The Odyssey

It all started with a little change of our scheduled flight out of Rhodes from 6:40 am to 7:10 am. The airline said we wouldn't make our connecting flight in Athens to Munich, so we changed our departure time to 9:40 pm the night before and planned to make the best of staying in the Athens airport for nine hours overnight.

We searched for seats without armrests and found them already occupied by other travelers spending the night. Jeff finally gave up and slept on the floor. We managed to get a few hours sleep before an irate group of French speaking people arrived around 4:00 am. They were certainly angry about something! We got up and had breakfast at the McDonald's Cafe on the third floor. It was quiet and we discovered a museum nearby containing some great artifacts they found before the new Athens airport was built on the archeological site.

We arrived in perfect time at our departure gate to find all the seats filled with passengers waiting for the flight before which was delayed because of weather. They moved us to another gate and still our flight was delayed 25 minutes. So much for our heroic efforts of staying in the airport overnight so we would be on time!

When we arrived in Munich, we anxiously went through check in and the passport check line and then RAN with our heavy carry-on luggage to gate H-36 for our flight to Chicago. We missed the flight. Walking back to the Lufthansa help desk, we were uncertain what would happen next. The lady there was so helpful, she was determined to not only get us a flight to the USA, but a good flight schedule. An hour later, we had plans to fly to Frankfurt in the morning and then a direct flight to Denver. She also called Aegean Air and they agreed to pay for our hotel for the night. Our helpful angel was a bit frustrated when she couldn't get our ticket from Denver to Alberquerque to print out. Writing us a handwritten ticket, she warned us twice not to lose it.

Waiting outside for the shuttle bus to the Sheraton Hotel was a chilly proposition. It was around 35 degrees and damp. The Germans gave us some puzzled looks since we were not dressed for the occasion. My bright purple flannel shirt was strange among all those black and dark blue coats. Our hotel stay included a lovely dinner and light breakfast and we we were so grateful not to spend our few remaining Euros.

The flight to Frankfurt was perfect and we had plenty of time to catch our next flight to Denver. Our concerns started to rise again when we got to our gate and there was a huge crowd of people and nothing was happening. Eventually, instead of boarding the usual way, they led us down several stairways and down a long hall, and finally loaded all four hundred of us on buses! After a long ride, we boarded the airplane from the tarmack. The pilot apologized that for some reason the airplane had not been cleaned. He said that it looked like a "frat party" had occurred on board and that was the cause of the delay. Thankfully in the ten hour flight, the pilot was able to make up ten minutes of the 20 minute delay, so we landed in Denver almost on time.

Unfortunately, several other international flights arrived at the same time and the line to go through customs was huge, plus we had to claim our checked bags and recheck them on United to go to Alberquerque. Again, we were running to get to our gate and arrived just in time to watch our airplane backing away from the boarding dock! Arrrgh. We were not late, but they left a little early because they didn't know to look for us because we were not in the computer because the ticket wouldn't print in Munich and we only had the hand written ticket!

Back to the United Gate, who sent us to Lufthansa, who sent us all the way back to the Lufthansa Desk in the main terminal, where we encountered a line of about 30 unhappy Germans who had also missed their flights.

Jeff was supposed to leave for Chicago in the morning for work, but after some discussion and several phone calls, we decided to stay in Denver. The airline wouldn't pay for the hotel, since they were only nine minutes late, but we did get a substantial discount which helped. We were so tired and jet-lagged that we waited in the wrong place for the shuttle bus. Finally, we got to the hotel where Jeff fell asleep with the t.v. remote in one hand and a bag of uneaten cookies in the other.

We arrived at the airport the next morning optimistic and with a nice two hour time cushion. While we were going through the security check, we were flagged and given the full TSA search with the body x-ray and our carry-on baggage completely unpacked and searched. We were flagged because our flight plan had changed in the last 24 hours!

Finally, we go to board the train that will take us to the concourse we need to be to board our plane. We realize the terminal is filling with people and the trains are not running. Our time cushion is slipping away! Eventually the trains start moving, but it takes several before we can get on. I actually have a small laughing fit because this is all beginning to feel completely ridiculous. We arrive at our gate just as they are beginning to board the plane. Whew!

