I was lucky enough to have found one of the only sandy beaches in Greece. Surprisingly, most of them are just pebbles. This was one of those perfect Mediterranean ones though, white sand and aqua sea. I ended up staying for several days longer than I meant to. The fact that there was an ice cream shop nearby that sold everything from strawberry-lemon gelato to chestnut ice cream probably had something to do with it too. Given the dubious nature of some of the food I had eaten lately it made a nice change. Oh some Greek food is lovely, but I have been travelling on a budget, and budget Greek food is mostly oil. I had also recently had the unique experience of ordering a vegetarian meal which proved to have bacon in it. In Greece the houses are mostly white, with many of them having red roofs and blue window shutters. There are olive trees everywhere. And there are so many ruins and monuments. Greece has this amazing sense of history, without being stuck in the past. The main historical sites are well sign posted of course- Delphi, the Acropolis, Corinth. And stalls spring up near each of them like mushrooms. They offer postcards, stone statues of the Greek Gods and garish key rings. I bought some postcards. I probably won't end up sending them home, but I like the Greek writing. I had had a lot of time to study Greek writing because of my map. Thoughtfully, all place names were in the English alphabet. This had seemed like a nice idea until I reached the first signpost, which was written in Greek. Asking for directions was out of the question. I tried, but they had talked Greek so fast I hadn't been able to understand a single word. Not even yes or no. I had whispered efkharisto, thankyou, and walked away, ashamed of my inability to understand. After that, getting anywhere had required a lot of trial and error. I had sat in a café near the ice cream shop talking to a German girl. Both of us had unfinished frappes. Coming from a nation of coffee drinkers it had taken me awhile to adjust to the Greek version of coffee. The idea was not to drink it, but to use it as an excuse to sit around for hours talking. The German girl, Anja, told me that she was living here and giving windsurfing lessons. It sounds like a great life, and I told her so. Anja said that it is, but that her family refused to talk to her. They wanted her to take over the family business, but she had come to Greece instead. Anja said that she thinks they will accept her decision eventually. I respect her will power and optimism and wish I could do the same. Do only what I want, without listening to what others want me to be. I briefly daydreamed about learning Greek at university and then moving here to translate. Well, it is my life after all... I looked down at my frappe, decided that I couldn't drink it and ordered some lemonade instead. Anna S., Tasmania
