Scaling the Great Firewall of China

We have been in China for over a week now, and have made our way to Dali - a high-altitude, cool, touristy retreat in Southwest China. I think we're somewhere in the foothills of the Himalayas, along the route to Tibet, which is still, I think, a few overnight bus rides away. No, we're not going - we've just got time (and energy) enough to relax for about a week before setting off for Guilin, where I'll attend my teacher orientation and then get shipped out into the hinterlands for my teaching assignment. I also promised Matthias that we wouldn't take any more long bus rides "just to see another Chinese town." He has a point - traveling is not all that comfortable here, and we are lugging a lot of stuff along with us (winter clothes, gifts, etc.) Following is an account of our travels after we learned that we couldn't get a boat from Northern Thailand to China. It's not that the boat doesn't operate anymore, the agent told us that there were just no boats through the end of July - not enough people, she said. And we had to leave Thailand by the end of July or renew our visa.

Matthias on the bus to Chiang Khong

So...from Chiang Rai in Thailand we got the local bus to Chiang Khong (about two hours) and found a place to stay for the night. That was a mistake, actually, since after we booked the room, we found out there was a bus to Meng-la, China leaving early the next morning from Huay Xai, Laos. Huay Xai was just across the river from where we were, but we would have to spend the night there in order to make the bus early the next morning. So, since the bus runs only every other day, making the next available bus two days later, we decided to stay in Chiang Khong an extra night, make our way over to Laos for another night, and then get the bus to China. I don't recommend spending much time in either Chiang Khong or Huay Xai, especially in high summer, as there's not all that much to do. We were able to rent bikes one day in Chiang Khong and took a nice ride along the Mekong, before the intense afternoon heat set in.

Catfish beach on the Mekong

We booked the bus (including 'taxi' to the ferry, ferry to Laos, and transportation to the bus station in Huay Xai) through an agent in Chiang Khong - probably overpaying, but we wanted everything taken care of as the heat was starting to take its toll on our moods. Anyway, we had lots of time, and we ended up paying about half of what the boat up the Mekong would have cost.

Matthias on the bus to China

The bus to Mengla (ordinary, non-air-con bus) left the Huay Xai bus station at 8:30 in the morning, stopped in Luang Namtha for lunch at around noon, and arrived in Meng-la at around 4pm (China time - 1 hour ahead of Laos time.) We had enough time to catch a bus on to Jinghong, where we wanted to spend a few days, but decided to stay in Meng-la overnight. The hotel right at the bus station was quite nice (save for the squat toilet - though it was clean, and part of an otherwise very nice bathroom) and cheap, so we got a room and went out to get some dinner. After what seemed like quite a search, we ended up at a noodle shop right near the hotel, where the hand-pulled noodle soup thrilled Matthias. And when Matthias is happy....

The next morning we got the bus to Jinghong, a town on the Mekong River (we were supposed to get the boat here). The bus ride was smooth, but by the time we walked to the College Hotel (recommended in Lonely Planet), we were dripping with sweat. And the a/c in the room wasn't all that powerful. Actually, we were quite disappointed with the room (I was, until I found the DSL Internet cable.) Jinghong was probably a good (re-) introduction to China, but it was a bit too hot and humid in the afternoons to really enjoy roaming around. So, on our second day, we decided to spend another two nights and then head on to Kunming. After we bought our bus tickets (two days in advance, we happened upon a hotel right next to the bus station - we checked it out and found it to be nice, so we decided to spend the night before we left there, so as to be closer to the bus station. When we checked in the next day, they gave us a two-room suite for 60 RMB (about 10 bucks), with butt-kicking A/C, cable TV (one english channel), water heater, tea, etc. - all but internet.) Had we known it would be so nice, we actually would have hung around a few more days, just to eat more of the delicious noodle soups! For anyone looking for a place to stay in Jinghong, China, it's called the Traffic Hotel, just to the right as you exit the long-distance bus station.

Best noodle soup so far - in Jinghong

We took an early bus to Kunming - it was actually a sleeper bus with beds - as opposed to an overnight bus because, as Matthias rightly pointed out: (1) we can see more during the day, (2) we never get a good night's sleep on a bus, and (3) we don't save that much money by not getting a hotel. The bus was comfortable, but without bathrooms. I haven't found a blog about China yet that hasn't complained about the horrid conditions of public toilets in China, so I won't go into that now. The bus took about 3 hours longer than we expected, and we arrived in Kunming as it was getting dark. Luckily, we happened upon a decent hotel not far from the bus and train station (I'll see if I can find the name.) Very little English spoken, but pointing to the phrases in our Lonely Planet book, along with our handy picture book did the trick at check in.

