Into The Drink/Greece

Hello! Made it to Greece and have hooked up with the crew from “Into the Drink” to film an episode for Season 3. As I’m sure you can imagine it is a beautiful country. I was only in Athens for about an hour while I hooked up with the crew then boarded a bus to the small port town of Lavrio (which used to be a silver mine town way back in the ancient Greek times), but we’ll spending a couple days in Athens at the end of the trip. So far we’ve basically just gotten settled in, got our bearings and gotten our dive briefings to start some amazing dives!! We’re going to spend the next three days right around the Lavrio area, visiting some islands close by and I will post plenty of photos to share from the up-coming dives. I know this is a short entry out of the gates but we are just getting started!! Here are just a few pics from today and once we get all rested for tomorrow there will be plenty more!! We’re about 8 hours ahead of Kansas City here, so my body clock is a little jacked up right now and these posts may be popping up in the middle of the day back home. As long as I can find a WiFi connection, I’ll keep ‘em coming”! (By the way, Happy Birthday to Nick Lucey, the host of “Into the Drink”)

Day 2 is coming to an end and to say that we are packing in fulls days here would be an understatement but the crew of Into the Drink have been very welcoming and a lot of fun to hang out with. I've mentioned Nick who is the host of the show but the Executive Producer, Randy, is also here along with cameramen Johnny and Travis and Poseidon rep Marcus (whom Travis is convinced was carved out of marble and belongs in a museum). We started diving today off an area called Sounio at 9am which would be, I think, 1am back home and we started out with a couple easy dives while Nick got some training from Marcus on a new re-breather system. Here are a few pics from this mornings dives and some of Nick's training. Randy is going to put a color filter on my camera tomorrow so hopefully the pics won't be quite as blue...

We did had a slight emergency at lunch when a beer got knocked overboard (it got interesting when Travis yelled "BEER OVERBOARD"...well, the crew only heard "overboard" and came scrambling up to the deck). Hating to see a good beer go to waste, Nick jumped into action and I'll give him this, he was NOT going to give up until he got it.....

After lunch it was off to the Temple of Poseidon which built somewhere between 315 and 450 B.C. and overlooks the opening of the Aegean Sea

Here's me, Nick and Marcus at the Temple

That's it for today. We're hoping to find some wrecks to dive on tomorrow. Until then....cheers!

Pretty good diving today! I think it’s going to get better and better each day but today’s dives were pretty good. We started out diving on the Krya Eleni near Patroklos. It sank January 6th, 1978. The captain was trying to anchor on the leeward side of the island to wait out terrible weather but strong winds made it hard to steer and the ship ended up hitting the rocksdespite having the anchor cast (that must've been some storm!) This thing was mangled and twisted and over all just a hot mess, but it made for a good wreck dive.

After the Eleni we went to what they call the car graveyard. A lot of times when you find a car underwater near a dive, it was sunk there on purpose to make a “wreck dive site” or something like that. This particular site is totally legit. These are all cars that were stolen and the thieves went for a joy ride before dumping the car over this cliff…

….to get rid of the evidence. Pretty cool scenery here too. Now keep in mind, the guys that you see with the big cameras in all of these pics from this trip are actually filming the “Into the Drink” episode from Greece during all of these dives, so I thought I could give you a kind of “behind the scenes” for when the episodes airs…. I’m being told that they are actually going to make TWO episodes out of this trip, so there’ll be plenty of info and tv footage when they are done. Here are the pics from the car graveyard…

I can’t confirm anything but a sing-along may have broken out on the boat tonight

I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t exhausted. There have been some late nights and early mornings but we’re having a great time. For some reason Nick thinks it’s a good idea to get up and go run 5 miles every day. He says he runs so he can drink beer….and who can argue with that really?

