Week 1 : Ferry to the Mainland, Hyoumenitsa

We hop on a ferry back to the mainland from where we write to you now. Stopping here, in Grandma's hometown, we spend a day making updates to the blog, cleaning laundry and taking care of a few last minute matters before entering Albania. In Greece we will leave behind our language fluency, the Euro currency and the family which has sheltered us this week. We leave Greece with many blessings for the unfamiliar road ahead. If you want to find us, we’ll be heading north along the eastern Adriatic Sea, following the coastline. We are expecting our next entries to be from Monte Negro or Bosnia by July 8^th.

Week 1 : Happy 30th Birthday, George

For two days we stayed in the beach bungalow George’s cousins Spiro and Efthimios built with their own hands. Here, on our last night in town, we shared a wonderful birthday. Imagine a table of homegrown food spread among 30 people around. Bread from the local oven, vegetables from our gardens, chickens freshly slaughtered that afternoon and wine from our family's fields. We look around and see three generations raising a glass to the cousins who have returned from far. ‘We’ve come here to marry my sister’, George says, as a dozen conversations crisscross the table. When the birthday cake bearing an illustration of a cyclist and the words ‘Corfu to London’ is brought out, John stands to give a toast and cousin Stefano translates, ‘I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for the immense hospitality I have been given here. George's extended family here has been more than hospitable, and this celebration for his 30th birthday is a wonderful way to begin our trip. Tomorrow we leave for the long road ahead; and I know that George shares my sentiment when I say that we will never forget this wonderful beginning’.

Week 1 : A Lesson About Youth

George has many young cousins here. All made most memorable impressions upon us. Their youthfulness, love and commitment to one another becomes evident in each generation that preceded. Here, in Lefkimi, a happy town, they learn these values as George's grandfather once did. One cousin, Little Johnny for example, has gone beyond these expectations. He is fluent in English and enjoys bicycling and playing guitar. With these interests, we were able to communicate well and find a lot in common. The light in Little Johnny’s eyes taught us an important lesson as we continue our trip across Europe. This is to approach life with enthusiasm and a youthful gaze, and whenever possible to make the attempt to get to know your family. You will learn a lot about yourself.

Week 1 : Bike Maintenance, My Cousin's Workshop

My cousin Alekos is the sole proprietor of this machine shop in my grandfather’s hometown. Here we do basic bike maintenance. Behind a glass window in his office he proudly shares with us a number of patent certificates bearing his name for mechanical inventions including a skydive simulator, an olive/ branch separator and his current geothermal heating/ cooling building systems. ‘We are defined by our work,’ Alekos reminds us as John and I reflect on how the experiences of this bike trip will shape us. In this town George’s heart reminds him this is a part of where he is from. In these hills, like blood returning to the heart, I revisit this place to be rejuvenated.

Week 1 : A Greek Wedding

A Greek wedding is a marvelous event. As for any wedding, its preparation and epilogue are occasions to revisit one’s family along several generations and to fill in the gaps of time. It allows for all who attend to hear stories from those who have been away, to see and hear how we are faring in the world both near and far and to reestablish the bonds that, because of time and distance may have grown weaker but have never broken. And all weddings encompass one idea- it is the confirmation of a love and commitment between two people and the opportunity of those present to affirm that commitment with them. In this particular case, I had the unique opportunity to be a guest of the Makrinos family and to observe general customs that weren’t entirely different from those to which I am accustomed. There were some glaring differences, however. I think that it's safe to say that I will never have a wedding in Ireland. Irene's was held in the northwest of Greece, in a part of the country where George’s mother and her side of the family are from. I watched as Irene's family walked her toward the chapel to Taso, who was standing in front of thr chapel with his side of the family. The ceremony was a Greek Orthodox ceremony and was spoken as such. I and cousin Steve were asked to run to the car and get the baskets of rice, which every single person there dipped their hands into. The wedding band was definitely no run-of-the-mill DJ. These guys were Greek all the way. And I learned how to step on toes with grace when dancing in the traditional line dance that seemed as if all 200 of us were in. Actually, it was more the gracious nods that I got from Elias, who was next to me in the circle of strapping young Greeks with whom I was dancing, that accompanied his pained smiles than any actual grace that I might possess. And if there is any word that I have learned so far in my travels through this fine land, and which I have used third only to "yiasas" (formal for hello/ goodbye) "eufaharisto" (thank you), it is "sthn yia mas," or "cheers!" And I suppose that at Greek weddings they fly in the prime minister, because he showed up after an evening stroll to the delight of, dare I say, most of the wedding guests. It was quite an event. It sent my mind to thinking of my own sister, how beautiful she was, the smile on my father's face as he walked her toward Peter and how proud I was that I was her brother. I could see in George's eyes, he felt the same way.

Week 1 : Arriving in Corfu, Greece

Perhaps one of the most recognizable landmarks of Corfu, Kanoni is the site where George’s sister Irene and brother- in- law Taso chose to taken their vows. The chapel is accessible only by a 2M wide footpath and is completely surrounded by water. We arrived here by morning, parking the bikes and enjoying a Heineken as the morning mist and clouds carved through the hills in the background. We wished our friends back home could see this.

Week 1 : Athens to Patras

We chose to ride 2 days from Athens to Patras (Greece’s third largest city) in order to test our bike gear and get a better sense of our physical condition for the ride ahead. Experiencing the North Peloponnisus coastline firsthand meant defending ourselves through hellacious traffic out of Athens and pedaling through a most formidable headwind. It was here, though, that we first encountered crystal blue sea waters and the blank stares of local passersby. We loved every moment of it as we passed through towns with such names as Korinthos, Xilokastro and Rio. We stopped for rest a-plenty, often joking about our heavy bags and the fact that ‘John would bring the kitchen sink’ if he could.