← Get Sleepy: Sleep meditation and stories
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Thomas
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Thomas
Did you know Our company Slumber Studios also has a sleep app called Slumber with thousands of episodes including stories, meditations, soundscapes, music and audiobooks. It has a huge variety of sleep inducing content and we add new episodes every single day. You can search by narrator, hear episodes you won't find on Get Sleepy, and even customize your background sounds to create your own perfect mix. As a listener of Get Sleepy, you can unlock all of the content in the app. Free for one month. Just go to Slumber FM GetSleepy that's Slumber FM GetSleepy for instant access to all of the content in Slumber. Free for one month. Welcome to Get Sleepy, where we listen, we relax, and we get sleepy. I'm your host Thomas. Thank you so much for tuning in. Tonight's story was written by Joe Steer and I'll be reading it for you. We'll be traveling to Greece in the late 1970s where Lizzie and her friends are enjoying the summer of a lifetime. It's just a fortnight since they swapped America for Athens, but they already feel at home in this ancient city. We'll join the friends in just a few minutes for a day of fun and relaxation. They'll breakfast on the balcony and explore the city market before heading to the coast for an afternoon on the beach. This story is an extra special one as it was requested by Frances, one of our lovely listeners. Her mother spent a summer in Athens with her friends back in the 70s and Lizzie was her dear mum's name, so this story is very much inspired by her. We really hope you all enjoy listening to this joyful and dreamy adventure. First, let's take some time to wind down. Move into a position that feels comfortable and calm and let your eyes close. We're going to do a short breathing practice, inhaling through the nose and Breathing out through the mouth. You're free to begin as soon as you're ready. Simply bring your awareness to the breath. Explore the sensations with an attitude of curiosity. Notice what the breath feels like and where you sense it most in the body? Where do you notice the most peace and calm? Take time to appreciate those sensations. Are there any places where you sense tension or discomfort? If so, you can just center your focus there for the next few breaths, soothing and massaging those areas with the slow and calming inhales and exhales. Now let the breath fade into the background of your awareness. There's nothing left to do and nowhere else to be. You're free to relax and follow along as we head to Athens, this is where our story begins. It's early July in 1978. Another bright sunny morning in the Greek capital. The sun is white gold in a cloudless sky. Powder blue at the horizon, deepening to an azure overhead. At the center of the city, on the high up Acropolis, the sky is visible between the partial ruins of a temple. The Parthenon is a reminder of Athens, storied past. Some call it the birthplace of Western civilization. The ancient temple shines like a beacon. The white marble has a luminous glow and glitters gold in the sunshine. Tree canopies below are just as vibrant. Where the rocky crag is blanketed in evergreens, olive cypress, pine trees and others form a lush green barrier between the Acropolis and Athens. More historic ruins are peppered about the valley where the city is overlooked by mountains on three sides. Somehow they blend in among a mix of modern buildings, mid rise apartment blocks, shops and kiosks alongside neoclassical villas with bright white walls. The buildings are more spaced out further away from the city centre, particularly towards the coastline in the south and southwest. Palm trees lead the way to a golden coastline where the Aegean Sea laps rhythmically over the sand. Athens is unique in so many ways. Part modern metropolis, part ancient wonder. A draw for locals and tourists alike. It's a busy modern city full of culture and life, with the laid back vibe of a seaside resort. Lizzie and her friends arrived a fortnight ago. It's the furthest that any of them have ever been from home. They flew from Chicago, Illinois to Frankfurt in Germany before taking another flight to Athens. The friends are staying in a two story apartment halfway between the coast and the city centre. It's one of many villas built into a hillside. The dazzling white walls look freshly pa. This is their home for the next three months. They're staying in Greece for the entire summer. The friends wanted more than a vacation. They wanted a taste of what it was really like to live here. The group are all women in their early 20s. They are sorority sisters, in fact, who met in college. They're at that age when people often