We experience a miracle in Alberquerque when our checked luggage actually show up on the carousel, we had no idea where it might be. Our three hour drive to Taos is pleasant, the weather is lovely. We stop to get some groceries in town and then go to drive the last nine miles home up Taos canyon. At the entrance, we find there are police cars and an angry officer that won't let any one pass. Eventually, we learn there was a fatal accident and it may be a three hour wait or more.

Considering our options, we decide to take the gravel forest service road that goes over the mountain and comes out about a mile from our house. An hour and a half later, we come to the junction where the dirt road meets the highway, and find an angry, frustrated fireman who won't let us past. Amazed, Jeff parks the truck on the side of the road and we wait. It's getting cold, I feel like crying, and Jeff is wondering if we could walk that last mile. Finally, the fireman comes over and apologizes. He thought we were just more people trying to go down and get a look at the accident. After promising that we sincerely just want to go home, he lets us pass. We arrive home 81 hours after we left the apartment in Greece! A full two days later than planned.

We have really discussed and pondered what all this was about. I have decided that perhaps I was to learn that delays do not necessarily mean you won't get to your destination. Staying calm and having a sense of humour are invaluable. I am keeping this is mind as I consider my art career and the recent financial crisis. I am grateful that we were fine, even though we didn't know what would happen next!

Jeff's corner: The Odyssey by Homer Simpson: "D'oh!!"

Time Warp

Hello all, I had plans to write about our trip home which is quite the story, but I am short on time and still trying to adjust to being home. We have found that it is taking longer than we thought to get back into the swing of things. Jeff got an extra bonus by getting sick the day after we got home. All my paranoid taking of garlic and germ fighters for enclosed spaces seem to have paid off, I didn't catch what Jeff had, which for those who know me, the Queen-of-Colds, is quite the miracle!

Another thing we didn't expect was to still have any sort of employment. Our talented boss decided that maybe we could work out something long distance. We have still had to move the part of the studio we will be using here to a new location, so that has taken some time and adjustment. I did request an extra day off each week to work on my own artwork and she was willing to accommodate me.

Jeff and I met a lovely lady when we were at a friends wedding this fall, and she is interested in showing our paintings this spring at a local hotel-spa-resort. They are interested in Southwest themes and so we will have to put the Greece paintings on hold if we want to be considered for that show. We would love to take advantage of the opportunity and plan to go out and try to see and photograph this area just like we did in Greece.

Our photos from Greece are still in our cameras and I have not completely unpacked one of my bags. I am trying my best to hold on to the calm, easy attitude I had there and not get so stressed out with everyday life. Our mantra on the trip was that "everything works out", and it did, when I relaxed and let it! I am posting my most favorite photo from the trip. It was supposed to go on the "Wild Things" blog, but I couldn't find it last time. This cat came by while we were on the beach with all the confidence in the world and made himself quite at home on my towel. When he had received the attention he thought he deserved, he continued on down the beach to greet the next lucky person. Everything works out, eventually.

Jeff's Corner: Airplanes are just flying germ cans! (cough, cough)

Wild Things

My jet-lagged mind is finally starting to clear and I realized it had been over a week since I last posted on the blog! Thanks so much to all of you who have been reading and commenting, it meant so much to up to hear from you and it kept me focused to keep on writing. It was a good exercise to try and crystallize our experiences as they were happening. It did take effort to write it all down, go to the internet cafe, pay a Euro and a half for an hour of time, then type like crazy amid cigarette smoke, loud music, and the twenty-something crowd playing video games.

If you asked me what kind of wild life we saw in Rhodes, besides the people at the internet cafe, I would have to answer "cats". They were everywhere; in the dumpsters, on door steps and on the beach. I couldn't resist them and Jeff teased me about taking pictures of "another cat". But when I was starting to run out of space on my photo card towards the end of the trip, he took some of the most wonderful cat pictures for me. What a sweetheart!

The second type of wild life I would mention would have to be goats. They would casually cross the highway, sit unconcerned on the warm pavement, and eat your stuff on the beach if they thought you weren't looking. We were greatly amazed when we visited the castle ruin at Asklipio. We were taking pictures from the outside of the castle walls, when I looked up and saw what looked like an rear end of a goat hanging over the wall. When we got inside, there were goats sunning themselves on every wall imaginable. "Ancient Castle With Goats" was the title we decided would be appropriate for the painting inspired by those photos.

