Category Archives: Travel

Morning in the Plaka

With just five hours of sleep, I hit the streets of the Plaka. I had planned to explore this part of the city on my first day in Athens and then make my way to the Parthenon the next before heading on to Delphi on Monday. Located beneath the northern and eastern slopes of the Acropolis, the Plaka is the oldest part of Athens. I had studied several maps of the area, but finding the labyrinth of streets with names like Lysikratous and Plateia Monastirakiou overwhelming, I decided to wander and let my intuition guide me.

The sky was gray that first morning, it was hot and humid, and the streets were crammed with tourists. Resembling a cross between Canal Street in New York and Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco, the Plaka is filled with little shops and cafes, and in the midst of it all are ancient stone chapels and cathedrals. With graffiti covering storefronts, plate glass windows, lampposts, benches – in short, anything and everything with a surface – there’s a feeling of entropy and there’s a forlorn air about the shopkeepers, too, almost as if they’re waiting for the next chapter of Greek history to begin.

And then there are the dogs. I considered starting a list of ‘Things I Wasn’t Expecting to See in Athens and Wish I Hadn’t”, but not wanting to focus on the negative, I quickly put that project aside. I must tell you about the dogs, though, and the cats, too. The dogs are just lying about with their eyes closed. With no homes, they have no sense of purpose and little will to live. The cats seem to be doing a little better – at least they have the challenge of going after mice and rats. Thankfully, animal advocates with help from other countries in Europe and from Canada are working to develop a number of programs to alleviate this deplorable problem.

After wandering up and down dozens of streets, I came upon a modest taverna at the end of an alley. As is typical of such establishments, the menu is only a suggestion of what might be available on any given day. Settling on stuffed cabbage leaves, I’m told there aren’t any today, and I’m invited to walk up to the cafeteria-style display to see what’s being served. I select a stew of lamb, potatoes, onions and sweet peppers in a red wine sauce and return to my table to wait.

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis once said, “You are about to have your first experience with a Greek lunch. I will kill you if you pretend to like it.” My first Greek lunch was surprisingly good, and I silently thank Matt Barrett and his Athen’s Survival Guide for encouraging his readers to seek out restaurants serving authentic Greek food.

The Tests Begin

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Despite rather ominous predictions, I have returned unscathed from my journey to Delphi. As promised, there were tests. And there was an unexpected development. But I’m grateful to have had the opportunity to make the trip and I’m even more grateful to be home.

My first test was one of patience. After a ten-hour flight, I had an eight-hour layover at Heathrow. Rather than dash into London as two of my friends had suggested, I decided to get into the proper frame of mind for a pilgrimage right in the middle of Terminal 5. Feeling not unlike Tom Hanks in the movie The Terminal, I wandered up, down and around both levels several times. I ate. I read. And instead of obsessively engaging strangers in friendly chatter, I sat and calmly observed the people and the space around me and listened to my own thoughts. As daylight turned to darkness and the lights came up, the interior space that had resembled a giant gymnasium a few hours earlier took on the reverential air of a cathedral and there was a palpable hush as the travelers moved about more slowly.

The second test occurred after I arrived at my hotel in Athens. I’d had a pleasant flight from London and I’d arranged a cab to pick me up at the airport, but it was 4 a.m. and I was very tired. After checking in, I made my way to the elevator which turned out to be the size of a matchbox. I wrangled my small suitcase and my small self into the claustrophobic space and prayed as the doors slid closed barely missing my nose. So far, so good.

When I got to my room wanting nothing more than to climb out of the clothes I’d had on for what seemed like days and climb into bed, I couldn’t figure out how to turn the lights on. Just inside the door, there were the usual switches, but pressing and pushing them up and down did nothing. I parked my suitcase inside the room and headed back to the front desk. I was told to insert the room key into the slot at the top of the first switch. Back upstairs, I found the slot, slid my key in and there was light. Hallelujah! But two minutes later, the lights went out. Fumbling about in total darkness, I located the key I’d set down on the beside table and reinserted it into the slot. Lights! Two minutes later, darkness descended once again. Back at the front desk, I learned that the key needed to remain in the slot. Oh. I wondered if I might have been able to figure this out if I hadn’t been awake for over 24 hours. But no matter–I could see at last. And I had arrived at my destination without incident.

Before collapsing, I grabbed my camera and headed for the roof hoping to see the moon above the Acropolis. And there it was shining down on the Parthenon. It wasn’t a harvest moon, but it was full and it was beautiful.

Great Expectations

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“Man cannot discover new oceans until he has courage to lose sight of the shore.” – unknown

In anticipation of my departure, I’ve been experiencing a myriad of emotions, mostly fear and sadness. The fear no doubt is related to that chat I had with Source a while ago about being tested on this journey. And my clairvoyant friend Angelika warned me when this trip was just a fantasy that I could make all the plans all I wanted, but Spirit would have final say in the way things would unfold. And the sadness? Well, I have a premonition that nothing will be the same when I return.

But according to writer, teacher, travel leader, and documentary filmmaker Phil Cousineau who has been on the road all his life, this is exactly what can be expected when one sets out on a soulful journey. In his book, The Art of Pilgrimage, he recounts innumerable stories about pilgrims, sojourners and explorers who have traversed the globe throughout the millennia.

