Back to the Future: Greece Edition

wearing a bikini and looking for love in the summer of '99

Hello! Today marks the final day of the school year for both of my kids, and we’re boldly leaving on a vacation this very afternoon! We’re going to Greece, the first place I went during the life-changing summer of 1999. More on that below: I got sentimental when I sat down to write about what I can and can’t remember…

Also in this issue: lots of juicy links, including the “jeans” I bought for this trip, a genius dinner, a delightful novel by one of my favorite authors, and an inspiring podcast interview!

I need your help! Next Friday, I’ll be on vacation and am in a dilemma about whether to keep my newsletter streak going (I haven’t missed a Friday yet this year!) or embrace holiday mode and take the week off. I don’t know what to do, so I’m putting you in charge. Take the poll and let me know what you think…

Santorini, Greece, 1999

The summer of 1999 changed my life.

For three months, as I traveled around the Mediterranean and the Middle East with my closest friends, I lived the kind of grown-up life my younger self dreamed of: far from the tiny London cubicle where my brain dulled during 12-hour days taking messages and getting coffee, and even further from my overbearing parents in Australia.  

That summer was filled with firsts: I flew in a hot air balloon over the moonscape of Cappadocia in Turkey, acquired a deep tan, used toilets that didn’t flush, and found I wasn’t too high maintenance to carry a backpack or sleep in youth hostels - and treehouses, on ferries, and under desert stars.

I discovered that traveling was my favorite way to learn about other cultures - and myself - and when I turned 25 at the end of that summer, my aperture on the world had broadened, and I felt a soaring and hopeful freedom.

sleeping in the Wadi Rum desert in Jordan; treehouse living in Turkey

Tonight, I’m flying back to Greece, where my 1999 summer odyssey began, to celebrate the 50^th birthday of one of those close friends I traveled with.

Each time Jim or one of my kids asks, “What’s it like there?” I stutter and stumble.

They want to know what Greece looks like, what we’ll eat, what beaches are best, and how we’ll spend our time. To my alarm, specifics of the scenery and the names of restaurants, bars, and towns all elude me, and so, to answer my family’s questions, I recite what I know for sure: it’s hot and dry, the water is blue and warm, and we’ll see lots of whitewashed houses.

At nearly 50, I’m haunted by the sense that my once-sharp memory is gradually fading. Each time I grasp for a word that’s lost in my mind or forget why I’m standing in front of the open fridge, I feel my age.

While I can blame these lapses on the sheer amount of time that’s passed, the most astonishing thing is how well I remember how I felt during that magical summer of my twenties…

Oh, the heart-expanding joy of being unsupervised by parents, teachers, or a manager at work for the first time in my life! I was free to follow my curiosity and spend every moment with my favorite people: women who felt like sisters and who, twenty-five years later, have retained their places as the most important people in my life.

Paros, Greece, 1999

I arrived in Greece in June 1999, my priorities clear: the first order of business was turning my fair skin golden brown.

To achieve this, I committed to wearing only a skimpy bikini top and low-waisted skirt, except on special occasions and when required to cover up in mosques and temples. Did I pack even one sunhat? Of course not, and my trusty acne-covering makeup was far more important than sunscreen.

It was during hours spent sunbathing on the pebbled shores of Greek islands and the coasts of Turkey and Egypt that I devoured the Lonely Planet guides to each place we visited, fascinated by the aspects of history and culture that were not taught in my Australian high school. I daydreamed about freeing myself from office jobs and working for Lonely Planet as a travel writer, spending my life roaming the world.

The suntan was in service to priority number two: finding someone to fall in love with – or at least a summer fling - to erase the longing I felt for the boyfriend I’d left in Australia six months earlier.

I gravitated toward “Internet Cafés,” desperate to check my Hotmail account for messages from him. While I breezily insisted I was over that relationship, it wasn’t true: I held my breath each time I opened my email, silently praying I’d see his name. Our relationship had been somewhat one-sided, and I’d suspected him of cheating on me, but still, I couldn’t let go.

I told myself I needed to fall in love with someone else, but what I really needed was to feel loved.

To impress the young men I met while traveling, I diligently memorized the words (and dance moves) to Mambo Number 5 and Livin’ La Vida Loca; the rules of Backgammon, and many, many international drinking games.

