I’ve just returned from a 3-week trip to Lebanon and Jordan over the holidays. It was remarkable to be so far away from the US at this time – to visit a culture so completely different than my own – one that has known so much war, upheaval, and struggle. Being away gave me the […]
2017: Things I Know and Don’t Know Read More »
Flying home tomorrow. Savoring every moment of our last day. I will miss the awe-inspiring beauty of this place. And the food. And the Greek people. And the olive oil….and…and…so much! Guess I’ll have to come back to Greece. Blue doors. Ruin. Broken window. Disrepair. Strange stairs. Old doors. Loved this doorway at the church
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Photos from our closing session and final reading. Another Write, Travel, Transform trip has come to a close. Talking about wrapping up the trip and re-entry. Filling out evaluations. Writing till the end. Our final reading as the sun began to set over Santorini. Surya listening Natalie listening Judy reading about Lesbos and the refugees
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Here’s another wonderful response to the prompt, “Since I’ve Come to Greece,” this one from Joyce Bartlett, from Marblehead, Massachusetts: I’ve seen landscapes that look nothing like the place I wake up in most mornings of my life, even the water, the same H2O that I can see from my bedroom window, has been transformed
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Yesterday, in our final writing group, I gave the prompt, “Since I’ve come to Greece,” and I’m going to post several of the responses from my students. They provide a great recap of our two weeks together. This first version is by Marlene Bumgarner, who had the great distinction of being the only person on
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Today was a day I’ve been looking forward to the whole trip. I’d been told we’d be taking a boat from our new (and final) home base in Oia, Santorini, trekking to the caldera of the volcano that transformed this island, and then heading to a natural hot springs that had something to do with
Greece: Mud, Mud, Glorious Mud! Read More »
Our traveling company has moved on to Heraklion and this morning we went on a tour of the Minoan palace of Knossos. While the rest of the group went to the museum across from our hotel, I decided I wanted to go out and stretch my legs on my own. I had five hours before
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The Samaria gorge, located in west Crete in the White Mountains, is the second most visited tourist attraction on Crete (following the Minoan palace of Knossos) and it’s definitely the most popular hike. The locals call it the “Farangas” or “Great Gorge,” in admiration of its beauty and to differentiate it from the other smaller
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When I was growing up and we traveled as a family, my father always got up early in the morning while we were all still sleeping. He’d go for an early morning walk alone before whatever town we were in truly woke up. He particularly lived boats and harbors, the funkier and more run down
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Walking tour of Chania on the island of Crete… Lighthouse Ancient mosque A ride around the harbor? Greek flag flying proudly Ruins An excavation in the middle of town This is what they think this ancient Minoan village looked like And this was on the same corner…talk about a juxtaposition of old and new! Wooden
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This morning, as homework, I asked my students to write an ode to our home for the past four days, Milia Mountain Retreat. This is the ode that Jean West from Port Orange, Florida wrote: Even though I arrived when you were busy, quick hands extended fragrant coffee and toothsome cookies, making me feel as
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I love the rhythm of our life here in Millia. I love being in one place for four full days, waking up to yoga and writing class every morning and then sharing lunches and dinners together, sitting at the broad wide wooden table with different seatmates at each meal, getting to know each other while
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National Geographic has called Milia Mountain Resort, our first home in Crete, one of the world’s best Ecolodges. In the 1980s, when many Greeks left their villages to ride the wave of tourism development along the coast, two local friends took to the mountains of Crete instead. Their vision was to restore an abandoned medieval
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On my Write, Travel, Transform trips, I always begin by talking about some core attitudes that make traveling (and traveling in a group) more successful. One of these attitudes is flexibility and letting go of irritations and a second is respect for peoples’ differences. I also ask people to take a risk every day. It
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I didn’t write and post as much as I thought I would from Cambodia. Our days were long. I was savoring my final days with the group and with my family. But I wanted to at least share some photos from our final day’s outing: exploring village life in Cambodia. And I also wanted to
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