mybigfatgreece trip

Friday, September 16, 2011

The Misconception Issue

This is a vacation

I'm living in Greece. It's not "really" a vacation. Not all my days are spent at the beach-- most times I'm doing laundry. But there are times Yorgos and I kick it up a notch and get hot & sweaty, like in this video:

You are staying in Athens

No. I am in Pireaus, which is a city by the sea and has one the major ports of Greece. Athens is 20 minutes away and you need a bus & train to get to it...so I pretty much spend most of my time in Pireaus.

You are fluent in Greek

I have picked up quite a bit of Greek, but I cannot truly communicate in an in depth way with anyone. However, there is a lot of subtitled American TV-- I never thought I would look forward to watching episodes of "Charmed" and "The Secret Life of American Teenager" before.

American vs. Greek Identity

I had a conversation with Yorgos where he said--
"Any one can be American, you come to America and you're American. But we have been Greeks for thousands and thousands of years."

If that doesn't show how strong the Greek identity is, I don't what does. Yorgos loves to recount their history before 2,000 BC. He can trace his ancestry back at least 500 years-- by the way, they were all Greeks. Me? I'm first generation American.

You are going staying in Greece forever

No, I'm not. If I weren't a writer/comic/actress/director/artist-- then maybe... I mean look at this place!

A view from on top of Athens--

But the fact is: I left my family a long time ago to live in Los Angeles and it wasn't arbitrary, it was a choice. (I also have student loans to buttress my choice)

Plus, I miss my Carmen.

Leading up to the #1 Misconception--

Yorgos is coming back to LA with you

No, Yorgos won't be my carry-on baggage when I come back. However, that doesn't rule out, say 2012? Without risk, there is no reward ;-)

Andros

Hara, Yorgos' cousin invited to me her father's hometown, the island of Andros. I jumped at the chance to stay with her family, especially since her brother Andonis was going to the army for 9 months. --All Greek men have to serve time in the army.

Check out a trailer I made of my stay:

These people really know how to party-- the earliest we came home was 3:30am. Again, that was early. So much fun-- I'm so appreciative of the immense hospitality I experienced. Unfortunately, Yorgos couldn't come on my trip due to work.

The Beach in Andros

Drinking Ouzo with some friends

We took over the establishment and Hara's friend DJ Panayotis played--
awesome Jamaican dub! Imagine that in Greece listening to Jamaican music!

I took the party outside!!

POST DANCE NIGHT PHOTO

I was told that this guy NEVER gives free shots-- Well, he did with us!!!!

The above drinks caused this video:

I saw this and I had to take the photo!

Maybe Lindsey Lohan or Charlie Sheen could use this by their pool.

Check out some local foods!!! I mean fresh & delicious!!!

Me with the fam-- Papoos & Yaya (grandpa & grandma)

Apparently, this 90 year old man is able to jump on a donkey with no hands!
(boy, did I want to see that)

More to come!

Thursday, September 8, 2011

The end is near...

I have less than three weeks until the end of my stay in Greece.

My running partner, Yorgos is now back at work after 3 weeks of vacation.

I know, I know... The questions--
(maybe some you didn't have these thoughts)
- Why did it take you so long to write another blog?
- Why are you never on Skype?
- Why no post cards?
- What have you been up to?
- Are you Ok?!

Frankly, I don't know why I went underground. Sure, I could say it was because I was having the time of my life. But I don't think that's the reason. Needless to say, I'm back.

Here are some highlights from my time away from you.

Yorgos and I took a 400 km bike trip from Piraeus, to Nafplio, Epidavros and then north of Corinth.
See the:
The GoogleMap of our trip

It took us 4 hours to get to our first destination because we need to stop every hour because our butts would get numb from riding on the bike.

Nafplio

Just outside of Nafplio, in Mycenae


Before Nafplio, we went to see the ruins of Mycenea.

"In the second millennium BC Mycenae was one of the major centers of Greek civilization, a military stronghold which dominated much of southern Greece. ..."
-- This is from Google.

