Well,
My belly is full of gyro (a delicacy Adam has been raving about for decades) which we found at a little shop in monastariki square here in Athens. We've eaten there two nights in a row, simply because the gyros are only 2 euros, they don't make us buy a drink, and they allow us to sit on the steps outside to eat meaning we don't have to tip a waiter...awesome. By the way, sorry about the promising we'd write everyday while in Athens...and then not doing that, we found out that you only get one hour for free hear at the hostel and then it's 2 euro (that's another gyro), so we waited until someone new was working the desk (a squirrely Swedish boy in tight blue shorts) and insisted that I hadn't yet used my computer time (aren't you all proud of our morals?). I doubt it. Anyway, yesterday started as any other--with an amazing free breakfast of toast with jam and butter and cappucino with two spoonfulls of sugar (sounds like a Mary Poppings song). We decided to try and see everything in Athens soon thereafter, and started by climbing the hill to Athens' most famous landmark: the Accropolis. following our climb--which included wading through a crowd of old people on a Royal Caribbean excursion (who knew they'd extended the Caribbean to include Greece?)--we reached Accropolis hill where we found out that it costs 12 euro per person to see some scraped up old columns complete with the crains and scaffolding they are currently using to aid in restoration of the old relic. Guess what we did? We climbed a nearby hill and pretended that Zeus really lived in the temple...so obviously mere mortals would never be allowed inside and we weren't missing much. We both wondered how buildings that were around before Jesus could have one day assigned a viewing price of 12 euros in the first place, and then we left the hill with of feeling of blah. We continued from there, down into our home-base neighborhood of Monastiriki. reknown as the trendiest district of Athens we wanted to see what its twisty streets had to offer, and ventured down one that looked particularly overwhelming and shop-infested. we saw a lot of Greek flags for sale, some statues of hercules and his boyfriends, and several evil eye bracelets, but the best handmade craft that we came upon was a nice little ice cream shop. I got dark chocolate and molly got chocolate with cookies. yummy lunch indeed. Tired out by now, we headed back to the hostel to refill our water bottles and chill for a little bit, which ended in us decided how and where to set up a trip to Aeginas today. After our break, we decided to go out to a garden--about 10 metro stops away (we know we're nuts) and it turned out to be one of the best memories of the trip for me. I got inspired while drinking a coke and came up with some great ideas for writing in the future...Molly and I talked about them, and what we've learned about God and the meaning of the word "home" (particularly that it MUST include good plentiful food) for about two hours. The night ended with our first taste of the wonderful Greek gyro. Today started with breakfast, which we shared with our roomate--a red-haired 50something who has literally been everywhere in the world. She goes by Nev, has three kids, is from New Zealand, loves rugby, I could go on...she's cool basically. next we headed to Piraeus port, where we caught the 10 oclock ferry to Aegina--the closest Greek isle to Athens. Lovely in every way, Aegina met us with its white walled red roofed houses, its fishing boats (complete with men mending nets), and its wonderful beaches surrounded by mountains. One of those beaches became our home for the day, where we hung outside a bungalo cafe and rented two chairs and an umbrella for 7 euro...for the whole day! We swam in crystaline water, we avoided sunburn at all costs, we read wonderful books, we laughed at people who walked by, and finally seccumbed to ice cream,that ended up being pretty cheap if not the most nutritious lunch. We came back to Athens around 7, changed clothes, filled our bottles, met our new roomy Ollie (that's all i know), and went straight back to the gyro shop for more goodies. Now we are sitting at the computer and all around us, Greek dancers in funny masks and robes are speaking french through a cheerleader megaphone while girating on the floor to funny Greek music. Maybe I'm just tired but that doesn't seem normal. I mean literally they are wearing white wigs, grey robes, Wizard of Oz shoes, and they are slow-motion breakdancing. pray for us. We love you all. off to post pics.
