Greece

Part 1: The Odyssey

         Emily, Sandy and I decided to save some money and spend the night in the Charles de Gaulle airport.  This seemed like a fantastic idea at the time because not only would we be saving money, we would also not have to worry about commuting from wherever we were staying to the airport at 4 o’clock in the morning (our flight was at 5).  We got there at around midnight and found some comfy seats by the non-crazy, non-homeless people.  Unfortunately these seats were by the HUGE window where at around 4 became ridiculously drafty and freezing, so needless to say, none of us got much sleep.   Our flights all went smoothly and we got to Athens without a hitch.  We took the bus into the city (getting a little lost on the way) and found Lea who took us to her place.  Lea is Greek, her family owns an apartment in the city that they haven’t used in years, but were nice enough to let us use for this trip! Right when we get there we drop our stuff off and get us some spanikopita (spinach puffs).  They were divine! We were all so happy to be there (Coral’s flight had finally gotten in!) together in Athens but we needed some sleep, so we saved sightseeing for the next day.  The next day we went to the Akropolis, the Akropolis museum, and the bazaar.  The bazaar is really touristy but it was still fun, we ate gyros, bought sandals and just walked around!  What’s funny about the market area is that the venders really sell their products and it is completely fine to talk down the prices.  While we were walking through, all we heard was , “please buy my product, please, please!!!”.  Athens is a very interesting city, while I can appreciate it for its’ rich history, ancient ruins, and being the birthplace of…well…just about everything, it is a city nonetheless.  It is probably the biggest city I have ever been in, it’s pretty dirty, and everyone smokes inside in spite of the fact that a law was passed within the last year or two prohibiting it.  We got to see the new Olympic stadium, Hadrian’s gate, Zeus’ temple, and this church atop a hill, which over looks the whole city, during our last day on the mainland.  Emily, Sandy, Coral and I were off the next day for Mykonos, and we were so excited, but also sad because Lea was staying behind (all of her extended family lives in Greece so this was her one time to visit them).  

 

Self portrait Parthenon shot!

My Lovely Ladies at Hadrian's Gate looking up at the Parthenon!