ISLAND HOPPING

MYKONOS

After our week of day-trips and birthday celebrations in Athens, we will head for the Cyclades Islands. First stop : MYKONOS, the post card picture island.

I've visited here several times before and this time I'm tour-guiding so I know the town and environs well. It's best to go to Mykonos early in the season, before the hordes of tourists arrive.

The town is built in a whorl of narrow laneways, originally to baffle the pirates who used to frequently raid the islands. So it gets very crowded in summer. It is also the gay island and there can be a definitely decadent atmosphere prevailing there with wild parties and other not so savory carrying on. But early in the season it is a pleasant little island to visit. So we'll stop here a day or so and then hop a ferry to continue our island holiday to Naxos.

NAXOS, Plaka Beach

Of all the Greek islands, NAXOS is one of my favorites. In Greek myth, it's the island where Theseus abandoned Ariadne after they'd escaped from the labyrinth in Crete. There are some places on the island that give the sense of 'abandonment' as there are many 'ghost' villages, left over from when people escaped to the hills from pirate raids and also during the Turkish occupation in the 1400's.

Naxos has a distinct Venetian flavor because it was once occupied by the Venetians who ruled the waterways. So the architecture is uniquely Venetian as is the castle on the hill at the port.

One thing I like about Naxos are the beautiful beaches and this will be our 'beach' holiday. I can hardly wait to be here, at Plaka Beach, lounging on a bed under the straw umbrella and swimming in the warm sea.

From Naxos we'll head to our next island destination in the North East Aegean, off the coast of Turkey. It's been more than 10 years since I last visited SAMOS so I am looking forward to returning. This is another island with an interesting history. It also came under the domination of the Turks along with the rest of the North Eastern Aegean Island in 1453. During the 1800's the inhabitants played an important role during the Greek Revolution against the Turks.

Samos is only 1.3 miles from KUSADASI, Turkey so we'll catch the launch over for the hour and fifteen-min. ride and spend a couple of days exploring the town as well as Ephesus which is nearby. I have been to Kusadasi several times in the past, and it is no longer the small port it used to be, but rather a bustling tourist mecca where the cruise ships dock. However, it will be fun browsing the bazaars. I hope we can stay at the Stella Guest Hostel where I have always stayed when I'm in Kusadasi. And I wonder if my favorite donair place is still there near the harbour?

We'll take the local bus up to EPHESUS, which was once the most important commercial center of the western Anatolia. The city ruins are quite amazing to see. I've been here twice before and I look forward to seeing it again.

Naturally, I have more travel stories in mind from this Island tour. And I'll certainly be posting more blogs along the way.

TURKISH BAZAAR

RETRACING OLD FOOTSTEPS

I'm heading back to Athens on June 1 and I'm so excited because this is my second home. I first began visiting Greece in 1979, landing first in northern Greece, Macedonia. I was working on my Celtic novel at the time and was tracing Olwen's footsteps as well as doing research about my historical hero, Alexander the Great.

How did Olwen get to Greece from the Salisbury Plain in England? Well, she was kidnapped by a renegade chief's son after she had witnessed him murder his favored younger brother. He left the country with her and made his way across northern Europe. When he heard about the young King of Macedon who was recruiting men for his army to invade Asia Minor and kick the Persians out, he goes with other Celtic chieftains to offer his services. They were turned down by Alexander, because he thought them too barbarian. Olwen is rescued from her captor by Alexander when he comes across them in the forest while he's on a hunt. Thus began her life in Greece and my connection with Greece too.

Besides going back to visit my many friends there, I am celebrating my Big Birthday in Athens on June 6. We have called it The Assembly of 2009, because we are having the sunset picnic party on the Hill of the Nymphs. I had another birthday there two years ago and it has been the scene of many sunset picnics in the past.

The three Hills of the Muses, Pnyx and the Nymphs are the scene of several battles including Theseus against the Amazons. After the Persian wars the Hills were incorporated into the City which was encircled by the Themistoclean Walls and played a defensive role when Kimon and Pericles built the Phalerian Wall and Long Walls (mid 5th c) that connected Athens with it's harbors at Phaliron and Pireaus. Two important demes were developed, that of Melite and Koile. The Assembly met on the flat area of the Hill of the Nymphs and the Pnyx. Some of the famous statesmen and generals of ancient Athens had their homes there.

When I went to live in Athens in 1983 I first lived in Koukaki but the following summer I got a beautiful little flat in the basement of this house at #14 Vironos St. (Byron's St.) I spent several happy years living here, enjoying Kyria Dina's lovely courtyard and sharing space with my dear friend Roberto who lived in the little house out back. Every time I go back to Athens I pass by and look into the courtyard and touch the gate, with loving memories of those times and friends now gone. Kyria Dina's husband was unfortunately killed in a hit-and-run accident on a country road a few years ago, and my friend Roberto died of cancer. But this house will always hold special memories for me and I often think of it, and wish I was back there, snug in my little downstairs rooms where I was writing my novel and travel stories and enjoying the life.