Today really focused on getting a lot of filming done. I had a minor technical issue with my camera during the first dive so I don’t have a ton of pics from it but I got it fixed up for the second. This island was pretty cool to dive off of for two reasons. One, our dive master told us that before she was taken to Paris and Troy, this is the very island that Helen (yes, that Helen) hid out on. Second, just a little ways off the coast is where the Britannic (sister ship to the Titanic) is sunk. Unfortunately, that wreck is a bit too deep for us to dive on but the depth actually saved that wreck site because any shallower and the ship would have been torn apart and sold for scrap. Here’s a few shots from today’s dives and some of the filming that went on….

That’s really all for today. After the dives we kind of just kicked back and recharged…we’ve been going full speed for a few days now but I leave you with an authentic Greek sunset and a moonrise over the bay where we’re anchored at.

Albatross Charters has been our hosts for this trip and the hospitality has been wonderful. To say we’re eating like kings over here is a major understatement. Every meal…and I do mean every meal is a multi-course event with plates being passed back and forth around the table and the food has been incredible (had a genuine Greek Gyro yesterday and holy crap….that’s all I can say is holy crap) Here's a picture of the group at dinner....start drooling now

I’m sure you’ve heard stories about the meals over here or maybe you’ve even been here yourself but Stephanos, from Albatross, told me a very moving story over dinner last night that really puts a new perspective on why the meals are they way they are here. Maybe being here and him telling the story while we were at dinner made it a little more moving but non-the-less, everyone should read this and pass it on to your friends. He can tell it much better than me so I’ll turn the keyboard over to him and let him tell it:

Well, 70 years ago, Nazis make their appearance from the North borders of Greece. After a glorious defeat, Germans finally invaded in the mainland and Greece subjected to them. The resistance was violent for the possession army but so was they retaliation Greek people. Thousands of innocent men women and kids were executed, over 50 village were destroyed by them but the worst of all was the starvation that Germans provoked to the people. 400,000 civilians died from starve, that is about the 8% of the population.

This is the reason that Greeks never change the culture they have about food....but why??
Our grandfathers and grandmothers lived the starvation and they were sleeping with death among them..their fathers, mothers, brothers, sisters and friends died from starve. Death for them became a routine..and when war was finished, they start their lives from the beginning. They give a promise to themselves..never, NEVER feel that pain again.
They grow up their kids thinking all the time the starvation they been too few years ago. The first thing they said when a boy get married was ''always have food on the table for your family.'' They didn’t care what they do for living, the only thing they care was to have a decent life and never live what they lived. That’s why the culture of food passes from generation to generation.

The years passed by, our culture now has change, the technology is part of our life, everything around us goes to future, but something stay forever the same..The happiness our grandfathers and mothers have, when we go and visit them and the only thing they do is to give us food ALL the time. This is something that will never change and as years or decades pass, we will pass it to our childrens because all the Greeks has this painful memory..the memory of ''Possession Syndrome''

I thought that was a pretty touching story and something that should be shared with everyone. This is Stephanos along with Popie, both from Albatross and have been a lot of fun to hang out with.

Today we were anchored off of the island of Kea. This was a pretty intense day. We dove on an old steam ship called Patris that sank in 1868. The captain implemented emergency procedures and got everyone off with no loss of life. The ship broke in half with the bow landing on a ledge on its side with the stern sinking deeper but landing upright. We dove this wreck twice because it sits in pretty deep water so we couldn’t stay down too long, but really a fantastic site to see it fade in from the blue (the water here has been crystal clear all week). One of the paddle wheels was recovered and now sits in a museum but the other is still attached as you will see. Got some incredible pics from this one!!

This was a pretty intense dive and they even had safety divers in the water with scooters...pretty fun to grab their shoulder and just go for a ride

Here's Travis and Johnny coming back up from the wreck

After the dives we headed to sea.....here's Travis trying to shake dry his hair

The nights are late and the mornings are early but it's been really interesting watching the crew film all the pieces that will be used on the show. I'm told that we'll be diving on some antiquities tomorrow, so we're all looking forward to that!!