Sleeper bus to Kunming

Kunming was, as advertised, much cooler than Jinghong, but as a city of 1 million, it wasn't as laid back" as I had hoped. We spent a few days walking around town - looking at stores, parks and markets - and of course trying all the food. I had the best dumplings yet from a food court stall we happened by. Can't wait to have them again when we go back (on the way to Guilin.)

Central Kunming

After a few days of exploring the city, we got the bus to Dali, and we have finally found a place to chill out for a while. It's really touristy here - the "old town" seems to have been torn down and rebuilt to cater to visitors - and the streets are teeming with (mainly Chinese) tourists. That's okay, we'll get enough of the 'real China' once we're living here.

Street in Dali

For now, we'll enjoy our super-comfy, wifi- and BBC-equipped hotel and the quiet and cool surroundings. I even figured out how to access facebook and Picassa (at least for now) so there are new photos which can be accessed by clicking the following links:

July 2009 album (new photos added at the end)

August 2009 album (new)

That's all for now. Better post this while I still can.

No Boat to China

This is my first post-via-email (thanks, Stu, for setting it up for me) since I can't access the blog from China.  Yes, we're here in China - not the way we planned it, as we learned that the boat up the Mekong River wasn't running (at least that's what we were told.)  So, we took the alternative route by taking the bus and ferry to Laos and the bus to China.  I'll write more about that in the next post.  Right now, I just want to make sure that the email-to-blog thing works.  For now, we are in Jinghong, China, heading to Kunming (where it is supposed to be much cooler - yay!) tomorrow.  I'll write more from our next Internet-equipped accommodation. 

Shoo-Fly Pai

It's our last day in Pai before heading farther north toward China. We spent a week in this little "backpacker village", which has somewhat of a dual reputation. Many people say (or write on the internet) that Pai is just too touristy, full of backpackers, and not genuinely Thai anymore. Others say that it's their favorite place on earth. And I can understand both perspectives.

View from the top of Pai Canyon

Fortunately, it's not the high tourist season. That's not to say that there aren't a lot of tourists (yes, mostly young backpackers) here. There are tons of hotels and restaurants, along with travel agents touting local tours, elephant rides, and motorbike rentals. There are also lots of places offering cooking courses, which is how Matthias found someone to provide additional food and soap carving lessons. So, after one day of exploring the area on bikes together, Matthias started another round of carving lessons.

Matthias learning to carve soap

While Matthias was hard at work learning the art of soap carving, I rented a bike and explored this laid-back, beautiful area. One day, I tried to ride out to a waterfall, but the continuous (though gentle) incline and the old-fashioned one-gear bike, along with the blazing sun and humidity forced me to quit before I made it all the way up there. A couple of days later I rode out past the elephant camps, which was a nicer ride.

Elephant hanging out outside of Pai

The time Matthias spent taking lessons, or practicing on pumpkins in our hotel room, also gave me plenty of time to try to come up with a good "Pai pun" for the blog. All the good ones were already taken, of course - the I-Pod music download store here is called "Apple Pai", there are guesthouses called "Pai in the Sky" and "Pai-radise", and someone already named their blog "a slice of Pai..." So, after days of mulling it over, I thought I'd name the blog after the people in the market who wave plastic bags to keep the flies off of the food they are trying to sell. I'm sure I'll come up with something better after I post this.

Vendors "shooing" the flies away from the food

Now Matthias is practicing his art and I'm going to pack up as we're leaving early tomorrow morning. The journey takes us over the mountains back to Chiang Mai (about 3 hours) before we catch another bus up to Chiang Rai in the north. That's where we'll celebrate MATTHIAS' 40TH BIRTHDAY on Sunday.

I added more pictures of Pai to our Picasa gallery (link on the top left of this page) or here.

