Greetings- It's been a busy month. I've been helping organize the upcoming big 25th Anniversary Reunion of the Wilderness Awareness School for Labor Day before I leave for the summer. It's going to be an incredible event with kids who grew up with Wilderness Awareness School returning and seeing what has become of these young naturalists (and old ones too!). If you would like to attend any part of this weekend, I highly encourage you to check out any of the events. www.wilderness.awareness.org will have information and the event is very inexpensive and held in Carnation, WA.
I'm leaving on June 4 for 6 weeks to Greece and then Turkey. I can't write much now, but will hope to find a cafe with internet at least once a week or whenever the muse inspires.
I hope mr. JF is reading this since he is one of my muses for this trip. Many of you have commented that you will check in, so I'll be inserting some discreet hellos in my blog just for you!
I'm incredibly grateful to take this summer off and explore an old part of civilization and connect with the landscape and myself without the distraction of work and home. Thank you all who have encouraged me and supported me to do this. I feel incredibly blessed to have so many, many wonderful, loving, bright people in my life. Especially my brother and his wife who are nursing my little dog who is recovering from knee surgery.
Until next time then, I'll be on the other side writing from someplace I can't even picture....
I just wrote for almost an hour and the internet cafe cut me off and I lost everything I wrote to you! Such is life, like a sand castle gone with one big wave before the photo could save it.
As I am learning with these travels, don't get too attached to plans.
I had a fabulous time in Athens. A lovely hotel at 50 Euros which is about as cheap as a nice hotel can be in the heart of the city (15 minutes to the big archeological Museum and 15 minutes to the Acropolis and Plaka). A hostel is about 15, but is a sleepless night and I'm glad to have had the modest hotel with big breakfast and rich, dark Greek coffee.
(Annie at the Parthenon)
The first day I arrived in Athens, I went to the museum which was much larger than I expected and thought 3 hours would be enough but there were 3 floors and many, many rooms. Not as daunting as the Louvre, but I walked around in astonishment at the level of quality of artistry the sculptures and painted pots had. Red pots that were 9 feet tall and painted with all kinds of spectacular scenes of gods and goddesses on them.
The sculptures were much more refined than the Roman sculptures I've seen before. 300 to 500 BC, pretty amazing tools they used, coins, weights, horse bridles and armour, not to mention extensive written language. I had no idea how incredibly rich the culture and civilization had been and seeing the artifacts made me wonder why we don't have this level of artistry today in our culture-- sculpture and architecture doesn't compare to what they had 2500 years ago.
Then, there are all the sculptures honoring the athletes. Gorgeous, gorgeous athletes. What happened to this athletic culture? Sure, we still have the Olympics, but these gods and goddesses were really in great shape and somehow inspired everyone to rise to their highest potential. I felt very inspired and awed after leaving this museum.
I hurried to get to the Acropolis before they closed and in the process got quite lost, which was interesting in itself. Neighborhoods that seldom see blond tourists like me. Before long, I asked a nice man where I was (other than Athens!) and he guided me in the direction of the Acropolis. Kind of embarrassing really, since the Acropolis is placed high up and a hill and most of the time if you look up, you can find it! But the good thing about this man was I asked him for a recommendation to a really good but affordable place to eat. He told me of a place in the Plaka near the Acropolis and after walking to the Acropolis and arriving 1 minute too late with very sore feet, I thought, "OH well, maybe I'll see the Acropolis tomorrow then and explore this Plaka."
Which is what I did, waiting to eat dinner until 8:30 or 9 when everyone else eats here. I found the restaurant (taverna), sat outside near some lovely Italian men, and had the most exquisite lamb with melted feta and potatoes and mystery sauce that made me chew slowly to savour each moment.
I'll post this now just in case the system shuts down again....
I set out and walked along the flurry of fish, meat and vegetable markets on my way to the Acropolis. Greek people selling fish is something different than Seattle's Pike Place Market. The fish merchants are much louder, much more passionate, competitive and a litte testy. I didn't dare linger too long in this warehouse, people were serious about their purchases and I didn't want to end up smelling like fish for the rest of the day.
The Acropolis so far has been the highlight of my trip-- It's set so high up above the city and the tall, beveled pillars seem to reach to the heavens and proclaim strength and dominance. I'm sure the goddess Athena was pleased with this structure. The Parthenon, was majestic and trully amazing to have survived 2500 years with wars and earthquakes.