By my 25^th birthday dinner at a beachfront restaurant in Turkey (or was it Egypt?!) that August, I had secured a date: a handsome Canadian whose affection and attention renewed my confidence and the sense I was worthy of love.

my 1999 summer "uniform;" on my 25th birthday

Although I was preoccupied with romance that summer, my female friends were the people I cared most about.

We spent hours dissecting our childhoods and careers and fantasizing about the lives we would one day lead. At 25, I couldn’t imagine traveling without those women or, for that matter, doing anything without them.

I hated being alone: the support and companionship of my friends formed the basis of my self-esteem at that time, and it would be years before I found the courage to eat in a restaurant by myself.

While we all dreamed of one day getting married and having families, we could not conceive of the ways motherhood would change our lives. Our sororal anthems were That Don’t Impress Me Much by Shania Twain and No Scrubs by TLC and it was inconceivable that in the future, we wouldn’t do everything together.

Twenty-five years later, one of the things I’m most looking forward to on this trip is the two days I’ll spend alone, in between our family vacation and my friend’s birthday celebration. Twenty-five-year-old-me would have quivered in insecure, sweaty terror at the thought of such a thing.

But now, on the cusp of turning 50, I know I’m loved in a way I wasn’t so sure of then: I feel it up close every day from my husband, children, and pets - and from afar, from those very same friends.

📖 Summer Romance: today, I am breaking one of my hard and fast Scribbles rules and recommending a book that I have not finished reading. I’m doing this because I trust the author, Annabel Monaghan, to deliver a clever, well-plotted, heart-warming love story. Nora Goes Off Script, her first novel for adults is one of my favorite books of recent years, and her second novel, Same Time Next Summer, was equally delightful. In Summer Romance, Ali, a professional organizer, is a mess: a single mother-of-three who’s grieving the death of her mother and the demise of her marriage, she needs something to get her life unstuck. When on the same day her husband asks for a divorce, she takes off her wedding ring and meets a cute guy at the dog park (courtesy of her own dog’s bad behavior), her life seems to be heading in a new direction…

🍽️ Crispy Gnocchi With Tomato and Red Onion: like all the best recipes, once you’ve made this quick, delicious dish once, you can use the underlying technique as inspiration for multiple variations. The genius twist here is crisping shelf-stable gnocchi in olive oil in a cast iron pan (or any skillet) - no more soggy gnocchi! The gnocchi is then combined with a fresh tomato salad and vinaigrette for one of my favorite summer dinners. There are many ways to switch this up: we’ve added mozzarella, skipped the basil, and used red wine vinegar instead of balsamic. In my opinion, crispy gnocchi is always a good idea!

🎧 Second Life podcast with Gaby Dalkin: What’s Gaby Cooking Blogger, Best-Selling Author, and Founder of Dalkin & Co: this is a fascinating interview with the well-known personal chef, food blogger, cookbook author, and entrepreneur about her career, life, and philosophy. Gaby’s enthusiasm for her work is infectious and inspiring (especially for aspiring bloggers!) and her latest cookbook - the first on grilling to be written by a woman - is a welcome addition to my kitchen!

📆 June 2024 Recs // 📖 Books // 📺 TV Shows // 🍿 Movies

In Case You Missed It: I got these sweatpants that look like jeans to wear on overnight flights and I am thrilled with their comfort and “style” // It’s happening: Hilaria and Alec Baldwin will star in a reality TV show about their family of 9 // Making politics fun again: a show-stealing performance by a congressman's 6 year old son 🤣// Which dinner party attendee are you?! I fear I’m the talker. // Quite the kitchen hack! // Diane von Furstenberg answers a saucy set of questions, including “was Anne Hathaway conceived in a wrap dress?!” // An exhaustive list of cliches: writer’s beware! // It’s the summer of “swicy” // Ooh la la, France has scratch ‘n sniff postage stamps! // I could watch this all day 🩷//

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❤️Plus, these reader comments on last week’s issue are motivating me to resurrect my abandoned projects…

Meredith said, “Maybe the middle aged tennis ladies all get their own hot summer wedding romance. It is the summer of the divorced woman after all!”

Outcast Capital agreed, “From what I know of middle-aged tennis ladies - that is a very, very rich subject. I’d buy it on the title alone.”

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Greek Islands inspo: Jackie O!

That’s it for me this week! Thank you for reading and see you next Friday - maybe?! Don’t forget to vote in the poll above and tell me what to do!
xo Amelia

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