My Beautiful Laundrette

We weren't sure how to illustrate this post, so we're going with a complete non-sequiter (or maybe doing laundry can be epically Wagnerian?)...


One of Sid's major concerns for this trip was washing - how, when, how much - what to do with our dirty clothes (this is Philip, btw). Here's how we dealt with that aspect of things...
First wash was in Tewkesbury at a local laundrette. Depressing place - we took care of our own machines, there were some ladies working there who'd take care of your wash for a price (& a 24 hour turnaround, which was too long for us). Maybe it was the job, maybe it was the place, but they were not happy. I exited with a few damp undies just to get out from under the black cloud.
Next, Galway. As noted before, its a bit of a backpackers haven & there were self wash facilities galore. Clare helped me carry our bags of dirties & we loaded up the machines. The lady working there was lovely, very helpful - and spent the whole time saying the rosary, flicking her beads. Maybe she was praying for the lost souls (aka backpakers), maybe she was praying that the machines didn't break down. Whatever her motivation, things worked out well & we headed out of ireland in lovely, fresh clothes.
Scotland - we got one over the canny Scots. The hotel (the Lovat!) said they'd do us a favour & wash a bag of clothes for a few pounds - we turned up with 4 bags. They looked askance, took the laundry & reluctantly washed it all.
London part deux - our hotel charged $4 for undies, no self wash facilities in Knightsbridge. I found a cleaner that agreed to do the lot for gbp20 & delivered it to our hotel. Nice!
Paris - interestingly, the most technologically advanced laundrette. Nice big machines, a central paying station, fully automated. Plus a cafe right next door. My favourite laundry experience from an ambience & technological perspective.
Florence - we put Lee's machine through its paces, dried everything on the line - the true Italian way.
Munich - again interestingly, the most social experience. Lots of tourists, everyone sitting around chatting (an Aussie couple fresh from the passion plays, a Canadian dude from Vancouver, a Brit, some yanks). One told the story of being in a laundrette & a customer stuffing the machine, then taking his clothes off & throwing them as well - sitting there in his undies. Fortunately (maybe unfortunately?), no-one stripped off here.
Santorini - again, a tourist mecca, found a convenient drop off place.

Last Day in Europe

We spent it repacking, reorganizing, reactivating (PK and I hit the gym), and relaxing. A quick boat tour on the Main (Frankfurt's river) and a walk around the Romer was the last of the European sight-seeing. Turns out that Frankfurt has a high quality-of-life rating, and apart from the gang of anarchists we saw (and me without my camera, curses!), we can understand why. It's a friendly, easy, even pretty city.

I'm writing this from the JAL Lounge in the Frankfurt Airport--we're flying Qantas to Singapore though, and the plane leaves at 11:55. At least we'll all sleep for the first half.

Folks, don't stop checking in. We'll be blogging from Singapore on our trip in retrospect (and then might start another that charts our experiences Down Under). The kids will have to wear school uniforms (gasp!). That alone is worth a few posts.

Missing everyone from home!

Frankfurter Burgermeister Meisterburgers

Back to Deutschland to prepare to depart Europe for Asia, staying 24 hours in Frankfurt, birthplace of Goethe and the hotdog. With very little intention of doing any sight-seeing, a quick walk around the city center has changed our plans. Tomorrow we will make our way past the Oktoberfest tents (Schnitzel! Bratwurst! Beer!) and perhaps take a bus around the city, which is clean, affluent, spacious and generally quite nice.

I'm glad we have given the kids another chance to make jokes about all the einfahrt and ausfahrt signage.

Truth be told, however, we are very excited for Singapore and then Australia!

The Poseidon Adventure

After all those rough ferry rides in the occasionally rough Aegean/Mediterranean, it now seems plausible that it took Odysseus 10 years to get home to Ithaca from Troy. Lesson: don't anger Poseidon (and desist from blinding his one-eyed son Polyphemus)! So we landed in Rafina instead of Athens on the Greek mainland, hired a car and driver (sort of a must in Greece), and made for Sounion, the place of Poseidon's Temple to pay due homage to the god of the sea and earthquakes. What a glorious, spiritual spot and well worth the trip.