TRAVEL PLANS: RETURNING TO MY ROOTS

On May 24 my sister, niece and I are heading off for London and Wales. We'll be staying in London for three days during which time I am looking forward to taking one of the interesting London Walks. We're going to be staying at the Indian "Y" in London, which is just across a small park from the house where Virginia Woolf lived, and nearby are several pubs where well-known writers such as Dylan Thomas, Oscar Wilde and G.B. Shaw hung out. So I will for sure go on the Literary London Pub Walk which traces the footsteps of the famed Bloomsbury Circle around the little warren of streets in the Museum quarter. Following our London visit we'll go down to Salisbury for the day to take one of the hop-on-hop-off bus tours to Old Sarum, Amesbury and Stonehenge.

OLD SARUM
I have a special interest in Old Sarum. Some years ago I was working on a novel titled "Dragons in the Sky: A Celtic Tale". It's the first person narrative of a young girl, Olwen, who is an acolyte of the Druids. When I was searching for a location for this story, I happened to be in Salisbury en route back to London, and I noticed a sign in the bus depot saying there was an Iron Age hillfort just a few kilometers up the road. I decided to walk there. And as I approached the site I had one of those remarkable dejas vous experiences of having been there before in a past life. My novel, told in the voice of Olwen, is very much a kind of past life story -- as I I am channeling Olwen in the telling of her story. So this 'find' was very exciting to me.

I did further research and learned that this is one of the earliest settlements in England, containing evidence of human habitation as early as 3000 BC It is mentioned in some of the earliest records of the country. This means, it could very well have been a thriving settlement at the time of Olwen's life which was in the mid 300's B.C.

I made a second trip to the site a year or so later. This time I was looking for specific 'landmarks' that might tell me more about Olwen. The strangest thing happened both times I was there -- as I tried to make my way along the path at the bottom of the mound, I was held back by some unseen force, something ominous. I knew that something had happened there. And eventually Olwen "told' me what it was. She had witnessed a killing on that trail which led to her being kidnapped by the murderer, a renegade chieftain's son. Because she was a Druid's acolyte he dared not harm her but held her hostage in his flight out of the country and across Europe.

I was about half way through my Dragons in the Sky novel when I got frustrated with the writing, mainly because my writing instructor at the time kept telling me it should be written third person. I eventually set it aside and began work on Shadow of the Lion, writing it first as a juvenile historical, believing that I'd be finished it in a year and would then resume work on Dragons. Well, the rest is history....Shadow developed into a much more complicated adult historical which has consumed me and taking literally years to construct. But now it's nearly finished and I know I want to go back and finish Dragons.

In looking over the old manuscript (some of which is written in bardic verse) I realize that it could never be written in the third person, because this is most definitely Olwen's story. So now I must make another trip to Old Sarum to find Olwen's spirit. I think since my first visit there has been a lot of new digs and restorations so I'm very anxious to go back to that ancient hill fort and refresh my memory about it. This visit back to Old Sarum and Stonehenge will be a highlight of this year's travels.

This photo captures some of the mysteriousness of the Old Sarum site, reminding me so much of Olwen and the story she told about her life there. Interesting that her life should connect with Alexander's through circumstances that developed (partly to do with that ominous event that had happened on the pathway). And so, from Old Sarum, once again as years ago, I'll be heading back to Greece pick up the threads of the rest of Olwen's story.

CAERPHILLY CASTLE
My father was born in Caerphilly, Wales and some of my cousins still live there. I've visited Caerphilly quite often but this year's visit with my sister and niece will be very special. We have come in contact with a lot of kinfolk through one of the long-lost cousins who has been doing the family genealogy. So we are going to have a reunion in Caerphilly of all the Filer cousins and kinfolk. I know my dad (who passed away several years ago) would be thrilled to know this was happening.
And for sure, I'll take his spirit with me. This is 'his' castle...at least, he used to play here when he was a child, so I think of it as Dad's castle. He lived just a short distance from it. Caerphilly was a mining town and from his early youth Dad worked in the mines just a few kilometers from the town. And farther north in the Rhymny Valley my great-grandfather and some of his family members (all miners) were killed in a huge explosion in the Senghnydd mine back in 1904, the year my dad was born. This country is my family's roots, and it was Olwen's too. So in returning I hope to find her, and the spirit of my family members who lived her long ago, as well as the thrill of meeting the cousins and all the new-found Filer kinfolk.

ONE MONTH TO TAKE OFF!