Siting Muriel Rukeyser’s essay, The Life of Poetry, Cousineau compares the fear of soulful travel to resistance to modern poetry. “A poem invites you to feel. More than that: it invites you to respond. And better than that: a poem invites a total response. So too with powerful and soulful travel. It seizes your imagination, but the way through to the sacred moment can also be through deep anxiety about the unknown. The possibility produces fear in many travelers, even at the threshold of their own door before leaving home.”

What am I expecting to find at Delphi? If given the choice, I would wish for a transformative experience analogous to that of Henry Miller, who was so moved by his travels through Greece that the account of his journey, The Colossus of Maroussi, “streamed from the heavens” straight into his soul. I couldn’t ask for anything more than that.

So, I am off at last. I leave today unfettered and untethered, so you won’t see anything from me until I return mid-October. In the meantime, don’t forget to look for the Harvest Moon this weekend. God willing, I will be viewing it rising above the Acropolis.

You Always Take Yourself With You

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In response to the news about my upcoming pilgrimage to Delphi, my friend Gary suggested that there’s ‘no need to travel to the dusty realms of the world’ to find enlightenment. I’m sure this is true. In cult classic The Adventures of Buckaroo Bonzai Across the 8th Dimension, neurosurgeon/rock star/superhero Buckaroo says, “No matter where you go, there you are.” And my former boss at Tiffany & Co. used to say, “You always take yourself with you.” I think the idea here is to look within instead of running around trying to find what seems to be missing in our lives.

But what of desire? When I graduated from high school, my best friend and I jumped on a Greyhound Bus headed for California. I can’t remember what inspired this trip, but I think it may have been my cute second-cousin Jeffrey whom I had met on a road trip with my parents. What I hoped to accomplish by seeing him again, I have no idea. But no matter; I think my friend and I just needed to experience the world outside our conservative Midwest suburban environs.

At the Claremont

So after saving a dollar each week for four years, we bought our tickets, packed our bags and were off despite parental admonitions. I don’t think we even met up with Cousin Jeffrey. But we learned that we could take care of ourselves and we found out that we could do it without much money. Having spent almost all our savings on our tickets, we decided to bring Carnation Instant Breakfast, powdered soup, and crackers with us. I remember gazing through a restaurant window in Denver at chickens turning slowly on a rotisserie longing for a hot meal that didn’t include soup. But we didn’t starve, and we returned with our virginity intact in spite of our encounter with two cute guys we met at the Claremont Hotel in Oakland.

I guess I could opt for hours of meditation instead of traveling to Delphi. Who knows? I may come back having felt nothing. If that happens, dealing with disappointment will be an adventure in itself.

Taking the First Step

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: Photo: Milos Bicanski/Getty Images

“Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

Before I booked my trip to Delphi, I was torn in two. I knew that I had to go, but I was terrified by the conversation I’d had with Source. The idea of being ‘tested’ was exciting in a way, but visions of Biblical plagues and of witches being burned at the stake started creeping into my mind. And then the fires started raging north of Athens, and I thought, ‘That’s it! I’m not meant to go.”

But realizing that I didn’t need to leave in the next week or two, I began looking at flights. I found Matt Barrett’s site on all things Greek including ‘Getting a Cheap Flight to Greece’, but after exploring all the options there, I couldn’t see anything that looked better than what I was finding at Orbitz or Travelocity. And I didn’t like what I was seeing. Between changing planes in Paris (which I learned was a total nightmare), flying from SFO to Philadelphia, then to Frankfurt (with an 11 hour layover) and then to Athens, and flying on US Airways (which I wouldn’t even consider having read online reviews), I couldn’t find any combination of flights that ‘felt’ right. I kept checking back over a period of three days thinking that surely some wonderful new option would appear. It didn’t.

So I decided to have another chat with Source:

C: Dear Spirit, PLEASE help me with this project. I’m having a really hard time making arrangements for this trip. I need a sign that it’s time to move forward. PLEASE HELP!

S: (nothing)

C: Okay. So is this how it’s going to be? You push me off the cliff and I have to find a ledge to grab onto with no help from you?

S: (dead silence)

Gathering up my courage, I decided to try another tack. I had flown British Airways to London and thought they might have flights to Athens. Bingo! Only one plane change at Heathrow going and coming back. And I love this airline! Still unable to press the ‘accept’ button, I decided to consult Colette Baron-Reid’s online Wisdom Cards. With the obvious question, Is it time – should I just do it?, I selected a card and got TRUST:

This marker reminds you that trust is required to move forward on your path. Belief and trust in a Higher Power is about having faith that the outcome will be what it should be, no matter what it is. It is timely for you to place your trust in the Divine, in your angels, and in the knowledge that there is a Divine plan for all.

Well there was my answer. I guess Source answers our pleas in different ways.

One more thing . . . Just as I was finishing this post, my next-door neighbor popped in with a free ticket to ‘San Francisco’s Only Greek Food Festival’ taking place right before I leave on my trip. How’s that for synchronicity?

Breathing in the Moon

in search of enlightenment