A lesson from the Greeks

The Greek know how to live! After sunning for most of the day yesterday....and cruising in the buggy, we walked around and found an out-of-the-way little restaurant with live music. The music was good....traditional Greek tunes....and the place started out fairly dead. Then, two groups poured in to fill the place. We were the only non-Greeks in the place. We partook in some bread, dip, and wine....and watched the atmosphere change from casual dining to all out Greek party. First....one lady dancing (traditional Greek-type dancing). Second.....a small circle. Third....a line of dancing circling the restaurant......then, we were pulled up into the line! It was incredible! We got cheered as we circled the room....we even got "ohpahed"! After a few trips around the place, we returned to our seats to watch the action. At the height, there was a main circle dance.....and two other places with a few people dancing. Everyone in the restaurant knew every song......I can't think of anything that would come close to this in the States. The Greek seem to know how to really enjoy life to its fullest..... One of the groups was a mentally-handicapped night out......and I discovered a quality in a woman that currently tops my list of attractive qualities.....genuinely nice treatment of the handicapped. There were a few girls that worked with the group who made sure everyone had a good time.....danced with all of the folks there.....incredible. This may not be numero uno on my list of attractive traits....but...I can't think of any that beat that at the moment....so....it is for now. The whole time there was an incredible experience....very Greek....very awesome.

We decided to stay on schedule and move on from Greece. So, we have enjoyed the day, but we will hop aboard a ferry tonight from 1:30am to 6:00am to return to the mainland. From there....a train to the port town of Patras....another ferry to Italy.....train to Rome.....Rome for a day......overnight from Rome to Macon (France)......bus to Taize. I will give an early warning that from Sunday of this week to Sunday of next week...there may be no posts. I don't think the internet is a priority at the monastery : ) We may have a quick post from Rome or so....but...we'll see.....

So today we enjoyed the beach and cruising in our buggy. The only negatives about the buggy were.... it didn't like steep hills to well (we'd cruise up at like 10mph)......it would get hot and the engine would sputter at times....and the front fender fell off (and was subsequently crushed into pieces by our back tire and the car behind us), and we are now hoping the buggy rental folks don't track us down. We parked it across the road....traded the key for Dave's license....and headed straight to the internet place. The fender isn't too obvious....but...we'll just hope they don't notice for the time-being. It really wasn't anything that was our fault anyways........

The island of Paros has been a great experience. I would recommend the Greek islands for a honeymoon/vacation for sure. We have been lucky to have a few days here....

Cheers to all back home. We have the rest of the day to waste....a shower at the campgrounds......a gyro or two.....then lots of travel on our way to Taize with a day-long stop in Rome to check out the sights.