The Greeks and the Turks

I arrived in Athens from London on June 25, anxiously hoping that somehow Ben had been able to make it out of Kuwait and into Europe a day earlier than expected. I was disappointed to see no familiar faces in the arrival area, but even more concerned when my taxi drove through some fairly dodgy neighborhoods prior to dropping me at my hotel. Only the breeze on the hotel’s roof deck and the view of the spotlit Acropolis helped to brighten my mood in anticipation of the next day. I could barely sleep out of excitement for seeing Ben.

Mid-day on the 26th, I left the hotel on my way to the Metro and discovered that the dodgy area was actually quite pleasant during the day. I arrived at the airport well-ahead of Ben’s expected landing and attempted to busy myself by pacing the length of the arrivals hall, stopping only to purchase a few cans of beer to celebrate our reunion. After all, Ben hadn’t had a sip of alcohol since November.

What started out as a crowd of 150 Greeks pushing to see their loved ones ultimately ended with only six Bahraini men and me standing huddled behind a steel barrier. It took ages for anyone from Ben’s Gulf Air flight to pass through the customs clearance, and I was convinced that he had missed his connection in Kuwait. Just as I was poring over the arrival screen trying to calculate the time it would take to pass through the customs line, Ben came strolling through the sliding doors, arms in the air as in victory. I couldn’t have been happier, as I ran to him for our first hug since the awful early morning I left him at dawn in a Ft. Jackson parking lot last October.

We spent the 26th and 27th in Athens, enjoying our first tastes of Greece together. Ben adapted amazingly well to civilian life – seemingly unsurprised by the luxuries and the freedom. We ate dinner both evenings at our hotel’s roof-top restaurant that overlooked the city of Athens and the Acropolis, enjoying drinks and champagne along with local fare. On Friday, we ventured out to see the Acropolis up close, stopping for lunch in the quaint Plaka neighborhood and strolling around Syntagma Square. Just being together was a gift, and even the most mundane tasks like booking ferry tickets seemed more fun with him around. All was finally right with the world.



Touring the Acropolis

The Parthenon

Looking out on Athens, with Greek coliseum in foreground

A view of Athens from the Acropolis

I now understand why the flag is blue and white - for the blue of the ocean and the skies, and the white of the buildings on the islands (or at least that's my theory!)

More photos at the Acropolis

Strolling in the Plaka district of Athens

View of the Acropolis from the roof-top restaurant

Athens at sunset

We left Athens on Saturday morning, the 28th, for Santorini. The island was every bit as picturesque as had been described to us by the family and friends that had suggested we stop there for a few days. We had a front row view from our business class ferry seats as we arrived into the port, four hours after leaving Athens. The best part of the ferry trip was hearing more about Ben’s time overseas and finally understanding what some of his day-to-day life is like in Iraq. Despite the extreme differences in our lives over the past six months, it all seemed so natural and normal to be cruising on Hellenic Seaways, hearing about the Middle East and discussing my time abroad.

Santorini has two main towns, Fira and Oia. Again, thanks to the suggestions of friends, we had booked in at a hotel in Oia, at the far side of the island. The accommodations were fine, but what was most impressive about our hotel was its birds-eye view of the caldera, or the volcanic crater that is now filled with water. Hundreds of years ago, Santorini was a circular-shaped island, but after a volcanic eruption, a significant part of the island was submerged by water. From Oia, we had a view of the outer rim of the island, broken by four or five inlets to the sea. After a quick lunch, we spent the rest of the afternoon on our small private balcony that overlooked the caldera, sipping on a bottle of wine and celebrating our good fortune. We were also thrilled to talk with the Markeys, our dear friends who had welcomed little son Brendan into the world the day before. Dinner that night was one of the best we had the entire time in Santorini – on a rooftop balcony, overlooking the caldera and the sunset.