(the Parthenon and it's amazing marble columns)
(The arch by the Olympic Park with the Acropolis in the background)
I walked all around to various monuments around the Acropolis and visited Socrates cave (where he died). There were two other men who were philosophers like me, and we commented how we always had wanted to visit Socrates cave and here we were! We took pictures to commemorate our dream coming true.
I relished every archeological site I saw-- the Odeum (300 b.c.), this large theatre where Renee Fleming is performing in July! I'm tempted to come back for that, believe me-- but I think I'll just have to imagine it. It's the most amazing venue for Opera you could imagine-- I think 3500 -5000 people can sit and it's outdoors (it used to a roof originally-- imagine that.)
The other highlight of my day at the Acropolis was running into a woman on my way home to my hotel who was an archeologist.
Hello Friends,
I've been gone a week and feels like a month of living and traveling. I'm in Los, Greece which is a place I had never heard of until a few days ago while having a late-night talk with an archeologist I met in Athens. We both met while listening and watching some very bad kareoke performed at a Festival not far from my hotel. I had spent the day wondering around the Acropolis and Parthenon, my mouth open in astonishment at the amazing feats of architecture the Greeks had accomplished 2500 years ago. 500 BC, Marble towers with intricate carvings and somehow roofs on top-- one temple still had it's roof! (I took a nap there-- much to the astonishment of my archeologist friend).
The weight and height of the marble blocks and and the expansive design put the Roman ruins I've seen before in a much lower class. The other amazing thing is how these giant structures survived all the wars and earthquakes for millenia. In Kos, where I am now, there were amazing buildings here as well, but there were numerous severe earthquakes that leveled them so the reconstruction wasn't possible. There are still part of the ruins left that still leave me with Awe-- especially Hippocrates Asklepion (the first healing center where they had baths, herbal medicine and some kind of healers who consulting with snakes while dreaming...)
Sorry for the blip here--- i figured how to recover a little of the text I lost... yippee.
Anyway, I've got to close here and get to the hotsprings before too late.
Love to you all-- especially J.F. -- did you find yourself in this? I hope you write me, my friend-- you are my muse for writing in this trip as well as a whole bunch of you who I will mention from time to time... A.W.- thanks for the healing remedies, they are wonderful. And much love to J.T. and N.D. for everything, give Miss P a squeeze from me.
Hello Again, I'm sitting at an internet cafe (of course) in Patmos, with the Aegean sea just 15 steps from my chair. Pretty amazing place to be writing to you all. A large ferry is arriving in this little habor, dwarfing the small fishing and sailboats moared here. There are rickety, old-style moorages made from scraps of wood, old recycled pipes and odds and ends, put to use for the far end of town where the locals have their boats. Of course, the big yaghts are lined up in front of the tourist restaurants (tavernas). Children are swimming in front of me and it's surreal to think of Seattle in this moment.
I have been drinking in the "Patmosphere" here. It's a very sacred island and I spent the morning visiting the apocalypse cave where the Apostle John had spent much time and wrote about his experience there. Pretty amazing cave, rough black rock with big crystals imbedded in the rock. To preserve it's sacredness, they made it an enclosed shrine with all kinds of old orthodox art and relics. However, before they did this, the cave must have had a stellar view which is still obvious from the small windows they left in the shrine. No wonder John had such an experience there.
Actually, the monastery is also very old, sacred and famous. Very old and probably built on temples for other gods-- remnants remain of statues from these gods in the monastery. Many people make a pilgramage here to this monastery and when I arrived, I was so moved from the "patmosphere" that made me well up with emotion. My friend I met from Wales in Kos told me I must come here to experience this and he was right... Pretty amazing place. The monks were singing while I went through a museum up in the monastery and it was quite beautiful.
(at the Monastery in Patmos)
It's also such a small island, everyone gets around on scooters which is a pure delight on these windy, hilly roads that hug the ocean. I feel like a seagull and envy the local birds here. Though, they have a dangerous life with all the ferral cats on these islands. It's much like Hawaii. Ferral cats everywhere. Still, I got to pet a little kitten the other day. Not quite like holding my cousin's newborn baby, but pretty darn sweet to hold such a new life in my hands.
