Tales of a Wanderer

Kalispera (greek for hello)
After several flight delays and travelling for over 24 hours, I arrived in Athens around 2am. I immediately met a group of Americans studying abroad in Paris who were headed to the island of Milos for spring break. Speaking of spring break, every college student in europe must have come here because they're everywhere. The Americans were very friendly and we had a nice chat on the bus - they were surprised that I was travelling on my own and offered me their info in Paris since they'll be there when I swing through later this month. I met a man from Crete on the bus as well who is now living in Athens. We talked about the movie "300" and he asked me if I surfed. I tried explaining about the cold water and the great whites - not sure if he totally understood.

The airport in Amsterdam almost arrested me. I had such a long delay (9 hours) that I was able to take the train into Amsterdam. It was amazing weather and scenery - bikes everywhere, beautiful canals and pot shops all over. When I got back from Amsterdam to the airport, I was looking for my luggage in my storage, when I passed backward through a secure checkpoint. Immediately I had 3 dutch security guards questioning me and threatening to arrest me. Thankfully they let the "stupid American" go. hahaa I was so beyond tired yesterday that I must have wandered in circles for several hours in the airport before I was able to finish checking in. Don't even make me explain what happened with the liquids in my bag.

I'm going to see the Acropolis today - it's Good Friday today so it opens at 12pm. The one thing I forgot was my camera cable to d/l images so I'll have to buy one soon so I can show you all some pics on this blog!

Hope you're all well - Jeremy

My blog name is Iaremia. Why? Because that is my name in Greek and to Greece I am going.

Follow my travel progress here:
http://www.travellerspoint.com/member_map.cfm?tripid=22846&stopid=61421

I have never been to Europe (besides the 15 minutes of glory I spent running around Picadilly Circus in London after a long excursion out of Heathrow Airport.) Why am I going? I'm not getting any younger and I'm not orphaning any children if I mysteriously disappear. I've had my share of travelling in other countries – Guatemala, Philippines, Mexico, Canada and South Africa but have never been anywhere for an extended period of time just to travel.

I have been reading much of the history of Europe for the last several years from King Leonidas' stand at Thermopylae in the 5th century BC (yes I started reading Tom Holland's book "Persian Fire" long before "300" came out in the theater) to Ataturk's creation of the modern state of Turkey in the early 1920's (see "A Peace to End All Peace" by David Fromkin). I have to say that I am most interested in Greek history – the twists and turns of demokratia (democracy) in the face of dominating Persian monarchy to the incorporation into the Roman Empire and the pinnacle of Greek culture and ideology in the Byzantine Empire under Emperor Justininian. Hagia Sophia (the Church of Holy Wisdom) built by Justinian in the 530's in record time in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul) is definitely one my top destinations. Considered one of the 8 wonders of the ancient world, it still stands today as a museum in the heart of Istanbul. The church was the symbol and the center of the Byzantine Empire for almost 1000 years until the Ottoman Turks under Sultan Mehmet II took Constantinople by siege. The Sultan hired a Hungarian engineer to build around 14 cannons to destroy the 1000 year old walls. Ironically, the Hungarian had appealed to the Byzantine Emperor previously to make cannons for the Greeks, but the Emperor did not have the funds to build the cannons. Constantinople withstood over twenty sieges previously including Attila the Hun in the 400's and Muslim invasions in the 700s. For an amazing non-fiction read, I recommend Roger Crowley's "1453", an in depth account of the siege of the world's greatest city of late antiquity and beyond. The city, when it was looted systematically for 3 days under Islamic Law, contained few of the treasures the Turks hoped to find (the Byzantine Empire had been in decline for 300 years and was past bankruptcy). The high altar of the church, the icons and the huddling survivors were taken from the church as spoils and slaves respectively.

When I visit in late May, I hope the museum curator can take down the scaffolding they've had up for years sitting idly and blocking the views of the amazing central dome of the church. I also can't wait to see many of the mosaics that have survived.

Enough ranting about history for now. Stay tuned for my Athens blog coming soon!!!