Athens, Greece October 2002 - September 2003
John won a post-doc at the American School of Classical Studies in Athens, as well as a travel grant to spend two months in Cyprus and Turkey respectively. Amanda continues to freelance for Italy Daily, Wired News, the Daily Mail and other magazines. They hole up in a small flat in Kolonaki, near Lykavitos (the wolf hill, though only owls haunt the urban mountain now). The neighbourhood, Kolonaki, is rather chichi and filled with boutiques, but is safe, central and only moderately crowded with cockroaches.

Peloponnese trip The balmy October air was full of sunshine, butterflies and the fragrance of crushed pine needles. Highlights included the austere citadel of Mycenae, a dusky jog to the sandy shores of Pylos and racing the sunset along the ridge at Messenia. The low point occurred in Argos, where we suspiciously sprang a flat among the largest concentration of auto and tire shops ever seen.
John proved quite handy with the jack not to mention haggling for a spare in Greek! We also foolishly travelled on Ohi (No) Day, to celebrate Metaxas denying Mussolini's troops passage across the mainland. We, however, were allowed to wend across the peninsula in the pitch darkness. At every village, there was no room at the inn, until we managed to book the last piss-and-smoke soaked room in Tripoli at 1.00am. We were already drained and shaky as we entered the ferocious clot of cars heading into Athens, slaloming lawlessly, coasting miles in the breakdown lane. All in all, it was a glorious trip, including Epidauros, Tiryns, Sparta, Olympia and Corinth, among other scenic and historic sites. As for driving on national holidays, just say ohi. More photos. Central Greece This excursion started badly (smashing the car's fender in the rental lot) and continued in haphazard, miserable fashion until its untimely end. John fell ill with a ferocious cold and lay mewling in the hotel, unable to stay upright for more than a few hours. Roads were closed. Hotels buttoned up. Museums were shut (often with coy little notes pinned to the door: "Just popped out. I'll be at the [obscure building] until next June when our five annual tourists arrive!"). The backroads consumed every shred of time and energy, yielding sod-all, not even a decent tzatsiki. Yes, Delphi was mystic, moving and profound. But it couldn't counteract the starkness of Thermopylae, reduced to a highway rest-stop festooned with toilet-paper lumps and traffic cops. We gave up, fled home and caught the tail end of Relic Hunter, happy to watch Professor Sydney Fox kung-fu her way through archaeological peril, rather than navigating the bleak reality ourselves.
Athens, Greece The Acropolis truly exceeds expectations, that great golden lump of rock, crowned by ruined columns. We've also grown to love our backyard mountain, once a wolf-infested wilderness, now honeycombed by paths, cafes, a church, concert hall and funicular. Fat, fleshy century plants creep down the slopes, interspersed with high spears similar to giant asparagus. The Saronic Gulf unfolds below, rosy in the sunset (go air pollution, go!).
Ionian Islands Our itinerary, built around seven Athens News travel assignments, was unexpectedly enjoyable. We whisked through Nafpaktos, Messolongi, Lefkada, Kefalonia, Ithaca, Zakynthos, Olympia and Patra in one giddy week. Like the Greeks, we drove around with a wildflower wreath on our dashboard, windows open to savour the sweet spring air. Tthe heatwave was extreme enough, that John managed to swim twice in the peacock sea.
Greek Islands and the Ionian Coast Our odyssey began on Lesvos, birthplace of the poetess Sappho, then proceeded to Chios and its curious graffiti-covered village. We crossed the Straight of Marmara to Turkey, visiting Sardis, the superb Roman ruins at Ephesus, Priene, Miletus and Didyma. Next Samos; the rough gem of Ikaria; Mykonos, where the Beautiful People parade and the mountainous isle of Delos. A week in postcard-perfect Santorini – with friends from Cyprus – rounded out the Aegean leg.
John and Amanda's Big Fat Greek Divorce With no warning, John left me in Athens, asking for a year's separation. I tried this for a month and found it unbearable, then filed for divorce. We've remained friends, despite the split. Editing work at the Athens News helped fill the painful days alone in Greece.