Kind of a laid back day today, we spent most of it out at sea which help everyone have a chance to kick back for a bit. We all could use a little rest and a chance to recharge, although the day did start pretty early….beautiful sunrise to wake up too though.

We started the day at the island of Kythnos in a small port called Loutra. Loutra really looks like a traditional Greek village. Me, Johnny and Nick took some time today to go into town and really look around, plus get some shot for the show. What an incredible place. Here are a few shots of Johnny and Nick at work and some random shots around town

We had a very cool dive today. The dive shop even had a tiny little couch in front

The divemaster was in a motorcycle accident years ago which left him paralyzed from the waist down. His name is Manthos Marras. Very nice guy and you can tell he loves to go diving. He gets underwater, tank and all and swims with his hands (in the pictures, he’s the one not wearing fins). Definitely had a great time diving with him and just shows that diving can be something that anyone can enjoy. The dive today was on reef right outside the port and this is a location where there is at least one wreck from ancient times (some think there may be multiple wrecks). The pottery and artifacts we saw date back to the first century B.C.! Nick really said it best after we surfaced. He said that looking at those artifacts really has this sense of awe. Somebody made those pots and shaped the handles on those pots over 2,000 years ago and here they still sit for people like us to see. It really made us stop and think about things like that during the dive.

After that we set out to sea to the next destination which is a little ways away but we had a great time during the crossing just kicking back and getting some much needed rest. While we were sailing we had a bunch of dolphins playing in our wake. They were awesome, almost like they were trying to put on a show for us when they’d swim up next to the boat really fast and jump out of the water. So, overall a pretty relaxing voyage today.

We’re in port now getting ready for tomorrow’s dives but here’s the view we had coming in…this should help me relax and get some sleep tonight

Last day of diving today. We’re all kind of bummed that this portion of the trip is coming to an end but there is still much to do and see once we get back to the mainland. For today though, we found ourselves at the island of Aigina near the town of Perdika. We dove on pretty cool ship wreck called the Avantis III. The water has been crystal clear all week and we could actually see the wreck from the dive boat from the surface. Just a little history on this ship, The Avantis III was a 79m long vessel build in 1977. She sunk November 19th, 2004. The wreck lies on its port side; the bow is 18m deep and the propeller at 41m deep. The stern port side is near 47m. The ship hit SW corner of Dorousa Island at full speed, veered left (East), and sunk a few meters from the coast on the island's south side.

As you can tell, a pretty cool dive for us….and since it was the last day of diving there was plenty of extra fun to be had by the crew as the dive was winding down

Once back at the boat we decided to use the stern and gang plank as a diving board. That thing had to have been 20 feet off the water (and not very stable so it was hard to balance). I have video too and as soon as I can get it uploaded I’ll post it directly on my Facebook Fan Page

So we bid farewell to the Meltemi and her crew where we have made our home for the last week. We’ve had a wonderful stay and have really enjoyed the company of the crew. Thanks again to Tim and Albatross Charters for all of the hospitality.

Now to travel back to Athens to spend a couple of days of filming and sight-seeing so I’m sure I’ll have plenty of pics to post in the next couple of days. Be sure to check back to see was mischief we’re getting into!!!

Wow! And I thought we had a busy schedule while were out to sea! We're driving to multilple cities each day I'll do the best I can to keep the map accurate. We're on the move quite a bit so time to update is limited and I'm not sure the best way to keep everything in order but I'll do the best I can. What may be easiest (and the best option given time constraints) is to put the day's activities in one blog at the first destination of the day but still mark the points on the map so you can see geographically where these places are.

I'm telling you, they guys from Into the Drink are very hard workers. These guys don't stop until they get what they need to give you the best show they can...watching them put it together has really been a lot of fun. Today we left the Alimos Marina and headed to Corinth. One of the stops was the Corinth Canal which was built from 1881-1893 and has 12,500 ships and boats pass through it every year. It reduced the distance between ports in the Aegean and Adriatic Seas by 131 nautical miles. Stunning to say the least.....and shockingly enough, the boys went right to work.

