I am a fan of poetry. Poems have the ability to paint a picture in just a few words. But what I find remarkable is that I often find my life painted in poems…especially while traveling.

I remember a rather odd life changing travel experience during a weekend I spent in Germany in theatrical seminars. I was participating in a lord of the ring role-playing activity where the game-master gave us the mission to search for a fellow elf into the woods at night. I may not remember a lot that day but I certainly can recall the sound of the raindrops on the leaves of those tall German trees as we were walking slowly in utter silence so as not to wake up the animals in the forest. It was at that moment when all our senses awoke as if we became the inhabitants of that forest ourselves. I realized that detecting beauty is a constant exercise.  Sensitivity, adaptability and acknowledgement of the beauty around us, of the small things that turn out to be big only if we slow down and observe them. And of course, I recall the ties of friendship with the people I bonded with that weekend, breaking all language barriers.

Through the years, traveling has become exactly that to me: the sum of silence, observation and attention to small details of beautiful things. Greece is a canvas of them with its history, colors and contrasts.

And as one of my favorite Greek poets says ....

You can build brand new stories from scatch with only sky and salt.
To remind you a bit of autumn, a lot of summer and that eternal spring

Menelaos Lountemis