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tisthenightofthewitch · 5 years

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Ghost: A chat with Tobias Forge; is an instrumental album in the future?

Tobias Forge of Ghost has had an incredible year and it just keeps getting better. We were fortunate enough to speak with him about albums and arenas shows.

Ghost has been incredibly busy in the last year and a half. Between a new Cardinal, a new album, three dead Papas, a new Sister Imperator, multiple Chapter videos, three tours and two singles, all that’s missing is a partridge in a pear tree and Ghost has a holiday song to add to their repertoire. Tobias Forge, the leader of the band, is the busiest of them all adding countless interviews to the list of to-dos.

Given that information, we were extremely grateful when he agreed to talk with us for a bit to chat about Seven Inches of Satanic Panic, the differences between theater and arena shows and the chances of a full instrumental Ghost album.

The Interview

1428 Elm: Thank you so much for taking time from your very busy schedule to talk with us. Congratulations on the new single! Can I ask you what inspired those two songs? Any particular artists?

Tobias Forge: I can’t really talk about it that much. It’s 50 years old and I’m 38. I am personally a big fan of this style of music. I’ve always been.

1428 Elm: Would you say that Papa Nihil had any particular artists in mind when he did this music?

Tobias Forge: I don’t think he wrote anything but I think that the songs are very much in line with what was going on at the time. I definitely believe that he was influenced by the rock movement in the later 60’s. But it also does have sort of a Motown feel at times, so it wasn’t as psychedelic as some other bands were in 1969. They still had that mid-60’s sort of cheerfulness to it that for the most part was gone by then. Things got kind of darker in 1969.

1428 Elm: I can definitely see that. While “Kiss the Go-Goat”‘s theme is said in the lyrics, what would you say that “Mary on a Cross” is about?

Tobias Forge: I would say that a lot of music from that time because essentially the parent generation in the 60’s, were the people that were in their 20’s who were born in the 40’s, and their parents were born in the early 1900’s. So, the parents’ generation of the 60’s were extreeeeeemely conservative.

That’s why you have all these very subtle, sometimes not so subtle references because we’re familiar with the lingo, but back then it was very hidden from the parent generation who didn’t know what Mary Jane was for example.

Rolling Stones “I pledge myself to Mary Jane,” stuff like that. There’s so many innuendos, codes, like “Back Door Man,” “A Whole Lotta Love.” The 60’s was completely fused by playing with the lyrics just because they couldn’t rock it out. And I like that, I find that very interesting. And it takes a certain skill. Yeah, so that one, as most things from that time, has a subtle meaning.

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1428 Elm: With psychedelic rock and almost pop influence rock added to Prequelle, are there any other genres that Ghost would like to experiment with? The dream genre that could be melted with Ghost’s sound?

Tobias Forge: I think we’ve sort of touched upon most of the things, most of the genres that I liked. You can just balance it in a different way, maybe. I guess the only thing that we haven’t really done and I’m not sure if that could be a Ghost album, but is more like soundtrack, orchestral music. I like that a lot. I like when bands have a string arrangement for a song.

At least, if you have that in the background it sort of makes the song swell. But I’m not always super buzzed about a big orchestra and full heavy metal being played together at all times. There’s a lot of symphonic rock from the 90’s and 2000’s, a lot of them and it just becomes too much. It’s such a dense soundscape as is and you also add a full orchestra as well.

It sounds dramatic but not a whole lot of room to breathe so I’m not sure if I would make orchestral arrangements, like full orchestral that I would have the whole band playing along with it. It would be paced out differently. I listen to a lot of 70’s prog rock from Italy and a lot has orchestral music, very experimental.

1428 Elm: Would you ever consider a full instrumental Ghost album?

Tobias Forge: Absolutely. I love instrumental music. I always entertain having instrumental tracks. In the future, it may be 1 out of 10 but it’s always nice.

1428 Elm: You guys made the saxophone cool again with “Miasma.” You’ve talked on the next album about Ghost going back to its harder roots. Is there a past album looking back that you’re wanting to emulate or get that same emotional feel from?

Tobias Forge: No, not really one album. I always say that each new album is like a reaction to each of the previous so since like Prequelle is not a hard rock or heavy, heavy metal album, the natural reaction to that will be to write something that isn’t, I don’t want to use the word soft, it will be different from Prequelle.

The same way Prequelle was different from Meliora etc. I’ll write a record that we don’t have yet because otherwise what’s the point? But I definitely have an album in mind with slightly more rippage [chuckles].