Each island has brought me in touch with very interesting people. N., the geologist from Kos was very kind to invite me to dinner with his friends in downtown Kos and drink the local wine, eat local food and talk philosophy. Some of my favorite things to do! I keep finding people to talk philosophy here with and it's pure delight for me-- the locals know a lot more than most of my philosophy cronies in college. I am humbled and jealous that the American culture doesn't have this kind of knowledge.
In Patmos, I have the pleasure of enjoying the company of N, a world-travelling journalist from Denmark. He has written many articles about Greece and knows a lot of history and philosophy. If colleges could design a learning program like this, students would be inspired to read and research what is in front of them!
So, tonight at midnight I take the ferry back to Pireaus in order to catch another ferry to Santorini, the volcanic island that shaped much of the islands of Greece and according to my geologist friend or is it my journalist friend?, this explosion could have wiped out Crete's earlier civilization.... I hope to see Crete if time allows....the oldest civilization in Greece.
Hello to J.F.-- my muse. Hope you and your mom are reading. Please write hello if you have... And to all of you friends, family and folks reading this for the first time. Sending you light and happy vibes from the loving Greek islands.... Annie
I arrived last Thursday via an all night ferry ride from Pireus (near Athens) with hopes of going to Crete to see Gnossis and old ruins and the great park on the west side of the island. Those plans are gone since the morning I arrived at Santorini, it was a very hot and windy day and the owner of the pension, Anna, suggested I rent a motorbike (scooter 50cc) to see more of the island.
Santorini is considered one of the most beautiful of the 3000 Greek islands, and it has dramatic cliffs from it's volcanic eruption at 1300 bc where it destroyed quite a bit of Crete and affected the geology all around the region. There is still a volcano in the middle of the sea near the island, but I haven't seen it. I spent the morning in the museums marveling over the 4000 year old vases and statues that were excavated from Fira, the main village where I have been staying for the week.
I took my little scooter all over the island last Thursday, to three beaches- two that were very touristy with hundreds of umbrellas and lounge chairs lined up on the sand for as far as I could see-- well, at least a quarter to half of a mile. The town of Fira, was full of tourist shops, fine jewelry, fine clothing, and any think you think you would like to adorn yourself with. I haven't been in such a touristy place before, even though I've been to a few islands now. To be honest, it's too busy here for me-- the beauty of the landscape, the 1000 foot cliffs, the white houses somehow attached to the cliffs with streets that make Provence look flat, well-- it's too many tourists.
So, I planned after my long day with a finale of viewing the sunset at this village called Oia, a ritual all tourists must do once-- even I agree. I planned I would leave the next day.....
So, I scooted at 7:30 from Fira to Oia on a very mountainous, windy road that had 1000 foot drops with views of little farms and white houses.... It was spectacular and scary. People drive like bats out of hell here. I'm a good driver and was pretty scared most of the day driving my scooter. Not only the speed of the locals, but the volume of traffic here makes a scooter really dangerous.... I planned after this sunset experience to drive right back before dark and eat dinner close to my room in Fira.
Oia was really beautiful, even if the town was created for tourists. It had a stellar view of the sunset, with enormous boats out in the distance. I'll post this for now and continue with another page......
So, I'm standing with a large crowd of tourists on the edge of Oia, this village on a cliff. Like standing in a natural stadium, people are staring off into the direction of the sunset with cameras, embracing their lovers, talking excitedly, waiting for the sun to drop over the horizon. I'd heard about this nightly ritual at Oia, where people gathered every evening to celebrate the sunset and once it goes, they all clap and cheer the sun.
It was a spectacular sunset, clouds to diffuse the colors, a 3-mast pirate-style ship sailing into the horizon in front of us. We all stood together for an hour and at the moment the sun descended, sure enough, everyone clapped and some stood in reverence. I was glad to witness this ritual and then threaded my way through the masses of people through streets that were wide enough for 3 people to stand side by side.
It's a chic little village and if I had lots of spending money, I'm sure the shopping is wonderful. But I haven't bought a thing other than a little tiny bracelet so far. I left the village thinking I'd better get back before it's dark on that dangerous road back to my room.
