By Jay
Traveling independently certainly has its rewards and challenges. I thought I would take a shot at sharing some observations from our recent adventures in Europe. Traveling to, from and within the continent has its own set of issues which I will defer to another time and just talk about accommodations, foraging for food, maintaining our health and budget.
Rewards
You know you have the right traveling companion when you can share the same space for a month or more. As I write this, we have not been more than fifty yards apart for seventeen days, 24/7. This is much more togetherness than we have at home.
We are sharing the sights, sounds and flavors that are quite different than we are used to. We have our tense moments but we move on and meet the challenges in a spirit of adventure and discovery. Most of the time she is right, of course….
We find interacting with shop owners and locals and watching them go about their daily activities most rewarding. Greeks are notably very expressive and close to family. In spite of what we see on television about demonstrations over the monetary and refugee crisis, we have not encountered any anger or hostilities. It is common to see small and large groups in discussion, all talking at once and no one seems to mind. Somehow, with all of the animation and gesticulations they are having meaningful conversations. We know when people are having an agreeable conversation when the discussion is peppered with "Nai," which means "Yes, I am agreeing with you."
I guess we also find interacting with other people amusing. I will put them in three categories: Tourists, Travelers (like us) and Trouble. Tourists are the most entertaining and frustrating and I won't go into a lot of detail. Tourists and Trouble are to be avoided. We do meet like-minded travelers who share our values about respecting local culture and customs without making a lot of noise, complaining, being demanding and leaving trash. Nuff said about that…
One of the benefits we derive from staying in one place for awhile is getting to know a few locals and they soon distinguish us from the other two types.
Accommodations
Jain does a lot of online research in finding accommodations that meet certain criteria and negotiating the reservations. Considering the length of time we plan to be here, budget is a major factor so we have focused on apartments with cooking and laundry facilities as opposed to B&B's or hotels. We will, of course, splurge occasionally in some locations, particularly when we are in travel mode and have to catch an early transportation link between destinations. Not every apartment, in fact few, meet our entire list of qualifications but most are close. Our "list" is simple:
1. Morning sunshine / view
2. Not too hard beds
3. Hot water
4. Ensuite shower or tub
5. Electric kettle for morning coffee
6. A/C and heat
7. Internet access
8. Stove top (sometimes called a "hob")
9. Oven or microwave
10. Fridge
11. Walking distance to transportation and food market
12. Washing machine, if we will spend a week or more
13. Beach / pool
14. € 60 per night
Most notable disappointments include:
1. Hard beds, some so bad we have to improvise with what ever is on hand. Jain has been known to go out and borrow poolside cushions.
2. Inadequate "hot" water and/or weak water pressure and flow
3. Wi-Fi limited to public areas, not in room
4. Mismatched or missing utensils and cooking tools
5. Lack of kitchen staples, such as spices and cooking oil
6. Undecipherable directions and labels on appliances. Some are in foreign language or symbols and some are just worn off.
7. Patio furniture, uncomfortable or broken.
8. Lack of an in-room safe
9. Smoking odors and mold
Jain's "Staging" experience and skills are often put to good use, rearranging furniture, artwork, adding color and softness with flowers, hiding all of the offending things like ash trays and hookah pipes. Usually we spend a day or two deep cleaning the apartment and we always leave it in better condition than we found it. One landlord even had a professional photographer come in and update her Internet Web site and ads.
Technology
This area can be an issue if not anticipated. Wi-Fi may be first on our list, but electrical service and outlets are sometimes inadequate or inconvenient as we like to have our phones, camera and tablets all charged up and, of course, there are the hair tools to consider. We love the ubiquitous "kettle" which heats water to boiling in a flash, driven by the 220 volt current. All of our charging devices are dual voltage, multi-cycle, so we only have to equip ourselves with the appropriate adapters.
In the technology department we must comment on the plumbing. Invention follows need and form follows function, or something like that… we have seen so many variations of ways to flush a toilet or get hot water; pull, push, twist…
Culture and Communications
Keeping abreast of weather, currency values and world news can be done pretty well on the internet, but television adds another level of access and we find the local language stations a little hard to follow. We are finding CNN and BBC in a lot of areas. BBC helps us see how America is viewed in other countries more so than CNN. Nuff said about that.
One notable thing about conversing with a local is the important greeting. When you get on a bus, enter a shop or when a waiter approaches your table you establish a relationship before blurring out, "Oh, Hi. I would like a hamburger and fries…". In a shop, it is very "tourist" to say, "Just looking". We learned in Asia, that shop owners are very superstitious about customer interactions; definitely something to consider when traveling.
Foraging for food
Grocery shopping is a hoot especially deciphering labels. Sorting through the meat market can be fun, but study your kilograms before ordering and beef is expensive and not always available. A 4€ bottle of local wine is quite good, Greek beer and (surprisingly) Corona is cheap. Premium beers and regular liquor are expensive.
We find "Super Markets", about the size of 7-11 are quite common; two or three within walking distance generally meet our needs. Shopping becomes a daily chore because we have to carry the goods and there is always a large bottle or two of water.
Check-out is pretty simple. Payment with a "Chip and Sign" or "Chip and Pin" credit card are the best way to pay where accepted. These purchases will record the amount in local currency and your bank will make the conversion and be sure to carry your receipt out the door. Authorities are on the lookout for merchants that are evading taxes by not registering sales. You can become an unwitting party to this if caught without your receipt. This is true in restaurants and all other transactions.
Eating out
We naturally try to manage our budget by preparing our own meals, but an occasional night out or lunch is part of the experience, to enjoy local dishes. One of our favorite things is to have a Cappuccino at a waterfront or street side café and watch the traffic and people. Beverages are almost always accompanied by a small snack, gratis.
To be continued…
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