Our entire stay in Greece was great, but I’ll start off with just the first three days in this post.  The foodie canines, you ask?  I’ll get to those finicky pooches in a bit.

Feta.

Yes, feta cheese gets its own topic. I’ve always loved this cheese, but let me tell you, I had no idea how delicious it could be until we had it on our first day in Greece.

We docked in Cephalonia, and Debbie, Donald, Kevin and I decided not to do any excursions with the ship. We just wanted to do a little exploring on our own, going at our own pace.  After shopping for a while, we decided to stop and have lunch.  Everything was great, but the standout dish was Debbie’s Greek salad, on top of which rested a rectangular block of white creamy heaven (by the way, that would be a great drag name….not Rectangular Block, but White Creamy Heaven).

It’s hard to describe the difference between feta in the States and Geek feta; the later is more firm, creamy, and less salty.  I’m now going to be on a quest to find something comparable at home. I’ll probably gain five pounds during my search, having to sample cheese after cheese, but I’m willing to make that sacrifice. When I find one that comes close, I’ll be sure to share that information. You’re welcome.

Alpo? <ptooey>, <ptooey>

One strange thing you’ll see in Greece is the amount of stray dogs roaming the streets. They’re not feral…don’t worry, it’s not a dingo-ate-my-baby situation.  Some wear collars, some don’t; actually, we even saw one wearing a tie (I’ll include a picture to prove it).  All seem very tame, but they show almost a complete indifference to your presence.  The locals also don’t seem to really notice them as they wander the plazas, weaving through the crowds, or as they skillfully dart through traffic without incident. I never got the whole story as to why this is a thing, but we saw it on all of the Greek islands we visited.  One particularly funny interaction we had with one of the strays took place as we were eating lunch in Cephalonia.

As soon as we were seated for lunch at one of the outdoor tables, one of the stray dogs came and lay at our feet.  She wasn’t begging for anything, and didn’t seem to want any attention. I would find out later that she was staking her claim for our leftovers…but not just any leftovers, this pooch had food preferences.

The Greeks give you way too much to eat. After absolutely stuffing our face, we still had a good amount of food on our plates. The dog at our feet sensed it was her time and came out from under the table. I didn’t know if it was frowned upon to feed the dogs, but her cute little pleading face was too much for me to take, and I gave her a chunk of bread.  That little bitch (technical term) spat it out onto the ground and looked back at me, her eyes saying, “I know you’ve got something better than that.”  I thought maybe the first piece had something on it she didn’t like, so I gave her a second…nope, she spat that out too. It turned out that the only thing she wanted was protein. She would gingerly take the small pieces of meat I offered her, and gobble them down. Perhaps she was pregnant, or maybe she knows what she likes, and there are plenty of suckers around to accommodate her wishes.

Video password:  letmeseeit

Just like James Bond’s martinis.

Another interesting, albeit disturbing, thing you’ll see in Greece are gypsies. That’s the word used by the locals to describe them, I’m not sure what the technical or P.C. term is.  The gypsies live in groups that travel around, setting up camps, and reject most of the normal aspects of life such as paying taxes, sending their children to school, or having any sort of regular job. We were told to stay away from these groups, as you would likely be harassed for money, or pickpocketed by one of the skillfully stealthy children that surround you.  It truly broke my heart to see these children whose parents have willfully put them in a situation where they’re uneducated and unlikely to ever be able to function in normal society, ultimately locking them into this lifestyle.

On our way back from a tour of a local honey farm, which was really fun, we came to a stoplight and saw a group of gypsy children surrounding a car stopped at the light on the other side of the intersection. Two girls stood in front of the car while one boy “cleaned” the windshield; there was no water involved, so he was just pushing around the dirt.  Our tour guide explained that they will demand money from the driver after providing this service, and if payment is refused, they will remain in front of the car, not allowing it to move, while the person who was cleaning the windshield beats the car with the wooden end of his cleaning stick.

The poor driver in the car paid the kids, and even though the light had changed, they came running into the intersection, crossing to the other side.  As they were coming toward us, I saw that one of the kids, who looked no older than 13, was carrying a baby and was visibly pregnant with another. As she ran, the baby’s head bobbed around violently, completely unsupported by its mother.  Watching that unfortunate baby brought to mind the title of this section.  Think about it…it may take you a sec.

We asked our tour guide if the police did anything to prevent this behavior. She said that there were too many groups to keep up with, and that they’ll just move to a different location that’s less patrolled, coming back when it lightens up. She said that locals are tempted to just plow over the gypsies, but they’re not willing to go to jail because of it.  It’s a big nuisance that everyone just learns how to deal with.

Way too many things.

It’s hard to tell you about everything we did during the first three days in Greece; there’s just too much.  Yes, we saw plenty of Greek ruins (which I’ll talk about more in my Athens post), we went swimming in the sea (which I’ll talk more about in my Mikonos and Santorini post), and we enjoyed time on the ship.  After Debbie and Donald joined the party, it’s been really hard to get a free second to work on the blog.  I’m actually sitting in my hotel room in Venice right now, only a few days away from the completion of our journey, trying to catch up on things, but I’ll get it done.  Stick with me.