crave adventure, when they seek out new experiences in foreign lands. And you couldn't really get much more foreign than Athens. To a girl who grew up in rural Illinois, Lizzie is more familiar with golden cornfields than beaches and with vast stretches of grassland rather than cobalt sea. She's used to the quiet of the American countryside, where one can drive for miles without seeing another soul, hearing little but the breeze rustling through nature. Athens, on the other hand, is abuzz with life. Even now, in the sleepiness of morning, Lizzie is enjoying coffee and breakfast on the balcony and taking in the sounds all around her. It's the same thing she's done every morning since arriving, often with the others, but sometimes on her own. Today the other girls are all still sleeping, so she's taking the opportunity to enjoy the solitude. By now, Lizzie is familiar with the sounds of the Greek capital, slowly waking and yet not so familiar that they've lost their intrigue. It's easy to be present and to listen with curiosity. Traffic on the roads provides a constant humor. Footsteps echo across stone pathways and steps. Birds sing and wind rustles through the trees, all against a backdrop of rolling waves. Traditional Greek music is playing in the distance, spilling out of the doorway of a nearby cafe. Lizzie recognizes the strumming of a bouzouki, an instrument she'd never heard of until very recently. It's similar to a mandolin, but larger, with a tone that sounds rich and deep. The delicate notes linger on the air. The music is punctuated by the clinking of porcelain and the whirring of coffee being ground in a machine. Waitstaff are setting tables and moving furniture across tiles as they prepare for the breakfast crowd. Lizzy prefers to take breakfast on the balcony. She likes the feel of the stone beneath her bare feet. The morning sunlight has only just reached the patio, and so the floor is still cool, just beginning to warm up. The space is sparsely decorated with a basic wooden table and four matching chairs with orange cushions on the seats. A vase of jasmine flowers sits at the center of the table, the blooms as white as the apartment walls. A clothes horse sits to the right. Beach towels and swimwear are drying in the sun. On the low white wall that surrounds the terrace, three tall plants grow in terracotta urns. Lizzie has moved her chair closer to the wall, where she can stretch out her legs and rest her bare feet beside a planter. As she eats her breakfast, she takes in the few, admiring the beauty of the Athenian Riviera. No matter how busy the city or what time of day it is, Lizzy can always hear the rolling waves. It's as if the sounds seek her out. The Aegean Sea is a constant reminder of how far she is from home. It's a reminder of her decision to choose adventure and excitement to follow her dreams all the way to Greece, and how glad she is that she chose to do so. Just two weeks in and she's having the time of her life. She's never felt so free, so independent and happy and so grateful to share the experience with her dearest friends. Lizzie takes a sip of her strong Greek coffee, a drink that previously she never much cared for. It's thicker and more bitter than anything she's had at home, and yet she's developed a great fondness for the drink. She's also adopted a rather Greek way of eating, enjoying a simple breakfast of buttered bread and honey. Maybe it's the heat, but she's less hungry in the day. She makes up for it in the evening over long social dinners. Lizzie tears off pieces of honeyed bread, savoring the taste between sips of coffee. The sweetness of the honey complements the bitter coffee. She savors each mouthful while gazing out at the horizon. It's such a wonderful way to start the day. There's no rush to do anything or to be anywhere. The time is hers to use exactly as she wishes. She breathes in the salty sea air, sometimes closing her eyes briefly as she exhales. Towels flutter on the clothes horse and a gust of wind passes through. Meanwhile, the sun works its way across the balcony and up the white walls of the hillside apartment. It highlights the slatted panels on the windows and door frame. They've been painted a bright yellow and glow like the sun. The others begin stirring inside the apartment as the light seeps in between gaps in the woodwork. Patty is the first to join Lizzie on the terrace. Mary and Susan follow soon after. A perk of having lived together in a sorority house is that the girls are already more than comfortable as roommates. There's no need for any pretense or to put on airs and graces. There is at ease as a family in each other's presence. Conversation over breakfast is light and carefree. The friends are still dressed in their pyjamas. They gossip and laugh