Spicy and Sweet

Greetings from Thailand. I can't believe we've been here almost two weeks already. On 28 June, we embarked from Berlin, stopped over for 8 hours in Helsinki - where we caught closing time at the fish harbor market and scored a plateful of delicious fish - and then got the overnight flight to Bangkok. We stayed two nights in Bangkok to relax and recuperate from the flight, and then took an overnight train north to Chiang Mai.

Part of our reason for coming to Thailand before showing up for work in China (other than great eats, of course) was so that Matthias could try out fruit and vegetable carving. He had seen ads for lessons last time we were in Chiang Mai (about two years ago) so we thought we'd check it out. We went to one of the many cooking schools here and were able to book private lessons. The teacher, Aor, was great. Not only is she a skilled carver, she is an English teacher at the University here, so her English and her teaching skills were excellent.

They started by making a lotus flower out of a small tomato, then moved on to pumpkin butterflies. Not too difficult (for Matthias) so far. Next was a pumpkin rose...a bit more difficult. But Matthias did well, and really enjoyed the class. That is, until he came home and tried to do it again!

Matthias completed four two-hour sessions, during which he made various flowers out of pumpkin and two pretty amazing watermelon carvings. The next challenge (should he choose to accept it) is to practice without teacher's guidance. They both made it look easy, but it most certainly is not!

In between lessons and practicing (I was the official photographer) we did a lot of walking around Chiang Mai, visiting temples (Wats) shopping malls (to escape the heat and humidity) and markets. The weather is indeed hot and humid, with rain showers almost every afternoon. Fortunately, markets and food stalls are prepared with canopies and umbrellas, so the rain hasn't 'dampened' our enjoyment of local food - noodle soups, curries, and spicy salads. My new favorite is a local dish called Kao Soi - chicken curry with egg noodles - YUM!

Tomorrow we're off to our next destination - the mountain village of Pai. We're ready to leave Chiang Mai, but not so keen to vacate our comfy hotel room, complete with A/C, cable TV and unlimited internet access. Not sure what we'll find in Pai, which is supposed to be a more laid-back backpacker/nature-lover's retreat (I sure hope there are some A/C and cable TV lovers there as well!)

Link to trip photos on left and here.

Out of the fridge and into the fire

Just a quick note to let everyone know we're leaving Germany today for Thailand (out of the cold rain and into the hot monsoons!) I'll update when I've got new stories or photos to share.

Wilkommen in Deutschland!

Why is it that when I have little to do, I get so little done? I've no excuse for not updating the blog, as I've had practically unfettered internet access for the past month and not a whole lot to do. Anyway, better late than never, I guess.

Let's see...if I can remember where I left off more than a month ago...

We rode out of Austria through Bavaria, continuing along the Via Claudia Augusta bike trail, and freezing our butts off, particularly at night and in the morning at the campsites. Because it was so cold, our bikes had seen better days, and we were lugging stuff from Crete that we really didn't need on a bike ride (including this laptop computer), we decided to take the train to Matthias' parents' house once we reached the end of the trail in Donauwörth. Then, since we were so early in Germany with time to kill (we were expecting visitors in June), we decided to get the bikes fixed and go out on the road again for 10 days.

We took the train to Dresden on the 1st of May, a big holiday in Germany, with our bikes and "bob, the bike trailer" with our air mattresses, chairs and various other amenities. We spent a couple of days in Dresden (nice campsite - close to town) and enjoyed gorgeous weather, street fairs and beer gardens on the River Elbe. Our (loose) plans were to ride into the nearby parklands, perhaps into the Czech Republic, and back along the Elbe to Gommern. The weather took a turn for the worse, and once we reached the Sächische Schweiz (or the "Switzerland of Saxony" I think) we ended up morphing our excursion into more of a hiking than biking trip. We took short (but hilly!) rides from campsite to campsite, and spent a couple of days hiking around each area. The scenery there was simply gorgeous - huge sandstone formations jutting out from lush valleys. And, except for one day, the rain tended to hold back until nighttime.

We came back to Gommern on the 11th of May, went to various doctor appointments, firmed up plans for our trip to Asia, and secured an apartment in Berlin so we would have someplace to stay for cousins' Harry and Charlene's visit, while we secured our visas for Asia, and followed up on my German citizenship application. But first we had a quiet few days in the Harz, where we had a nice visit with Matthias' cousin Katja.