I haven't eaten for a long time and was quite thirsty but thought I could make it to Fira. So I drive on the road, which seems to have less traffic now-- there is no one in front of me. I have my lights on and it's hard to see.. not good. After a few miles, I feel a bit confident now though concerned by how dark it is even with lights. My mind wanders for a split second as I am going around a bend. Aiee, there goes my tire, slipping and like rollerblades (I've only fallen once), I could feel the gravity winning-- I was crashing. Amazing how in a split second one has time to reflect, I was aware that I had lost my concentration- that maybe I should have had more water or food before I set out, or maybe the road was just too oily- as I had noticed on the drive there. Regardless, I wondered on the way down in my crash, how bad it would hurt and how badly I would be injured. Morbid thoughts. Then, I felt the impact, my leg, elbow and head-- flashing lights from hitting my head, but not too much pain, just burning pain from sliding on the asphalt. I slid like a baseball player into second base. Familiar but painful. I got up, worried about oncoming cars and was lucky to have a few minutes to move the bike off the road and assess myself. I knew I was OK, no broken bones. Thank God, but I didn't know how bad the injuries were-- I bloody from head to toe, literally. I looked like a perfect person for a halloween film. My ankle was the worst. Anyway, after a few minutes of waving at cars, a nice couple from Spain stopped and picked me up. They had been in a scooter accident 3 weeks ago and his wife had recently been to the emergecy room here for a fall and she showed me her purple elbow and grimaced.
They were so kind to take me to Emergency and get me some water.
Emergency was quite different from USA. I haven't picked up as much Greek as I hoped, and wish I had known more, but there were a few people who spoke English there. It was a scruffy little clinic that must have had a lot of these kinds of accidents... the first thing they said was how lucky I was. (I was just there again after 6 days now of recovery and there was a man with a broken leg who just arrived from a motorbike accident..)
gotta post this before my time is up.... to be continued...
To continue my Emergency Hospital experience. I haven't actually had an accident before and gone through this experience. I've taken other people, but not myself. It was surreal to sit in the waiting room, dripping blood on the floor and scaring most of the other patients there. Fortunately, I didn't have to wait long and I shuffled into a dingy room with beat-up O2 canisters that looked like they were from WWII and a floor that didn't look like it had been cleaned in a while (today, it looked much better).
If I was a Howard Hughes fan, I wouldn't have stayed there, but I wasn't and was greatful to have someone, anyone help me wash these wounds and access the damage. I was not as much in shock as I thought I'd be. My fall from a papaya tree in Hawaii many years ago was much more frightening, even though less bloody. (sorry for the kids who might be reading this...). So, these woman hover over me, speaking Greek faster than the Spanish speak Spanish. English is a slow language in comparison, especially when you grow up in Iowa... I wonder what they are saying. They shake their heads and one says, "You are very lucky."
"Yes," I agree, gratefully.
"It could be much worse," the nurse says, nodding with a serious frown. They asked me what happened and they all said, "Oh, you could have gone off the cliff... no cars behind you... you were lucky."
"yes," I nodded, shivered and felt the cold metal table under me.
For the next 2 hours with lots of interruptions, they cleaned all the woulds. From head to toe, dabbing 3 different stinging, burning things. The last thing they did for the superficial wounds was spray it with something white that smelled like burned skin. One of the nurses began stitching up my elbow while another staff member looked on. I couldn't tell who was in charge. Finally, half way through this very slow process, she said something to the other young woman (who turned out to be the doctor) and gave her the needle and thread and left the room.
The doctor told me, "The nurse has had a hard day and asked me to finish."
I was glad the nurse said something instead of doing a bad job. So the doctor continued and had a little therapy session with the nurse (in greek of course) and the nurse left after a while while the doctor continued to stitch. At one point, I felt she was hitting my ulnar nerve with the needle and told her. She said, "Are you sure?"
"Yes, that is my ulnar nerve. It is pretty superficial."
She shook her head but I explained my previous work in massage had inflamed that nerve making it more superficial. She nodded and seemed to respect my knowledge of my body more and took her time stitching my arm over the next hour... We talked about medicine in Greece and how she would love to go to the US, but how difficult it is for a woman doctor in Greece. We talked about alternative medicine, and she laughed saying there is no alternative in Greece. "Maybe you can go to your grandmother for herbs, but no. We laugh at homeopathic medicine here. You cannot find it."
If I were to say anything about the Greek medical system, I'd say it was spartan. They don't coddle you and there was one nurse (the one having a hard day) who seemed to look out for me. She brought me water after I asked her, which was really nice.
