My interview

sifnos 2011

Today my interview was published (in Greek).

Butterflies in my stomach.

Hope you enjoy it....

Click here to read it.

I might translate it in English sometime in the future.

An interview on the way

skyros 2010

I was so overwhelmed when a reader friend asked me for an interview!

Looking at the questions I could not believe the depth of them, he was really reading me all this time and he thinks people might be interested in my story...

I have battled with this for these two years. Who will want to know what my life looks like, what I've been through? The joys and the darkness, the tears and laughters...

This interview made me go back and read it again. Read my - two year old - diary. It made me think. It was  not just the travelling, it was all my thoughts, all my decisions, all the inner adventures of my psyche and  - of course - my photographs. Talking with myself really, no censorship, not caring if anybody cares to read. I do care of course and there are some loyal frends in this blog, the same way I am loyal to the blogs I love. There are some talented people out there, writing, always writing, not giving up on their talent.

Tuscania 2010

I got exposure once again back in 2010 and I'll get exposed once again once this interview is published.

There is a mixture of fear and excitement inside my head and heart.
Do all bloggers feel like this?

Anyway, I'll see how this goes...

Have a good day!

Out of the ordinary

Out of the ordinary. That is what I always wanted in my life.

I was always seeking an extraordinary life. The life that can give you powerful emotions.

Sometime ago I thought that the extraordinary needded to be filled with anger. I needed to be angry to achieve the extraordinary. I thought that was the driving force I needed.

But later I realised that anger is not needed for the extraordinary. It comes peacefully like a little spark. And  then it becomes extraordinary. It builds slowly. It takes passion to build. Not angry passion, but rather a simmering, sizzling, underground passion.

You know it is the extraordinary when it is filled with beliefs and no's. But you still go for it. It is filled with difficulties and dangers. But it's burning.

And you want to get burned. You just feel it is part of a real life. A life filled with insecurity and change.

This is what I want my life to be. Out of the ordinary...

Right now.

You sit and think.

All your life has brought you to this moment. This exact moment.

What do you feel right now? Who do you think of?

Every small or big decision you ever made, brings you here, now.

Are you happy? Are you sad? Are you in love with someone?

Summer rain. The smells of summer rain. The coolness in the air. I am content and grateful for  this exact moment. I am alive and well and I can enjoy the present moment. What have I done? What will I do? It does not matter. All that matters is the  - wet - now  I am experiencing. The lightning right now. The thunder right now. The drops of rain. They are powerful and I can listen to them from a house. I don’t want to get wet. I just want to stay here in the present moment, lying down, listening to the rain.

Once the rain stops I’ll experience another now. I will experience all the now’s from now on.

 August is quiet.

Been on the beach four times, the littlest I have been in years.

It is a different, interesting summer, without the conflicts of last year in Sifnos.

I have been meeting new friends, I have been having interesting conversations and, yes, I am flirting.

Enjoying life, enjoying the hot weather.

Bonding with my family. Forgiving.

Not much to share at the moment exept these two wonderful pictures from the beach...

Day 4 & 5: Randa - Zermatt - Tash - Milano - Athens

It is really difficult writing about a cold place like Switzerland when the greek August sun is burning. 

It is also difficult to write about a trip that finished two weeks ago.

But I might as well finish what I started.

So.

Sunday morning was nice and sunny. 

Breakfast, a car ride with Elena to Tash and two trains to Riferlalp for the conclusion of the seminar. Matterhorn was still there, eternally there. 

One more day on these majestic mountains. A little spaced out by the knowledge I had to process in such a small period of time. A little spaced out by the lack of oxygen at such an altitude. Still really really enjoying the fact I was there.

The Intensive finished around 2 in the afternoon. The sun was shining bright and one more time I felt like sitting on the grass. This time I took my shoes off. The grass was so welcoming! I ate my sandwich and sunbathed until I felt my scalp burning. My friends slowly scattered. I wanted to be alone. I had learned there is nothing to fear. I had learned so many things! 

Where I was sitting I found a gift. A stone carved like the Matterhorn!