Walking down to our hotel in Santorini

Our favorite spot in Santorini - our balcony, looking out on the caldera

Walking to dinner at sunset in Oia

Sunset in Oia

We quickly fell into a routine in Santorini for our next few days - waking up late, calling for the included breakfast to be delivered to our porch, spending a few hours at the pool, eating a late lunch of our newly-found Greek favorites (tsatziki, saganaki, huge and fresh greek salads, cokes, and beer), and napping until dinner time. We made sure to enjoy the beginning of the sunsets each evening with drinks on our porch, before strolling down the main pedestrian road in Oia to select a restaurant for dinner. Our walk always took us through the small town square, where local kids played a raucous game of soccer each evening. One evening, we ate at the Red Bicycle at the far end of town; one evening was an old ship captain’s house where we had a great view of the sunset; and the best dinner of all was at Ferodini, where we discovered that the Italian food was every bit as tasty as the Greek. Adopting a term from prior wars, Ben claimed he was on “convalescent” leave, and proceeded to make up rules of convalescence that must be followed throughout the vacation. Waking up early was clearly a violation; having another beer or glass of wine was absolutely encouraged.

Vibrant colors in Oia

A dog's life in Greece

The famous blue-domed church at sunset

Oia at sunset

Our daily lunch - Greek salad, saganaki, and tsatziki, with a view of the caldera

Scenes from Greece

On our final day in Santorini, we decided we should venture around the island a bit, so Ben rented a motorcycle. As a former bike owner, I’m confident he selected the biggest one he could find to bypass the scooters otherwise clogging the roads. We set out for Fira, driving along the curving roads until we ended up at the biggest town on the island. After so many peaceful, restful, and quiet days in Oia, we were a bit overwhelmed with the size of the town – the street touts and tourist hawkers were too intrusive for our taste. So we continued further south, driving past vineyards until we reached the lighthouse at the southern tip. Although we certainly weren’t pioneers to the area, it felt like we had a small piece of the island to ourselves for a few minutes.

Stopping in Fira for a view of the caldera

Visiting the southern tip of the island...

...and the lighthouse

Sunset on our last night in Oia

And soaking up some last good reading time on our balcony

After our five days in Santorini, we felt well-rested and quite taken with the island. We left on the morning of the 3rd on a ferry to Mykonos, the other well-known spot in the Cyclades. On the way, the ferry stopped at three other islands for passengers to hop on and hop off. I have to admit that I cringed with every backpacker, as I was so thankful to have exchanged my bag and be on a non-backpacking trip for a bit. I think it will be awhile before I saddle up with my pack again.

Our hotel in Mykonos was outside of town a bit and had only opened a few months prior. We loved everything about it – its serenity, comfort, private deck, pool, breakfast, and view. The hotel was directly across the street from a huge mansion owned by the head of Vodafone, and we strolled past the monstrosity each night on our way from the three local oceanfront tavernas. I kept hoping I would see someone there so I could make friends and be invited inside J Again, our days passed beautifully in Mykonos, with late breakfasts and afternoons at the pool. On the 5th, we again rented a scooter but for the more pressing matter of securing tickets back to the mainland. I must admit we did little exploring, with the exception of walking through the narrow streets of the main town one afternoon. The highlight was eating fresh gyros in a town restaurant before returning to the peace of the hotel pool.

Windmills in Mykonos

Little Venice in Mykonos

Tasty gyros for lunch

Ben relaxing at the hotel pool

Dinner at an ocean-front taverna

The 6th was a VERY long travel day for us. Ben and I had decided a couple of days prior that we would travel to Istanbul during the next week and had chosen to do so overland. After an early morning flight back to Athens, we schlepped our bags via bus to the metro, then took the Athens metro to the local train station. Unlike most European train stations, this one was tiny – only a couple of platforms and a small ticket office where we sorted out the tickets for that day. We first took a six hour train from Athens to Thessaloniki, the country’s second biggest city. The best part of this trip was seeing the changing topography and foliage, and I kept looking for Mt. Olympus out the side window until I fell asleep and presumably missed it a couple of hours from the end of the train ride.

