,
There is only so much one is able to scribble about when
recounting tales of wanderlust, striving to document another traveller’s
impressions on their sojourns around the globe, making it somewhat of a
challenge to accurately report on the sights and sounds of a locale, especially
if you’ve never been there and experienced them for yourself. Plus, having to deal with the often-times
murky memory of Miss Niece just added that extra element of uncertainty to the
mix, intermingling one part reality with a smidgen of over the top exaggeration
of the totally believable kind. So,
what’s an Auntie to do, but inadvertently “borrow”
(some say steal, others say loan – whatever) the Kid’s diary? Just to check out a few facts and make
certain that her stories jived. Hey, in
my own defense, the Kid left it open in plain sight in our London hotel room,
so I couldn’t help but quickly glance at a few pages, just of curiosity,
primarily to make certain that Miss Niece was living the straight and narrow
whilst gallivanting in Greece on her high-school adventure. And, for those of you who think this was
prying, ahem, it was my duty as an
Auntie to watch out for the Kid and ascertain that nary any shady shenanigans
took place.
Flipping through the top secret book, I had to scan the
pages super quick, as Miss Niece had momentarily run out to Primark to acquire
a few marked down jumpers, before the shops closed for the night, so I had at
least an hour to rummage through her notes and piece together what exactly had
transpired that very last day in Athens.
Like, seriously, revenge of the Alpha and Betas? Chased down the winding pathways by a
withered old shopkeeper, screeching incomprehensible verbiage in a tongue she
couldn’t quite understand? And, the
icing on the cake, babbling like a native born, conversing with anyone and
everyone who was willing to stop and listen.
Say what?
As the story goes, after Miss Niece had been thrown out of
the ceramic shop, banned for life from ever setting foot upon the premises, the
Kid apparently stumbled across a tacky souvenir shop, hawking everything
tourist related, including handy dandy phrase books for clueless
foreigners. She had learned her lesson
and learned it well, so it was time to throw out her dunce’s cap and replace it
with Class Valedictorian of the Year. As
for those perplexing Epsilon and Zetas, well, they were in for quite the
showdown, Miss Kid versus the Alpha and Omegas.
The game was back on and Round Three was just warming up.
Eager to test out her newly acquired language skills, armed
with five ever so useful phrases: How are you – I love Greece – I am lost
– where is the Metro? – with – How much does that cost? – thrown in for
good measure, my ever so clever Niece was on a mission like none other. Casually strolling along a labyrinth of
laneways, map and dictionary clutched in hand, Miss Niece literally accosted
anyone and everyone within her path, from babes in arms to stray mutts
scavenging the cobblestoned rues for throwaway scraps. Anxious to show off her rudimentary knowledge
of Greek, both locals and tourists now unsuspecting “victims” of verbal abuse of the complementary Miss Kid kind, with
each passer-by warmly greeted with a smile, nod and hello.
“Ti – ka - nis” or
“How are you?” now rolled effortlessly
off of Miss Academic’s tongue, as she cheerfully engaged random strangers in
mindless chit chat, a sort of United Nations exchange of banter on a crowded
Athens tree-lined avenue. Miss Niece’s
contagious zeal to demonstrate proficiency of Greek was quite the comical sight
indeed, a vision of determined optimism out to conquer those dreaded Alpha and
Omegas.
A handful of nouns, verbs, adjectives and a spattering of
Greek, interspersed with an ounce of persistence were all that were required for
Miss Smarty Pants to eventually make it back to her Athens digs – a bit of a
harried adventure worthy of countless renditions of the highly embellished kind
– the type of travel tales that would surely make her wacky ol’ Auntie proud.
And, speaking of the lunatic lady, Miss Auntie of the Year
promised never, ever, to steal – oops, meant to say borrow – the Kid’s journal
or doubt the validity of Miss Niece’s travel escapades ever again. For you see, scribbled in bright neon pink
marker on the very last page of Miss Niece’s Travel Journal, were the damning
words – knew
you’d snoop, so I hid the real one.
Happy reading!! Ouch!!
Sad, but true.
Chalk another one up for the Kid!!
As for those indecipherable Epsilon and Zetas? Looks like we’ll have to call it a tie. Look who’s crying in their Alphabet soup
now!!
Come hang out on tree-lined promenades,
babbling lingo like a local, all the while appreciating the sights and sounds
of this ancient metropolis…and the moral of the story is, never leave home without
that handy dandy phrase book and always remember to make a laughing stock out
of cuckoo ol’ Auntie Nora whenever possible!! Hee hee!!
Next week – Stay tuned for more Miss –
adventures of the Kid inspired kind!!
Pink Sneaker Tidbits of Fascinating Facts
and Interesting Info:
Did you know that Greece has the highest
number of airports, primarily due to the fact that so many tourists regularly descend
upon this stunningly beautiful country?
Did you know that this parcel of land is
blessed with more than 250 days of sunshine a year? No wonder tourists flock to its Islands in
droves!!
Did you know that Greece also has the
highest number of archeological museums?
And so it should!
Did you know that the Greeks wave a
greeting with the palm closed? They do
not wave with an open hand, as it is insulting to show the palm with extended
fingers? Makes sense to me.
Did you know that the children’s toy “yo
yo” originated in ancient Greece approx. 3,000 years ago? A much beloved toy even to this day.
Did you know that the National Anthem
of Greece contains 158 versus?
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