Greece...
countless miles of coastline, sandy beaches, sipping frappe iced coffees, music filled tavernas, sun bleached white houses accented with blue trimming, ancient ruins nestled in the slopes of mountains.

Greece -
coated with 4 inches of ice, buses, airplanes, highways frozen dead still. Lines of cars snaking for hours along twisting mountain passes, throngs of passengers sleeping in the airport - carrying plastic chairs from one unbudging line to the next, frustrated tourists screaming helplessly at unhelpful airline personnel, tourists and locals alike waiting interminably for an available taxi cab, stores, restaurants, markets and ancient ruins closed as the wind whips through athens and the temperature drops to -7.


okay, so Greece in February (at least this February) may not be exactly what
my mother and I had pictured. Ive been heading here from Israel since 19 months ago when I abandoned a plane ticket I had and stayed on in Jerusalem. My mother has been dreaming of the Greek islands for 40 years. So in spite of the few challenges, we're determined to enjoy our time here. And, in fact, for the first two days, everything was going perfectly....


I arrived here early Friday morning and met up with my mother after her flight landed. We took the hour long trip to Athens accompanied by an incredible generous man from Canada. Born in Athens, he was returning to visit family here. Although my mom seemed slightly put off by his toothless grin, I was impressed by his genuine concern for our well-being. He purchased our subway tickets, escorted us to the door of our hotel and offered to meet up with us after a nap to show us around town. Exhausted, and slightly sketched out, we declined. I couldn't help feeling like we were missing the opportunity for a great adventure! He told us that he wanted to return the favor for the many people who had helped him throughout life on his many travels. I hope to do the same too...

We woke up and headed to the National Archaeological Museum. There, I was more impressed than I anticipated... the bounties from various graves filled rooms. We saw terracotta, gold jewelry, funeral masks, and larger-than life statues whose remarkable state of preservation belied there 2500 year age.
The weather (ha!) was warm and we didn't need jackets. We wandered through the streets of the trendy Plaka neighborhood and ate at a delicious restaurant, filled with locals, that was recommended to us by a man at a natural foods store.

The next day, sort of refreshed, we headed to the Acropolis. It was spectacular enough to impress me in spite of the howling wind and near-zero temperatures. We bonded with fellow tourists as we tried to take pictures without losing our cameras in the wind. The Acropolis is high over the city and has been closed since our visit, so we were extremely lucky to visit!

That evening, we headed to Delphi - a stunning mountain village about 2 and a half hours north of Athens. The town looks like a ski hamlet in the Alps. but is nestled in Mount Parnassus. The remote location makes it hard to imagine that people have been trekking to the site for thousands of years. From the main street in town, you could look west toward a bay far far below. Snow capped peaks and windy roads stretched off endlessly all around us.

The bus let us off on the side of the road, and we searched a bit before locating someone to ask for directions. We dragged our suitcases up the steep main streets and knocked on the door of our pension. Clearly the only guests, the inn had 4 small tables set for breakfast and a tray of cookies set out in the foyer. Our room was beautiful with a balcony overlooking the entire scenic surroundings. Bundled up in all of our clothing, we braced the wind to head to a local tavern for dinner. It was delicious! And my mom remarked at how perfect the trip was going.
The next morning, we woke up early, excited for a day spent exploring Delphi - the ancient and new. The grandfather of the family greeted us with coffee in the lobby and called for the innkeeper to make us eggs. He smiled and said "frio!" and "Au Revoir" and smoked cigarette after cigarette.

At breakfast, the innkeeper strongly advised us to take the 1:30 PM bus out of town. She knew what we didn't. As we flipped through the channels in our hotel room, we saw reporters standing in the snow babbling about the poor conditions and unusual blizzard. What they were also saying was that the worst was yet to come.

We hiked about a kilometer down the mountain road toward ancient Delphi, stopping every few feet to snap pictures of the magical landscape. We came across a spring, glimpsed the ancient temples and amphitheaters and finally arrived at the entrance to consult the oracle who told us flatly (in a taped up sign across her front) "CLOSED DUE TO WEATHER CONDITIONS!"

Ahh! The wisdom of the Delphic oracle... foe millenia she has so truthfully laid the fates flat our before the helpless travelers. More sensibly then Oedipus, but with no less obstinance, we hung our heads and trekked back to town (after a quick visit to the museum.)

Back in town, we caught the 1:30 bus and I ran all around town to find us a quick spinach pie for lunch! Thank god I succeeded, because 7 hours later, we were still on that bus.
Crammed between amorous (and I mean endlessly, shamelessly affectionate!) ski-vacationing teens, we found only one who spoke English and several others who told us quite blatantly that "NO!" they did not speak English, French or Spanish.
As I awoke from a nap, I saw we were stuck, immobile, in the midst of an unplowed highway. Cars on every side of us were stopped as their drivers tied chains to the tires. The passengers poured out of the bus for an obligatory cigarette, or to urinate alongside the cars. 40 kilometers from Athens, we clearly had a long way to go. Mom and I remained cheerful, grateful that "at least we made it back to Athens and won't miss our flight to Santorini."
ha ha ha
the oracle knew.

When we arrived, at last, at the Athens bus station, we dragged our suitcase to the bus stop. 30 minutes later, okay, maybe only 20 - we were informed (as the wind and giant chunks of snow swirled around us) that the buses were not running. Euro-less, we ran back to the bus station to get cash and then set out to flag down a cab. There were lines of desperate travelers hoping for cabs, but we got lucky... one cab driver pulled over in spite of being taken and let us climb aboard alongside two other passengers.
We were sure he would rip us off, and when he told us the price (4 euros) I was sure he meant 40! Mom was like, "I could just kiss our cab driver! I love him!" He was, in fact, along with three of the hotel staff - among the only helpful and friendly Greek people we have come across - who didn't seem to hateful on Americans.

This morning (was that really today?) we woke up at 3 to catch a cab for the airport. The giant snowflakes continued to fall steadily but the airport insisted our flight was on. The concierge prepared us coffee and breakfast and the cabbie put chains. We were off for a rolling cruise at 20 kilometers an hour to the airport.

We needn't have rushed. Although our flight was the last one to be canceled, it too eventually joined the red list. The one flight that managed to get out was to Paris, and I begged them to take us aboard. They were willing - for the mere price of 550 euro!

We waited for a few hours to meet with one of the exhausted and frustrated looking Olympic Airways representatives. They seemed to be engaging in endless arguments,. sending away passengers looking dejected and helpless. Around us were travelers who had been stranded for 12 and 24 hours...

When we arrived at the front, we were lucky enough to get a woman who had just arrived to relieve some of the stranded Olympic Airway personnel! She seemed to be a VIP manager type and was able to switch us to a much later Santorini flight. So.... in the end, we've got a whole extra day in Greece.
We repacked our bags to put them in storage, only to find that the storage facility was overflowing... so we seriously schlepped back to Athens and back to our hotel where a free glass of wine and an upgraded room greeted us like a cup of warm hot chocolate after a day skiing.

We tried to explore the city, but managed only to skate across the ice-covered sidewalks. As we skied down the avenues to the flea market, we found every store closed. We grabbed some delicious souvlaki and mousaka for lunch at a bustling taverna, and headed back for a nap.
Tomorrow.... perhaps.... Santorini.