Ben described Thessaloniki as “wretched,” although I’m sure there are many redeeming qualities that we just didn’t find. It didn’t help that it was almost 100 degrees, or that everything was closed up on a Sunday afternoon. We ended up biding time in an air-conditioned Starbucks and reading books in the train waiting room when our exploring left us unimpressed with the city. Ben purchased some provisions for our train ride, and we finally boarded around 8:00 that evening for our overnight trip to Istanbul.

Leaving Thessaloniki for Istanbul via train

In general, I have been quite pleased with my train journeys on my trip, as the Asian trains in Thailand and China seemed equipped with the basics – A/C, food carts, good-sized cabins, and well-run train cars. Unfortunately for us, the Greek train had none of these amenities. Our car was tiny, tiny, tiny – with no working A/C. The only reprieve from the heat came once we finally left the station, when a breeze from the opened window would cool off the train car. Within minutes of our journey, water started rushing in from the cabin next to ours – I ran next door, thinking a faucet had been left on in the bathroom car. Unfortunately, the sole passenger of the cabin had no idea that water had started to rush in from an unknown source, soaking his bag as well as ours. The Greek employee slowly found us a new cabin, which Ben declared was “first class,” due solely to the functioning light switch. We held out hope for the A/C, to no avail.

Ben trying to make the best of the train ride


I must admit the scenery of the Greek fields at dusk was beautiful, and we passed the hours until the dark set in with reading, talking, and sipping on beers. We finally settled into sleep, only to discover that the insects would take over our cabin whenever the train stopped (thanks to the open window). The moving train was anything but peaceful, as the brakes squealed against the tracks all night. At 4:00 a.m., we were awakened at the Greek border by border patrol returning our passports; at 5:00 a.m., we were awakened again at the Turkish border to pay 15 euros for a requisite visa. We learned then from fellow travelers that the Turkish trains are supposedly quite a bit nicer than the Greek train that we were on, and it was only luck of the draw that we ended up with the poorer of the two options.

As we were scheduled to arrive around 8:00 a.m., I woke up early at the sight of buildings in hopeful anticipation of the train station. However, we kept pulling through small towns until we realized that our train was running over three hours late, for reasons not disclosed to us. The silver lining of that morning on the awful train was the sighting of beautiful fields of sunflowers separating the small Turkish towns alongside the railway.

Greek countryside at dusk

Sunflower fields in the Turkish countryside

At 11:00 a.m., the train finally pulled into the Istanbul station, and we hailed a taxi to our hotel. We had decided to treat ourselves to nice accommodation in Istanbul, and I couldn’t wait to get there. As our room wasn’t yet ready for check-in, the reception desk suggested eating some lunch or spending some time at the pool. He then took one look at me and said, “perhaps you’d like to freshen up a bit in the spa/fitness center area?” I realized I was a little travel-worn but didn’t realize I looked that bad!

Our hotel was situated on the Bosphorous, and from our lunch table, we had a great view of the ferries that transported passengers through the strait to various stops along the way. As you may recall from your high school geography, Istanbul spans two continents – with the Bosphorous separating Europe from Asia. Our hotel was situated on the European side, with the houses and buildings of Asia clearly visible right across the water. Only a few kilometers away was the Black Sea.

Our stay in Istanbul was fabulous, as we found ourselves “convalescing” every day. In addition to lounging by the pool, reading books, taking naps, and eating delicious meals, we ventured into the old city center to visit historic and iconic Istanbul sites. We first walked through the Blue Mosque, a huge and ornate mosque still filled on Fridays for prayers. As Istanbul was the first predominately Muslim city I had every visited, I was fascinated with the culture and loved taking in every corner of the mosque. Afterwards, we walked to Hagia Sofia, a church erected several hundred years ago when the city had been under Roman rule. Following centuries of wars and ultimate victory by the Muslim Turks, the cathedral had been converted into a Mosque. It now contains interesting religious symbols of both cultures, from gold mosaics of Christ and the Virgin Mary, to huge placards with Arabic text.