Once I remained alone, I decided to walk aroud a bit. Get to know the environment of the Alps. It was really colourful. All these little flowers, all these little pine cones! I took some home for my friend as a gift. Abundance in its true manifestation. How can all this fit into one post?? I guess I'll let the photographs speak for themselves...

 When I felt I was filled with the colours and fragrances of the mountain, feeling a little dizzy from the sun, hoping it was not a sunstroke, I took the train back to Zermatt.

I hadn't really walked around the village, so I was curious to look around.

Once you get away from the central street, you can find small, quiet alleys with nice looking homes and hotels. When I heard the sound of water running, I started walking what sounded like a river. It was a river indeed. 

It was wonderful to see how the Swiss have tamed the waters and built the village around them. Respect. That is the right word. Respect for nature and it's ways. The waters here are curiously white, milky white, like the melting snow has coloured the water with its whiteness... 

Tired of walking, bought my gifts - chocolate, what else - and headed back to Randa. 

I wanted to go and see the river which was close to my hotel. In reality, I was curious to put my hand in the water and see its temperature. All rivers here are completely inaccessible. It might be because they are dangerous. Still, I was curious. 

My walk to the river proved very complicated. I had to cross the train tracks and a high speed motorway. After walking back and forth for quite a while, I did find my way to the river. I was so tired of walking around, I almost quit trying. When I finally made it there, I was dissapointed. No way of checking the water's temperature. The river banks where really high up and the river itself looked ver intimidating. It seemed deep and very furious. So I sat down on the soil and just looked at it. And listened to it. The water was rumbling and glowling. I loved it. 

It looked like it was going to rain soon, so I returned to the hotel. 

I had enjoyed the day and it was time to say goodbye to these mountains. 

Monday morning I woke up at 6 as per usual. I had my capuccino ouside. The thermometer ouside the hotel said 5 degrees. VERY COLD. I had already started missing the greek summer. 

The plan was to meet everyone in Tash at 11. A bus would drive us to Milano for our 6 o clock flight. I had plenty of hours ahead of me to have a big breakfast, drink 3 capuccino's and sit around in the cold admiring the sunlight as it lit the mountain tops. I could not get enough of this landscape!  

Instead of sitting around in Randa doing nothing, I decided to go earlier to Tash, to walk around and see what it was like.

Maurizio offered to drive me there, so we had a little chat. Such nice people they are! I was treated like family and I'm sure all of their guests are treated equally like family. Next time I come to Zermatt, I'll stay at their hotel again...

Tash was a simple, traditional Alpic village. Wooden houses, the river, all coming out of a fairytale, starring Heidi. Bright, shining sun and cold weather.

As I was walking, I discovered the best fairytale garden I have ever seen. Miniature farm, lots of miniature animals, gnomes, miniature water mills with miniature inhabitants! The garden was flooded with flowers! I will be eternally grateful to whoever made this fairytale garder...Here it is:

I spent almost 2 hours in Tash. After the garden, I visited its spectacular waterfall and wondered around the alleys.

Until it was time to say goodbye to the Alps.

The trip back to Milano was still really interesting. I took hundreds of pictures from the bus, trying to capture the moments, these last exhiting moments.

We had asked the driver to make a change in his schedule. Instead of stopping in the usual big industrial cafes of the autostrada, we asked to stop in a small village to eat gelato, the infamous italian ice-cream. And we did. Gelato is one of my favorite things. The italians know how to make ice-cream. Period.

After the gelato experience we ended up driving next to one of Italy's bigger lakes, Lago Maggiore. Full of luxurious hotels and tourists who where bathing in these lakes. I personally hate the idea of swimming in a lake, but I guess I come from a different culture....

 This was pretty much the end of the trip.

Back to a hot hot hot Athens. I felt like stepping into the oven!

Still, I was really glad I came back to the summer!

Day 3: Randa - Zermatt - Rifferlalp

can you see the face in the rock?

 As soon as the daylight lit my room, my eyes opened. Way before the alarm clock. It was six in the monring. I run to the window, taking in the first images of the day.

