Great thread Motion.....

Sorry to take your thread west to Spain Motion but I just gotta comment on Spain in the 1950's. Hey Paco I went to your great country first when I was about 9 years old. We flew on the Bristol freighter(Silver City Airways) across the Channel from UK(Lydd) to Le Touquet France. Our Morris Minor Travellers car was driven on the bottom of the aircraft. Us family members sat above the cars with a great view.The noise on takeoff was ear splitting. We drove through France and then on to Spain.

Memories of Barcelona and Sitges in Spain? My sister 14 yo almost got arrested on the beach for wearing a one piece bathing suit. What the heck? Our B and B had no doors on the bedrooms. Just curtains. Way too much fish soup!. I am not a fan of fish. The religious processions. Drinking great heavy bodied Spanish red wine. I still drink Spanish red wine to this day.

Thanks Motion and Paco for helping me relive the past and listening to me....:)
Guy

Off season in Santorini is really Off Season! I wouldn't recommend it.... maybe mid to late May, or early to mid September would be ideal. Athens is fine, aside from the occasional rain shower and blustery weather. 60's are not that bad, though.

Yeah.... except, the Acropolis wasn't blown up, the Parthenon was. If you actually travelled here to see it, you might understand the difference.

There's more to travel than just appearing and observing, Tabs. There's the planning, the build-up, the actual travel, logistics, etc. Then, there's the satisfying feeling of seeing something unusual, and knowing that you were able to accomplish that, when most of your peers have not. There's also a million other things that come along with the experience, that all go into your little pea brain and help you become a more well-rounded person.

I am not adverse to that idea, Paco!

Denis, yeah..... you can see it everywhere. There are a few German cars around Athens, which I assume is the wealthiest city in the country, but they are mostly 10-15 years old. The infrastructure is crumbling, too. Downtown is fairly rough. Not as bad as Santiago, Buenos Aires, Cairo, etc.. but not great. I always expected Athens to be on par with major cities in Europe, but it seems more like a Bucharest, Budapest, Sophia, etc. I still love the city... there's just not much to do here. A lot of the culture sites have been closed down due to their austerity program. Everything is VERY affordable, but of course, a lot of that has to do with the strength of the dollar. Its probably similar to a lot of Europe, in terms of the cost of a dinner or glass of wine. Hotels are dirt cheap.

Let's talk about the motorbike thing. I'm 100% serious about this. I need to transition to being more of a French prick than I already am, and having a motorcycle stashed somewhere near the Alps would definitely facilitate that :) I can't think of a better way to do it then to buy something in Athens and ride it north along the Dalmation coast (which I drove last year) and into the Alps. Its just spectacular.

Motion: "I'm in the mood for beef! Let's all go to Ruth's Chris Steak House!"

Tabs: "I can get all the beef I want at the corner McDonalds"

I'm driving to Delphi tomorrow, then back to the airport in Athens for a late evening flight to Beirut. Unbelievably, I sat with a lieutenant general at the Delta Sky Club in SLC last week on my way to LAX who coincidentally was my commander of the 8th Air Force back in the 80's, or slightly after. He told me stories for an hour of his flying time in A10s, B52s, F117s, F4s and several others, including some type of AWACS plane I wasn't familiar with. I was just a peon E3 back then, so you can imagine how I must have felt talking to him. Military training and respect don't go away easily.

He'd been to Beirut many times, and cautioned me to be very aware of my surroundings. I have to admit, I'm not 100% at ease about this one, but am ever the optimist.

Guy, I so wish that I had been able to experience the Continent back then. You're very lucky. I almost feel like traveling in the smartphone era is cheating.

I saw a wedding procession here in Santorini from the window of my bus today. The guys up front were marching, shooting blanks with their rifles. Then, a couple dozen guys were blasting very powerful firecrackers on the road as they walked. Then, a couple hundred people followed along. Incredible, and gave me a glimpse of what it probably was like back in the day.

Some things to see:
Athens Shopping: Monastiraki Flea Market flea market best on sundays
The Changing of Guards in Athens - Greeka.com on sunday 11am crowded
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hadrian%27s_Library the Roman/Byzantium ruins w/not much left

Thanks, John! I have a full day in Athens after Beirut, so I will check out a few of these things, along with the auto museum!

I told you I did not know that the Arcopolis blew up.


And you consider traveling on holiday an accomplishment...wow what a low bar u set for yourself.

And that Mickey D's is better than half the slop you get over there.

It's all cool, Tabs. We all have our "thing". Different strokes... its what makes the world go 'round :)

Motion, I think if you traveled the World AND collected dead people's clothes and designer shoes, you might garner Tabs' approval.

No it is DEAD MENS SHOES and Designer Clothes. I picked up a beautiful pair of red Bally slip on driving shoes that were dried out. Put the scuff lotion on them, followed by a leather conditioner and the red polish and now they look like a million bucks. All for $7.50.

A few weeks back a pair of Swiss Bally Deck shoes put some conditioner on them and they look like a million. Again 7.50.

Or a pair of vintage Hanover Oxblood Cordovan long wingtip with the Goodyear Welt that polished up like glass. These were about $10.00.

keep posting Motion, as I enjoy reading about your travels

Austria has to be the place to stash a Transalp, Alps and lakes on the door step but also the Adriatic, Eastern Europe, Italy just down the road. If I had the money this is where my garage would be.

Actually I have traveled around a bit. After about 2 weeks on the road I get tired and want to go home. For me the best part of the trip is when I open the door at home. There I have all the comforts of home and hearth.

Just 2 lousy pictures? Ya gotta do better than that. :D

Ian

Looks like we have a deal then 😜

I too enjoy Motion and other's travel threads...it's how I see the world :)

How many countries have you been to if you don't mind me asking? I actually don't like to travel myself, but do enjoy these glimpses...