thekristydave

If we go there will be trouble. But if we stay, it will be double?

Our life has suddenly turned into a Clash song. And really, this indecision is bugging me. Maybe you can help?

Kristy unexpectedly got a job offer here. The job itself is not as much a factor as is the viable opportunity it opens for us to stay in this incredible place for the long-term. Why wouldn’t we take it?

Well, there are lots of reasons actually, both for and against staying.

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First, a disclaimer: Sadly, between the rain which lasted nearly our entire trip and the diminishing quality of our abused digital camera, we managed to return from Istanbul with a lot of really bad photos. The trip was great… wet, but great. The photos we took don’t really do that magnificent city justice.

Luckily, our travel companions also took lots of photos and links to them are included below as well.

The Photos

• Kristy’s Picasa account > Constantinople…I mean, Istanbul…I mean, Constantinople
• I uploaded more Istanbul photos to my Picasa account, in addition to my really lame How To Travel To Istanbul (and back) photo set (just in case you missed that…)
• Koumbaros Christos put his Constantinople October 2008 collection up on Picasa as well.

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Round-trip Crete to Istanbul, it’s a mere 3400 kilometers (about 2100 miles) - we cover nearly 3 times that during a one-way flight from Greece to New York. Yet how you traverse the distance is just as important a factor as where you are traveling… and thus:

It’s The Journey, Not The Destination

We took nearly every type of transportation on our trip to Istanbul, and it was likely the longest trip we’ve ever taken in terms of total traveling time. If you care to try it for yourself, here are the simple directions.
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Not that there was any real danger. Despite the Midnight Express
jokes, it is relatively safe here in Istanbul… that is just as safe as Greece (for whatever that’s worth).

So, we are here, finally! Arrived very late last night / early this morning at Irini’s house (Christos’ sister) after a LOOONG trip and some fun at the border. We will soon be venturing out to explore the city, which according to all reports is one of the most beautiful in the world. We’ll take pictures!

Oh yeah, an added surprise. I thought we were only going to the western side of Istanbul which is still on the European continent. But we crossed over into the eastern half; which means in addition to Turkey, we can now say officially we’ve been to Asia. Pretty cool

The interwebs ain’t so great here (this and the last post actually had to be republished b/c the connection died while writting them) so we’ll probably not write again until we are back home… hopefully with lots of photos.

Kristy is done (finally!) with her thesis, and I’ve been working my clicking finger down to the bone on that interweb stuff I do. Since all work and no play makes thekristydave a dull pair, we’ve decided a small vacation is in order and we’re taking a long weekend (sandwiched between Friday and Tues) trip.

Our destination: Istanbul (Not Constantinople)

Yeah, as in TURKEY.
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Ahh… it’s been a while. It’s summer. We’ve been busy. Busy in Greece isn’t exactly the same thing as busy back home (or anywhere else really), but as with most things it is more a matter of perspective.

We certainly manage to keep ourselves busy in the more traditional sense: Kristy is (still!) working on her thesis, and I’ve got chunks of client web design work coming in plus some ongoing personal projects. So we’ve got enough work to, well, keep us busy.

But as they say out here, you work to live - as opposed to the “live to work” attitude that seems prevalent elsewhere. More simply, all work and no play makes TKD a boring pair - so here’s a quick update on some of our more recent avocational activities.

Kedrodasos

First, a quick mention (which does it no justice) must be made of a trip we took in May to one of the most beautiful beaches on Crete.

Kedrodasos (literally “Cedar Forest” in English) is near Elafonissi in southwestern Crete. This was the perfect way to say goodbye to our good friend Stephane, who left Crete soon afterwards. Ata and our dear koumbaros Yiorgos joined us for the camping trip. Really, this deserves more than my words can convey - some photos and a video will have to do.

The Spice of Life

Friends are the spice of life, and summer nights should always be generously seasoned with plenty of quality time with good friends. We’ve hosted several parties at our flat in Chania with many of the usual suspects, as well as enjoying the occasional night out wandering the harbor and local tavernas.

There have of course been numerous trips to the beaches in and around Chania, but time is just as well spent meandering through the empty, quiet streets of the old town while the rest of the populace is taking their mid-day nap.

One Year Anniversary

With July came our one year wedding anniversary on the 5th, celebrated in proper Greek fashion with lots of friends joining us for lots of food. The BBQ party that night included the introduction of marshmallow s’mores to our friends not familiar with this all-American treat. Nothing like cross-cultural education

August has been trucking along. We took an incredible camping trip to Balos beach on Gramvousa peninsula, celebrated Kristy’s birthday, and had an always wonderful visit by our dear Koumbaros Christos… but I believe these more recent events can be given greater attention in future posts.

Suffice it to say, summer in Crete has been another season in paradise and we don’t want it to end any time soon.