After this long clean-up, the doctor said I should stay over night because they needed to xray my ankle and the pharmacy is closed at night so I would need to get medications tomorrow (antiobiotic and antiinfammatories). You would think a hospital would have things like that, but they didn't.
I was wheeled into a room by a busy street (it was as noisy all night as Athens). Once I had my water, I asked for another pillow to prop up my swelling foot-- this took a while. Needless to say, I was grateful just to have a safe place to be. The room didn't seem very clean either but after being on survival trips, as long as I would get some antibiotics-- eventually, I should be ok with a dirty floor and questionable bathroom.
After a few hours, a young woman in great pain, maybe from miscariage or something where she was bleeding and clutching her stomach in pain, joined my room. The doctor came in smoking a cigarette and I immediately felt nauseus from the smoke and wondered how this woman who looked green could tolerate the smoke. This certainly wasn't america and the doctor looked very sternly at this woman who was moaning and frightened. People weren't trying to calm her. These people were tough. Even the young woman's mother (I'm assuming) stayed by the foot of the bed, with a concerned look, but gave her space. The staff would come in and inject her with something and just watch. It was stressful and even though I was in spasm and uncomfortable, I was grateful not to have whatever she had.... even though I was alone...
While the experience was challenging, I had to buck up for these Greek people. They really are tough. They seemed to show me some mercy for being alone, female and in a foreign country. The scooter people who I rented the bike from, would pick me up from my room to take me back to the hospital and helped me get some groceries at the market. So, I am doing OK now. Recovering much better with the ankle and elbow slowly healing-- the rest is scabbing nicely. Anna, who runs the pension where I'm staying scrubbed all the oil and blood out of my clothes, like MacBeth- "out, out damn spot"-- but she was successful. I kissed her on each cheek and she was very proud of all her scrubbing.
I think so often of two of my clients who recently broke their ankles and what they have been through. And many of my clients and friends who have difficulty moving and chronic pain. This minor injury has made me appreciate the simple things in life, just getting up and walking ten steps to the bathroom, being able to get out of the house, and enjoying the sunrise as I did this morning. I've been reflecting on the many wonderful people in my life and so grateful I can have these memories and this moment . Hi to J.F. are you reading?
So, here I am in Santorini. Sitting still while tourists scurry and flit around like bees released from captivity, much like I did a week ago. I am eventually headed to Turkey. Sometime. Until next time, I hope you are all well and enjoying your precious life.
I'm preparing to leave for another island tomorrow. To be determined depending upon the next stage of my trip to Turkey... There are many boats heading out of Santorini. I won't make it to Crete like I had hoped, besides, Crete deserves a trip by itselt. Its like another country according to the Greeks. Though, I'm disappointed to not see Gnossis.
I had my stitches removed today after an hour and a half wait in the emergency clinic. The entire staff know me well since I've been coming there every two days, and there are not very many Americans here. The nurse made my day by saying she thought I was 20 years younger!
I feel like I've come to know some small parts of this island in great detail, connecting with a few shop keepers, the motor bike rental people (who have been giving me rides to the hospital whenever they can), and a few of the taverna owners who saw me the first day and remark on my progress every other day. "Getting better?"
The owner of the pension where I am staying had her son get in a motor bike accident on the same night and hour that I was in mine. I met him tonight and we showed our wounds to one another. Same right side of the body except his elbow was shattered, poor guy. The owner, Anna, and I have gotten to know each other very well over these 8 days and she treats me like family. I'm honored. It's interesting to watch the various travellers that pass through my family "hotel".
Tonight, I hope to taste the famous Santorini wine (not too much) which is famous all over Greece. It's different from the Retsini which I found quite interesting and refreshing in the heat. Anyway, I am not on motorbike any more. NO worries.
I'm as curious as you may be on where I'll be tomorrow and how I'll get there.
At some point, I'm bound to be in Turkey.
Well, I'm off to see the glorious sunset here. Famous because of the cliffs from the volcano.
Hello again, Well, my scabs and scars are shrinking and even though I still look pretty knarly on the beach with the bruises in my bikini, everyone nods understandingly and mouths the words, "Motorbike?" The small comforts of these little islands. Seems like everyone has had an incident with a motorbike.
