Travel - International Indian

The youngest was Anindita Sishta (24) whoaccompanied her mother and grandmother.Three people were going to need wheelchairsat the airports, the average age of the groupwas 60 plus.At Hyderabad Airport we reached insmall groups of four in shared cabs. It wasvery touching to see all my olderfriends in pants and shoes – allthe Kanjivarams and silk sarishaving been abandoned in favourof sturdy travel clothes. Mostsouthern ammas do not believein wearing anything but saris,even salwar kameez does not findfavour with them – and here theywere! Practical common sense hadprevailed.Our flight took off in the weehours and we reached Doha wherewe had to spend seven hours,before we finally reached Athens at6pm (local time). We were met bySandeep Bhagat, our local contactwho ushered us to our hotel, MeliaAthens, in the heart of the city.So we were to freshen up and go to a localtaverna at The Plaka.Day One: The PlakaThe Plaka is probably the oldest part ofAthens, perhaps marginally younger than theAcropolis. The streets with cobbled slopingpathways are ancient, but the shops and allthat they sell are very new and modern. Notsurprisingly most of the shops at The Plaka aremanned by old men and women—I guess theyoungsters have other interests.Plaka is endearing in its old world charmand a walk down the streets was just whatthe doctor ordered for tired sleepy souls! Wewere wide eyed and inquisitive, peeping intoevery shop and picking up little souvenirs totake home.Kalokerinos Tavern at The Plaka was wherewe were heading for dinner and some localdances. The place was packed to the gills andthere was very little place to move but I didmanage to get some snapshots. We had liveBouzoki music and live singers and dancersdoing the Kalamatianos folk dance. A verypretty Greek girl sang popular film songs andeveryone joined in the clapping and singing.The audience was asked to join in when themusicians played the theme music of “Zorbathe Greek” and some of us did join in thetrail around the seats. While we danced thefood was also served —typical Greek food withstuffed aubergines, a salad, bean sauce andHydra- the ‘donkey island’ (Photo by: Shyamola Khanna)kebabs and finally the ‘baklava’. Oh yes, someof us did taste the ouzo, the local wine whichis an extract of aniseed, and pretty soon it wasCinderella time for all of us!Day Two : DelphiDuring ancient times--- and I am talkingof at least 1400 years before Christ, Delphiwas built around a sacred spring and wasconsidered the centre of the world Andaccording to texts, the “world” consistedof all the lands around the MediterraneanSea (in those days, it probably had adifferent name!). The Greeks were among theearliest people – with their stories of their allpowerful gods and their personal prowess onthe battlefield, they acquired a formidablereputation. The Oracles of Delphi also becamefamous for revealing the future.Kings and high ranking warriors came tothe temple of Apollo at Delphi, bearing costlygifts hoping that the virgin high priestesswould predict favorable outcomes. The Oraclehowever, was notorious for never giving astraight answer – it was always a riddle.Built around a sacred spring, Delphi was‘‘Kingsand highrankingwarriorscame tothe templeof Apolloat Delphi,bearingcostlygiftshopingthat thevirgin highpriestesswouldpredictfavorableoutcomes.‘‘The International Indian 41