And, speaking of my German citizenship application....as we boarded the trail to Berlin, my mobile phone rang - it was the lady from the goverment office that processed my paperwork saying that we could pick up my new Staatsangehörigkeit (my new favorite German word!) We picked it up the next day and immediately applied for my passport, which I received last week. I am now a dual citizen. And strangely enough, my German citizenship has nothing to do with the fact that I married a German; rather, I got it (and was able to keep my US Passport) because my ancestors had to leave Germany because of the Nazis. Now we can leave the country and not worry about keeping my residency, and (at least in theory) I can now work throughout the EU and not just in Germany. Anyone know of any jobs in Andalucia? Oh, never mind, I just saw a report that unemployment in Spain is at 18%!

So, we're now in Berlin, awaiting our visitors and looking forward to seeing my CELTA (EFL) classmates again. Then, we're leaving for Thailand on the 27th of June, where we will travel around the Northern region (Matthias plans to learn fruit carving there) and then head into south China where I will attend an orientation for my English teaching gig. Not exactly sure where in China we will end up, but I requested one of two towns: one in Shaanxi not far from Xi'an, or another in Sichuan province about five hours from Chengdu. I won't know for sure until we get there. Either way, we're both pretty excited!

Breaking Away

Yet another dream come true as we’ve been cycling through Italy for about a week. It’s even more of a “biking culture” than I expected, and I had to swallow my urge to say “ciao bella!” to every bike rider who passed by – like the guy in that 70’s movie Breaking Away. Yes, I dreamed I saw Team Cinzano in every group we passed – apologies to anyone who doesn’t get that movie reference. But the good news is that the bike routes are great, and (contrary to what I expected), the Italians (at least the Northern Italians) seem to be very careful and courteous drivers. We had a bit of trouble finding our way as we left the campsite in Venice – and for the whole first day for that matter – but got on the right track after a while. We passed Treviso without going into the old town for a peek (too stressed and tired) and spent the night in a nice little hotel (no campsites in the area) in a small town. The next day, the ride was much more straightforward, and more beautiful, although the route did follow a fairly busy road. We stopped in Feltre- a beautiful old city - and looked for a place to stay, but finding nothing that lived up to my standards (and limited budget) we carried on to Fonsazo, which was a smaller, cuter town, with a decently priced (50 Euro) and charming hotel.

The next day, the ride got immeasurably more beautiful and peaceful. We rode along bike paths and quite country roads, through narrow valleys and along a rushing river (the River Sugana Valley). Hopefully, the pictures – YES, THERE IS A LINK TO THE LEFT! – will do it justice. We were exhilarated and exhausted as we arrived in Lago Caldonazzo and found our campsite. I’d like to say that I was so tired that I didn’t notice that it was SO COLD AT NIGHT, and particularly in the morning. But obviously we survived.

The next day we set off for Trento, and my map was less clear about how to get there. Apparently, a new bike route is planned, but in the meantime, there is a hilly, not-so-clear route from Pergine to Trento. But at least it was much hillier (uphill, that is) going the other way, although it nearly did us in. We found our “campsite” outside of Trento, which turned out to be a one-star hotel that had a back yard…right up against the train tracks. At least there weren’t too many trains during the night, and we did have our privacy, if we lacked hot water. And, the Albergo (hotel) had a nice little bar where we had a couple of glasses of red wine. Nice.

For a complete change, we rode along a flat bike path that followed a river to Bozen (Bolzano) in South Tirol – the German-speaking part of Northern Italy. We found our campsite and WOW, what a difference. They actually have four-star campsites – with soft music playing in the sparkling clean bathrooms! And you pay….20 Euros for the two of us. And somehow, the ground is just as hard as it was in the last campsite. Anyway, we stayed there, in Bozen, for two days while we decided whether to ride our bikes up over the alps or take the train (this was the last junction) over the two mountain passes. Given the state of our bikes (my brakes, Matthias’ gears) and the load we were carrying, we decided to take the train. First, though, we took a side trip to Meran (Merano), a lovely spa town where we got new brakes and gear adjustments

Which brings us to today, when we took a series of trains to Austria, over the Brenner pass, through Innsbruck (and part of Germany) to a small Alpine town called Bichlbach (in Austria) where we found a great room for 30 Euros. And I mean a GREAT room – I’ve been looking at the Alps through my window all evening. Also, I recommend the train ride for anyone who’d like to see the area without driving – it’s absolutely spectacular! So anyway, we’re at about 900 meters high, and although the rest of the ride is technically “downhill”, we’ve still got some climbing to do to get out of here.