Another Goofy KristyDave Production

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Click the button to the left of the volume control to go to “full screen” for a BIGGER view.

And yes yes, we know… we’ve got years and years of practice before we put Mr. Spielberg out of work. But it’s the thought that counts, and we’re thinking of you, Dads.

Ah… another fine Greek summer has (un)officially started for us here in Crete. Yesterday we went to the beach for the first time this year - indeed, it was our first beach day since last October.

We took a short drive to Akrotiri, a peninsula east of Chania, with our friends Christos, Stephane, and Jose, and found our way to Stavros, a quiet little beach with a shallow, calm bay overlooked by a bare mountainside. We spent the afternoon sunbathing and swimming, the water still a bit chilly but very refreshing.

An interesting piece of trivia: the movie Zorba the Greek was filmed entirely on location on Crete, and the famous dance scene with Anthony Quinn was shot on the beach at Stavros. We were there.

Later we ate at a local taverna where the tasty food was well complemented with traditional Greek songs courtesy of a pair of musicians playing a Cretan lyre and (I believe) a lute.

But wait… it will get even better

This beach day was merely a training exercise, however, compared to what is next.

This weekend we travel to Gavdos, an island approximately 50 km south of the western side of Crete and which holds the distinction of being the southernmost point of Greece and Europe. With less than 100 permanent inhabitants on the island, and few tourists visiting this early in May, it is guaranteed to be a very relaxing time.

Come this time Sunday, we’ll be camping on the beach with a handful of friends and nothing but the sun, waves, and a few shady trees to keep us company… swimsuit optional.

While we like to think our little videos and random photos are entertaining in their own right, they really don’t do Chania justice. For a great “tour” of our town, watch this video, called “Chania (Old Town and New City).”

The camera follows the story’s protagonist, a little Greek boy riding all over town on a stolen bicycle (actually, he just borrowed it… it’s a sub-plot). As the boy takes his journey, the narrator describes the neighborhoods and important sites from the old town and harbor through to the newer city and surrounding areas.

Nearly ALL of the locations shown in the video are very familiar to us (it’s a small town). Hopefully it will give you a good feel for this incredible place we call home.

In fact, if you watch carefully, you can even see *exactly* where we live! At 6 minutes and 45 seconds into the video (nearly the end), the boy rides down an alley way (passing another bicycle parked against the wall) — that’s our street, and the house seen at the end on the left with the second-story balcony is directly across from our house (hidden behind some bushes). How’s that for a tour!

A follow-up to our earlier post on Easter Sunday here in Chania. Wish you could have been here in person, but perhaps you can join us vicariously… here’s how it went down.

Dinner was a success, despite on-and-off rain all day that nearly put the kibosh on our barbecue plans. We finally caught a break by mid-afternoon, as the rain stopped long enough to allow for a fire to be lit. From there, the triumvirate of BBQ masters (Ata, Stephane, and myself) went to work, while Kristy wrapped up her cooking in the kitchen (which had started hours earlier in the morning).

On the menu this evening:

• Something like ratatouille (but not exactly) consisting of fava beans, eggplant, tomatoes, onions and misc. spices
• Barbecued chicken, marinated in red wine, lemon juice, oregano, and salt
• Barbecued lamb/pork or maybe it was pork/lamb… we actually asked the local butcher for lamb (”αρνί” στα ελληνικά) but upon inspection it may have been pork. We settled on pamb… or lork.
• Homemade bread (Kristy’s been baking A LOT)
• τυρόπιτα - “tyropita” or little cheese pies… yummy
• Dakos - dry bread husks, topped with lots of olive oil, tomatoes, and feta cheese
• Eggplant wrapped around graviera cheese
• and of course… plenty of wine and beer!

For dessert, we had coffee and fattened up on a box of sweets that Stephane and Ata brought - “super sweets” is more appropriate, I think; only the Greeks would take baklava (a pastry made with chopped walnuts and almonds, cinnamon, cloves, and phyllo dough, drenched in light syrup and/or honey) and cover that in chocolate!!!

A (surrogate) Family Tradition

As I’ve said many times, the best part about living out here is the quality hang-time (usually spent drinking and BS’ing - “boro boro” as the Greeks say) with friends who literally come from all over the world.

Tonight, we had some fun discussing language and cultural idioms, and Ata taught us the Arabic names for several common vegetables (there will be an exam later).

And we explored weighty linguistic questions such as idiosyncrasies in how different languages represent the sounds animals make — just what noise does a cow make in French? In Arabic? Not “moo,” as it seems there is no international standard for “Old McDonald Had a Farm” - a topic that most certainly needs to be explored further.

We ended the night with a tradition we will try to repeat many times over our remaining time here in Crete - an official “family portrait.” Goofy exaggerated smiles (Stephane!), ugly sweaters, and embarrassing holiday hats are optional.