My Travelogue in Greece-2

My casual Travelogue in Greece
Page 2

Page 2
Installment #3 <== You are here.
Installment #4

Installment #3

Christoff, Sarah, and I went for a casual walk in the afternoon, around Athens, in the vicinity of the Parthenon.

Athens is filled with narrow streets that have tavernas (small restaurants) with outdoor tables on these narrow streets.
These typically open around noon, and stay open till around midnight, or even 2:00am.
They make these tavernas very pleasant, with shade from the sun, and lots of plants.
And of course, food always tastes better outdoors.

And, typically, the food is very fresh and usually tastes great!

As we got closer to the Parthenon, you could start seeing it - up above.

And as we got closer to the Parthenon there were more and more tourists,
and therefore more and more tourist shops on the sides of these narrow streets.

Also as you get closer to the Parthenon, since there are more and more tourists,
there are also more and more musicians playing on the streets.

Here's one man playing a traditional Greek violin:

Here's a 17 second VIDEO of this Greek violinist, so you can watch & hear him play.
Download this Video
by Right-Clicking or Command-Clicking on
this Link.

And here is a man playing a very professional Santur.
And - Man oh Man! - this guy was good!
I was stunned! by his musician-ship!

Here's a 20 second VIDEO of this fabulous Santur player, so you can watch & hear him play.
Download this Video
by Right-Clicking or Command-Clicking on
this Link.

Installment #4

Sunday night, Oct 22, about 2:00am I heard a very loud explosion, and it sounded close - like about 3 or 4 blocks away.
And on Monday while we were all having dinner, we all heard a similar explosion around 7:00pm.
We were all wondering what that was all about.   So I went downstairs to our street corner, and I asked the 3 policemen, dressed to the hilt as heavy-duty military, about it.
       They said it was    "small dynamite being exploded".
       I asked:                "Why would anyone do that?"
       They replied:        "Oh, it's nothing serious. It's just people having fun".
Well, there's the laid-back Greek Spirit for you - in a nutshell.

On Monday, I had a radio interview at Steig Radio - to promote my upcoming Saturday concert. It all went very smoothly & sweetly - just like everything else I'm experiencing here. I am being told that "there is quite a stir" in Athens about my upcoming concert. (perhaps, but it seems unlikely.)

Then I met up with the entire conference group, for a walk all the way up to the Shrine of the Muses, in Athens.

On the way there, we past many streets filled with tourist shops. Here is a sample of what these tourist shops are selling:

The Shrine of the Muses is high up on a hill over-looking all of Athens, and over-looking the hill with the Parthenon.

Here are shots of the Parthenon from various vantage points on our way up the hill:

When we finally reached The Shrine of the Muses, it really wasn't much to see, though it had a most unusual energy.
Here is a photo of this shrine, also showing some of the conference participants.

I meditated inside that stone enclosure, and had distinct visions of women dancing happily & energetically about, with long ribbons in their hair, and each playing a tambourine with long ribbons, while they were dancing. These dancing women (in my vision) told me "This is not a place to be serious. This is a place to be Wildly Playful!" According to legend, this shrine is "supposed" to grant creativity to those involved in any of the arts.

Our group got into a circle holding hands and actually did get wildly playful. But the official guarding this place, informed us, we should not be this way here. We should be "respectful". We honored his request, but - for me - the official position is in sharp contrast to what I was sensing as the "nature" of this shrine.

This area is so high up, that not only do you get a great view of the Parthenon (on a neighboring hill), but you also get a great over-view of all of Athens - down below:

While there, the group leader, Sarah, led all of us in a group guided meditation.
During this meditation, I had a very unexpected and profoundly deep Realization about myself.
Let me explain:

When you leave your home to do your usual errands, you typically feel very relaxed while doing your errands. But when you return to your own actual home, and are surrounded by "home frequencies", you sink into an even deeper Layer of Relaxation.  You may have felt perfectly relaxed doing your errands around town, but when you return home, you realize that you sink into an even deeper relaxation in your own home.

During this guided meditation, I unexpectedly had an analogous experience - on a nation level:

I spent the first 4 and half years of my life in Greece, and speaking only Greek.   Then my family moved to America and I learned English.

Even though I feel perfectly relaxed in America, still, it suddenly dawned on me, that I sink into an even Deeper Layer of Relaxation, here in Greece - because it truly is "home frequencies" for my psyche - in this incarnation.     Even though I don't like being in cities - any cities - still, I realized that I sink into a deeper layer of relaxtion in Greece, than in America, that I am so familiar with, because it feels like a more fundamental "home vibration".   Even deeper roots.

Until now, I had never realized that I was less relaxed in the USA, than I am now in Greece.
Being in Greece, for me, feels a bit like lowering my head into a nice soft deep fluffy pillow, and just "letting go" of everything.

Also, even though I understand Greek quite well, and speak it in a grammatically-sloppy manner, that still effectively communicates, still, I realized that thinking in Greek feels more fundamental and "roots" to me. And speaking in English feels more abstract, and secondary - like something "learned later".

So now I'm consciously enjoying sensing and swimming in this yet-deeper Layer of Relaxation.

By the time we were leaving the shrine, it was getting close to sunset, so here's a photo of the Parthenon at near-sunset time:

Proceed to next section: 5 of 8
Installment #5

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