Some random thoughts about my vacation in Greece:
* Greece is a beautiful country. It has a special mood to it. For me anyway. I've been to several holiday destinations in southern Europe, and in some ways, they are similar: the climate, the flora, the more relaxed way of life (I LOVE siesta time), and of course we middle and northern Europeans go there for the Mediterranean and the sunshine. But Greece is still my fav of them.
I was fifteen, when I was in Greece for the first time. Staying at a camping ground with a youth group. The camping ground had a supermarket, and during siesta time the shop was closed, the owner was away, but the doors remained open. The owner explained that someone might need a water bottle or whatever and he wouldn't want his customers to go without whatever they needed. He figured people would lay the money on the counter or would come back later to pay. And they did. His system had worked for years.
* My oldest daughter is undoubtedly a teenager (*sigh*). We barely saw her during our vacation. She quickly found a group of friends there. Every day she left after breakfast, said a quick hi in the early afternoon and came back between 10 and 11PM (eleven was her curfew, she's fourteen). I LOVED seeing her having so much fun among her peers. And yes, it reminded me of my own first trip to Greece and the things I discovered there .... I think though that she was more well-behaved than I was back then (*knock-on-wood*)
* I noted how much one's surroundings color one's perception. After 4.5 years on a US based forum, I noticed things I never would have noticed if I weren't familiar with the American way of looking at everything regarding sexuality and nakedness. At the main garden of the resort, we were greeted by the Greek god Poseidon. Of course he was naked and anatomically correct. My thought: I couldn't even post a picture of this statue on BM - but here this statue is regarded as absolutely appropriate for a family destination.
I don't know how many nude statues and illustrations I saw on my previous travels through Greece (plenty!) - but I never gave their nakedness a second thought until now. I just took it for granted.
* The day before we arrived, the teenage group had their 15 minutes of fame, they gave a short play on stage. There were pics of their show printed out, along with a short recap of the play, and exhibited. It was (surprise
) about teenage love confusions. The male main character had a GF, but then fell in love with another boy. "I am gay, I am cool!" (it rhymes in German).
Yes, kids, you got that right!
* Same goes for a show of the animators: a man can strip down another man to his briefs and they can smootch and kiss each other on stage in a show meant for families. Yes, they can!
* My youngest child learned swimming right on the very first day!
He hopped into the pool and swam, just like that.
* The whole resort was wheelchair accessible. No stairs anywhere to be seen at the community facilities. Not: stairs plus a stupidly steep and short ramp, no, there were only ramps, nicely broad and not steep. Good. Some of the apartment houses had stairs to the first floor, others were also completely equipped with ramps. Plus a wheelchair accessible boardwalk down the beach till short of the water line.
* My anyway vague ideas of greek-orthodox priests were pretty narrow minded. I thought of them as serious, earnest men, completely absorbed in their faith. The guys always in the traditional black gowns and with those full beards, ya know?
Well, they may be in black gowns and beards, but they are allowed to marry and raise a family. And I saw a relatively young priest greet a friend with a funny men-handshake, slapping each other on the shoulders, laughing and looking very secular. It broadened my mind. Good.
*You can have a Brokie moment downright
anywhere. One day I was sitting on our balcony, reading, when I heard a familiar "baaahhh". A herd of sheep came along a backroad, complete with sheepherder (only one).
Topic: The ORIGINAL 1000+ Posts Club (Read 4588136 times)