The Fool is the spirit in search of experience...

Monday, September 3, 2012

Greek Gods and Spectacular Sunsets

While it is in the dark of the night that the Greek Islands come raucously alive, it is during the light of the morning that they are truly interesting; vegetables being sold in the streets, vivid pink bougainvillea draped over trellises and coatings of brilliant blue being painted on balconies and balustrades by local Yia-Yias.

The past 10 days in the Greek Islands have been worlds away from my recent life in the American Midwest. The crystalline waters of Santorini, dazzling sunshine and the open arms of old friends and new greeted me and I easily slipped into undertaking some important work.... basking in the mediterranean summer sun and admiring the view.

Santorini is pretty as the postcards for sale on every corner, dazzling white architecture along with signature blue architraves and window frames dominate the volcanic cliffside. Cruise ships arrive daily, it becomes a guessing game as to how many you will see when you look out each morning. It is almost as if you become entranced by the beauty of the vista, unable to do much else other than lie in the sun and stare in awe. It could of course have something to do with the raging nightlife that kicks off around 1:00am and continues till sunrise on a daily basis.

The village of Fira is perched on the caldera of the remains of the South Aegean Volcanic Arc and according to Greek mythology the location of the legendary city of Atlantis. According to Plato, Atlantis sank into the ocean "in a single day and night of misfortune", the island is the site of one of the largest volcanic eruptions in recorded history, some 3600 years ago.

We could have easily stayed in Santorini but instead we kept to our itinerary; loitering in Ios just long enough for a dip in the turquoise waters and an evening of dancing on tables before we headed to Mykonos.

I have found that everything Greek is better in Greece, the salad, the yogurt, the men. The only issue for a single lady is that on Mykonos most of the ridiculously handsome men are gay, the fact worsened due to our visit coinciding with "Xlcior", a 5 day International Gay Festival. It was a case of 'water, water all around and not a drop to drink'; so we settled for Vodka, danced on sofas in Little Venice, guzzled Chardonnay and pillaged seafood overlooking the bathers and yachts at Psarou Beach and lazed the days away poolside in 5 star luxury.

My island hoping life of opulence has come to an end all too soon, there is nothing for me to do but slip on my crystal encrusted Havaianas, farewell my white prince(ss) and board my pumpkin to the mainland.....

Next stop the ancient city of the goddess Athena.

As you can see the hotel is terrible ;)

Morning cruise ship count

A cliffside village of white and blue

You cannot get enough of this believe me!

Entranced....

Fira, Santorini

Stunning sunsets...every single day

Volcanic sunset seascapes

I think Plato got it wrong, this could be Atlantis!

The party town in the quite of the daytime sun...Ios

Blue dome topped churches everywhere

A beach view

This bus picked Anna and I up in Mykonos, just the two of us!

Pool time

Room with a view....

The most gorgeous hotel I have every stayed in!

Quite a contrast to the cruise ships!

Little Venice

Such a view for sofa dancing

Yeah thats a boat

Damn people in my photos

Mykonos

Lost in the maze that is Mykonos

Wandering the cobbled streets

Six hours later...

The original Greek... and the lovely Anna

This never gets old

Breakfast on the terrace...don't mind if I do!

Spectacular but slippery slopes

Can't. Look. Away.

Psarou Beach

Saturday, August 18, 2012

An American Summer

The last days of camp were a flurry of crazy; trip gear to be cleaned and packed away for another year, crying campers to be corralled and delivered to the airport and of course the celebration of the end of a successful summer. Despite my best culinary efforts I didn't take out the title in the annual Tripper Dutch Oven Cook Off, oh well, there's always next year! As we disposed of the last camper into the care of Delta Airlines we erupted into an explosion of shenanigans in which drunken karaoke featured heavily.

The end of summer debauchery dissipated as fast as it had emerged with the majority of camp staff exiting quickly as Birch Trail swiftly became a ghost town of summer past. Soon there was only four; Shae, Mealy, Dan and I lingered, soaking up the last special moments of being in the woods, the smell of campfire, Leine's at the P&L and simplicity of enjoying time together.

As the eeriness threatened to engulf us, the time had come for us to take to the road. We headed Northwest to the childhood summer haunt of Shae-Dynasty, a quaint cabin on the shore of Deer Lake, the gorgeous cul de sac of Grand Rapids in the North woods of Minnesota. One day turned into three; boating and fishing the lake, sunbathing, cooking, great conversation, more campfires, moonshine, silliness and the appreciation of the simple good things that make life special and create those random moments of happiness. It has been an American summer to remember, so much fun, so many new special people.

After saying our goodbyes the last of the Tripper crew went their separate ways and I made my way to Minneapolis. Apparently a week of boozing hadn't been enough and some new friends dragged me out for a 'couple' drinks which turned into too many "minty mighty dragon worthy" drinks so I spent most of my first day here feeling less than energetic. The next couple days will bring some much needed rest, just in time to restore me to full fabulousness before I head to Santorini to meet up with the lovely Anna.

Packing in and packing out

Tent City

Asphalt

Tripper Cook Off in action

The reigning champion and the new champion!

John Duke - what else is there to say?

More cook off action

Chocolate chip carrot cake anyone?

You're going to win....no you are!

The tripper cook off aftermath...food babies

A couple hundred rock heavy campers bags

When it rains....

A few of these might have been breached

A gift from the Jerky capital of the USA

Our beloved P & L

Being silly...its the key to life man

A lovely lake home

Boating the day away

Hard work

Great food with great people

What a summer it's been

Monday, August 6, 2012

Birthday Tubing, Brunch, Lumberjacks and Sea Kayaking!

Its hard to believe that almost two and a half months have passed by since I first arrived at Birch Trail Camp. This time next week my life here will be over and it time to move onto my next adventure! It's my last day off and I sit on the lakeshore of the worlds largest inland sea, Lake Superior; the sun shines warmly and a cool midsummer breeze brushes over me as I lay in the grass and ponder what I will do next.

I finished my last trip of the season yesterday, Sea Kayaking on Lake Superior, it was amazing. The girls were great fun to be around and the islands beautiful. I pulled out all the stops on the cooking front and created some gourmet backcountry feasts, winning over the girls and receiving credit for the trip as "Best Trip Ever!", I even get a t-shirt to prove it!! I enjoyed all my trips this summer but Sea Kayaking and Boundary Waters would have to be my favourites; I enjoy leading the older girls, I can more easily relate to them and feel like I can be a positive influence which is a great feeling.

During the middle of the session I enjoyed a few days off which involved an afternoon of tubing down the Nam to celebrate Mealy's birthday, a Bloody Mary brunch at Bass Lake that lasted well into the afternoon, which led into an evening ogling burly Lumberjacks at the World Lumberjack Championships.... where else would I be!!

Living at Birch Trail has been an incredible experience, I have made some wonderful new friends and basically been paid to have a good time! Although you pretty much work all the time, I don't really consider partying like its 1999 at the camp dance party to be hard work! Pedalling through the back roads of Minong at dusk or a SUP at sunrise on Pokegama Lake isn't too strenuous either... A wonderful experience that I will be more than happy to re-live again next year if I am lucky enough.

For now I will enjoy camp life for another week and then I really don't know. I have the opportunity to join an old friend for a couple weeks in Santorini, sounds terrible doesn't it ;) Perhaps another Trip Leader job for a couple months, there is also Canada, Cuba, Mexico to consider. It will be nice to be a free agent for a while, where every day my will be my own and what happens next is left up the stars. Bring on the next big adventure!