They can even fit cruise ships through this thing!!

Next we drove to the actual ancient city of Corinth. Archeologists are still excavating the ancient city there but there is a ton to see! The Temple of Apollo was amazing. Nick did some filming in front of it and it's really something to look at that and everything around it and realize that it was all built over 3,000 years ago! It's really awe inspiring.

Oh, and I didn't know this but apparently it was the ancient Corinthians who invented the shocker

There part of the ruins that aren't roped off and actually let people walk around in them. Talk about an overwhelming and powerful feeling! I was walking on some of the roads that are still there....I can't even begin to describe the feeling when you think about the people who walked those very roads so long ago. I even stood in the middle of an amphitheater where they held town meetings and couldn't help but wonder, what was said there and who said it? Hard not to imagine yourself back in that time when you're standing right in the middle of something like that....I was blown away that we could actually walk in those ruins and not just have to look at them from a far.

After Corinth we headed off to a winery of Aigio. Here we got to tour and see how the wine was made and even got to do a tasting at the end of the tour.

I have never been to a wine tasting in my life (I like to drink things, not taste them) and I'm not all too sure Johnny has either since this was his approach.....

All of that made for a very long day...an absolute blast, but needless to day we are all beat. I hear some pretty fun things are coming up in the next couple of days so make sure to check back and I'm sure I'll have lots of pics!!

What a day we had today! You can’t write or script some of the things we saw. Tim, Popie and Stephanos from Albatross charters have been taking us places your travel agent has never even heard of. What an amazing itinerary they put together for us. I think I’m ready to run the Amazing Race after this! This morning we headed for Nafpaktos. Along the way, we crossed the Rio Bridge which links the mainland with the Peloponnesian Island which is only an island now because of the Corinth Canal which we visited yesterday (see Corinth blog). I’m sure you’ve been keeping up with the news but when we got to the bridge, there was a full on taxi strike going on.

I couldn’t even tell you how many taxis were lined up but they only left one lane in each direction. But here’s the thing, the news tells you how much unrest there is here. Don’t get me wrong, Greece IS in a crisis but so far everything has been peaceful including this strike. They weren’t rioting or anything.

Shortly after crossing the bridge we arrived in the small port town of Nafpaktos which has been around for 3,000 years. The entire city was built around and within the old fort that still stands as you can see from these pictures. Really a beautiful city. The mayor of the city came and welcomed us when we arrived and he and Nick got in front of the cameras to talk about the town. One of his goals is to promote tourism in the city….and I would definitely recommend it as a place to visit.

For those who know their history and poetry/literature, there is a statue honouring Miguel de Cervantes (author of Don Quixote) who fought in the sea battle of Nafpaktos (also known as "The Battle of Lepanto") in 1571 at the age of 23. It was in this battle that he received three gunshot wounds, two to the chest and one that rendered his left arm useless. The inscription above the statue says "Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra (1547-1616), Spanish soldier, genius of letters, honor of humanity, wounded heroically at the naval battle of Nafpaktos".

On the very top of the hill is a castle. With the layout of the town and the castle it was very well protected and easy to defend. The first fact about Nafpaktos city is its name; "Nafs" comes from "naus", meaning "ship", and "pact" or "pakt" is a form of the verb "pegnimi", meaning "build".

The location of Nafpaktos benefited not only the ship building activity; Being located so close to the Peloponnese assured it a good control over the western side of the Corinthian bay.

During the Peloponnesian War in 455 BC, Nafpaktos became a chief naval station. In Medieval times, in spite of the earthquakes suffered, it also worked as one of the most important ports in the area, as it served as a connection between the west Europeans to the Holy Land.

In 1829, Nafpaktos got its freedom and got included on the legally established Greek State. In our days, Nafpaktos is still remarkable and a beautiful place to visit.....the Castle stands proudly above the town to remind of past times.