The graceful column ruins (5th century BC) sit on a peninsula surrounded by the azure blue of the Aegean in a place of great peace and beauty. It was difficult to leave once there, and we would have dearly loved to have stayed for the sunset.

But we were due back in Athens to meet Phililp's friend/colleague D. who has also taken the brave leap of a year's sabbatical from Wall Street. On the way to Athens, we egged our driver on about Lord Elgin, "the thief" he called him, and the transit worker strike (he will lose the value of his very expensive limo license). But he also showed us the world's oldest amphitheater built to entertain the silver mine workers before the Golden Age--the Theater of Dionysus is only the second oldest theater.

We arrived in time to have drinks on the private roofdeck of our room in the Periscope with D. and his wife J.--it was a gorgeous night, that view of the Acropolis still stunning, and Lycabettus Hill behind our hotel was brilliantly lit as well.

We exchanged ideas, stories, blog addresses. I marvel at how much more difficult their year will be learning the language (a very difficult one) and negotiating the byzantine bureaucracy for which Greece is famous. One thing worth mentioning about Greece: whenever the Greeks break ground on new projects like the Metro and the Acropolis Museum, they find antiquities still buried--so apparently the metro is almost a museum; on display still underground are some of the treasures unearthed as they dug the tunnels.

It's quite a place, Greece. It makes me fantasize about being an archeologist.

Greece is the Word

After four days in Mykonos, including a day at Super Paradise beach, we are back in Athens. Mykonos was fantastic, and the day we spent at Super Paradise Beach the crowning glory of the visit. It seems that in Mykonos, unlike in Santorini, boardshorts win, but there's a dark horse entry--the full monty male nudity. For some reason Philip wasn't snapping photos of those blokes for the blog!

No surprise that Super Paradise is tricked out to be a major party spot--full outdoor restaurant, bar, dance floor, hidden sitting alcoves all overlooking a spectacular beach with a beautiful, warm, crystal blue sea. After the odd red beach in Santorini and the rock beach in Nice, we were thrilled to have real sand under our feet.

What Happens in Mykonos Stays in Mykonos

Shagadelic Mykonos

Having survived another ferry ride in the Aegean Sea (Poseidon going rather lightly on us this time), we arrived on the island of Mykonos, 5 miles from one of the most sacred of the Greek islands: Delos, birthplace of Apollo and Artemis. Very different from Santorini, Mykonos is flat in comparison and very cosmopolitan. We're staying at a shagadelic hotel that harkens back to the early 70's when Jackie O. and Brigitte Bardot made Mykonos their playground. The Theoxenia Hotel is in fact the lovingly refurbished hotel of the 70's that such luminaries frequented. You expect Truman Capote and Andy Warhol to walk in at any moment. The decor is very Austin Powers and overall it's a wonderful, luxurious place, right near the famous Mykonos windmills and a short walk from the island's town center.

But for those of us interested in the Greek myths, Mykonos is a very special place. Delos is considered to be the center of the Cyclades islands of Greece--they in fact "cycle" around Delos. And Mykonos is reputedly where Hercules slew the giants--and their petrified bodies are still discernible as the magnificent rocks you see all around.

Having lived in a cave 200 meters above the watery crater of the Santorini volcano, it's nice to be right on the water again, hearing the waves on the shores, seeing the colorful fishing boats up close, and even hanging out with the enormous pelican that appears to be the island's mascot--he walks through the town like he owns the place.

So far we are content to lounge by the super cool pool (with its own islands), slurping fruit and honey smoothies and occasionally dragging ourselves into town for some food, shopping, exercise. Philip is still wondering if he should trade in his boardshorts for the European options...please someone talk some sense to him!