Ithaka Bound

Soaring with Icarus

When Daedalus, the creator of King Minos’ labyrinth on Crete, sought to escape from Minos and his cretan prison, he fashioned a pair of wings made of wax for himself and his son, Icarus.
Before setting off across the Aegean, Daedalus warned his son not to soar to close to the sun or his wings would [...]

Cost of Traveling to Greece

I’ve gotten more than a few messages asking about costs related to traveling to Greece, so I thought it warranted a blog post.
The good news: compared to most European nations, Greece is extremely affordable.
The bad news:  if you’re American, you’re still getting about .60 euro to $1.
Timing is everything.  Prices go down by as much [...]

The Return of Prada

On June 16th, I wrote a post about losing my sunglasses in a mini-market in Amorgos, but I never told you about how I got them back.
I went back to the mini-mart for the next two days, asking if they had found the glasses or if anyone had turned them in, to no avail.
My last [...]

Signs and Future Plans

My last week on the island, I went swimming in one of the western beaches and found the biggest shell I’d ever found in Greece; which isn’t to say the shell was very big–it wasn’t–but it looked like a behemoth next to the other pebble-sized shells.
When I fished it out of the water, I saw [...]

Ithaka

Keep Ithaka always in your mind.
Arriving there is what you’re destined for.

I pulled the blog name, Ithaka Bound, out of thin air a few days before I was due to leave for Greece.

I’d tried three or four other names; all included the word Greece, and all were already taken by others.   I wracked my [...]

Agathia

Imagine someone running into a crowded nightclub and screaming “FIRE!” That’s how the Greek islands clear out on September 1st. Beaches are wonderfully deserted again, the screech of scooters has died down, everything is half price, and no more waiting in line for a cheese pie at the bakery.

I went alone to the beach [...]

In Love…

…with the sea.
It’s true.  I’m completely besotted, soaked through and through.

Some people wax poetic about their love, the ocean.  It’s so powerful, they’ll say.  It makes them feel inconsequential in the big scheme of things, they’ll add.
But the ocean is too violent for me, with all it’s rip tides and crashing surf.  I feel like [...]