about all manner of things, pausing occasionally to admire the scenery. Susan goes inside and returns with fresh coffee and glasses of orange juice for each of the girls. They are a merry group as they discuss the prior evening, gushing about the restaurant where they ate. The food was incredible and the atmosphere just as special. It was a traditional Greek taverna overlooking the marina and had an in house band playing live music. Perhaps they'll return to that same place tonight and sample other local delicacies from the menu. For now, the evening feels a long way ahead. There's a whole day of leisurely adventures to be had. They decide to rent mopeds in the early afternoon and ride over to a beach that they haven't yet seen. They'll swim and sunbathe and relax on the sand, taking a nap before they head out in the evening. Lizzie is keen to venture out before then and test her language skills at the city market. Everyone agrees it's a great idea. They'll buy some lovely fresh produce and make salad for lunch. There's no rush, of course. It's still early in the day and they won't be going out for a few more hours. In the meantime, they are all free to do whatever they wish. Lizzie is the first to take a quick shower, changing into linen shorts and a light T shirt. Afterwards, she takes a seat at the kitchen table and opens her Greek phrasebook to the page where she left it. Mary and Patty stay out on the balcony. Both are engrossed in the pages of their novels. Susan is at the sink drying the dishes from breakfast. She's close enough that she can join in with Lizzie. Learning the Greek language is proving quite the challenge, though the Alphabet is already more familiar than it was. It helps that the girls are learning to gather and that every day brings opportunities to practice with locals. They've taken to saying e faristo instead of thank you even when they're at home in the apartment. Paracallo means please and you're welcome, yasu is hello and yamasu means cheers. Words that were awkward roll more easily off the tongue, having been repeated so many times. And even when they don't, it's no more often than not, it's cause for laughter. Today they're going over basic interactions, the kinds of phrases that might be useful when buying items at the market. Lizzy reads out a phrase and Susan repeats it until they can do so without reading it from the page. Each takes a turn at playing the part of a street vendor. The other is a customer requesting half a kilo of tomatoes. They ask poso kani, meaning how much is it? Finishing off with a polite effaristo. It's a full process of trial and error, but they approach it like a game, so it's actually rather fun. Moments of frustration are rare and fleeting. When one forgets a word, the other usually remembers. Lizzie carries the phrasebook in her bag. When they leave the apartment a few hours later, they walk up the cobbled steps beside their villa on the hill and stroll towards the city centre. One of the biggest differences between Athens and Illinois is that you can walk out of your apartment and find things to do at home. In the countryside, Lizzie relies on her car. Most places are too far away to do anything but drive. It's proved quite liberating to no longer need a car to let her feet carry her where she wants to go. Though their pace is so the exercise is invigorating. It gives Lizzie the chance to really look around, to notice colors, textures and scents along the way. They've made the same walk many times over, but there's always something new to experience. Patty likes to pause and take pictures with her camera, a gift from her family. It's her prized possession. She loaded a new film only this morning, so there are 36 new photographs just waiting to be captured. She already had many pictures of the ruins. The iconic Parthenon high up on the Acropolis, the Theatre of Dionysus built on its slope, and the Temple of Hephaestus in the Agora, once the beating heart of ancient Greek life. There's something quite mesmerising about these buildings. Susan best described it on their first day, when she said it was like walking through the pages of a story. Yet as they've settled in and sights have grown more familiar, it's the little things that tend to draw their attention. They've only been walking for a few minutes when Patty snaps a picture of some locals. Outside a cafe, two elderly men lean over a chessboard at their table. Their demeanour suggests that they've played thousands of times before. Further along, Patty captures a scene outside a bakery where the locals are queuing out of the door. A boy is spent down beside his mother, petting a passing ginger cat that winds between his legs. The streets grow louder as they walk, with people, traffic and the sounds of city life. Cyclists