1428 Elm: Past albums have very strong themes and then the music takes you on a journey. Do you already have the theme in in mind?

Tobias Forge: Yes.

1428 Elm: I know you can’t say (damn!). Even from one tour to the next, your performing locations have changed quite a bit. How was the energy performing a stage show in a theater different than that of performing in these massive arenas you’ve been doing lately?

Tobias Forge: For me, the three most important things are:1) is that we can bring the same production to every place even though technically the arena might not be dramatically bigger than playing in a theater because we’re not playing the round. We’re not playing to arena capacity.

So technically, sometimes, if the capacity of the area might be similar to a theater, which is like 3200 people or something, but the main difference is that we can have the stage. With very few exceptions, regardless if you live in a small market, the little town that no one plays in, you will get the same show as they would get in New York City or LA, which is very important for me. I think it’s extremely important that if you pay money to see it, you should get the same thing.

Which leads me to: 2) when we play the theaters, there was a constant day to day basis, “Oh, you can’t use pyro. We can’t do confetti. Oh, by the way the curtain doesn’t work. Oh by the way we have this big theater production here so the stage is part occupied.” So we had to change the set almost every day.

I am not a big fan of surprises. I don’t like that at all. I want everything to be identical every day just because the show gets better if it’s done the same way, more of less. There’s wiggle room for a human touch on the show; of course the show gets different if you have 30 ft of stage one night and then there 6 ft of stage and it’s like that every day.

It does make a difference on the band because you have to move differently. These are details, I’m talking shop here in a way that people might not think about.

1428 Elm: This is extremely interesting!

Tobias Forge: Back in the day, American hockey rinks were smaller than European ones because of the action. Americans like action, so the rinks were smaller which led to more fights, more physicality. If you came to a European rink, they were bigger which was harder for anyone used to an American rink. Same thing goes for us and the stage.

One of the most important things, I absolutely HATE sitting crowds. Not on the bleachers or if you’re sitting on the side, that’s fine. You always want the most energized and enthusiastic people standing in the front. One big, big, big downside for theaters, in my opinion, is that they have seats all the way up to the stage and that really screws up the energy of the show.

Because you want people in the front who are supposed to be there. You don’t want people who can pay for it. You don’t want someone in the front sitting, eating popcorn. It becomes really awkward in terms of being in front of the crowd.

1428 Elm: As someone who went to two different shows in two different cities, I like to eyeball the crowds to see the difference and it’s shocking to see from one city to the other just how different the crowds can be and it makes a difference.

Tobias Forge: Oh yeah and it really does differ from city to city. And that’s one thing when we were repeatedly doing the theater circuit, which has its upsides don’t get me wrong. I definitely prefer theaters but a lot of that city temperament was sometimes lost because of the theaters because you ended up having the front section that were generally the people who were economically the ones that could pay for it.

It’s a Friday night and you come to a city that’s known for a vibrant crowd and still you have people in the front who act like they’re watching a movie. They are sitting back and then you have the people who are wanting to rock out and they are ten rows back. But unfortunately that’s part of the economics of theaters and that’s why I was very adamant about moving away from theaters.

Luckily the promoter felt, let’s try it and see how it works out, and I think the upsides are vast. I’m just happy that we’re able to bring the same show and you get the energy in the show and it feels way better now.

1428 Elm: Well the show looks incredible and I hope you have an amazing rest of your tour and a good rest in 2020 since you all have been go go going for quite a while.

Tobias Forge: Yes, well, there’s a new record so there’s not a whole lot of rest but it’s certainly paced in a different way.

Tobias was an absolute delight to speak with. If you are like me and want to have a fully instrumental Ghost album one day, let the band know your support. I think it would be an amazing change to the Ghost formula.

1428ELM.COM

#Tobias Forge #Tobias Interview #The Band Ghost #Ghost Band #Cardinal Copia

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junker-town · 3 years

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The NBA Playoffs are wide open, and that makes it so much more fun

7 reasons why this year’s playoffs feel wide open.

There’s a certain type of sports fan that believes the NBA Playoffs are a little boring because they usually go chalk. While upsets reign supreme in the NCAA tournament and concurrent NHL Playoffs, the best team, often led by the league’s best player, tends to end the year as champions in the NBA.