(That's right this place was way before Christ... pretty, pretty old)

In Nafplio, we celebrated a year of knowing each other-- aww.

A view from the bike!!

This is my motorcycle outfit...despite the heat--
I needed to wear long pants and long sleeves.


This photo doesn't do the Old City of Nafplio justice. It was really great.

Epidavros

We pulled over for a snack! Fresh figs right off the tree :-)

In Epidavros, we visted the theater of Asklipieio of Epidaurus. It was built around the mid-4th century by the architect Polykleitos and is the best preserved monument of the site. It has a capacity of 12.000-14.000 and has been preserved almost intact.

The acoustics in this place are AMAZING. And I believe they still hold concerts here.

So after over an hour on the bike, in the hot sun, we left our hotel in Nafplio for --

A campsite!

That's right. On a whim, Yorgos decided we should go camping...with no equipment.

At all...not even a towel.
Oh Yorgos, what an adventurer you are :-)

Seeing my accommodations, sent me to a very dark place.


A f@#&% tent?!!!

Thankfully, Yorgos ran into some relatives and we were able to upgrade to an RV...

Right by the sea!!!

This is me-- going for a sunrise swim!

North of Corinth

We ended our bike trip celebrating Yorgos' friend-- Panayotis' name day, with a BBQ.

And later went for coffee--

I will say if I had to do it over again, I would totally do it. I couldn't look or get on the bike for at least two days afterwards but all in all, it was super fun and memory I will definitely treasure.

More to come...

(Sidebar: Eek. More unfair laws have been introduced to taxi drivers, so the strikes are back!)

--------

Tuesday, August 2, 2011

Summer 2011

Miami, Lisbon, Greece...

It sounds like I'm an international journalist. Well, maybe I am...

About a month ago, I decided to leave Los Angeles for three months. Crazy, I know. This is/was a first for me to leave LA-- the land of all my "hopes & dreams" and say, 'I'll be back...sit tight'

Literally, I felt like I left LA with my career in the balance. Most actress, comics, writers, or what have you don't leave the Hollywood Hustle (for a long period of time) until they feel established-- I guess, I'm bucking the system.

But what is feeling "established" any way?! Life happens when you are living it.
You are established where you are right now.

Here's a little from me--

This is what I did last weekend...
Saturday, Yorgos took me on a day trip to the island of Agistri. It's about an hour and a half from Athens. (Sadly, I just realized that I didn't up load the photos from my iphone to my computer yet--) So the full trip re-cap will have to be later...

Here's a fun trailer of the trip:

Before I got to Greece, I got to have an overnight stay in Lisbon! How cool is that?! These are some of the perks about NOT being an organized person--> I checked my itinerary the day I was leaving and realized that there was mistake, my 12 hour layover in Lisbon was actually an overnight stay! I sent a message to the travel agent who booked my flight and I scrambled to find cheap hostels to stay in-- Thankfully, Susan (@ MiniMax Travel) corrected the situation by getting a free hotel stay and transport to the hotel from the airport and back-- Yay! (Big up, TAP Airlines)

Here are some highlights:

The Airport-- Everyone thought I was a native!
(apparently there are a lot brown people here)

The view from atop there scenic elevator of the main square
(Almalfa, is name of the city) .

This had a sign for Jorge castle! I couldn't resit taking it for my buddy...

Trolley

Starbucks in this beautiful building?!!

BACK TO GREECE...

I will have a separate post of some of the other things I have been doing in Greece. But I don't think my first blog would be complete without acknowledging the taxi strike that Yorgos has been dealing with for almost 2 months. So here's the deal-- it costs about 80,000 euros (100K) to have a license to drive a cab and the government has changed it to 3,000 euros (5K)-- it's like having your house depreciate to $5,000 dollars.

It AIN'T RIGHT-- PROTEST!!!!

More to come...

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Athens with my nearest and dearest!!!

I have been raving about my trip to Greece since I went in August. I was so happy to be able to share the experience with my mother. She came on the 20th of December-- and we had a blast!

Check it out...