Again, I hope the pictures do the ride justice. There is a link to the left. Ciao!

Due Vino Rossi

Woo hoo – our ferry docked in Venice and we realized we were nuts not to stop here. Luckily, we found a campsite outside of town (27 Euro per night!! and I mean that’s expensive for a tent!) with a good bus connection into town. I’m writing this now from a bridge over one of the many canals here. It’s quite a magical town.

Our ferry arrived at 9AM this morning (our sleeping area was dry and fairly comfortable) and after trying to get some tourist information etc, we rode out of town and found a campsite on our own. Then, we took the bus back into Venice and started to enjoy the beautiful day. Decided to splurge on lunch and had good seafood near the seafood market (near the Rialto Bridge, for those in the know.) I had some nice squid in ink with polenta and Matthias had the ‘menu’ of seafood. It was good. Then we took the obligatory walk over the Rialto Bridge to San Marco Square – all flooded with tourists. We continued on over the bridge to Acadamia and through the less-crowded streets toward the bus station. (Stu, Ed and Cathy – I’m thinking of you and remembering our last time here!!!) So….as it was nearing cocktail hour, we decided to stop somewhere for a glass of wine. We found a nice bar, drank our glasses and held our breath for the check….it was…2 Euros (total!) Of course, as we left, I took a picture of the place in case we’re ever here again!

Just finished eating again – a couple of pizza slices, which were quite good. Now we’ve got to get the bus back to the campsite. We’ll start riding tomorrow toward the Alps. Great pictures to come soon!

On the Road Again

Yes, I now have something to write about that might be of interest to those other than relatives and my good friend Mark S. (thanks for reading!) We left Pitsidia on Wednesday, 08 April and got a much-appreciated ride over the mountain to Heraklion from our good friends Hans and Isabella. It wasn’t just that I was being lazy (though I am prone), but the road that goes over the 620 Meter high pass is narrow, curvy, and busy with buses and trucks. Anyway, we arrived safely in Heraklion and took the ferry that night to Pireaus (Athens) where we boarded a train for Corinth – once again, I wasn’t up to the challenge of riding around busy Athens.

And yes, we did eventually start riding, from Corinth to Patras, where we caught the ferry (which we are aboard right now) to Venice. After spending the night in a campsite outside Corinth, we set off along the north coast of the Peloponnese peninsula. We cycled about 60 km the first day to a campsite at Akara Beach. The scenery was lovely – we rode along the sea (or was it a bay?) with a view of the mainland and snow-capped mountains all around. And, despite the forecasts, the weather (during the day) was quite good. On the second day, we rode only about 40 km to a campsite we knew was between Akara Beach and Patras, where we would catch the ferry the next day. The site was gorgeous, but not quite “open” and ready for the season. So, as I lay in the tent listening to the waves, praying for dry weather, and trying to keep warm – I nearly enjoyed myself. When we woke up in the morning, to a bit of sunshine, I started to feel better. The secret is to keep reminding myself….I’m riding my bike through GREECE! AND I’M GOING TO BE IN ITALY IN COUPLE OF DAYS. What could I possibly have to complain about?! Well, I always find something.

The next day’s ride to Patras (only 30 km) was pretty easy, thanks to a strong tailwind. Our ferry to Venice didn’t leave until midnight so we had plenty of time eat, find an internet café, and get on each other’s nerves. The ferry, we thought, was a bargain. Only 49 Euros each for the two-night journey to Venice. Sure, we have to sleep on the floor, but we do that in the tent anyway. But then, after we awoke from a nice toasty-warm night’s sleep, we were flooded out of our sleeping area (Matthias noticed it nearly on time – his sleeping bag only got a little wet.) So, after three nights of worrying about keeping dry in our tent, we ended up with wet stuff from the ferry. Oh well…as they say (quite often) in Greece….Teenakanama (what can you do.) And I’m still in denial that our plan involves riding our bikes OVER THE ALPS to Germany. I’m just holding on to the excitement of riding through northern Italy – the rest will take care of itself (I hope.) Life is good.

