Key West

I very first like to thank my very old friend ( since 1967 ) Jerry for those wonderful sailing days at BVI waters. We visited most exotic places,had the best possible weather all the time and had a lot of fun. I had it easy onboard because the skipper decided that I am a VIP, and he with my son Kristian and his girl friend Anna did all the necessary job onboard.
Day before yesterday I did arrive to Key West after travelling this short distance for 14,5 hours from hotel to hotel due delayed flights and long waiting times.
But there always must be some luck too. First I could share a taxi on Tortola with a Latin beauty Alexandra, who did celebrate her 30th birthday with her friends there, but had to rush back to her native San Juan in Puerto Rico. We had an amusant 40 minutes ride and I saved $22. Then I sat at the plane with a very well formed young and pleasant African American lady with pretty smiling face. Soon were we friends, and she offered to drive me to my Inn, which was not so easy to find on a small alley even with the help of her new GPS.I did save $40. She is working as a assistant director for food and beverage at Hyatt Resorts here. Today I was there as her guest at Hyatt's beach bar enjoying some most delicious tropical drinks at her account. As I did not have any ticket to get away from here on Saturday, Amy Brown ( that's her name )asked her colleague work for me. After one hours work , we found out that the Greyhond would be the best way to get to Miami. During that time I of course sat in the bar at her cost(Amy had to work ), and I had most wonderful time with the bar tender Lisa to whom Amy had intoduced me.
I yesterday sat in a nice but very unexpensive bar for some drinks because they played old jazz. Funnily they did not take tips, which normally is between 15-20%.
The owner Steve Nakonechny from Thunder Bay, Canada told me that her wife, who is French is too proud to accept tips. Steve 53, a former truck driver has lived here for 13 years and running his Cafe Tropical succesfully with his wife. Steve himself was born in Canada but his parents came from Ukraine and Poland.And he remembered that his closest neighbour in Thunder Bay was a guy from Finland, Jarmo Lahtinen.
Key West is ok, but once you have been here, it is according to my opinion, not necessary to come back .

Tortola , West Indies

Last Sunday I finally arrived here, really after 40,5 hours without a sleep, maybe a short nap in the plane. Here I have been in a paradise. In Madrid my son Kristian and his girl friend Anna joined me to be a week together here. So we had marvellous sailing days with KRistian's godfather Jerry Salaman and his boat a Bavaria 41 called
Dawn Raider.We started from Beef Island continuing to Cooper Island and Norman Island
( known as Treasure Island in famous novel by Robert Louis Stevenson ). Today we
arrived to Frenchmans Cay, where I am now. I said good bye to Kristian and Anna, I still might meet Jerry, his wife Jula and daughter Gemma before flying to Key West on Monday.In the ewening day before yesterday, we had a lot of fun ,when in the beach bar where we were dining, appeared suddenly four very pretty girls from Oklahoma City. They made the whole place crazy having fun and dancing on the bar table beautifully. The men just dropped their eyes! Then they asked Jerry and me to join in their wild Indian dances, which we did as long we could. Thank you Betsy, Erin, Meredith and Lauren for a fantastic evening. Who knows, maybe we'll meet in Oklahoma City.

Rainy day at Mykonos

It was absolutely fantastic to get some drops from the sky and for a moment a lot more.However it was just lunch time, and the restaurants,cafes,tavernas and bars were more than pleased. I was lucky because I looked at the sky just ten minutes before, and got a good table in a good harbour taverna.
Later I went to my favorite bar to say goodbye to Daniela. Different than normally, there were a lot of men, and I soon had a drink ahead of me , which I did not order. I asked Daniela about it, and she answered pst.. somebody of them wanted to buy drinks for everybody in the bar because he tought, that all inside were from the same cruise ship, which was for gays only. I did not thank or recordnise the drink
before they were gone. Then I took it, and it was some ugly sweet liquer.
Daniela laughed.
I very often stopped at a friendly Cafe Central, already because the name was so nostalgic. In early 60's and later too, especially in Spain and Morocco, the young
travelling hithchikers looked in all new places for cafe central's to find friends advises and pot. Cafe central's were no chain but meeting point, it was a common name for one cafe in the center of any city, and still is. Here the family staff was Antonio, daughter Irene and her goodmother Aygh (Aurora).
Tomorrow I have 50 days behind me at this trip, and I will leave Europe for some while. A very long voyage of 40 hours without a bed in between. Mykonos, Piraeus, Athens, Madrid, San Juan and Tortola.
But I can stand it, remembering how our fathers, and still many friends of mine at Suomalainen Klubi (The noble Finnish Club) could last much longer times in very much worse places to save our country's independence and freedom in years 1939-1945.