I made the first coffee of the day, using my own personal espresso mashine, intalled in my room! I loved that detail! I munched on the bar of the chocolate. Outside it was foggy and raining. I thought of the locals. Is this their summer? And then I thought they must make enough money to be able to go on vacation somewhere sunny like Greece. Maybe they even like this kind of weather!

Randa

Again I contemlated the fact I was there. I had created this reality.

The reason I was in Switzerland was one of Jonah's Intensives. It is the name used for his seminars. The teacher I have often mentioned in this blog and I love so much because they give us information on how to get out of our survival mode and give the power back to ourselves instead of just following anyone. Saturday and Sunday were going to be learning days.

I had dreamt of this journey 2 years back, when Jonah and Hossca had given a seminar in the same place. I always wondered if it was possible for me to do it the "difficult" way instead of just going to the Athens Intensive being held in March. The previous winter, I made a decision. To save 10% of MY money for a journey. Not Andonis's money, the money that came in for his illness from donations of friends and family. My money. The small amount that I got for babysitting and the occasional help I got from my parents. Back then I did not know the destination, all I knew was that I would not open that piggy back for any reason.

 The destination became clear last April.

So here I was, drinking my coffee in Switzerland. As I was there sitting outside the hotel, smoking and drinking my capuccino, I realised that the rocks on the mountain have faces. Sleeping faces, angry faces... The mysterious faces of  the mountain. I also see faces on trees. A gift Antonis gave me. The capacity to see the faces of nature.

Rifferlalp

I had a warm monring chat with Elena and gave her a masticha-sesame bar as a gift. The one I bought back in the Athens airport.

There was an 8.00 train to Zermatt. I got offered a lift to Tash, but I already had bought the train ticket.

I walked in Randa under a light drizzle, adimiring the architecture, the vegetable gardens and the colourful flowers on the porches.

By 8.20 I was in Zermatt. Very early for our 9.00 appointment.

This gave me the opportunity to wonder around a bit....

The time passed and we got on a train that goes up to Gornergrat and stops in Riferlalp. 2222 m altitude. I could not see much from the train since the fog was still there. I admired the beauty of fog.

While waiting for the seminar to start, I wandered around this hotel, which had wonderful details: the sculpture of a cow, old sleds, old toys, even a small wooden train!

The seminar started and we learned a lot. I do not wish to share the content of the seminar. I believe that, whoever wants to know more about their teachings can use the links in this blog.

Meanwhile, the weather got better, the wind came and it cleared up a bit. Their majesties, the mountains, honoured us by revealing themselves.

Lunch break was in the luxurious reataurant of Riferlalp hotel. Italian cuisine once more. Penne al Pesto. Simply delicious.

By the time the seminar finished for the day, Mattrerhorn was clear. All I wanted to do was lie down on the grass, in the bright sunshine and look at this rock. I breathed the clear air and took in the sunshine. This was heaven.

Time to go back to Zermatt. In the train and down to the town. Wondered around, sat down with friends, had beautiful conversations and enjoyed the afternoon. Time to go back to Randa. In the train and down the valley. I did not think of myself as a tourist, but as a traveller. 4 trains in one day! A beautiful day...

The weather had changed so many times today... It was unbelievable for me, the stranger. I guess the mountain is not an easy thing, just like the sea is not easy. You have to repect it's force and go with the flow.

Back in Randa things where quiet. They way I like them to be. I made a mental note to try and see the river up close if I had the time.

A warm talk with Elena, a free salad for the waiting, carbonara from Maurizio and off to bed. A was knackered!

2 b continued...

Day 2: Milano - Tash - Zermatt - Randa

Very early in the morning I woke up, ate my pizza for breakfast, got my back pack and got out.

I needed a coffee, so I was so glad to see a coffee place open at 7 in the morning in a street corner.

Only locals were on the streets at this hour so I had my capuccino looking at people going to their work on bicycles and early trams doing their routine.

Milano Centrale

It reminded me of Athens on a hot summer day.

Cafferine and nicotine running in my blood, I headed to the Mussolini train station.

