard a Hop-On, Hop-Off double-decker bus convinced us we'd never get to all the places we'd like to have spent more time. 

The Scout is to be credited with picking a hotel that put us in a perfect location, footsteps from Piazzas Neptune and Maggiore.  A hotel that was not only luxurious but also one with a bit of the remains of a Roman road running through its lower level.  Breakfast was served in a dining room at that level and gave us a chance to view a bit of Roman history up-close and personal.

Remains of a Roman road in the basement of the hotel

Breakfast was included in the room rate - which is often the case in European hotels. This was a feast served in an elegant dining room. So much food that we didn't need to eat lunch.

What a treat to drink coffee from a china cup at breakfast

Note I said, didn't need to eat lunch but sometimes in this foodie town, one couldn't resist eating lunch. Even the tuna sandwich stacked with thick slides of cheese, tomatoes and lettuce, from a sidewalk cafe was a gourmet feast!

Stacked tuna sandwich - couldn't be beat

I was researching a magazine article about Bologna with a food focus, so we quite often found ourselves in delightful markets that offered some of the most tempting selections. 

So many taste temptations in the Quadrilatero market area

And we sampled local wine, Sangiovese, and red blends from the Emilia-Romagna region. My favorite was a Pignoletto, a white wine from the area that came with just the slightest bit of bubbles. 

The Scout sips wine in the Quadrilatero 

The city, although considered the nation's culinary capital, is equally famous for its Medieval towers and porticos, the latter just recently nominated for UNESCO Heritage status. We love those ancient towers (after all, we live in The Mani region of Greece, also known for its towers.) In Bologna more than 100 towers once made up the cityscape; now just two dozen are left.

UNESCO nominated porticos lace the old town

One can't miss the town's two most famous, the Due Torre (Two Towers). The tallest, Asinelle at 97.2 meters, is open to the public and a climb of just under 500 steps gets you to the top. We passed on that. The shorter, Garisenda, is under renovation and is closed. 

Bologna's Due Torre

We were so enjoying Bologna that we considered extending our stay and skipping Verona, but then we'd never been to Verona, so we packed our bags and headed to the train station for what turned out to be a great introduction to a city we hope to return to one day. It will be the topic of the next post.

Before signing off, I must tell you that two of the smallest things made for the biggest culinary memory of Bologna. One evening I was looking for 'just a little sweet' as I told the waiter. He didn't hesitate and within minutes of my request we were presented with these two white chocolate topped strawberries each sitting on a tiny chocolate chip cookie.  

As always, our thanks as always for the time you spent with us today. Safe travels to you and yours!

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