At our hotel in Istanbul on the Bosphorous - with Asia on the other side

Enjoying some Turkish coffee

Sunset photo by the Bosphorous

The Lesters at dinner

The Blue Mosque

Arabic texts inside Hagia Sofia

Hagia Sofia

The minarets at Hagia Sofia

Looking back at the Blue Mosque

Strolling through a city park near the Ottoman Palace

Our final dinner in Istanbul was in the Taksim area, a pedestrian street lined with shops, cafes, and restaurants. Based on the suggestion of our concierge, we booked a reservation at a restaurant on the top floor of one of the taller buildings, and we were rewarded with sunset views across the city and the Bosphorous. Our meal was delicious and quite filling, and certainly a good way to end our stay.

Because we hadn’t enjoyed our experience on the train, we ultimately decided to fly back to Athens and spend the last couple of nights there to ensure Ben would have no issues making his dreaded flight back to work. We were sad to leave the beauty of the Turkish city and weren’t so thrilled to be back in Athens again – but managed to make the most of the last two nights with delicious dinners. I was craving tsatziki, so we ate at a small tavern in Plaka one evening. The second evening, we walked to a local brasserie and had a filling dinner of Greek salads and pasta. As we weren’t much interested in more sight-seeing, our final full day together included relaxing while watching the Tour de France.

We woke up on Saturday morning, sad about the fact that it was the end to sixteen wonderful days together. Ben and I had enjoyed an amazing vacation, and we weren’t ready to say good-bye. On the way to the airport, we kept reminding ourselves of the fact that he only has 90 days left – and that the summer will (hopefully) fly by quickly. At least I had a return to the U.S. – and to our friends and families - to look forward to. So, two weeks after I stood in a group of Bahrainis to welcome Ben to Europe, I watched him board a Gulf Air flight back to the Middle East. I missed him the instant we were apart.

Only three more months to go!

My flight to London left soon afterwards, and after a trip on the Stansted Express, two line changes on the Tube, and a stroll through Chelsea, I found myself back at my friend Chris’s flat. Although he was in the U.S. on vacation, he graciously offered for me to stay there for the last two nights before my flight home. I used Sunday just to wander around, enjoy brunch, and catch up on emails. I quite enjoyed having one day to myself to reflect on the past few months before re-entry into the Chicago world.

The past two weeks have, by far, been the favorite of my trip. I think that Ben and I could have been anywhere, and it would have been blissful, but spending the time in Greece and Turkey with him was an added bonus. I now find myself back at home, wishing for delivered breakfasts and sunset drinks on our Santorini balcony, and praying for the time before I see Ben again to pass quickly. And, just as I arrived safely back home, I can confirm that Ben also is back in Baghdad, returning to work this week as I have also done. His return trip included an unfortunate night of sleep in the comforts of a Starbucks chair inside the Kuwaiti airport, followed by a night’s rest in a tent on the Kuwaiti base. I’m just glad he made it back into the country without incident.

In preparation for summing up my trip (one final entry to be written next week), I realized that I hadn’t issued any “Must-See Awards” in quite some time. So, here are the final prizes: 1) Because of its beauty and peacefulness, I issue a “Must-See” to Halong Bay, Vietnam, which is best discovered on an overnight trip on an old Chinese junk boat and on-board a kayak. 2) The Inca Trail also deserves recognition, for its outstanding scenery and trekking experience in the Peruvian Andes. I’d highly recommend anyone interested in an active vacation to sign up, as it was absolutely my favorite part of my trip in South America. Just a warning, though – it takes months to get one of the coveted permits, so plan ahead! 3) And finally, my final award is given to Santorini, for its beauty, and for delivering on everything I thought Greece would be – blue skies, blue water, white-washed cave buildings, delicious food, and relaxation. For the rest of our stay in Greece, we kept reflecting on our time on the island and just how perfect it was.