It used to be that dollars were accepted freely in exchange for the local currency or that credit cards were also accepted. The mighty Visa and Mastercard ruled. Not so this time. Merchants demand cash - European cash. Ask for an explanation, they say "Lehman Brothers" or something about falling stocks. Today someone even said something about "Ike." It also used to be that you could easily run into Americans everywhere you went overseas. That's also changed. Granted that summer's over and everyone is back to work, back to school so not many Americans are out but even in slow seasons it used to be that you would hear American English SOMEWHERE. But we haven't this time. It almost feels that when they look at us, it's as a curiosity.
Let me be bold and extrapolate here that perhaps the sinking/shrinking dollar or our fear of all things "foreign" has diminished our incentive to spread our wealth overseas as we once did? If that's the case, then I think we're on a bad path. You see, I believe that the wealth that we once spread like sweet smelling manure around the world though at times was annoying to others was actually helping to spread American culture and fostering American goodwill. But all we see are Russians, Chinese, Japanese, Koreans, Brits and Germans.
The point of all this melodramatic musing is to say that being here really makes it clear to me that it's time for a change back home. So, that's why I'm wearing my Obama 08 baseball cap the whole time on this trip to let people know that there are some of Yanks eager for change and that we all don't march lockstep to the drumbeat that's been pounding out of DC for the last 8 years. Some of us actually think about the rest of the big world we live in.
That's just the way I see it.
Okay, now for the trip. It's very hot in Greece at the moment - it must be in the upper 80's and very humid. Despite the drippy heat, we've had a great time eating Greek salads, visiting our Grandparent's neighborhood and generally having a good chuckle as we watch German tourists, mostly the guys, walk around with their flabby white (and if they weren't careful in the sun, very red)
beer bellies hanging over their 2 inch Speedos as they walk about munching on Gyros.
We marveled at how the only remaining Jewish Synagogue in Rhodes has undergone even greater improvements and now there is a full museum and library featuring all the history of the Jews of Rhodes including all of those who were transported to the concentration camps during the last months of WW II. Sad to think that if the 1400 or so Jews that were here had lived, there would be thousands around and this would be a very different place.
I've had a lot of fun being corned by the close talking elderly Irish tourist who talks to me and my brother (he thinks we're the same person) for hours about the smallest things he's encountered on his trip at a distance where I can actually see his nose hairs. His Lucky Charms accent almost feels like a put on but as he explained to me, he never gets out of his little green isle.
Thankfully the food is much different here than in China. No mystery meat here. Just your basic chicken, meat or fish and if course, because it's prepared in Greek kitchens, it's fantastic. And the desserts, of course, are to die for. Baklava, Kadayif, Greek Coffee. It's all good. And the pace is lazy and laid back. A check will be presented only when you ask for it and even then it'll take a long while for the waiter to bring you back the change or shoo you out of the restaurant. It just doesn't happen.
If you're itchin' for a little R&R in a place where you don't have to worry about drinking the water check out Greece. And if you want a better deal, go to Turkey. They're not on the Euro yet so the prices aren't as high there - yet!
On our way to Athens tomorrow and hopping on the Rotterdam to begin our cruise to Turkey and the Black Sea. I'll check in with you in a couple of days.
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