Adventure #9: Micro Papingo (Last Day)

Adventure #9: Micro Papingo (Last Day)

I woke up to the startling realization that I only had one sock remaining. My best theory involves the packs of wild kittens that roam this hotel. So we headed up to the house and did laundry. This is Pen Pen hanging up clothes to dry.

We spent the morning having a bunch of end-of-summer meetings and discussions. After lunch, Rosy and I decided to try and find the “Indiana Jones Bridge” once and for all. So we followed Brian's directions, which basically amounted to “I'm pretty sure, you go down that way, and then walk towards the gorge. But I don't remember.” This is Pen Pen going “down that way.”

The path was narrow. We walked single file. It occasionally opened up into rock scrambles, or open fields. Every time we were unsure of the way though, the path would veer back towards the gorge and down some clearly man-made stairs. That was very convenient of the path. Very thoughtful. This is Pen Pen walking down the stairs.

For maybe the first time all week, our adventure didn't involve any sort of getting lost. We continued down one path, until we found a small very old sign that said “Megalo” with an arrow pointing the way we were headed. We still weren't positive this was the way to the Indiana Jones Bridge, but at the very least we knew we weren't lost. After another 10 minutes we could hear the water babbling. Odds are good we'd have to cross over said water to get to Megalo. This would necessitate some sort of bridge. Possibly one of the Indiana Jones variety. This is Pen Pen on the trail.

The Indiana Jones Bridge itself was ultimately slightly anti-climactic after The Cliffs Of Insanity. Don't get me wrong. It was pretty cool. Handmade of wood. Definitely old and rickety. Good use of vines. But when you have to strain yourself to go under it in order to get a picture, it's a little underwhelming. While there was a chance that the bridge could snap, the worst that would happen is a little scrape and maybe getting somewhat damp. It was a nice bridge though. Scaled for Pen Pen's height though, it's maybe a little intimidating. This is Pen Pen slowly crossing the bridge, terrified.

We walked back quickly to get to the last end-of-summer meeting. The company was up at The 1700, which is basically a swank trashy urban European bar transported into the middle of rustic Micro Papingo. Having come in straight from a hike, I felt woefully under dressed. It's the sort of place that plays trance and new age mixes of the great works of classical music. Also mashups of Billy Jean and Kelis' Milkshake. I found that deeply offensive. This is Pen Pen wondering what Erik Satie ever did to deserve this.

After the meeting, we all went back down to Megalo. I'm going to miss this place. I'm not going to miss walking up and down the mountain 2 miles every day at least once from Micro Papingo to Megalo Papingo and back. The apprentices had their final performance in the town square. We ran into James, Mike, and Amanda who were at the waffle place. Because tiny villages in the northern mountains of Greece need waffle places. Actually, yes, yes they do. This is Pen Pen eating waffles.

While the apprentices were setting up, we headed down to Nicko's for a little game of giant chess. Rosy has only played a few times, and I'm not very good, so the match was pretty tense. We even gathered a small audience. This is Pen Pen feeling like a pawn in some sort of game.

The whole village showed up for the performance, and it was very well received. They incorporated some of the local girls into it. After the show, we all went down to Spiro's for a giant farewell feast. The Tzatziki sauce was the best we've had so far. Which is saying a lot. We capped the feast with a few pitchers of Tsipouro. Needless to say, my memory of the events that followed gets a little blurry. This is Pen Pen enjoying a tasty after dinner aperatif.

Here's a rough guess of the events that followed: walking back up to Micro Papingo, night swimming, lying down in the middle of the road gazing at the stars, hunting triceratops, playing with a frog, lounging on Ianthe's porch, talking in French, talking in Russian, hiking to Albania, stealing, and then losing Rosy's Flaming Lips shirt, probably other stuff. This is Pen Pen at the swimming hole, wearing practically nothing.

This is a song I wrote this one time. You should download it and share it with your friends.

Don't Blame Me I Voted For Kodos by A Thousand Ships