Adio....Timbaki, Souvlaki, and Raki

Okay - I said goodbye to Raki a few months ago (couldn't take the hangover.) But I'll sure miss the Souvlaki we have each week at the Timbaki market (photo.) It's with bittersweet feelings that we're leaving Pitsidia in a few days. We've met some wonderful friends here - we'll miss them but look forward to seeing them again - and we feel like we've become part of the community. Yesterday, I guy I hardly know (but helped move) said to me "I heard you're leaving Monday." Matthias said: "no, on Wednesday" but all I could think of was this that guy heard something about ME??! Cool!

The weather is getting warmer and more people are starting to fill the village. Actually, another room in our "apartment building" (actually, an efficiency in a building with about eight guest rooms) is currently occupied. I guess we were quite spoiled having the whole place to ourselves all winter, I think now each time I hear the upstairs toilet flush.

We've taken a stab at packing the bike bags today, and wondering how our 3-year-old bikes with umpteen KMs behind them are going to manage. Not to mention the 40 (or so) year olds riding them! But a new adventure awaits.

(no, I didn't dye my hair blonde - that's Matthias and Izabelle in our favorite Pitsidia pub.)

Almost Springtime in Crete

It’s really hard to find the motivation to keep the blog, particularly since we haven’t been moving around as much, and there’s not all that much to write about. Still, I have recently learned that there are actually people out there who read this – and I might want to someday – so I’m going to try my best to keep it up to date.

We are back in Crete now after a whirlwind visit to the U.S. We went to Florida to visit my parents and pay our taxes. We also drove my parents’ van back up north, which turned out to be really nice. We took secondary roads, avoiding the highway for most of the trip, taking a longer route through Georgia, S. Carolina, N. Carolina, Virginia and Pennsylvania. We passed lots of small villages (some depressingly empty) and nice scenery, which we could imagine would have been much lovelier in spring or fall – particularly the routes through Georgia and Virginia. We stopped to visit family (Lou, Laurene and Josh) in Maryland, and Jennifer and Brenda in D.C. – that was great. But, unfortunately, it didn’t leave us enough time in NY to call on old friends. But we did get to see family (Sue, Dexter, Harry and Charlene) as well as some friends (Stu, Harold, Andrew, Matt and Dean) in NYC. Basically, we got to see everyone who came to visit us over the past year. Next time we’ll plan the trip better.

Did I just write two full paragraphs without mentioning food? Well, we sure got our fill of good ole’ American food – steaks, ribs, burgers, diner food, etc. We were a bit disappointed, however, during our drive from Florida to NY because the only restaurants we could seem to find were chains. And, although we were looking forward to some authentic BBQ in Georgia, we couldn’t even manage to get a beer there (it was Sunday!) We more than made up for it, though, during our two weeks in Florida.

Though it was sad to say goodbye to friends and family, it’s great to be back in Pitsidia. I’m sure I mentioned that it’s a small town with lots of expats (mostly German and British) and that everyone seems to know everyone. When we got back, everyone welcomed us, even people I’ve never spoke to before seemed to know that we were gone. Our involvement in the community also keeps growing. Since our return, I’ve been to a friend’s apartment for dinner, another for tea, and we joined in an effort to help people move into new apartments. And, one night at the pub, I lost spectacularly at Yatzee. Fortunately, there was no money involved.
Now I’m sad to be leaving here in just about two weeks. People say that the place grows on you, and that people always come back. I suppose we will someday.

But I’m excited about the next stage of our travels. We are going to ride our bikes (as much as we can) back to Germany, taking the ferry from Patras, Greece, to Venice and following the Via Claudia Augusta bicycle route over the Alps. Of course, it might be too cold (or steep!) in late April for parts of the journey, but there seems to be good train connections most of the way, and I’m not too proud to hop on when I need to! Once back in Germany (probably the middle of May) we’ll make use of our health insurance by getting check-ups and make plans to go back to Asia. We’re thinking of going to China for 6 months to one year – Matthias wants to learn some Chinese cooking techniques and I hope to be able to teach English there. But enough about that for now – anyone who knows us knows that our plans change about as much as Matthias changes sweaters (although Matthias hasn’t stopped wearing this particular sweater for about six months, so maybe that means we’re becoming more decisive!)