Hot day on Mykonos

I did wake up to a beautiful sunny day again but with no wind. That's not common because there is always quite heavy blow from some direction. Those wind mills, the symbols of this island among the pelicans, proove it. I yesterday mentioned that those pelicans were the biggest birds, I've seen . Not really, there are these African long legged runners,who do not fly, the head over 2 meters high. I never really did count them into bird category. Many reptiles lay eggs too, but nobody calls them birds.
So, a hot day . I had a decent breakfast, bacon and fried eggs with some chips and one liter of water around 11 am. Then I kept strolling until I felt it necessary to have a beer on the water front. There was also a second one, but quite slow one, because I was concentrating with hot phone messages with her, Kaisa my love.
Then I was hot all over ,and decided to move to a cool place to Rhapsody, and sweet Daniela. There was a busy day today, and I did not have many possibilities to talk with her. But I did remember, when she yesterday told to me, that she hated in school geography, and gave every European country a meaning from the form at the map to help her memory. Italy was of course a booth, I do not remember the other ones ,
but Finland was a tiger !? Then I discovered that in Yugoslavia that time
,they might have had old maps from before WW2, where still Karelia and Petsamo were part of Finland. With child's imagination there was a lying tiger.
Then opposite of me arrived a young American family , Troy & Kristie Derda with teir sons Carson 6 and Hudson 4 from Burlington, Wisconsin. We soon were talking together, and I heard they were doing a great cruise from Spain to Egypt.They had also bought for themselves those Greek amulets Bad Eye, without knowing that these suppose to protect them from all evil. They were very happy, when I told them this.
I later visited one beautiful but very expensive bar for one ouzo and interviewed my friendly waitress . She was Miriam from Sydney, and was working and travelling for three years away from home.
After having a good tuna salad ,I visited my local record shop. And the shop keeper,my soul friend, young Dimitris Gryparis very soon ( knowing already my taste ) found a couple of CD's of Greek music I had to have.

Pelicans in Mykonos

Some days ago I didn't believe my eyes, when two really huge birds, at least 1 meter high, peacefully passed by on a narrow alley here. I wanted to know what kind birds these two white, very gorgeous ones with an 50cm long orange colour nose ( or what would you call it)would be. Pelicans! Much bigger than the biggest swan I ever saw.
I was wondering if they did escape from a zoo or something. No, they are wild birds
looking for food from people in restaurants (like dogs and cats). They loved people
and without any hesitations, they let people touch them and take photos.
After my lunch today, in a good but reasonable priced restaurant Garden Oasis, I decided to look after those friendly birds to take some pictures. No success!
I then walked further back to my usual places,when I got Stan Getz's fantastic tenor sax sound into my ears. I went to a very elegant bar Rhapsody to be the only customer there. But the bartender was sweet and sexy, so I stayed. In almost three hours time I knew everything about Daniela 25, and she about me.She was a laughing, very happy person from former Yugoslavia, but for her security I do not tell more. She, as many young pretty girls, are students , who come to work here from different parts of the world ( mostly from previous east block countries ) during the tourist season. She told me that Greek people are only bosses.I anyhow have found out that there are also working people from Greece. They just happen to come from elsewhere, like Saloniki.
I have praised Mykonos here in my blog. Daniela was not so enthuastic. She said that May and September are very nice but the real summer season with all young drunk people is more or less terrible.
Then to you, my long time friend David, down under.We live different kind of lives. You have a fat bank account, I am only rich with my experiencies.

