So, I lost my camera. OK, I didn't really lose it but wanted to tell you I did. Actually, I was coming in from using the internet at the hotel in Zakinthos. We were booking our room, and organizing our ferry, bus and general travel from the Ionian sea across the mainland and a few hundred Kilometers into the Agian Sea and the Cycladic islands. It was a bit stressful as we were leaving the next day. I walked into the room after several hours at the pool and one at the computer and carrying too many things. One of those things was a half drunk bottle of Amstel.
I leaned over my bed to put something down, or pick something up, I really can't remember which it was and couldn't recall at the time what things I had in my hands and under my arms. There on my bed, right in front of me, I saw the Amstel spilling onto my camera. My brain, in ultra-down holiday mode, couldn't process at first what it was. Then, "SHIT, THE BEER ON MY CAMERA!" I leaned back, tried drying it off, even struggled with the language barrier asking for rubbing alcohol ("No, not lamp fluid") at the local market. But it's been 4-5 days now and my dear faithful camera, with me from Columbia, Cuba, Canada and now Greece, has not recovered. It's heartbreaking really and I'm going through a bit of mourning, like I don't have my camera to capture all of this with. Funny, I had no idea before of this relationship with my camera. Sadly, the things I've seen here in Zakinthos are the most classically beautiful albeit typical Greece I've seen...the white-washed hillsides spilling into the see with that concentrated cluster of whitewashed villas trimmed in blue. You've seen it all before though.
And then I never did mention that infection/bug bite or sting reaction I had back in the Pelleponese. When I was working on the olive groves with Erhard, I got home one day with what felt like a sting just under my bum on my upper thigh. I did visit the hospital twice because the swelling in my lymph gland was unbearably painful. It came to a point that I couldn't even cross my legs. But the upside of that is that, well, there are two. The doctor was one of the most beautiful men I've ever seen (though young), with typically gorgeous giant Greek eyes and that strong forehead. But the other other point was that the visits were absolutely free. And there was no wait.
Oh yeah. Eden and I were on a tour yesterday. It was incredible. We visited a winery and had a tasting. The guide also took us through one of those picturesque white with blue dome top villages. And we went for a swim in the sea, this time the Aigean. But you don't get to see pictures of it. not yet. OK, so the sand was black at this beach. And again, we're in Santorini. Did I mention that? The water is clear but much rougher than the Ionian or the Gulf of Messinias. It's also much deeper and nearly as cold as the Pacific while the others were like cooling bath water yet still refreshing under the Grecian sun and Apollo's powerful rays. It's easy to understand why they attributed such great power and awe to the sun here so many centuries ago. We also visited a museum which exhibited many of the items found in the ancient city of Acrotili (I'm sure I've got that one spelled wrong). It was discovered just 20 or 30 years ago and the place was buried under a volcanic eruption in approximately 1650 BC, over 3500 years ago. The same eruption affected California. This is when Santorini was born, having been connected to two other nearby islands before they were all shattered from the eruption, the center of which now makes up the famous Caldera (Italian for cooking pot) which is a large body of water surrounded by towering volcanic cliffs.
I'm rambling, and don't even have any photos to amuse you.
Oh yeah, I was telling you about things that have gone wrong. So we were on this tour at a taverna having lunch before jumping into the Aeonian for a swim. I was walking back to the bathrooms after lunch with a girl from Australia. We were going to change into our swimsuits. She was ahead of me. I felt something hit my left ankle HARD. I looked back, bouncing on my right foot from the pain in my left to see that it was a chair she'd bumped with hips she referred to as "a hazard." A solid wood chair, it somehow managed to land directly onto my left inner ankle as my right foot moved forward. It was unbearably painful last night but so far today, just a soreness that still allows me to walk.
So then I wonder if I'm so prone to accidents. Then realized that there always seems to be something with me. It started in the past year with the back and a herneated disc. Then it was a broken wrist, an infected sting for which I took a Cortozone shot and antibiotics, just in case, then this ankle thing.
If anyone has any ideas on how I might prevent these ridiculous injuries, please advise.
I've eated my way through Greece, it seems. Tonight was a whole grilled fish, Tsipouro (stress the second syllable). This is not to be confused with Tsiporo (stress first syllable) the Greek version of tequila made from fermented grapes and very, very powerful. It was amazing and highly recommended. I am splurging and sparing no expense since, well, it's all my birthday present and I am in Greece and have good friends who cover me when my wallet got stolen.
Yum. Greece is delicious. In a few days, I'll be back in San Diego. But, before that, we'll take a ferry to Ios, a nearby island and an hour and only an hour and a half ferry ride. We leave Santorini tomorrow morning at around 11. I only hope Ios doesn't live up to the "party" it has such a reputation for. I've really enjoyed this kind of relaxation...without the noise, makeup, bodies (well, bodies are nice), but there's something about that "scene" that I've lost interest in. Maybe it's the stunning scenery.
Let's just hope I make it home without any new injuries or damaged equipment, or at least very minor, we can't hope for to much.
To Tsipouro and Tsiporo.
cheers.
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