He was completely in agreement, and I contacted our travel agent, Kamal, and got it changed to a Greece-only trip. It was cut down to only five days in Greece, and then we had all of this extra time because our fights home were already booked from Athens.
We talked it over and decided we could add something to fill up those days in another country and decided on Venice, Italy. (This got changed slightly mid-trip, but I'll go into it later.) Because we knew we were going to Venice, and I have a couple of friends who have lived in Italy, and one who lived in Venice, I knew we needed to pack light. We decided to only take backpacks because we didn't want to be rolling luggage through the streets of Venice.
But for now I'll focus on getting to Athens, and the great time we had while we were there.
We stayed in a little hotel in Seattle the night before our flight because David and Jewel were leaving that night, and because our flight was so early in the morning. We got to the airport by about 4:30 a.m. We went from Seattle to Philadelphia, and then on to Athens. Loooong flight.
I slept a lot on the plane going from Philadelphia. Neither of us had ever been to Greece, and I wasn't sure what to expect. I had asked for 4-star hotels all the way through our Greece trip. Chuck warned me that in Europe the 4-star is not like an American 4-star. So I wasn't expecting much. It turned out to be beautiful and just exactly what we needed.
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| Lobby of the Hotel Parthenon |
Our travel agent arranged everything, and had a taxi pick us up at the airport to take us to our hotel. He was holding a sign with my name on it as we walked out of the customs area.
Brown. It was very brown, and reminded me of California at first. We even saw an IKEA as we sped down the highway in out taxi. But as we took in the scenery we knew we were definitely in Greece. The streets are very narrow, and cars park on both sides of the street, leaving room for barely one car to drive through. Chuck and I thought we would surely scrape a car as the taxi driver traveled up the hill to our hotel. Most shops close at around 1 p.m. or so for the afternoon. It's so hot that people just want to go inside and rest. They open back up later. I loved walking around in summer clothes and feeling comfortable at night.
Here is a journal entry from our time in Athens:
Technically July 2 - sometime in the morning.
I am sitting on our balcony at Hotel Parthanon with a fingernail moon decorating the sky behind me. It is situated between two apartments that jut up along a roofline.
It feels like mid-day to me, but at home it is 5:30 p.m. Here it is middle of the night and I should be asleep.
My patterns are all awry. Sleep, eat and bathroom times are inconsistent.
I love it here. The sounds and sights are all so different from home. Upon our touchdown on the tarmac I noticed the scenery was much like California, however the culture here is completely different.
We have had wonderful broken English conversations with some locals. The first was our taxi driver who met us outside of customs at the airport. He knew enough English to tell us some things, but didn't seem to understand our English very well.
He talked about the poor economy here, and lack of work for taxi drivers. He told us the population is 6 million in this city, and in all of Greece only 10 million, so everyone lives here. ( I think his numbers are a little off.)
The next local who engaged in conversation, but had very little English, was an older gentleman we met walking along the pedestrian street that leads to the Acropolis. That street was recently deemed pedestrian only. We were strolling around and had just followed a large group of people in a hurry to get some place. We wanted to see where they were going. It was a concert at the amphitheater. THE amphitheater.
We didn't have tickets, and turned around to walk back toward our hotel. We stopped in a local church and I took a few pictures there. Some people came in and out, made their donation, lit a candle and made the sign of the cross and kissed pictures of the Virgin Mary.
There were small children playing tiny accordions as we walked out of that church, and along that street.
The older gentleman tried to talk to us after Chuck dropped a coin in the cup. He said the mother was crying and gestured to a place over across the way. I wasn't sure if he meant she was across the street crying, or if the children had been taken from her, or if she was in an institution.
He was so friendly and eager to communicate with us. What I got from the conversation, which was in Greek, was that he loves America. He has been to America, New York and Washington, D.C. and has traveled around the world at least 10 times. He worked as a tailor years ago, but met a girl with money, so they traveled. He spoke in Greek, but was good with hand gestures and I figured out the bit about being a tailor because he was using Chuck as a model and looked like he was measuring his arms and pointed to the buttons on his shirt.
July 2,
We went to the Acropolis today. It was part of our tour. First stop was many hotels to pick up others on our tour. Along the way the tour guide pointed out many of the landmarks, etc. We got off the bus at the colosseum and took some pictures. Chuck bought a book and the man gave him a small book of pictures for free. We stopped at Parliament and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We took photos with the guards there dressed in traditional Greek clothing.
Then we went to the Museum of the Acropolis. We had our bus tour guide as our tour guide there, and we had a very fast bite to eat at the museum cafe before heading over the the Acropolis.
It was VERY hot today. The sun was intense, and by the time we got to the top of the Acropolis I was feeling a bit queazy. I was able to find a bit of shade to sit down, and then made my way to the bathroom, and splashed water on my face to cool off. It worked wonders. I believe I made it just in time before being overwhelmed by the heat.
There were so many people that the tour wasn't really very enjoyable for me. It was amazing to see, but I spent most of my time looking down so as not to fall. The rocks are slippery limestone and marble, rubbed smooth from thousands of years of wear, and they are very difficult to walk upon.
The men were working on the restoration of the Parthenon, and it was interesting to see them in action.
We didn't stay long. We were both so hot and so tired, and we rested several times on the way down. At the bottom was a trap of frozen lemonade, orange juice and strawberry for sale. Of course we bought two, but I would have preferred water. And the price was too much. And the people behind the counter were pushy and trying to get people to make their orders fast and not stand to decide.
We made our way back to the hotel and I stood in the shower for a couple of minutes to cool off, and then Chuck did the same. We both fell asleep right away, and slept for at least 2-3 hours.
It was so hot outside we didn't feel as if we were missing anything.
Upon waking, we ventured out to find some food, and then strolled through another part of Athens we didn't see yesterday.
We found some neat little tourist shops, but tried to pick through to get authentic items. I found a few things. One bracelet for Lilly, some hand lotion that I LOVE, and want to get more of but I'm afraid the airline won't allow it.
We found some postcards yesterday as well.
Today we found a neat antique shop full of Greek items. Greek typewriters, old telephones, irons, jewelry, all kinds of things. We bought a Greek eye that is to be hung in the entry of the home to gather evil energy. And we bought a wall hook that I will use for the new lamp shade I got for the living room. Chuck got some old drachmas and realized he had gotten a great deal from the shop owner we found last night. That old guy basically gave them to him, saying they are totally worthless. And they are, except they are interesting to have.
Our tour guide explained how when the euro took over it was difficult for everyone. She also explained the economic situation, so basically everyone's salary has been cut. The average Greek takes home about E500-E700 a month. Everyone is suffering, but we didn't see a lot of angst and bitterness where we were. Maybe it is bad in other places.
There were so many things there I would like to have, but it is difficult to carry it in the bags. Plus, we are only 2 days into this trip and will have lots more to see.
Tomorrow we are off to Santorini by plane and will be there for a couple of days.
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