The Rest of Greece

As promised, I have returned to tell you the rest of my Greek story.  As I wait for pictures to upload (yes, they are for your viewing pleasure) I will pick up where I left off.  (Also note that I have a new slide show just for Greece!).  

We departed around 10 P.M. to take an overnight bus ride to Athens.

I was miserable on that bus...I learned my lesson: always bring some type 

of sleep aid and take it. I had earplugs and an eye mask and I could not get

comfortable enough to sleep. Holly on the other hand had Dramamine and was

out for the whole night because she gets motion sickness.

We arrived in Athens, dropped off our stuff at The Attelos Hotel

and went straight away on our mini tour of the city. We stopped at the tomb

of the unknown soldier and saw the changing of the guard. They were dressed

in traditional uniforms which were not very...shall we say, official looking?

They had almost pompoms on their slipper shoes, kilts, tassels, and a goofy

looking walk. These girls on our trip were giggling the whole time as the

soldiers were marching and changing guard. It made me so upset to hear her

mock others' traditions and culture. She was lucky she didn't get slapped in

the face.

We moved onto the Panathinaiko Stadium which was built before 329 BC

and got an upgrade in 1896 to look like it does now. Then we went past

Hadrian's Arch and Zeus' temple. From there we started on our way to the

Acropolis! We stopped at Dionysis' theatre, then continued our hike up

to the Acropolis. There were beautiful panoramic views of the city of Athens.

(which is HUGE!)It holds 2 million people. It was almost overwhelming walking

around the Acropolis; there was so much history there that I mostly just stood in

awe saying, "This was actually around thousands of years ago!". I also got to

see the Caryatids (they weren't the originals, but we eventually saw the originals

in the Acropolis Museum) and the Roman Agora on the way down the craggy mount.

I swore I wouldn't be a tourist in Europe, but something about Greece

just turned me into a consumer! I spent waaay too much money, but found some

great gifts in exchange. I also found my crazy harem pants. They look like

I'm in the middle of Aladdin! There was so much good food there I just wanted

to eat all the time. I love gyros (pronounced heroes but with a rolled 'r')

and lamb, and tzatziki sauce, the pita, baklava, yogurt with honey, and souvlaki. 

They also had very good candies and doughnuts in Athens. I was in heaven. :)

We left the next morning on a bus at 10 A.M., rode four hours to the 

port, got on another ferry, got on another bus to Florence, and did not return home 

until 6 P.M. the next day. It was so beautiful to be back in Florence and feel

like it was home. I have some more conclusive thoughts on Greece, but that will

have to wait...A Domani!

(Don't let me forget to tell you about the Fiorentina football match and

the Boboli Gardens!)