After Nafpaktos it was off to stomp some grapes at a vineyard in Simi WAAAAY up in the mountains. Keep in mind, we’re in a large bus going up and down the winding roads of the mountains…..with no guardrails and about a 2,000 to 3,000 ft drop practically straight down over the edge but it made for some stunning scenery and some good Kodak moments. You could even see ancient terraces still in the side of the mountain.

In fact, here’s the road we were on

Now, here’s one of the moments I was referring too when I said that you can’t write or script some of the things we witnessed. We got to a very small village which, I would say, was a very traditional Greek village up in the mountains. The bus was too big to make through the village so we had to stop and wait for a smaller one to take us the rest of the way to Simi. While we were there, I met this very sweet old lady

She walked up to us and asked us where we were from. I had more than one person tell me to be careful because “they hate Americans over in Greece and they’re not going to be happy to see you.” Again, the news has a tendency to blow things way out of proportion. As soon as we told her we were from America, she put her hand over her heart smiled and (with Popie translating for us) said “Thank you. We are in crisis here in Greece and we thank you deeply for coming to visit our country. I wish you good travels and good health. Thank you for coming to our village.” You just can’t script anything like that……what a moment that was.

We eventually arrived in Simi to a small vineyard owned by Andoni who bears a striking resemblance to Juan Valdez and his mule.

But I digress.....time to stomp some grapes! The Greek word for the basket and barrel they stomp the juice in is Patitin. The ones Andoni has here are over 100 years old. He demonstrated how to do it and then Nick and Popie had their turn. They were a little more graceful than Lucy and Ethel (at least Popie was) Andoni even started belting out a traditional Greek song out of nowhere….we didn’t even see it coming but we all loved it.

Oh yeah, next time you drink a Greek wine just think, Nick’s feet may have been in that…..

And with that pleasant thought in your heads, we are off to our final destination of Athens to wind up the trip in a couple of days, so I’ll have one final blog from this trip tomorrow and then it is back home to the states.

So, we come to the end of an amazing adventure. The past couple of weeks have been absolutely incredible and we’ve come full circle back to Athens. Our last stop of the tour was, where else……the Acropolis! You can’t come to Greece and not go to the Acropolis. Really an awesome site when your see it in person. I think most people know about this one so I’ll just toss up some pics for you.

We even drove by and saw the original Olympic Stadium

Right after that, Nick, Randy and I went into town and found one of the protests that we’ve all been hearing about in the news. The police were in full riot gear but honestly, they were just following protocal, it wasn’t even needed. It was a very peaceful protest and we even spoke to some of the people. Basically, they were from a small area outside of Athens and just felt that the government and the authorities weren’t listening to them…but here’s what the news doesn’t tell you....they show you the riots and the unrest….”If it bleeds, it leads” right? The police and protesters were talking to each other here and even working together to move one of the signs of the protest to a place both the police and the protesters were happy with. Now, I’m saying that there aren’t riots and unrest here but we certainly didn’t see it and I doubt the news is going to tell you about protests like we saw so I thought I’d try to balance it out a little.

Great thanks to everyone involved with this trip! Nick, Randy, Travis and Johnny from Into The Drink (check your local listings…really a great show), Tim, Popie, Stephanos from Albatross Charters and the crews of the Meltemi and Achilles, Marcus from Poseidon and his girlfriend Anna and the guests that were along for this wonder ride as well….Tom, Carol, Mike and Charlee. I had a great time meeting each and every one you on this trip and I hope you had half as much fun as I did. Extra thanks to Travis and Johnny who taught me a lot about photography in general and especially underwater photography....plus, the subtle art of the photo bomb which the guys are practically masters at!

There’s only one way to conclude an experience like this……and that is with a farewell party at the foot of the Acropolis!!!

Thanks to everyone for following these blogs the past couple of weeks, I hope you enjoyed them. Time for me to bid farewell to Greece, head back to the States and go to bed……..for a week. Gia mas!!!