Took the train to the airport, waited for the girls to arrive.

I was told there would be a guy waiting with Sylvia's name on a plate.

Italy from the car

I waited long to see her name and my mind was playing games of disaster as always: "You will not find them. You are at the wrong terminal. You will have to take the train to Zermatt."

Finally, I saw the plate, the name, the guy... Water on my mind's fire...

He gave me the plate with the name so he could go out and smoke a cigarette. Here I was, holding the plate! When they saw me, they thought I was their driver! Being the gypsy that I am, I looked like a damn alternative driver!

switzerland from the car

Made the aquaintances, lovely ladies, lovely driver...

Three hours to Tash, the final station before Zermatt.

We passed many lakes before the Italian border, the biggest is Lago Maggiore, which means Big Lake in Italian.

As we drove north, bigger, taller mountains came into our sight. The tallest ones still had snow on their tops!

typical swiss arcitecture...
noone could tell me why
they make houses like this

We reached the Italian-Swiss border and the landscape started changing. Waterfalls, rivers, tunnels... The Swiss have tunnels with rivers running above them! You could see the cows eating grass on green fields and small wodden villages on mountain tops. The Alps.... Heidi would surely be somewhere around here!

Majestic and grand. A sense of power overwhelmed me. I was finally there.

Mountains give me a sense of freshness, a sense of power and I usually get emotional on mountains, I cry a lot. Who knows why...

goats in Zermatt

Now make a picture in your mind. A valley with a river running through and three villages in a row. Randa is lower (1406 m), Tash is a bit higher (1449 m) and Zermatt is the last one in the row and higher above (1620 m). I had booked a hotel in Randa which I will talk about later.

When we arrived in Tash we took the train to Zermatt. It was sunny and warm. A stop in Sylvia's hotel and then out to see the village. Wooden houses with flowers on the balconies, the river with white (freezing I imagine) water from the glaciers... Again very touristic, very expensive and full of Japanese bless them....

After a delicious sandwich from a local bakery and some talkng with the rest of the friends who where already in Zermatt, it was time to go back to Tash and on to Randa to see my hotel and eat a proper dinner.

Trains in Switzerland are like clocks. They work perfectly and you can enjoy the scenery from the huge windows.

I even saw a camping site next to the river and thought they must be freezing at night! These people must be very well equipped to camp in the Alps, co sidering the temperature goes to 0 degrees at night and rising up to 10-15 degrees during day time...

Randa was 15 minutes away from Zermatt. The hotel is one of the last buildings of the village. When I got off the train I thought that this is EXACTLY where I wanted to stay. In a non touristic place. And this village was perfect! On my way to the hotel, I met one old person who smiled and said hello. I greeted him and went my way.

The hotel was fantastic. The owner, Italian Maurizio showed me to my room which was a delight. Would I need a duvet in July? I most certainly would! As soon as I left the room, I went out in the open. Rain was drizzling but it did not stop me.

There was a forest behind the hotel and I walked in the paths which were endless and very well singed for the hikers. I sat on a bench, smelling the trees and listening to the sounds of the forest. Big rocks behind me formed the infamous Alps. Squirrels. Birds. I sat with my back against the tree.

How on earth did I manage to get here? It was a miracle, a dream come true. A dream I believed so strongly, it became true. I wished Freeda was here with me! She would happily run among the trees and chase the birds she could not catch...

My stomach started rumbling, so I went to eat in the hotel's reastaurant. A wooden trattoria with Italian food.  I cose the tagliatelle with wild boar. And a glass of wine. This is where I met Elena, Maurizio's wife. A tall lady with a big smile. She made sure I was ok. She even brought me a salad Maurizio had made because I would wait for the main course. He had put a rose inside... Such a beautiful gesture...

The day had come to an end. I went to bed early and set up my alarm for 6.30 the next morning. The reason I was here would be fulfilled tomorrow.

2b continued...

ps blogger is giving me a hard time with the right lining of photographs. So I decided to change the format a bit. Do you prefer this one, or the previous one? I'd love to hear your feedback...