I later asked one of the island locals if anyone was actually watching all those wandering herds. He said they did belong to people, but if you accidentally hit and killed one of the goats with your car, the owner couldn't claim damages.

The donkeys carrying the tourists to the top of the castle in Lindos were not exactly wild, but hearing them bray every now and then was a sound we didn't expect to hear. There was a funny postcard with a donkey watching a cruise ship come in. In his thought bubble, he was unhappily remembering his journey with the last shipload of overweight tourists.

I couldn't resist doing a painting of one of the wild life I loved the most. A little street kitten I saw in Rhodos, Old Town. I loved his bright-eyed expression. I hope you will enjoy it too.

Jeff's Corner: My favorite wild life were the nudists on the south end of Tsambika beach.

Yes, But What About The Paintings?

Many of you are wondering if we are getting any painting done with all the sight-seeing, beach hopping and learning of history, etc.

We did end up discussing this very topic early on in our adventure. I thought we should be painting more, and Jeff thought we shouldn't miss anything here. Jeff claims he had no idea there would be so much to do and see. I have to say, it far exceeded my expectations. At the closing of our time here, I'm glad we went out to see all we possibly could.

We tried to develop the quickest way to get paintings done in this more humid climate. Doing a detailed underpainting with black and white acrylic paints dries very quickly and makes adding the color with the oil paints much easier. We could also use thinner coats of oil paint and that also helps the drying time.

My original expectation was that in a month, each of us could at least have eight to ten paintings completed. The actual final tally is that I have three completely finished with color, and Jeff has six, but only one complete with color. Of course he had to do a detailed triptych of the Palace of the Grand Masters....

Many times life just doesn't match what I first expect or believe. We have discovered that the airport here has a section just as sleek and up-to-date as Munich. The flights from Europe come in there. WE came in on the section the local people fly in on. They don't care about bathrooms because they live here.

In the little shops that looked so "touristy" at first, we have discovered some of the nicest local people. We have been invited for Sunday dinner, which we gladly accepted the invitation. Another family let us know about their daughters performance of Byzantine Greek style music in a traditional Greek taverna. We were the only tourists there, and the music was amazing! There are elegantly designed homes and neighborhoods as well as the older, more worn ones. It was well worth exploring the places that the tour buses didn't go.

It is a good thing to look deeper than my first impressions, and adjust my expectations. We may not have completed many paintings, but we have certainly been energized and inspired to paint, and we wouldn't trade any one of our experiences here. Sometimes the "Giant Cross You Can't See" just happens to sit over the crest of the hill, and if you take the bus by-pass, you can see it perfectly for miles!

Jeff's Corner: The last impression I made was a butt print in the sand on the beach!

A Tale of Four Cities

In 408 BC, the three city-states of Rhodes: Ialyssos, Lindos, and Kamiros joined together to form the new capitol Rodos at the northern tip of the island.

Learning about the city-states, I really felt the tie to our own country's history. They were designed to protect their citizens, their rights, ensure their liberty and provide them with opportunities. In return, citizens were responsible for participating in politics and in obeying the law.

Early on, we planned to visit all four cities. I was a little disappointed that Ialyssos had the least amount of actual Greek ruins. It's strategic location high on a hill with good land for growing crops nearby was attractive to the Byzantine monks, Genoese merchants, Christian Knights, Turkish, and Italians too! Everyone built something on, or around the old city.

Lindos had the most stunning setting high on a point jutting into the sea. More of the acropolis was left because thankfully, the Knights of St. John simply built their castle walls around it. We were delighted to see the small harbour where the Apostle Paul landed around 52 AD to teach the Greeks the Gospel. The city of Lindos still sits below the castle walls and is filled to capacity with bus loads of tourists. Even in the "off season", we counted twenty-six buses in the parking lot. Beautiful white city, but go EARLY in the morning!

Kamiros was the smallest of the city-states. After a severe earthquake in 226 BC, the same quake that took down the Colossus, the city was abandoned and only rediscovered in 1859. We loved wandering around here because we were in the actual old city. The walls of the homes and public buildings were still in place. We explored them, then climbed the long central stepped street up the hill where the many columned stoa and temple of Athena stood, and looked out to the sea. The columns were no longer in place, but we could imagine how beautiful it would have been.