A day for the blog

Matthias said there’d be days like these. But it didn’t seem so on Friday morning, when we were eager to ride our bikes to the market in Timbaki – about 12 km away – to buy vegetables for the week, and sit in the square and eat Souvlaki. Unfortunately, it looked like rain that morning, so we said: “let’s see what it looks like by 10AM” (when we wanted to leave.) Like clockwork, at 10AM, it started to rain and we decided not to go.

On Saturdays, they have a market day in Mires (pronounced: Mir-ez) – also about 12km away. We were concerned on Friday (well, Matthias was concerned) that if it also rained on Saturday, we wouldn’t have a chance to get cheap salad stuff for the week. Fortunately, the weather on Saturday turned out better than we could have imagined – the ride to Mires was brilliant, and after we bought our groceries, we enjoyed our souvlaki in the glorious sunshine. THIS, I thought, is why we came to Crete! It was so nice that I suggested we stop in a village we always pass through on the way back and sit on the Platia (town square, or plaza) for a drink. Matthias was up for it, and chose a little “kafenion” with a table outside. The owner was thrilled to see Matthias and speak German with him, as he had spent 20 years living and working in Germany. He took us to his orchard and gave us a huge bag of oranges and then back to the café where he poured us some of his homemade raki (distilled Greek wine.) We then rode home where we grilled some Greek sausages (okay, they weren’t so great) and vegetables in olive oil, and Matthias made calamari in garlic. As the sun started to go down we went to the restaurant owned by our landlord for a beer - but really just to sit by the fireplace (and sip the beer SLOWLY). Some people we know were there (drama – to be shared later, perhaps) and we sat with them for a while before going down to the pub. That was a treat for me, as “California Jimmy” was there and we were able to chat about American Football (go Cards? Ravens? What do I know?? They could have been knocked out by now…)

It was a great day – one that I should remind myself of whenever I start to complain about…well….anything. We had great weather the following day as well, when we took a hike over to Red Beach. And now we’re back into our weekday healthy-eating-and-no-alcohol routine (okay, I get to have one vodka with olives in the afternoon.)

And when I upload this to the Internet tomorrow, I’ll read all about Obama’s inauguration!

latest photos are here: PHOTOS

I need to update the blog but I don’t feel like it.

That’s what I just said to Matthias. Sure, there’s a lot I can write about, but I’d rather play a game on the computer, watch a movie, or read my book. Also, I can’t remember what I’ve already written, and since I don’t have access to the Internet right now, I might be repeating myself. But here goes anyway…

We had a really nice xmas dinner here in Pitsidia at the local pub, which is run by Hans (from Bavaria) and Isabelle (from Poland.) So the food was traditional Northern European – duck, cabbage, potato salad and dumplings, etc. , and it was delicious. And of course the beer was flowing, as was the Raki (to add the required Greek flair to the party.) We also spent a relatively quiet New Year’s Eve at the Pub – less food but equal amounts of spirit.

But then the holidays didn’t end there. On New Year’s Day we went to a traditional gathering in the little town square, or platia (it’s triangle-shaped, actually) where the Greek version of Santa Claus (I just learned that’s an American name – developed by Coca-cola, I was told) delivered gifts to all the children. There was also a big cake – everyone got a piece and more – and somewhere hidden inside was a token for a prize. The cake was tasty, but I didn’t win the prize (or I just ate it.) There was also some music and dancing. It was fun.

The next day (my birthday) we took a bus to Iraklion – the nearest “big city” about an hour away. Unfortunately (as often happens on the 2nd of January) most restaurants and shops were closed, so I didn’t get to do my birthday eating and shopping until the next day (fortunately, I thought ahead – we stayed overnight in Iraklion.) Every Saturday, as the 3rd of January happened to be, there is a big market in Iraklion – fruits, veggies, clothes, you name it, and Souvlaki! We had fun there before getting the bus back to Pitsidia in the afternoon. Actually, the bus ride is nice in itself – the bus winds its way over the snow-covered mountains. By the way, thanks to all for the birthday greetings – it was fun to go to an internet café and get 15 birthday emails in my inbox, not to mention the Facebook postings!

Now things are back to “normal”. We’ve had a few days of nice weather and have been biking and hiking around. Hopefully, I’ll be able to include some photos here as well as on the Picasa site (link will be included here or to the left – whichever I have time for.) So, that’s all for now. Happy New Year to all!