Mykonos

I really was right, when I on the second day here, wrote about my feelings concerning Mykonos. This is my favorite island. I today extended my staying by four days, because my very old friend Mr. Costas Kalfakis from Athens had to leave for Tokyo for business, and we could not meet in Plaka, as when we were much younger. But next year perhaps, and then she will be with me.
She is Kaisa, my young love from Finland, whom I miss so much. There are still 54 days before we will meet in Vancouver. These last days in Mykonos have been very lazy ones. Not very much did happen,I daily visited my selected bars or restaurantes,and informed my lovely waitress Liliane how my love life with Kaisa was going on. She really is happy for me, and somehow curious.
Yesterday evening I visited a very small Italian bar in my neighborhood. How did it happen, I there met two attractive Kolumbian ladies from Bogota.I just do not have their cards with me to tell their first names, maybe tomorrow or next time when with
this machine. We had beautiful moments together half Spanish half English , and they of course wanted to meet me (or us) when next time in South America.

From Syros to Mykonos

Having my last day in Syros a couple of days ago, I got an idea to visit the countryside. So I took a local bus and ended in a tiny village of Asolimnos. It had a 200 meters long beautiful sandy beach and 5 bars, of which two were opened, One for meals and the other one for drinks. So I enjoyed comfortable the services of both ones. After two or three hours I was looking for the bus back to Hermoupolis.
Local people told me it should come in 20 minutes. Two hours later these 20 minutes had gone many times but no bus. Then I saw a car with three ladies to start to some where. Someway I was sure that they are going to Hermoupolis, and I just stopped them. I was right, and they gladly took me onboard. So this way I like to thank you Erasmia, Christina and Aggeliki for your friendliness. I know you will read this.
I yesterday arrived to Mykonos having a stop in Tinos,which was another typical Greek island.
After one days experience, Mykonos is my favorite of all places I visited in Greece. This place is just perfect for me. I got a nice studio in the center of city,with direct door from an alley. Everything is around me, including the neighbors barking dog. The studio with small kitchen etc, for 30 euros a night is more I could ask.

El Greco

I had a glorious day. I did not win myself but came second. My target was to climb up as high as possible to reach the Anastasi church on the top of the hill. These were 1000 steps to conquer in a hot sunny day. I had about 900 behind me when I lost
my way on the narrow streets. Wet and thursty, I decided to turn downwards. That was only a church to visit, and there were plenty of good substitudes where to go.
Soon I found a very beautiful one, St. Nikolaus church from year 1848. Actually I was looking for an icon made by world famous painter El Greco, The Greek. But that was somewhere else. I gave up, I needed a very nice cool beer.
By the way, everybody of course remembers El Greco's real name, he is so famous, but for those who just forgot it, I put it here. Domenikos Theotokopoulos naturally.

Little bit about Syros

I have seen four or five ways how they write this town's name . Here is another one,Hermoupolis. This is a remarkable good looking neoclassical town, offering as all these Aegean islands history back of 6000 years. Syros is in the middle of islands called Cyclades.During thousands of years this place was not only attacked by pirates but invaded by Phoenicians,Cretans,Ionians,Athenians,Romans,Byzantines,Venetians,Franks,Turks, lately by Italians and Germans. Also British and Australian troops fought here but on Greek side.
Only the Finns never attacked here, except of course the Finnish tourist ladies who cannot keep their fingers off of heroic Greek men. Finnish soldiers have had already for centuries enough to do, when attacking the brave and peaceful Russian workers and farmers . You can read all about this in Sovjetrussian history books.

Syros

I yesterday left Paros but did stay my last couple of hours in nice a music bar Peebles with a gorgeous view to the sea. While sipping my daily ouzos I had an interesting conversation with Maria, 27 years old secretary and part time waitress from Athens.And very pretty of course.
Then later onboard of the ship which name is impossible to remember i met a couple from St.Clemens, California. Richard Wheeler was a born New Yorker from Irish parents, a Vietnam veteran and now in real estate business. His very beautiful second wife Nancy was Bolivian from Santa Cruz, where I did have very good time six
years ago. They invited us (me and my love )to visit them when in neighborhood in July.
I got here in Ermoupoli, the capital of Syros, a tiny but good room for 25 euros a night. That is the cheapest price I did pay until now. With that I am very happy.
Still four nights here before moving to Mykonos, which suppose to be much more expensive. The season however has not yet begun. Maybe I do have luck there too.
It was a warm day today, 27 degrees in centigrades. I do not mind that but I have to climb up the hill with 101 steps there. I counted them yesterday. You can possible
understand that when I leave my hotel in the morning or noon time, I will not return until time to sleep, if not really necessary.