LeBron James has only missed the NBA Finals one time since the Boston Celtics and Los Angeles Lakers played a classic seven-game series in 2010. James’ run has been historically dominant, but it isn’t far outside the lines of how the NBA has always worked. Bill Russell’s Boston Celtics won 11 titles in the late ‘50s and ‘60s, the Lakers and Celtics combined for eight titles in the ‘80s, the Bulls won six championships in the ‘90s, Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers and Tim Duncan’s Spurs dominated until LeBron and Steph Curry’s Warriors started running the league. While there have been some notable exceptions — the 2019 Raptors, 2011 Mavericks, and 2004 Pistons immediately come to mind — the favorites usually play like it in the NBA playoffs.

Last year’s NBA Finals featured a surprise team in the Miami Heat, and it might happen again. The first round series in the 2021 NBA Playoffs have just begun, but it already feels like whatever happens this year won’t be preordained. This is why the NBA Playoffs feel more wide open than they usually do.

LeBron hasn’t looked like LeBron yet

LeBron James suffered one of the worst injuries of his 18-year professional career when he went down with a high ankle sprain on his right leg during a March 20 loss to the Atlanta Hawks. At the time, James had not missed a game all season and was firmly established as an MVP front-runner. He spent the next six weeks rehabbing only to tweak it again in the Lakers’ last game of the regular season.

While James has been in the lineup for LA’s play-in tournament win over the Warriors and the start of the first round series against the Phoenix Suns, he hasn’t exactly looked like himself. The signature mix of strength and explosiveness that has helped define James’ career simply hasn’t been there. Instead, James looks like he’s in game manager mode, looking to set up teammates and settle for jump shots rather than attack the paint.

James was on fire as a shooter in the Lakers’ Game 2 win against the Suns to the series. He’s still impossible to defend when these shots are falling:

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James isn’t just one of the most physically talented players ever — he’s one of the smartest, too. He will find a way to be effective even if he’s not 100 percent. Just know that teams will be happy to play under every screen and dare James to beat them as a shooter.

Maybe James will get fully healthy at some point during the playoffs, and the Lakers will return to their preseason status as the favorites to win it all. Unfortunately, James’ health isn’t the Lakers’ only problem right now.

Anthony Davis isn’t shooting like he did in the bubble

Davis was absolutely incredible on the Lakers’ run to the championship inside the bubble last year. He was masterful defensively both on the perimeter and in the paint, blowing up every pick-and-roll, deterring drives, and challenging shots at the rim throughout the Lakers’ title run. His offense was every bit as good, helped by the hottest shooting stretch of his career.

Davis has flashed shooting ability throughout his career, but it’s rarely been consistent. That changed in last year’s playoffs, both on long twos and from three-point range. He was particularly on fire in the NBA Finals against the Miami Heat, when he knocked down 48.3 percent of his threes on 3.2 attempts per game. Here are the full numbers on how Davis shot from long two and from three in last year’s playoffs compared to how he’s shot from those areas over the last several years:

AD's jump shooting in last year's playoffs remains one of the most amazing "out of nowhere" shooting runs we've seen. His recent regular season FG% on long 2s & 3s (per @bball_ref): 18-19: 34.1% / 33.1% 19-20: 32.2% / 33.0% 20-21: 32.1% / 26.2% 2020 Playoffs: 55.2% / 38.3%

— Mason Ginsberg (@MasonGinsberg) May 7, 2021

Davis found his stroke again in the Lakers’ Game 2 win over Phoenix, hitting 2-of-4 shots from three. Mostly, though, Davis found his groove by attacking inside and getting to the foul line, where he made 18-of-21 shots from the charity stripe.

Whether or not Davis can re-find his touch as a shooter isn’t the only question he’s facing right now. He also doesn’t look like he’s moving as well as he did last year after a calf strain that limited him to 36 games during the season. Of course, there’s also the issue of how capable or willing he is to play center — his best position for the Lakers’ playoff chances.

The Clippers are the Clippers until proven otherwise

The Clippers have been in existence for 51 seasons. They have never even reached the conference finals in franchise history. Things were supposed to be different after Kawhi Leonard signed in free agency and convinced Paul George to join him. The Clippers are built to win championships right now, but they still can’t seem to shake their old demons.