The new capital, Rodos, was laid out in the "new" grid system which was much in vogue at the time, with planned residential and commercial quarters. When Jeff saw a map of the ancient city, he was instantly in love. It was nothing like the twisting maze of roads that exist in the medieval city and the modern city today. We could barely imagine the original Greek city walls that measured 15 kilometers around, but the few corner columns left of the temple of Apollo are massive! We also liked the restored theater and stadium which are still in use for events.

A hundred years after the city-states created Rodos, the city was attacked by Demetrios of Macedonia. Rodos successfully withstood the siege, and celebrated by using the materials from the abandoned siege engines to fund the building of the Colossus. Talk about public funding for the Arts! The Colossus was one of the inspirations for the French artist who designed the Statue of Liberty. The radiating "rays" from the head of the sun god Helios look familiar to us encircling the head of our Lady Liberty. Sometimes we don't realize how closely our present is linked to the distant past.

Jeff's Corner: If the grid system existed today, I could get to the beach quicker!

Joy Ride

Our horizons definitely opened up when we got a car. The first day we immediately headed down the west side of the island and soon we could see the rocky coastline, pine forests, and spectacular blue water vistas we had been waiting to see.

Finding a wonderful castle perched on a steep cliff just outside the small town of Kritinia was a delight. Most of the castle was gone, but the shell that was left was great to explore. Just down the road was another castle at Monolithos. Those Knights of St. John were busy! We now know of six castles on this island, plus others on the islands of Halki and Symi.

In Switzerland, we managed just fine without a car. Even though we stayed in a fairly remote area, the railway system got us were we needed to go. The bus system here is good, if you just want to see the big main attractions. It is also pretty crowded even in the "off season" and it doesn't go to the southern part of the island very often, if at all.

So far we have logged about 1,000 Kilometers on that little grey car, exploring most of the roads on the island. It's been worth every penny to beat the crowds for photographing the acropolis at Lindos, getting to see the frescoes at the remote Thari and Yeoryis Vardhas churches, and having a stretch of golden sand almost to ourselves at Mavros Kavos beach.

The local drivers are a little pushy, especially the ones who drive BMW and Mercedes vehicles. Sometimes the signs can be tricky to find, but it is still driving on the right side of the road and Jeff has excellent reflexes!

Jeff's Corner: It only took seven days before I was complaining about how slow the tourists drive. I feel right at home-

Adventures In Walking

The first few days we were recovering from jet lag. It is nine hours ahead here, so Jeff was up most the night and I couldn't wake up in the morning!

We didn't have a car yet, so we were walking to any destinations reasonably close by. Thankfully the supermarket was only a block away.

The first serious sight-seeing location we attempted besides the beach, was Filerimos hill. Located about three miles away, with many layers of history. The Turk, Suleyman the Magnificent, directed the successful 1522 AD siege of Rhodes from the Byzantine castle here. We also wanted to see the ancient acropolis of Ialyssos, one of the founding city states of Rhodes, plus the temples of Zeus and Athena built atop an older Phoenician shrine. The barrel vaulted church of St Ai Yeorgis Hortas with fourteenth and fiftheenth-century frescoes also intrigued us.

The defining marker on the hill is a huge 70 foot concrete cross the Italians built after they took over Rhodes in 1912 during the first World War. We understood the cross could be seen in nearby Turkey, so we thought we would easily locate the correct hill. After an hour and a half of walking, trying to understand Greek signs and dodging traffic, we finally gave up and walked to Rodhos, Old Town which is four miles away instead.

We were so energized after seeing the great sights in Old Town, that we decided to take the beach walk back to Ixia, even though it was longer than the way we walked in originally. It wrapped around the farthest north point of the island and was very scenic with the sun setting over the water. Wow, absolutely worth it!

However, after the sun went down, we got to the part of the walk way that they were still finishing. Working our way around construction and with the adrenaline rush over, I was wishing I was on one of those buses whizzing by! Eventually we got back to the apartment, had some dinner and the world was a great place again.

Days later, after we rented a car, Jeff was determined to find out where we had gone wrong going to Filerimos. Imagine our chagrin when we discovered at one of the confusing busy intersections we had been stuck at, a small sign on a tall post pointing to Filerimos. We didn't see it because we had been standing right under it!

Jeff's Corner: Don't forget to look UP....