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Posts tagged ‘Greece’

Mar 7

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Tacky Tourist Souvenirs

Sparta danger shirt

A reference from the movie "300" at a Greek tourist tee-shirt shop

When I was in Sicily, I met a fellow traveler who had an on-going contest with his girlfriend.  Whenever they traveled, they had to bring back the most ridiculous tourist junk as a gift for the other.  This is an absolutely brilliant idea!  Tacky tourist stuff is ubiquitous at popular attractions.  It’s an international phenomena; you can find this stuff everywhere!

Moose nugget earrings - $3.95

Growing up in Alaska, I would cringe at the variety of souvenirs made from “mouse nuggets”.  As large as a moose is, their excrement is actually just a pile of 1 inch pellets.  Someone though it would be funny to lacquer a couple and make jewelry out of it and the idea has taken off.  You can get drink swizzles, rings, and key chains too.  People must be buying these assorted “nugget” items because you can always find them in tourist shops.  But just so we’re clear, moose nuggets are poop!

Michelangelo's David light switch plate - $9.99

Hands down the worst inspiration for tacky tourist stuff is Michelangelo’s David!  If you’ve ever been to Florence, you know that you can’t go 2 blocks without seeing this guy on everything from desk clocks to aprons.  And most of it is a little tasteless.  Come on, it’s not like people have never seen a nude statue before!

So what have been your favorite examples of tacky tourist junk?

Feb 29

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Photo of the Week – Greek Gas Station Cat

cat with blue and green eyes

Greek cat with beautiful eyes found while stranded at a Greek gas station (Photo: DaydreamTourist)

Living in the US, I take for granted that everyone accepts debit and credit cards as payment.  We pulled up to a gas station in the southwest of mainland Greece and filled up.  The gas station attendant handed us the bill and then waved off our credit card when we tried too pay.  Clearly flustered because we didn’t have enough Euros for it, I tried to ask “where is the ATM?”  The attendant pointed down the road and so I hopped out of the car while my husband when in search of cash.

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Feb 17

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Jet Lag & Movies

I very much get jet-lag.  And because it’s Friday, here’s a funny story to show you how bad it can be.

This last September, we arrived in Greece around 4pm after red-eying from the US and connecting/running through Charles de Gaulle.  With the metro on strike, it took a lot longer than we had expected to get to our hotel in the heart of Athens.  It looked like we had missed the nap window and so decided to walk around a little, get dinner and stay up until 8 or 9pm.  Feeling good, we hit up a rooftop bar for a drink and a spectacular view of the Acropolis.  Back at the hotel, my hubby started playing with the TV and found, of all things, The Patriot with Greek subtitles.

Maybe 10 minutes into the movie, I starting tearing up.  Bear in mind that at this point, I had watch a small battle scene, bad guys plotting revenge and some characters hiding from the British – nothing particularly emotional.  Then, when the family reunites at the beach, I started sobbing!  I remembered thinking the sappy parts of the movie seemed so forced the first time I watched this, but it didn’t matter this time.  Crying during a cheesy movies you’ve already seen – definitely a sign of jet lag!

I tried this test again the next day.  I must have got enough sleep because I was not at all affected by The Mask of Zorro.

Feb 14

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Marathon Greece and Serious History Tourists

Our last day in Greece, we had a few hours to spare and a rental car so we decided to look for the ancient battlefield of Marathon.  It was here in 490 BC that the Greeks defeated a Persian invasion force.  After which a messenger ran the 24 miles back to Athens to declare the victory inspiring the modern marathon race.

This was the only time our GPS navigation failed us; apparently “Marathon Museum” was a little ambiguous!  Having been directed to the Marathon Run Museum, we got dubious directions toward the ancient battlefield and set out.  After several U-turns, we found ourselves traveling down a narrow road through a field where a crowd had gathered.  I almost didn’t believe what we saw: ancient Greeks engaged in battle.

greek hoplite reenactors

Hoplite reenactors taking a break at Marathon

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Feb 8

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Best Mountain Drive in Mainland Greece

The Greek mainland is arid and mountainous.   In a matter of minutes you can go from sea level to impressive elevations as we found out driving to Delphi from the coast.  I have always love the view down from the top of a mountain and there which quite a few contenders in Greece.  By far the most scenic stretch of road popped up as we traveled from Corinth to Olympia.

Best road in Greece

Specifically, I am talking about the mountain road from Levidi to Dafni as shown in the map below.  The high point (literally and proverbially) was the beautiful village of and the stunning valley views from around Langadia, or Lagkadia depending on spelling.

Most scenic drive in Greece

From Levidi, the road quickly climbed through slow switch-backs and hairpin turns.  The forest was dense but every so often there would a break to see the incredible drop into the valley and the smoothed, tightly packed range of mountains.  Pull offs to enjoy the view were scarce and small in size so you’ll likely need to back track if you miss one, but it’s worth it.  In tiny villages that clung to the mountain side, local life spilled out somewhat into the road making us slow down and wave as we passed through.

Hazy sunset over Langadia with miles of switch-back roads to go (Photo: DaydreamTourist)

Langadia

Langadia main square (Photo: Wikipedia)

While the mountain pass was beautiful, blind turns can be a little scary for any driver.  We set out late from Corinth and so it was 8pm when we reached Olympia and definitely dark.  I would try to get out of the mountains by dusk for best visibility.  Aside from the main national highway, Greek roads are decorated with memorials shaped like little Orthodox churches.  I presume these are to remember auto deaths; they serve as sad and constant reminders to drive safely. Luckily this stretch of mountain road is so beautiful you’ll want to drive slow just to make sure you can take it all in.

Roadside memorial in Greece

A church-shaped roadside memorials on a particularly tight curve in the road (Photo: DaydreamTourist)

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