Paros

I yesterday arrived by boat here from Naxos. Paros is another very idyllic island, and it's capital Parika has a unbelievable charming old city with all white two store
buildings and narrow alleys with lot of shops and tavernas. This place is still empty, the tourists are with few exceptions not yet here.However I met a nice couple, Bastian 32 and his very pretty girlfriend Juliane 24 from Hannover, Germany. And later three
young art students Asoka 19 from Tokyo, Julia 20 from Utah and Emma 18 from Maryland.
So due my very limited Greek knowledge I did not have to talk with myself but had some company to communicate with.
Tomorrow I'll continue to Syros.

Naxos today

I almost early this morning did feel myself to do something, maybe even interesting.
So I anyhow needed a couple of beers,and how it did happen I was afterwards hungry. and I ordered a very local speciality, spaghetti bolognese. Ok I went to explore the the old part of city Naxos. And that was a real labyrinth with old alleys never more than two meters wide , mostly even less than one meter plus tunnels less than two meters high.
I did manage it as an old navy man without a compass.
Then there was naturally the time for afternoon ouzo or two.
Beautiful day, just to look around, when seated. I do no know how it happened but I started to follow with great interest the movements of my slim, pretty waitress. Then after a while, I told her that I never saw anybody mowing so grazzioli especially when looking her from the back side. Her answer was astonishing . Where do you come from?
Well, from Finland! Oh, my brother Vangelis used to study in Joensuu ( a town in Finland )for six months. It was so cold but he managed even to go into a ice hole in a lake! We talked a while, and now I know that she has an easy and common name Stamatoula , age 29.
Tommorrow morning I do continue my trip to Paros, an island next to Naxos.

Naxos

I yesterday arrived to Naxos, another very beautiful Greek island.
Still with memories in Santorini.So I like to tell my last experiencies.
A few days ago I visited the Prehistorical Thera Museum, where they had hundreds of different products from household to weapons, all about 4000 years old.These were all from Akrotiri, a city , which was destroyed by vulcano over 3000 years ago, no one knows excatly when. Many believe that here was the real Atlantis, which disappeared in the huge crater. This museum was one of most interesting I ever visited, having among wall paintings as a crown an unigue gold Ibex figurine (approximately 10 cm long ) as brilliant looking like yesterday made. It was found in a well done box 1999.
Later in the evening of the same day,I met in a cafe two pretty, nice and friendly Canadian girls Lisa 26 and Tam 22 from Calgary. They had tried to help me with the coin internet into my blog a couple of days earlier unsuccesfully.I offered them drinks,and they decided for one beer each, and later a third one to be shared. Then they started to ask about my travellings, being not so unexperienced travellers themselves.But when they heard about my next future plans, I only heard wow's, oh's
aah's plus a plenty of guestions.I never before had better listeners, and it's easy to admit that I fully enjoyed the situation and my role.
Next day I was introduced by Eddie (Eduard) in my favorit local taverna to a gentleman from San Francisco, Mr. Jay Parrish. He gave me valuable hints how to rent a car in California as well as places to visit or to stay.We also decided to meet at least for one drink in his home town.
I spent hours of the last whole day in Santorini on a cliff bar in beautiful sunshine,looking down from 235 meters height to the sea over the crater and all those white houses hanging there towards the sea. One of most beautiful sceneries I've ever seen.
During the years I have developed a nose for myself, which brings me to the right places. Like now here in Naxos, The Bossa cocktail bar, where I can listen my favorites Stan Getz , Luis Bonfa etc. I do not have anything against Greek music , I actually love it. But not 24 hours a day, one week after another. I terrible miss classic music , which I've not been able to listen since I left Finland.
Today was a rainy day, I really liked it.