So on Mykonos, I am taking the bus. It's cheap, runs often and much safer (knock on wood).
I arrived yesterday and had a cute little apartment right in the main town which is near the ferry landing. My apartment reminded me of a boat cabin with a shower in a drop-down bathroom that was mounted just on the wall with no stall the way boats have their showers. You can spray water everywhere without guilt in that bathroom, where the other bathrooms here have a 4 inch tile on the floor that is supposed to keep the water from spreading on to the floor. (good luck, maybe if you use a drip method you won't get the floor completely soaked.) My friend from Wales in Kos Island couldn't get over their shower systems in Greece because of the standing water problem that results from it spilling all over the floor. There is another drain in the middle of the floor, but the whole floor gets wet. It's a mystery. Maybe some reader out there knows why the Greeks (and some French) prefer this shower.
Gosh, enough about showers.. This island really surprised me. It's notoriously touristic and the "party" island of Greece and it's actually incredibly beautiful and charming - yes H.S. and A. dB. you were right, right, right. I love it here. Didn't think I would, but it's a very cool place- even with the tourists. Contrasted to Santorini, it's pretty mellow, even at night in town-- the party seen is more like people promenading through the narrow little streets decked out in gorgeous beach dress clothes and shopping at 1, 2, 3am. Yes, shopping at 2 am. I've never seen this before. The bars and tavernas are beautiful, finely decorated- everything is chic here, but relaxed at the same time. Hard to explain but it's a fascinating place to people watch.
So, I've extended my time here a couple more days to heal my ankle and arm-- the beaches are the prettiest I've seen yet. Truly beautiful, even if there are cafes and umbrellas, it's a very cool place.
How this blog related to Feldenkrais? I do have to explain my work to people on a daily basis which is always an interesting experience. Sometimes, I think I should just say I'm an astronaut or something they know but is unusual. We'll see.
Hello again, I find myself at these Internet Cafes often these days as I am arranging my plans for the Turkey part of this adventure. I have a former client who used a travel agent in Turkey and I am using this agent and find myself daily at the internet firming up my itinerary with "Lutfi". So it gives me a chance to write a little to you.
Today, I went to the far beach which involves taking a bus and then a boat along the coastline. Yesterday, I went to "Super Paradiso" which is a beautiful, beautiful beach with gold sand and tourquoise water that is perfect for swimming. My healing arm and leg was quite weak and sore for swimming, but the water was helpful and by the end of the afternoon, I was feeling better from the ocean water.
The beach I visited today is much more remote and doesn't have a live DJ playing music or a fine restaurant. It was quiet and along rough sandstone rocks with a lovely gold sand beach. I've brought a little of the coarse sand with me to take back. It's very special and very healing place. Everyone was calm at the beach and I think I'll spend the whole day there tomorrow reading my next Kazanstakis book. I read Zorba the Greek earlier in the trip and now reading The last Temptation of Christ. He's a fabulous writer and philosopher, and wonderful to read while I'm in Greece!
I really like this country. The people are so friendly and warm. The men are very charming, flirtatious, but very respectful of women. As a single woman, I have felt wonderful being here and must say that it's been very easy to travel. The other day I was hobbling to town and a cute Greek man stopped with his motorbike to give me a ride. He took me all the way to town like a galant chauffeur and was so sweet. I wish American men would come over here and take lessons!
As I mentioned, everyday I have opportunities to explain my work with Feldenkrais to people. On the boat today, I talked with an Australian woman who was complaining of how frightened she was of her low back going out during her trip. I showed her my little towel trick, using two towels or blankets to straddle like a log or saddle and she took careful note of that and said she would write this down and check the internet for Practitioners in Meldbourne. It's hard to give a lesson in 5 mintues, but it's a fun challenge.
Well, tomorrow is my last day here and I'll be leaving at 3 in the morning-- just as things wind down a little here. Such an incredible place, I must say, I love it here.
Annie Thoe is an Assistant Feldenkrais Trainer and Practitioner in the Feldenkrais Method with 22 years of experience in bodywork. She has taught numerous modalities of massage therapy, supervised students and practitioners, and teaches locally and nationally. She is on the Board of Directors for the Wilderness Awareness School in Duvall, Washington. In addition to her outdoor naturalist study, Annie has an extensive background in martial arts, sports, and music.