Amanda's articles about Greece Santorini: Star of the Cyclades American Woman Road and Travel, 1 July 2003 The five islands are better known as Santorini, the star of the Cyclades – and countless Greek promotional posters, which peddle the whitewashed walls, azure domes and sheer volcanic crescent of cliffs, cutaway like a child's diorama, revealing the Aegean's geological secrets. Hero worship Time Out Athens, 2004 Ancient Greece is hot property in Hollywood right now, as studios scramble to launch a new generation of sword-and-sandal epics. (‘Toga saga’, another genre description batted about, is, of course, technically inaccurate: Ancient Greeks dressed in chitons, which doesn’t quite have the same ring to it.) Greek myths and legends Time Out Athens, 2004 The Hellenic deities certainly weren’t exactly role models. They lied, cheated, squabbled and toyed ruthlessly with humans. See also the A–Z of Greek Gods. Greece 2004: beyond the Olympics Thisistravel.co.uk, February 2004 Many families are hesitant to plunge into the crowded, smoggy capital at peak season. They want a taste of Greek glamour – without eating the whole souvlaki. The solution couldn’t be more pleasant: head to the islands. After all, the nation boasts 227 options (and that’s just the inhabited ones). A happy ending for a legendary pirate haven Athens News, 22 August 2003 Nafpaktos is a fairy-tale land. A tiny tower guards the harbour, its slender gnome-hat overlooking an oval pool. Jagged-tooth battlements bristle across the narrow entrance, then zig-zag up flower-swathed slopes to the fortress. Cafe umbrellas snap in the wind. Red buoys, bright fishing boats and varnished yachts bob in the turquoise water. It looks like Never-Never Land (and once was a pirate haven, in fact) or Prince Charming's seaside retreat. Only a fire-snorting dragon could improve the ambience. Corelli’s uncorrupted Greek isle American Woman Road and Travel, August 2003 The blue and white paperback is everywhere. Eight years after its debut, Corelli's Mandolin still crops up in airport bookstores, rural coffee shops, tattered pages face-down on sandy beaches. So you'd expect the Greek island Kefalonia - where Louis de Bernières set his best-selling book - to be a tacky theme park of star-crossed Mediterranean love. The enchanted 'isle of rubbish' Athens News, 11 July 2003 Zakynthos is an island of rubbish - or so locals claim. They're not protesting the tourist trash or bemoaning earthquake debris, however. This mess goes back much farther. Legends insist that God, after creating the world, swept the odds and ends into the ocean. And that mound became the third-largest of the Ionian Islands. A sacred city re-emerging from the ruins Athens News, 4 July 2003 Messolongi's soil is stained by the blood of heroes. The area is famous for dramatic deaths: Suliot mothers hurling their children off crags, the klepht Markos Botzaris crumpling in battle, Lord Byron's fatal fever and the slaughter of the Free Besieged. The town is mighty, but morbid and marshy: Not the most obvious choice for a carefree holiday, in other words. Ancient Olympia: The Field of Dreams Athens News, 27 June 2003 Olympia enthrals visitors like no other ancient site, because each and every tourist has a connection with that tiny patch of the Peloponnese. They have watched their country's best athletes struggle for gold at the Games. They have cheered and groaned, perhaps even dreamed of glory themselves. And so they make a pilgrimage to the riverbanks where it all began. Sparky island spirit uncorrupted by Corelli Athens News, 20 June 2003 Kefalonia didn't submit easily to the Normans or the Turks or the Germans. The plucky "island character" led them to resist. And that same spirit is saving the area today from the cloying clutches of Captain Corelli's Mandolin. Patra: Emerging from the Sirens’ Shadows Athens News, 6 June 2003 The bulky white boats wallow at the docks. Their bellies swell with tourists, lured by exotic dreams, the siren songs of Captain Corelli in Kefalonia and la dolce vita in Italy. Travellers scramble to board. To them, Patra is a dim train station, a smear of gaudy ticket booths and cheap cafes, a grungy working port. It’s a place to be endured en route to somewhere better... But Patra is emerging from the long shadows cast by these sirens. Greece’s First Lady of Hospitality Travel Age West, 2 June 2003 Glinting with gilt and marble, the Hotel Grande Bretagne is ready to resume its role in history. The French Renaissance mansion has hosted spies, kings, industrialists and stars, prompting its gracious title "the First Lady of Hospitality". Europe’s Cinderella: Greece’s capital turns rags to riches and Olympic gold in 2004 American Woman Road and Travel, 1 June 2003 Today, the Megalo Chorio the "Big Village" of more than five million people has a reputation for cement chaos unrivalled outside the former Soviet Bloc. But the Summer Games have truly galvanised the Greeks, igniting their legendary resourcefulness. Like Cinderella, Athens is casting off its tatters, revealing a vibrancy and beauty that captivates utterly. Lefkada's alchemy: turning scrap metal into gold Athens News, 23 May 2003 Lefkada Town could pass for modern art. Blocks of sassy colour peacock, rose, ochre, emerald adorn the haphazard alleys, which spiral and splinter (to disorient marauding pirates in medieval times). The buildings are cobbled together: Venetian stone arches crowned by sheet metal, corrugated tin and salvaged wood. And, like so many contemporary masterpieces, the island’s capital perfectly blends this mash of emotion, colour and texture. More Fallout Over Greek Game Ban Wired News on 13 February, 2003 ATHENS -- The government is standing by its controversial law banning electronic games in public, which Greek judges consider unconstitutional. But the European Union has warned Greece: Drop it or get hauled into court for hampering the free movement of goods. Olympic Challenges The Daily Mail's thisistravel.co.uk in November, 2002 Athens has embraced the Olympic motto - "swifter, higher, stronger" as the city prepares for the 2004 Summer Games. It may also have added "dearer"... Greece gave birth to the Olympics over 2000 years ago. Athens staged the first modern tournament in 1896 with just 245 athletes. History aside, it’s one of the smallest countries to host the event. And the process has not been smooth.
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