4 months 3 bags 2 chances: What ever happened to Yiannis?

On a ferry to Santorini

Itinerary

6:30am - get off overnight Ferry from Crete to Athens
7:00 am - get on ferry to Santorini
15:00 - get off ferry in Santorini
Afternoon. - ?

On the ferry

Bleary eyed. Although they offer an early bird booking discount, the Greek ferry companies do make it quite hard to collect on that discount by not publishing any timetables / schedules in advance.

We did our research and found out that ferries left Crete for Santorini every day. Alas, there was no mention on the ferry sites that whilst this was true, it actually wasn't. The schedule actually is every day from April 24 for about 5 months. It's a bit like that old Stephen Wright line about going to the 24 hr store to find it shut. Goes back later to complain "you should have been open, you're a 24 hour store", "Of course sir, we are sir, but not 24hrs in a row".

Anyways, instead of the short journey from Crete to Santorini we had to catch an overnight ferry (massive floating city thing), to Athens then make the quick switch to a day ferry (smaller floating city) from Athens to Santorini.

Map of dumbness

Santorini is the 4th and last stop in the Cyclades. We did not go the shortest possible way from Crete to Santorini!

Do not think of the Rottnest ferry.

The overnight ferry was huge. It's 9 floors and the parking garage (on the boat) was pretty full with big tour buses, trucks (semi-trailers) and cars. Left Chania at 9pm to arrive in Athens just after 6 the next morning. Surprisingly, Poseidon, God of the sea did not decide to raise the waves or alter any genetic makeup to turn any of us into a half man / half bull. The ride was as smooth as Warren Beatty in an Apricot scarf (times and fashion changes). My belief is that Poseidon was unconscious after Zoe dipped her feet in the ocean yesterday afternoon. Many months of wearing her sockless barefoot shoes have cultured some pretty pungent miasma - no God could withstand that onslaught. If Homer was alive today, epic poems written of the warrior Goddess Zoe Dodo who quieted the sea God and sailed the oceans unimpeded would surely populate the desks of unsuspecting schoolchildren and scholars.

Chania to Athens

That's our cabin 8258B

We wanted to go to the outside areas of the ferry, in particular to watch as we left the Port, however that's where the smokers gather - and there are lots of smokers! So we stayed inside and had a little pre bedtime drink.

Thinking of Jack and Daniel

Our cabin was cute. 2 bunks (or is that 4 bunks? Is a bunk a unit of 2 beds or is each of the beds in that unit a bunk). Anyways, there was one lil bed for each of us plus a teeny lil bathroom with shower, toilet and sink. Toothbrushes onto the bathroom mirror and we were ready. Quite a nice sleep for all - the motor hum and very slight vibration hit our deep brain sleep centres just right. Drew thought it was like going to sleep whilst getting a little massage.

Sweet cabin

The loud gaggle of American College girls in the room next door (did I mention that the walls are "wehfer thin") could only keep us awake an extra few minutes with their over volumed, inane, self centered (how many times can you say "I" in a sentence) drivel talk.

Off the ferry at 6:30 then walk quickly across the Athenian port to the ferry we are on now for the trip to Santorini. Tickets are 37 euros each. Compare that to the Rottnest ferry!

Had to get to the boat quickly to beat the find your seat free for all. All a bit of a shock to the system after starting each day for the last week a good few hours later than we had today. We are all a bit shattered. So here we sit, 7:45 on a ferry that goes to Paros, Naxos, Atraxi, Steve Maloxos, Eos then finally Santorini. Actually, the Atraxi were an Alien race from a Dr Who episode. Parenthetically, I think the latest Dr is the best of all. There it is, I have said it. I realize that this is enathema to Tom Baker diehards, but should anyone enquire, and I don't believe anyone will, I feel I can back up my argument with an incredulous tone, wild nerdy hand gestures and references to reversing polarity, stair climbing Daleks and wide ranging plot arks.

The ferry to Santorini

Running in Cretan hills.

Before a run I like to drink a sports drink. Or is that drink a chocolate bar? Better make sure it's got a sports lid on.

Not sure of the evidence linking Mars bars to peak performance but it must be thereorhow could they advertise like this?

Went running with Ree along the beach and into the old city of Chania. Left the kids behind doing Maths homework! They have been really good at doing some homework, writing their blogs and getting on with stuff. Throw in the odd ipad game such as subway surfer (Drew is amazing at it) and multiplayer "risk" just like the old board game.

Zola bud in Asics

On the path the the mostly safe wooden bridge. Also known as times table bridge - one step forward for every sum you get right, one back for an incorrect answer or a pause

I continued for a bit after Ree headed back. She doesn't like leaving a Cardiologist's young children in a European holiday resort apartment by themselves - "what could go wrong?".

Behind our apartment were dunes leading to the beach and further around to the jutting bay edge (must be a geographical term for it - "cape", "headland", "endy bit"?).

