Yissaou!
I think it’s thursday. I’ve still not managed to upload my blogging, but still intend to write this bastard thing till the end for the heil of it. Yesterday we arrived in grecian waters and stopped at the port of katakolon, famous for being near olympia, the birth place of the games. Shunning any organized excursions, we decided to explore the untouched mediterranean backwater and while away the afternoon lounging on golden sands. It seems katakolon’s economy is driven by the cruise industry and the consumers it delivers every day. So after a cup of greek coffee and a walk along a disheveled sad beach we got back on board the fortuna and a sleepless night being tossed and bashed about by choppy european waters. This morning we did find ourselves awake for a golden champagne sunrise through the islands of santorini.
Santorini although a beautiful island and settlements built high atop cliff tops, whose hot spot is a neighboring volcano island, our trip ashore felt overwhelmed by a town over run with nothing but tourist industry. Nothing wrong with that per say, after all if economies can thrive on the circumstantial spending power of richer nations, good for them. What does feel galling is that this floating populace simply stops by tourist spot after tourist spot for a matter of hours and then leaves with a false sense of having visited a place without really getting a feel of any culture what so ever. That said maybe if we were more bothered to engage with the organized excursions (if they weren’t such a rip off maybe we would) then that experience would be delivered. However as a casual observer of places, cultures and ever changing scenery, this cruising lark does deliver. Maybe I was hoping my first visit to greece would be a lazy week actually in greece rather than international waters. God I sound like such an ungrateful moaning sod. I am having an interesting time honest, maybe I should stop thinking about it so much and deliver myself to gay abandon as illustrated by the 1920’s murals that adorn this pleasure liner.
Santorini although a beautiful island and settlements built high atop cliff tops, whose hot spot is a neighboring volcano island, our trip ashore felt overwhelmed by a town over run with nothing but tourist industry. Nothing wrong with that per say, after all if economies can thrive on the circumstantial spending power of richer nations, good for them. What does feel galling is that this floating populace simply stops by tourist spot after tourist spot for a matter of hours and then leaves with a false sense of having visited a place without really getting a feel of any culture what so ever. That said maybe if we were more bothered to engage with the organized excursions (if they weren’t such a rip off maybe we would) then that experience would be delivered. However as a casual observer of places, cultures and ever changing scenery, this cruising lark does deliver. Maybe I was hoping my first visit to greece would be a lazy week actually in greece rather than international waters. God I sound like such an ungrateful moaning sod. I am having an interesting time honest, maybe I should stop thinking about it so much and deliver myself to gay abandon as illustrated by the 1920’s murals that adorn this pleasure liner.