Los Angeles famously blew a 3-1 one in the second round of the playoffs to the Denver Nuggets last season inside the bubble. LA replaced Doc Rivers with Ty Lue as head coach, and made some changes around in the margins of the roster with the additions of Luke Kennard, Serge Ibaka, and Nic Batum. The Clippers even tanked the last two games of the regular season, losing to the league-worst Houston Rockets and Oklahoma City Thunder, to avoid a potential first round series with the Lakers or Trail Blazers. As the postseason began, the Clippers were considered the favorite to win it al, according to FiveThirtyEight.

Now the Clippers are down 0-2 at the start of their series against the Dallas Mavericks. They have no answer for Luka Doncic, who has 70 points on 50 percent shooting from the field across the first two games. A team that had the most efficient three-point shooting season in league history is shooting under 33 percent from deep. The Clippers’ centers are struggling to stay on the floor, and their guards are getting bullied. LA also has history going against them:

Teams are 21-3 when they steal both Games 1 and 2 on the road https://t.co/bYo1ywaJcR pic.twitter.com/s5LLYPtQuG

— Basketball Reference (@bball_ref) May 26, 2021

The Clippers remain talented enough to get to the Finals and win the championship, but it’s officially time to worry. LA needs to fix its problems ASAP unless they want to go on an extended summer vacation.

The Jazz and Suns don’t have history on their side

The last nine teams to make the NBA Finals from the Western Conference have been either a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed entering the postseason. If it happens this year, that means the Utah Jazz or Phoenix Suns would be playing for a championship. Despite terrific regular seasons from both organizations, that would still register has a big surprise.

The Jazz ripped through the regular season with the best record in the NBA. They finished the season No. 1 by a mile in net rating. For as good as the Jazz have been all year, fans are still going to remember the team blowing a 3-1 lead in the first round of the playoffs last year against the Denver Nuggets. Dropping Game 1 of their first round series against the Memphis Grizzlies — without Donovan Mitchell in the lineup — didn’t help matters.

The Suns are making their first playoff playoff appearance since Steve Nash helped lead the franchise to the conference finals in 2010. The addition of Chris Paul has helped fuel Phoenix’s rise to success, but the veteran point guard suffered a depressing shoulder injury in Game 1 vs. the Lakers and has essentially been playing with one arm so far. The Suns could still take out the Lakers in round one, but it’s going to be so much more difficult with CP3 limited.

Jamal Murray’s awful ACL injury handicaps the Nuggets

The Denver Nuggets were becoming a popular dark horse pick to make the NBA Finals after swinging a trade deadline deal for Aaron Gordon. Nikola Jokic is on his way to winning MVP, Jamal Murray leveled up in last year’s playoffs, and Michael Porter Jr. was developing into a dynamic third option.

Then Murray tore his ACL on April 12 in the final minute against the Golden State Warriors. Denver has kept winning without him, but it’s so hard to make a run to the Finals without your second best player.

Add in injuries to Will Barton and P.J. Dozier, and Denver’s backcourt depth has been compromised to a significant degree. It all comes back to Murray, though. Given the circumstances, this might be the most dispiriting NBA injury since Derrick Rose tore his ACL in the 2012 playoffs.

The Nets have a lack of defense and continuity

The Brooklyn Nets were considered the favorites to win it all in Las Vegas entering the playoffs. Brooklyn has three of the greatest players of this generation in Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving. It set the record for the most efficient offense in league history during the regular season. The Nets also have quality depth, with Joe Harris running around the arc as one of league’s best shooters, young players like Bruce Brown and Nic Claxton developing into contributors, and Blake Griffin providing another option in the front court as a mid-season pickup.

The Nets have so much firepower that they should win the title. If they’re going to do it, they will have to overcome two things: their defense and their general lack of continuity.

The Nets finished No. 22 in defensive efficiency this season by giving up 113.1 points per 100 possessions. The last team to finish outside of the top 20 in defense and still win the title was the 2000-2001 Lakers. The 2018 Warriors are the only team since to win the title without a top-10 defense — and they finished No. 11.

The Nets also just haven’t played together very much at full strength. Durant, Harden, and Irving only played eight games together during the regular season because of injuries. Purported ‘super-teams’ like the 2011 Miami Heat and last year’s Clippers have come up short in their bid to win the title in their first year of existence with way more regular season reps than the Nets have under their belt.

The Nets may very well win the title, but there are a couple other challengers in the Eastern Conference who may have what it takes to prevent them from even reaching the Finals.

The Bucks and 76ers look for real

Don’t book Brooklyn’s trip to the NBA Finals just yet. The Milwaukee Bucks and Philadelphia 76ers also look like they could have a chance to get there out of the East.