One month to go and I'll be heading overseas with my sister and niece. We're flying to London first, then going to Caerphilly Wales for a family reunion. On Jun 1 we head for Athens, Greece where I'll be celebrating my Big birthday with friends on the Hill of the Nymphs. I'll have lots more details about this and the other plans for Greece which include some Island hopping and a quick trip to Kusadasi Turkey.

My computer is out of commission at the moment so I can't post photos and as soon as I'm able I'll be putting up an itinerary of the planned journey which includes a side-trip for the day to Salisbury where I want to go on a hop-on-hop-off tour around Old Sarum and Stonehenge. This is a research trip to refresh my mind before resuming work on a work-in-progress historical novel I started some time ago and shelved. and in Caerphilly we'll be meeting a lot of new-found relatives. Pretty exciting stuff.

The plans for the birthday party are taking shape. My Norwegian friend Anne Britt is coming down with a group of Norwegians, my Finnish friends are coming, so is Patrick from Germany. As well the whole Athens gang has been notified.

This time my sister is coming with me as well as her daughter and it's the first time any of my family have visited Greece to see my old haunts and meet my friends there. So it will be a great occasion indeed.

Watch for more news and details of the great adventure as it unfolds.

IT'S CARNIVAL TIME!

CARNIVAL MASKS, VENICE


This is a Mardis Gras memoir. I went to New Orleans for the Mardis Gras several years ago and later wrote this story about my exciting experience there. I'm posting it now as it's Mardis Gras time, Shrove Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) and all over the world, from Venice, to Rio, to New Orleans, and even in Athens Greece people are celebrating Carnival.

HEY MISTER, THROW ME SOMETHING: Mardi Gras in New Orleans


New Orlean's grandest celebration, Mardis Gras, was brought to New Orleans from Europe in 1870. Carnival is a mystial combination of Christian beliefs, pagan rituals, glamour and debauchery that begins twelve days after Christmas when Balls are held, hosted by the carnival"krewes" to choose the King and Queen of "misrule".

There are 60 krewes, the oldest being the krewe of Rex. The male and female members of these krewes pay up to $1000 a year for the honor and each krewe bears the cost of throw-awys, the doubloons and beads tossed to the crowds during the Carnival parades.

In February, the week before Lent, the parades being, ending on Mardis Gras -- Fat Tuesday -- with the wildest celebration of all. The song goes: "It's Carnoval time and everybody's havin' fun..." and you will have fun if you're in New Orleans for Mardis Gras.

There are things you will see in New Orleans during Mardis Gras that you will never experience anywhere else. It's one huge party, and if you use your common sense, you are sure to have an unforgettable and safe time. The balconies of the French Quarter are hung with purple, yellow and green streamers and flags, the Mardis Gras colors. the streets literally run with beer and are ankle deep with rubbish and discarded plastic cups. It's common practice in the French Quarter to carry your drinks in take-away cups from bar to bar. the official tourist drink is the Hurricane, but beer and wine flow freely too. Anything goes during mardis Gras, and the New Orleans police,who are visible everywhere, are tolerant and polite but very firm in enforcing the law if necessary.

There are several parades a day, and as the streets will be impassable, it is wise to find a vantage point for viewing well in advance. You will soon get used to elbowing your way through the crowds, scrambling up on the barricades and screaming at the passing krewes the familiar refrain: "He Mister, throw me somethin'!"
as you grab for the trinkets and beads the krewes toss. The point is to catch as many strands of beads as you can and wear them all during the Carnival. If a doubloon lands near you, put your foot on it and wait, or you'll get trampled as you try to pick it up.

The parade floats, lavishly decorated with feathers, flowers and streamers of vibrant hues, are manned by the masked and costumed krewes, and carry guest celebrities. Each krewe has its own theme: Zulu's jungle; Orpheus' music; Okeanos' fantasy sea world; Bacchus's god of revelires. There are buccaneers and clowns, snappy marching bands, and spangled majorettes. Inevitably you will see New Orleans jazz clarinestist Pete Fountain and his Hafl-Fast Walking Club, a merry band of strolling musicians.

A freezing gale howls down St. Charles Street but fails to chill the enthusiasm of the revelers. A bevy of plumbed beauties are almost blown over when the wind catches their head-dresses. Banners and streamers unfurl in the icy gusts. Specatators wrapped in blankets and muffled with scarves sip hot drinks. Som eof them have been standing in the cold for hours.

Masks and costumes are traditionally worn by revelers only on Fat Tuesday. This is the day the Monarchs come to town. The fun starts early in the morning with the Gold Nugget Festival at Woldenberg Park, the highlight being the arrival of Rex, King of the Carnival who is officially given control over the city by the Mayor.

At the corner of St. Anne and Burgundy Streets in the French Quarter, on eof the most outrageous contests of all is held. The Drag Queen Costume Contest features some of the most exotic and elaborate costumes modeled with an equal amount of pizzazz.