Ben&Molly
Quote for the Day:
My belly is full of gyro (a delicacy Adam has been raving about for decades) which we found at a little shop in monastariki square here in Athens. We've eaten there two nights in a row, simply because the gyros are only 2 euros, they don't make us buy a drink, and they allow us to sit on the steps outside to eat meaning we don't have to tip a waiter...awesome. By the way, sorry about the promising we'd write everyday while in Athens...and then not doing that, we found out that you only get one hour for free hear at the hostel and then it's 2 euro (that's another gyro), so we waited until someone new was working the desk (a squirrely Swedish boy in tight blue shorts) and insisted that I hadn't yet used my computer time (aren't you all proud of our morals?). I doubt it. Anyway, yesterday started as any other--with an amazing free breakfast of toast with jam and butter and cappucino with two spoonfulls of sugar (sounds like a Mary Poppings song). We decided to try and see everything in Athens soon thereafter, and started by climbing the hill to Athens' most famous landmark: the Accropolis. following our climb--which included wading through a crowd of old people on a Royal Caribbean excursion (who knew they'd extended the Caribbean to include Greece?)--we reached Accropolis hill where we found out that it costs 12 euro per person to see some scraped up old columns complete with the crains and scaffolding they are currently using to aid in restoration of the old relic. Guess what we did? We climbed a nearby hill and pretended that Zeus really lived in the temple...so obviously mere mortals would never be allowed inside and we weren't missing much. We both wondered how buildings that were around before Jesus could have one day assigned a viewing price of 12 euros in the first place, and then we left the hill with of feeling of blah. We continued from there, down into our home-base neighborhood of Monastiriki. reknown as the trendiest district of Athens we wanted to see what its twisty streets had to offer, and ventured down one that looked particularly overwhelming and shop-infested. we saw a lot of Greek flags for sale, some statues of hercules and his boyfriends, and several evil eye bracelets, but the best handmade craft that we came upon was a nice little ice cream shop. I got dark chocolate and molly got chocolate with cookies. yummy lunch indeed. Tired out by now, we headed back to the hostel to refill our water bottles and chill for a little bit, which ended in us decided how and where to set up a trip to Aeginas today. After our break, we decided to go out to a garden--about 10 metro stops away (we know we're nuts) and it turned out to be one of the best memories of the trip for me. I got inspired while drinking a coke and came up with some great ideas for writing in the future...Molly and I talked about them, and what we've learned about God and the meaning of the word "home" (particularly that it MUST include good plentiful food) for about two hours. The night ended with our first taste of the wonderful Greek gyro. Today started with breakfast, which we shared with our roomate--a red-haired 50something who has literally been everywhere in the world. She goes by Nev, has three kids, is from New Zealand, loves rugby, I could go on...she's cool basically. next we headed to Piraeus port, where we caught the 10 oclock ferry to Aegina--the closest Greek isle to Athens. Lovely in every way, Aegina met us with its white walled red roofed houses, its fishing boats (complete with men mending nets), and its wonderful beaches surrounded by mountains. One of those beaches became our home for the day, where we hung outside a bungalo cafe and rented two chairs and an umbrella for 7 euro...for the whole day! We swam in crystaline water, we avoided sunburn at all costs, we read wonderful books, we laughed at people who walked by, and finally seccumbed to ice cream,that ended up being pretty cheap if not the most nutritious lunch. We came back to Athens around 7, changed clothes, filled our bottles, met our new roomy Ollie (that's all i know), and went straight back to the gyro shop for more goodies. Now we are sitting at the computer and all around us, Greek dancers in funny masks and robes are speaking french through a cheerleader megaphone while girating on the floor to funny Greek music. Maybe I'm just tired but that doesn't seem normal. I mean literally they are wearing white wigs, grey robes, Wizard of Oz shoes, and they are slow-motion breakdancing. pray for us. We love you all. off to post pics.
Ben&Molly
Quote for the Day:
So I start trudgin' down that mountain trail with full pack on my back and think from the thap and steady whap of my shoes on stone and ground that all I need in this world to keep me going is my feet. --Jack Kerouac Desolation Angels
