As I begin the travel blogging adventure, I am reminded of an early bit of writing I did after my 40th birthday spent on Mykonos. I bring that to you here, unedited from its original. 

(started on September 25, finished on October 3, 2004)

Dear Mark, David, Jim, Christopher, Eric, John, Chris, Bobb, John and Charlie:

As I make my way through the cultural re-entry (which has been tough) and reflect on the glorious time in Greece (in spite of the airlines’ best attempts to ruin the trip and/or leave me naked), it occurs to me that we all came and went from this trip at different times, and from different places, and…I don’t know…it seems like we need a little group ending, or maybe I just need to remember some things and thank you all for being a part of my life…

At the beginning, I think of the crazy taxis navigating their way through the smoggy third-world streets of Athens, racing around the antiquities of a time and culture we can’t even imagine.  The 3,600 year-old pieces in the National Museum (“you can take pictures of THESE, but not THOSE”), and walking around the Acropolis with all its wonders (but listen for that whistle, courtesy of the Greek Full Employment Act)…to think of those who had walked there centuries – millennia – before us.  Wow.  Our dinner at the 5 Brothers (why do I remember the name?) next to the Tower of Winds where Socrates was executed in 400 BC (or was he a teacher there?), swarmed by cats and entertained by fire-twirlers.  Wow again.  This is LIFE at its best.

When we (I – finally) arrived at the Villa Cavo Nano, and were awed by how much more impressive it was than in the pictures (and then the power went out), the trip took a great turn.  There was the howling wind that the Greeks assured us would stop tomorrow (it didn’t for ten days), and the jeeps/cars that couldn’t make it up the driveway.  Most days, there was our favorite beach – Elia – as we quickly relaxed into the island pace of life:  breakfast at noon, lunch at five, dinner at 11, and out ‘til 4.  My favorite parts of that were swimming naked in the Aegean, and those last few days when we stayed really late.  The light of dusk on the beach is sort of mystical, and you can feel how truly eternal it really is.  

So many tidbits of memorable moments that add up to something greater than the parts…(in no particular order)

That night that I got really drunk and you all thought you lost me at the Church?  “I wasn’t lost, you guys just didn’t know where I was”. 😄

Eric poking Bobb with the stick to make sure it was real.

Our dear, sweet and sassy model friend Ingrid at Kiki’s Taverna over Agios Sostis.

The meals at Kiki’s.  Wow.  And that dreadful meal at the wrong place.  Yuck.

The sunsets over Delos.  Light from the heavens, carrying the gods, so it seemed.

Demetris and Gille making us feel like we were in their living room, and welcome anytime, to stay as long as we’d like.

Christopher’s vacation romance with Michael (who smoked and drank too much, but we all liked him anyway!).

My vacation fling with Thanos (who really did live in a cubby beneath the stairs – but no short jokes, please!).

Discovering that David is somewhat of a nudist, and has an absolute sweetheart of a husband.

Bobb and Christopher figuring out how they “know” each other.  It’s a small world.

The view from the Elysium.  But that hill to climb…

Jim going to the bakery early in the morning for those famous nutella donuts.  What would we have done without him?

Starbucks.  How comforting a taste of home can be.

Bobb’s magic bathing suit, and my magic shirt.

John attempting to return that damn shirt with the missing button, but WORKIN’ those new sandals!

David always keeping us on track for the good eats.

Ursus.  Russian Bears.  Swedish Bears.  Nutellatinis.

“Shoooooooooowwwwwwwwwwwtime!”

Belgian Guy, Faux Belgian, Fast Food, Captain Hook, Hercule Poirot (or was it Bella Karole?), The Brits, The Sprockets, The Italians, The Frogs (except that the French don’t come here because “they can’t afford it.”).

Two fingers hooked in the air, words (“romance”) no longer necessary.

Maria bleaching the entire house every day – and we don’t even know if that’s her name.

“Touch me here”  “Don’t do that”

The best gyros in the world at the little corner place for 2 Euros.

The phone call from the Greek Crepe Advisory Board thanking Eric for his patronage.

The magnificent feast you all prepared to celebrate my birthday, so perfect I think I was in heaven.

The wind.  Which never happens this time of year, and will stop tomorrow.  Or tomorrow.  Or tomorrow…   Maybe tomorrow, the wind stops.

Chris and his Dutch guy.  (a visit to Amsterdam now in the works, I’m told)

Mark putting up with us drunkards when we get “soooo interesting after a couple cocktails”.

Yiannis’ massages at the villa, with the sound of the Aegean lapping at the rocks in the background.

Hanging out with JPG (Jean Paul Gaultier, for those of you who had already left).

Charlie’s insistence on doing laundry the last night, only to have to dry it on the dirty wall heaters, after getting a black sock in with the whites turning everything grey, and putting way too much detergent in.

John Barnes actually getting some sun.  

Fitting four queens and their luggage into that tiny little car.  And making it all the way to the airport.

Surviving the treacherous road perched along the cliffs out to the villa, time and again…

But you know what was the really the most memorable thing and the best part, that which I cherish the most?  All of you guys.  Really.  I am soooo super lucky to have the best friends in the world.  Thanks for being so wonderful, caring, interesting, smart, fun, great to travel with, and, most of all, a part of my life.  It is the people and the experiences that make life magical, and you make mine that way.

With all my love,

Michael