The Bucks have looked terrific through the first two games of their series against the Miami Heat — the same team that shocked them in the bubble last season. Jrue Holiday — acquired in an offseason trade with New Orleans — is a gigantic upgrade in the backcourt, and the Bucks spent the regular season experimenting with defensive coverages that should help prepare them for a longer playoff run. The Bucks are on a collision course to face Brooklyn in the second round that should be one of the best series of the playoffs.

The 76ers are formidable as well. The Sixers finished with the league’s No. 2 defense, and have an MVP finalist in the middle in Joel Embiid. Embiid is simply too big and too skilled to be stopped by one defender, and he particularly looks like a matchup nightmare for Brooklyn. The Sixers are in a comfy spot as the No. 1 seed because they get to avoid the Bucks or Nets until the conference finals. If the winner of that series is tired or banged up, the Sixers will have a shot to take them out and reach the NBA Finals.

There’s still time for the playoffs to go chalk

The Lakers might be able to grind their way to the Finals even without LeBron at 100 percent. The Nets are capable of putting up 140 points on any given night, and no opponent has proven it can reliably stop their offense. Maybe the Clippers can still get it together and claw their way out of an 0-2 hole.

All of this is still on the table, but what makes the playoffs particularly fun this year is it feels like anything can happen.

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togreeceandbeyond · 7 years

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June 3

We arose at the appointed time and had a spot of breakfast before heading to the Royal Palace. We wanted to get there before the crowds, but I think that's impossible in Madrid. On the way to the Palace we ran into a antique car show where they were literally lining up hundreds of cars called a Seat. They resembled an old Fiat to me or maybe a really old Morris Minor that I had in California in the early 60s. They were well maintained and some had been souped up a little bit but all were very spiffy, shined and polished. We looked at some of them and I saw an engine or two that were modified. The speedometer on one said it could go up to about 75 miles an hour if it could even do that. They had 5 cylinder engines. Not many of those around. We went on to the Royal Palace and took a self-guided tour. It is opulence personified. We only saw probably 1/10 of the entire Palace and it was beautiful. You'll have to take our word for it because pictures are only allowed in a couple of places. Going up the grand staircase we met one of the guards named Richard as we were looking at a marble lion. I said they're just lions. He said but this one has no balls. We really weren't expecting that but we went with it and talked with him a little bit about the castle. I asked to take his picture to put on our blog. We took his picture by the lion on the other side of the staircase that actually had balls. He was quite interesting and we had a good chat before he had to take care of business and keep people from bringing backpacks into the Royal residence. I told him we were doing the blog. He wanted to know the name of the blog and how to access it. I gave him that information, asked for his name and told him I would put him in the blog. After that we just wandered around the castle/Palace. It was amazing and had been around since the mid-1700s with a lot of modifications, improvements and or changes in the furnishings. When we got to the end of the tour, we realized Lizabeth had lost her sunglasses either by them dropping off her head while we were walking in the carpeted areas or something else. We didn't go back and look because we thought they would have a lost and found. They did but no one had turned in any Sunglasses by the time we left that matched hers. We gave them out hotel name and number in hopes that they would call. They did not and we went by the next day to make sure if they weren't there and they weren't. Bad luck but we just have to move on. It's hard to find the right kind of meals. By that I mean something we can understand from the menu and something that we can share because the portions are huge here as they were in Greece. We opted for a Turkish restaurant that had rice plate with shaved meat like a gyro. It was essentially meat with rice and a salad on the same plate. It had a couple of sauces on it that were rather mild so I asked for the hot stuff. The waiter brought some over to me, available to the general public. I tried it and it was nice. Once he saw me eat that, he went in the back room and brought out the real hot stuff. He said this is the man's hot stuff. I had some of that and it was a little hotter but not as hot as my “nuclear hell” in my refrigerator or some of the things I have eaten. I didn't try to explain that one to him. I'm not sure if he was pleased or shocked but he was much nicer after that and spoke more English. After lunch, we decided to go the oldest and most famous street in Madrid call the Grande Via. It was something. You can get anything you want there at any price from hundreds of euros to a couple of dollars for a hat and everything in between. We just walked up and down and took some side streets watching the people and enjoying the sights. We found a nice little Café for a much-needed cappuccino before we were going back to our hotel. We have been spending between 7 and 9 hours on the 2nd and third of June so we're starting to get