ring their bells to alert pedestrians. A woman shakes out a rug from the balcony of her apartment. Passing acquaintances wave to one another with greetings of galimera, which means good morning in parts. The streets are lined with beige apartment blocks, each with small balconies. At the front, colourful flowers bloom in planters on the railings, on some gaudy beach, towels have been laid out to dry. A car drives past with its windows open and music playing out from the stereo. For a passing moment, the street is immersed in Familiar Music, a 70s rock ballad that the girls all love. Lizzie dances comically, causing everyone to giggle. Mary and Susan join in while Patty snaps a picture. The photos won't be developed until they get back home. By then they'll have forgotten that this small moment ever happened, which will make it all the funnier when they see it for themselves. They've been walking around for 20 minutes by the time they reach the city centre. They know they're near the market when they hear the sound of crowds, muffled voices and footsteps and vendors announcing deals. The scents of fresh flowers waft towards them as they turn a corner and approach the first store. A woman is serving customers behind a wooden table, its surface entirely hidden beneath bunches of pretty blooms. The friends are at the top of a long downhill slope where the market is positioned in the street between buildings. People weave in and out of various stores, some of which have bright umbrellas and striped canvases above them. There are two lines of stores opposite one another, so the girls split into pairs and divide up the shopping list. They each take a side and work their way down the market, planning to meet at the bottom. Susan and Mary go off to the left in search of feta cheese and kalamata olives. Lizzie and Patty head off to the right, looking for tomatoes, red onions, cucumber and green pepper. They quickly find their way to a grocery store, where Lizzie casts her eyes over boxes of produce. The tomatoes are as plump as it's possible to imagine, and the red onions are a shade of purple like none they've ever seen. Taking the opportunity to try out her Greek, Lizzie recalls the phrases that she practiced this morning. The man who serves her is surprised and delighted. You speak Greek? He asks her, a wide grin on his face. Legal? She smiles back, meaning a little. The man speaks in perfect English, though he tells the women that he's still learning. He asks where they're from and how long they're staying. He seems impressed that they're here for the entire summer and assures Lizzie that she'll be fluent in no time. Conversations like this are the reason she practices. It's wonderful to interact with the local people. So far, she's found the Greeks to be warm and friendly and as curious about her as she is about them. It's also rather funny to buy vegetables in another language. Tomatoes, peppers, Cucumbers and onions. She says a faristo to the vendor and tells him she'll be back to buy from him again. The friends wander slowly past the rest of the stores, feeling somehow at home among a crowd of strangers. The market is everything Athens represents to the young travellers. A new world full of colour and life. The aroma of herbs is carried on the breeze. Oregano, thyme, rosemary and sage. One woman sells soap made of Greek olive oil. Patti stops to smell a bar and decides to buy four. She hands them out as gifts. Once they're back at the apartment, having reunited with the others, they're thrilled to unwrap bars of fragrant green soap with the imprint of an olive leaf. At the centre. For lunch, Susan and Mary make the Greek salad using the fresh ingredients bought at the market. Tomatoes, cucumbers, green peppers and red onions are chopped up and mixed with kalamata olives and feta cheese. The salad is then tossed in olive oil and red wine vinegar and seasoned with salt, pepper and fragrant oregano. The resulting Greek salad is as colorful as it is delicious. It's the perfect antidote to the heat of the summer. They eat in the kitchen where the air is a little cooler, sipping glasses of water and fresh orange juice. Lunch is enjoyed at a relaxed, easy pace. Before Lizzy and Patty clear the table, everyone is excited to venture out again, to explore a new part of the coastline and cool off in the sea. Half an hour later, they're out on the mopeds, rented from a shop a minute's walk from their apartment. They've reapplied sun cream and changed into swimwear beneath their clothes. Their beach bags are in baskets raised behind the seats of the mopeds. It's only the third time that they've rented the vehicles, but you wouldn't know it if you saw them now, especially Lizzie. Brave, strong Lizzie leading the way at the front of the group. Not