Down on Bourbon Street it's adult entertainment as the bartering for Mardis Gras beads between people on the street and those on the balconies begins. The traditional call of "show us you #$%" rings back and forth as particularly well-endowed women are challenged to show their comely charms.

But Mardis Gras is just one day and by midnight the party is over. New Orleans mounted policement sweet p through the French Quarter followed by the street cleaners who wipe away all traces of Carnival for another year. By morning the streets of Vieux Carre are spotless and the crowds of merrymakers have gone. You can onc eagain enjoy New Orleans in all its elegance.

THE 2010 ABORIGINAL PAVILION CEREMONIES

THE 2010 ABORIGINAL PAVILION UNVEILED

Last week I attended the official unveiling of the 2010 Aboriginal Pavilion to be built for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Aboriginal and other leaders from across Canada joined the Four Host First Nations and members of VANOC to unveil the pavilion which will celebrate the rich cultures and diversity of Aboriginal Peoples in Canada -- First Nations, Inuit and Metis.

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The c,000 square foot pavilion will be located on the plaza of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre in downtown Vancouver, right in the heart of Olympic activity. A 65 ft. high spherical air-supported dome will be built using the latest technology to showcase the best of Aboriginal art, business, culture and sport from every region in Canada. The site will include a long-house containing a trading post for Aboriginal arts and crafts. The adjacent restaurants will be used for hospitality events. The event has been described as “the biggest potlach ever.” This sentiment was echoed by Vancouver’s Mayor Gregor Robertson who said he saw the pavilion as “the real heart and centre and soul of the 2010 Games.”

The ceremonies included a ceremony to introduce the official Aboriginal witnesses, speeches by tribal chiefs, including the National Chief, Phil Fontaine, and other dignitaries such as Gordon Campbell, the Premier of B.C. and Gregor Robertson the mayor of Vancouver, and various elders.

There was entertainment provided by a Metis jigger, an Inuit drummer and a First Nations hoop dancer.

Every member of the audience who witnessed the ceremonies were asked in First Nations tradition to carry it home and share it with their friends and family. The four Host First Nations -- the Lil-wat, Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh - will welcome the world to their shared ancestral territories. It is the tradition of the Coast Salish people to welcome visitors by saying “I hold my hands up to you” and the feathers in the design of the Four Host First Nation’s logo represents this.

Because the Games will be staged on the traditional territorial lands of the Four Host First Nations people, the host nations will play an integral role in the Games. Special “theme” days will celebrate Aboriginal groups from all regions of Canada. There will be live events including Inuit throat singing, Metis jigging, First Nations hoop dancing as well as other contemporary Aboriginal performances. Visitors at the site will also experience a state of the art multi-media show projected on screens both inside and out.

The pavilion will open in February 2010 and run throughout the Winter Olympic Games.
For more information visit www.fourhostfirstnations.com and download the fact sheet

A VISIT TO THE TROPICS ON A WINTER DAY

One wintery day a week ago I visited the Bloedel Conservatory, the second largest domed conservatory in the world (43 m - 140 ft in diameter, 2 1m - 70 ft high at the centre). The triodetic dome design covers a large ground area without supporting columns. Inside, the Conservatory has three simulated climates: a tropical rain forest, sub-tropical and desert zones. I walked among tall clustering palms from South East Asia, Benjamin Figs from Malaysia as well as trees from Africa and South America.
There are 1500 varieties of trees within the Arboretum.

A suspended bridge crosses a pool where varied coloured Japanese koi swim. As well, you'll see multi-colored tropical birds such as Maria and Carmen, a pair of Macaws from the Amazon.

Some of the parrots ride around on the shoulders to gardening staff. Charlie is a talkative cockatoo from an endangered species found on an Indonesian island. There's also a dwarf Macaw, Nelson, from Venezuela; Rose, an African Grey parrot, Art, a blue and gold Macaw from Panama, and alot of smaller birds that flit about in the dense jungle-like foliage.

As well as the palms and figs, are Mexican breadfruit vines, yellow flowering Showy Cassia, Century plants and Peruvian cacti. A beautiful display of orchids lines the pathway as well as brilliant poinsettias that gave the Conservatory a real Christmas decor. I bought a curly-leafed scarlet poinsettia to bring home for my own Christmas decoration.

The day I went, it was a free day. The usual admission is: Adult: $4.60
Senior: $3.20
Youth:$3.45
Child: $2.30
pre-schoolers free accompanied by adult
Family: at child rate
The Conservatory is open: 10 am to 5 pm seven days a week
It's located in Queen Elizabeth Park at 37th and Cambie St. There is parking available in the park. Take the #15 Cambie St. bus.