a little tired about 4:30. We got home and had a cocktail which was a glass of wine before we went out for a late dinner down the street from the hotel. It promised to be a pretty raucous night because the Real Madrid soccer team was playing for the divisional championship in Cardiff Wales that night against the Italian team from Turin. We had what amounted to a big tapas (Racion) for two people of fried calamari with beer, just sitting in an outside Cafe and watching the world go by is interesting and fun. We weren't sure what Sunday would bring as far as when things would open so we decided to sleep in after staying up late watching the home team beat the Italians 4 to 1 for the Champions League trophy. June 4 We got a late start for us and saw that there was a huge flea market one block over from the hotel. We strolled up and down that for a little while, but it was more like mass confusion for us as most things weren't marked and if you have to ask, you get the answer in as foreign language and you have no ability to negotiate the price. We just headed back downtown to see the famous bull ring built in 1929. Much to our dismay and without a thought of it being Sunday, we found out that there are no tours on Sunday just bull fights. Elizabeth didn't want to go see a bullfight, so we just took pictures and headed back downtown to look around before we went to what could best be described as their version of a Space Needle. After figuring out the subway system, we found the right stop to get off on because our GPS on the phone was giving some crazy results. We got there only to find out the observation deck was closed due to technical difficulties. There was someone inside working but there was no indication it would be solved anytime soon. Oh well, such is life so we headed over to the Van Gogh Cafe for a late lunch before heading back to the Plaza Mayor to see one of the oldest markets in Madrid, built from cast iron. It had been opened as a grocery store I believe but evolved into a Marketplace with probably 30 to 50 stalls, for want of a better word that sold wine, beer, pastries, Sushi, fresh fish, oysters on the half shell, specialty cured ham and almost everything you can think of. We sampled some baklava and went outside to have a coffee at a little cafe across the street because the market was so crowded. It was like ants moving in prescribed lines back and forth from the food source back to the ant holme. After that we walked along the Calle Mayor, the other main street again, to our Metro stop to head home and watch more CNN and BBC news about the latest terrorist attack in London. Choosing not to go to a restaurant for dinner, we went to a pizza joint and had a fairly good pizza before packing it in for the evening. Tomorrow June 5th or today June 6th, depending on when we get this posted, we'll be on our way to the coast to begin the second leg of our trip in Spain. By the way, we got an email from the second German lady inviting us to meet her and her family about 20 kilometers outside Lisbon on the beach for coffee or something when we're passing through there. We are having such a great time meeting some neat people. June 5 We left Madrid and headed toward the coast Town of Malaga. On the way we passed through the town of Toledo and had to stop for a look. We found a parking garage near the walled City and walked around taking in the sights.Needless to say it is beautiful with narrow streets, pretty shops and fantastic architecture. It was home to a community of Jewish, Christians and Muslim people's for centuries. Who would have thought. We looked at it a lot of ceramics and beautiful Steel swords and knives. There are two famous ceramic towns about an hour away and we decided to do a side trip to take a look. Lucky me. We ended up Talavera De La Reina for the night. The tourist information Bureau helped us pick a hotel and told us it was a couple of kilometres away to a free parking spot and a 3 minute walk to the hotel in lieu of 12 euros for parking near the hotel. We went to the free parking spot and decided we would rather Park in the hotel garage. Our GPS took us to a spot that said we were there, but we could not see a hotel. We drove around for what seemed like 20 minutes but ended up being an hour we think. I ended parked in a taxi cab line up where our GPS and we were there at the hotel. I asked a taxi driver where the hotel was and he said take two rights and go in the underground garage.Sounded simple, but finding that garage from his directions was not easy or clear cut. We finally found the garage and went downstairs where the hotel parking was supposed to be but we went into the normal parking area for the shopping center. A car wash worker (they wash cars in the underground garages) told us how to get out and find the hotel parking garage which was twenty feet away but we had missed the special ticket taking Kiosk for the hotel. Luckily you get 10 minute free parking so we were able to get out of the garage without paying anything. Checked into hotel with no problem, except being very late for us and the Gentleman who checked us and was very accommodating, friendly and funny. We found a small restaurant for what we thought was a dinner of a “small” Gyro each and a beer. They were huge and I ate mine but it was too much for Elizabeth. the grand total for 2 full meals and a beer was 6 Euros. I don't know how they can do that. The room is nice and we had a great breakfast before heading out to see the two ceramic factories in this area.

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