that riding a moped is a hair raising experience. It isn't all that different from riding a bicycle. There are brakes on the handles and pedals to rest your feet on, though you only need to use them if the engine gives out. With a maximum speed of 30 miles per hour, it's both calming and thrilling. Lizzy feels an incredible sense of freedom as she cruises along the road with the wind in her hair. She thinks of her older brothers, Earl and Nick, and what they might say if they could see her now. Princess Lizzie, as they call her, riding through Athens on a moped and looking like she was born for it. The girls ride Away from the center of Athens to where the roads become wider and the buildings sparse. The busy city fades into the background. The sounds of the waves and sea birds come to the fore. They pass along stretches of nature along their route, fields of dry grass and lush green forests. The mopeds slow down as they ride up along a hillside to where the sea air is extra fresh and cool. Their destination is visible from the top of the hill. Golden sands, sunlit and twinkling and the vast blue sea turquoise near the shore. Lizzie rides down to meet it with the other girls just behind her. She can see their smiling faces in the mopeds mirrors. The friends park the mopeds side by side in a dusty car park under the shade of large trees. They gather up their beach bags and meander across the sand, finding a spot where they can lay down their towels. Aside from a cluster of sunbeds in the distance, most people do the same, laying beach towels on the sand. Some have umbrellas stuck in the sand between towels so they can picnic in the shade, read a book or just relax. It's a lively beach, though it doesn't feel chaotic. The mood is peaceful and fun at the same time. Families and friends, tourists and locals. Everyone looks happy just to be here. The friends lie back and bathe in the sunshine, their towels lined up in a row across the sand. It's mid afternoon and the day is still warm. Lizzie is glad of the cool sea breeze. She can feel the sunshine across her whole body and the contours of the beach below her towel. She traces her fingers along the warm sand, scooping it up in her hands and letting it sift through her fingers. Lizzie closes her eyes and basks in the warmth. She breathes in slowly, savoring the salty air. The waves rise and fall in an endless symphony, crashing in the distance before lapping along the shore. The sounds are punctuated by the distinctive clack of a plastic ball hitting a wooden paddle. Lizzie opens her eyes to see a group of young men playing a game of tennis in the shallow water. She sits up on her elbows and looks out at the sea. Sunlight dances across its rippling surface. She can see people swimming further out to sea, their heads bobbing above the surface. The cool water looks more inviting by the minute and it isn't long before Lizzie decides to take a swim. Patty will come too, while Susan and Mary stay on the beach. Mary's head is in a book and Susan is half asleep. The friends wade slowly into the sea. The water is bracing on their sun warmed skin. The shock makes them giggle, sounding for a moment like children as they step further into the waves. They pass by the young men playing tennis in the water and Lizzie can't help but notice that one of them is very handsome. Their eyes meet briefly and he flashes her a smile. She feels a flutter of excitement. Patti gives her a knowing look and the friends giggle. Without needing explanation, They continue on, wading further into the tide until they are fully immersed in the cool water. The friends never stray too far from one another. Mostly they swim breaststroke at a nice easy pace. Sometimes they turn over and float on their backs. At one point they tread water and cast their eyes towards the shore, trying to spot the other girls on their beach towels. A little while later and they are back on the towers, their skin refreshed by the cool briny sea. Now Susan and Mary head off for a dip, encouraged by their friends enthusiasm. Lizzy lies back and closes her eyes. She lets herself sink into the towel. Her wet skin is quickly drying in the sun. She can feel droplets of water shrinking and disappearing. A feeling of tiredness begins to creep in as it often does around late afternoon. Lizzie feels her limbs become heavier on the towel as if she's sinking into the fab. For a fleeting moment she thinks about tonight. She looks forward to sampling local dishes she hasn't tried to meeting new people and dancing to live music. The sound of the sea brings her back to the present. The warm sunshine is like a blanket wrapped around her. Lizzy closes her eyes and breathes in and out. Her stomach rises and falls like the waves. Here in beautiful Greece, Sam.