Frida apartment. Red arrow was our abode, blue arrow the scene of two great big piece chess victories (victory, even if over an 11 yr old is Sweeeeet

Running along with nothing to think of, my mind began to wonder. I truth, even if I did have other things to think about my mind would wonder. Running does that; get in a breathing rhythm and the world clears up a bit.

Running path

My thoughts wondered to cognitive dissonance as I ran along a rocky path. I felt like I was enjoying myself. Hmmmm. Intuitively attitude determines behaviour (I run because I like running), but maybe it's the other way around. Maybe behaviour determines attitude - running along the mind thinks, I must be enjoying this or why would I do it? The dissonance caused by the disparity between thought and action needs to be solved so either stop running or believe you like it. Next thing I know, I feel like I like running? If this is true, does it matter? If liking something is just a trick of the mind to stop psychological frustration, does that make the feeling any less real?

Still, Seems a bit wrong to think that you feel things because you do them and not vice versa, but its an old truism that if you smile, you feel happier and a bit more scientifically there is a lot of data suggesting that dissonance is where it's at. ie behaviour to a large extent, determines attitude (if the behaviour has a reward, but not a very big reward). Memory is fading a bit, but I think it was a guy called Leon Festinger in the 1950s who did some of the early experiments. Have no www to check it out but will later.

Shame , there was a time when I would have trusted my memory like Zoe trusts hers now. She has an extraordinary memory and we often turn to her to get validation of our recollection of events. We have some great video of her just turned 4 reciting verbatim the first few chapters of "the worst witch by Jill Murphy". She listened to the audiobook (CD) and then told it back to us. A good 5 minutes or so. Besides being very cute, it is also sweet that she does the whole thing in a Brittish accent as the narrator was Kate Winslett.

On the subject of Audiobooks, I think my favourite from last year was "once a runner" Wich is unquestionablynthe most famous of running fiction novels (not a large category to be sure). It's a bit of a cult classic I know but story is a good one and the narrator is easy to listen to. The author wrote a sequel years later which was rubbish but did have "Carthage" in its title for reasons obscure.

First heard of audiobooks when we were living in NYC. Ryan and Miriam were visiting and telling us that as they were driving back to Canada the passenger would read to the driver (they were listening to Lord of the Rings) - things have advanced a bit since then!

Just before we left, I managed to finish the 38 hours audio version of "a storm of swords" which is number three of the game of thrones endless saga. Had read the book but there is so much detail that the more times you read it / hear it, the less you miss. Ree and I are quite obsessed by the series - honor, courage, deceit, power, breasts, loyalty, quests and adventures. I have a theory that Jon Snow and the Khalleesi are siblings; a theory which I would be happy to elucidate for many pages, if it weren't for the spectre of matrimonial disharmony should I get busted doing so.

The kids favourite audiobooks are the Hiccup the Viking series which David Tenant reads (he is the third best Dr Who, but by far the best narrator ever as agreed unanimously by all 4 of this Dembo clan). He does a damn fine Gobber the Belch, a super Alvin the Treacherous and his kamikaze (Hiccup's Welsh buddy) is a cracker. Should be listened to by kids and adults alike. They also have loved the Percy Jackson series and its spin offs. By the end of the stories the kids know more about Greek mythology than many a school day could have taught them. The Roman mythology and Egyptian history is also pretty good.. "Don't be dumb dad, Herphestus is the God of the fire and craftmanship". It's embarrassing to be made fun of academically by an 8yr old at Greek Archeological sites (or anywhere really).

Aargh - just lost 45 minutes of typing. The old forgot to save then close the document trick! "Bit" frustrating so will get some breakfast, shout at the kids for no reason and finish a bit later.

Yiannis

Back to running. As I meandered through Cretan trails I though of Yiannis Kouros also known as "the running God (atnleast to him). Remember him, the Greek super distance runner who was pretty much unbeatable until Cliff Young pushed him to second for one race way back when. Pretty sure Yiannis came back and whipped por Cliffs tooth the next year but its a long time ago now. I can't remember the details but I recall that Yiannis Kouros (I like to say / write his name) was a Greek national hero and extraordinary athlete. I think he holds the record for the furthest distance run in 24 hours (the consecutive kind). Will have to check but it was something stupid like 5 minute kms Incl ablution breaks etc. He would eat while running, Greek Yogurt with fruits I think. Karnazes eats rolled up pizza as one of his nutritional aids on his runs. I think he used to hold every world ultra distance record but not sure if that is still true in the era of Scott Jurek et al. Don't believe me, check the facts.

I don't believe any amount of dissonance would get my brain to believe that running a marathon a day was enjoyable.

I do love my running shoes though. Kinvarra 2s. Light and feel like they were meant to be with me..true love. 4mm heel drop, soft on the road. Saucony made the Kinvara 3 with extra Achilles padding, but only succeeded in causing extra Achilles rubbing and blistering. Boo Saucony. The Kinvarra 4 comes out in May. Sposed to be back to being like the 2 with slightly different upper (eventually rips). May also solve the porous toe section problem which I discovered yesterday. That is, when you run on sand, soon you have a shoe full of sand.