What A Group!

      Anna C.  is the proprietor of Gardens of Salonica, a Greek restaurant in SE Minneapolis.  Spring and fall she leads small group tours to Greece.  What Anna doesn't know about Greece is probably not worth knowing.  She' married to a Greek, her daughter and family lives in Athens, she speaks and teaches Greek, she's Greek Orthodox and seems to know people wherever we traveled in Greece.

   Jane J. in her amazing blog jwkjohnson3.wordpress.com said this about the trip....
"This type of trip is different from the other great adventures we’ve taken–it’s sort of a vagabond trek through Greece. Though Anna knows where she’s leading us and feeding us and has everything arranged, we have no specifically detailed itinerary–just a vague list of dates and places we’ll stay. So each day is an adventure for us. A monastery? A winery? A historical site? A beach? She leads and we follow. Sometimes we’re on time; other times we might be somewhere around the targeted hour. The tempo is slow and easy,"

    There were eight travelers plus Anna in the group.  Way back in my 'sensitivity training' days in the '70s we were told that nine was an ideal size group.  Perhaps that was correct because the group was definitely a high light for me.  There were two sisters, two female traveling companions who left husbands at home, my ministry partner from Iowa and his wife, plus, the curmudgeonette and me...the Traveling Curmudgeon.
    We laughed, ate, talked, ate, swam, ate, visited wineries (6), ate, rode bus, ferry, airplanes, ate, milked goats, ate, learned about Greece, ate, visited antiquities, ate, went to a farm, ate, some shopped, ate......... A high point for me were the meals together.  Anna would order food for our family style meal.  After four or five dishes arrive I'd think "wow! that was a great meal" only to discover that we were only half finished as dishes continued to pour from the kitchen.   A wonderful way to bond as we shared stories from our day and from our lives.
    This was my first experience of group travel and certainly has advantages...step off the plane or ferry and someone is waiting for you, our own private bus, no concern about logistics, a guide who took us to places I'd not find on my own, and companions with which to share the experiences.  Having someone else order the food was also fun.  The camaraderie of great companions was wonderful.

Shopping in Athens

Dinner on Santorini

Stuffed egg plant with tomatoes and cheese (Jane J. pic.)

Fennel encrout with sauce (Jane J. pic.)

Rooster and potatoes  (Jane J. pic.)