Travel Letters

Kythira Island

Kythira

Κύθηρα

Greece

May 2, 2015

Here’s a brief discussion:

“You have a strategic decision to make,” observed my New York friend David L. when I told him of my upcoming journey to Athens and The Balkans.

“I have already made that decision,” I responded.  “As an alternative to sailing east from Athens to visit the ever popular Greek Islands, I am driving west to the Peloponnese peninsula.  I anticipate a destination of rich diversity and ample rewards.”

But, once on the Peloponnese, I cannot resist at least one island.  The Ionian island of Kythira is my choice.  (I had never heard of it.   Have you?)

Olympia: The Marathon

Olympia
Peloponnese
Greece
May 1, 2015

My Fellow Athletes,

Can we agree on one thing?  Frank Shorter started it all.

In 1972 at the Summer Olympics in Munich, Germany, Frank Shorter became the first American man to win the Gold Medal in the Olympic Marathon.  (The Marathon by definition is 40.2 kilometers or 26.2 miles.)

In 1984, Joan Benoit added her name to Olympic Legend when she became the first American woman to win the Gold Medal in the Olympic Marathon.  Actually she was the first woman ever to win Gold since the female Marathon event was first added to the Summer Olympics in Los Angeles that very year.  (Joan had already won the Boston Marathon in both 1979 and 1983.)

After Frank’s championship and surely after Joan’s extraordinary Olympic accomplishment, we Americans decided to emulate our two new heroes.  We donned our sweat suits and our Nike Waffle Trainers and Adidas County Striders, dutifully performed our stretching exercises, and headed out the door for our training run. 

Three Castles

 

The Peloponnese

Greece

May 4, 2015

 

Civilizations are born, grow, prosper, decline and disappear.

Empires are here for a moment and fade into history books.

Fortresses are built. Castles and walls are constructed, besieged, breached and conquered.

Here in Greece I encounter three such examples.

How many past examples do we need?

The American writer William Faulkner wrote: “The past is not dead.  It's not even past.”

Dalmatian Coast: Split

Split

Croatia

May 30 2015

 

I adopt three distinct strategies to avoid the teeming hordes streaming through the streets of the Old City of Split.

The first strategy is to avoid them altogether by wandering towards the port and then up the cobbled streets and stairways to the hills above the city.   Great scenery…well worth the climb....

Escape to Hvar

Hvar Island

(pop 11,200)

Adriatic Sea

Republic of Croatia

June 2, 2015

 

Hello,

On Hvar, the hills are alive with the sound of motor scooters.  Automobiles are impractical given the steep and narrow cobbled lanes,

I stroll down the floral-forested path from my hilltop guest house to the shoreline and the pebbled beach.

Luxury hotels replete with lagoon-sized swimming pools and spas face west to the gleaming sea.  (Thai Massage anyone?)

Dubrovnik: My Favorites

Dubrovnik  (pop 42,615)

Croatia

June 9, 2015

Hello,

The crowds in Dubrovnik are overwhelming. 

(If you’ve been here, you know what I’m talking about.)

Wikipedia says, “Dubrovnik is one of the most prominent tourist destinations on the Adriatic Sea.”

The Old Town is swarming with tourists and passengers on an excursion from their cruise ships.  (Yes, ships!  Every day, ships!) 

Once again I employ my “Split Strategy.”

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