Morning 1 in Athens -- 12:51 PM
Athens Day 1 -- 12:51 PM
It's morning. I'm up. I'm showered. It hurts a little. :)
It was kind-of funny last night as G and I settled in at 4AM - I said I thought we should set the alarm for noon. that way we'd get around eight hours sleep but would still help get our days and nights turned around. Okay, she said; and if we woke up earlier then we could get up then. Agreed! (I think that she actually thought we would wake up earlier ... heh.)
the alarm went off at Noon and it was like ... "you've got to be kidding me!" But knowing the ultimate goal is to get onto Athens time as quickly as possible, I am up, showered and dressed.
I looked our our window to find mostly blue skies and an open to the air restaurant.
I'm not sure what today's agenda will look like yet - we joked about visiting the parthenon, but Karin and Eric to not arrive until late this afternoon, so we'll be doing that tomorrow.
*excited!*
*so tired*
*excited!*
*so tired*
Well ... thrilled beyond words to be here anyway.
6:57 PM
We've been making a fantastic day of it, but not going too crazy with doing too much.
Wandered over to find some 'breakfast' just after showering. there was a tourist-friendly spot just around the corner where we both ordered this really lovely bread with tomatoe, feta and olives. I have officially had my first Athenian olives ... and they were fantastic! :)
One of the best moments of the morning was just after we left our hotel. We were looking for food, and G says "look left". I did, and right between the buildings rose the Acropolis. Wow! i immediately teared up - it was really cool.
One of the funnier moments was before we left our room. We heard a commotion out on the street and so went out to look. It appears that one of the street vendors was being chased off by Police. Between that and a 'parade' later in the day (I have pictures); we decided we could probably pretty much hang out on our balcony and watch Athens go by us instead of the other way around!
After eating, we wandered the plaka a bit and I purchased a hat (I was too wimpy to barter ... I'll try to do better next time). Then, after leaving the shops, we almost immediately came upon the ruins of the Roman Agora. We wandered a bit, especially examining an impressive temple to the winds. We read a bit about it in the guidebook. it had eight faces for the winds, facing every direction. Very cool.
More walking and juice and water, and we found ourselves on the more modern streets of Athens. Everything we're seeing is a bit run down, and there is an impressive amount of graffiti everywhere. I tried to take some photos showing how close everything is. The ruins of the Agora, for example, are surrounded by hotels and the modern-day marketplace. Everything is just right in the middle of daily life. It's interesting. G took a few photos of some of the more interesting or artistic graffiti. I took a picture of a gecco. *grin*
We looked at some more ruins, including a library and a 4th century church which still had inlaid tiles from the floor in the ground. A Heart (<3) motif surrounded it, and we wondered aloud when that had come to symbolize a heart, or feelings of love. It seemed a disconnect to see the floor of an ancient church decorated that way!
I can tell I'm a bit slap-happy, so I'm going to sign off. I'm trying to stay up until about 9PM so that I can get my days and nights straight here soon. Karin and Eric are due to arrive any moment, so perhaps we will have some dinner and then go to bed.
Athens is alive and exciting. Unexpected things include the number of motorcycles, the coming together of so many different nationalities, the amount of smoking and the ease with which nearly everyone we have encountered speaks English. It's an adventure, and it's really really good.
Quote of the day? "Who knew Athens was a party town?"
BTW, N -- you were right about the number of pictures ... I'm already at 98! *grin*
It's morning. I'm up. I'm showered. It hurts a little. :)
It was kind-of funny last night as G and I settled in at 4AM - I said I thought we should set the alarm for noon. that way we'd get around eight hours sleep but would still help get our days and nights turned around. Okay, she said; and if we woke up earlier then we could get up then. Agreed! (I think that she actually thought we would wake up earlier ... heh.)
the alarm went off at Noon and it was like ... "you've got to be kidding me!" But knowing the ultimate goal is to get onto Athens time as quickly as possible, I am up, showered and dressed.
I looked our our window to find mostly blue skies and an open to the air restaurant.
I'm not sure what today's agenda will look like yet - we joked about visiting the parthenon, but Karin and Eric to not arrive until late this afternoon, so we'll be doing that tomorrow.
*excited!*
*so tired*
*excited!*
*so tired*
Well ... thrilled beyond words to be here anyway.
6:57 PM
We've been making a fantastic day of it, but not going too crazy with doing too much.
Wandered over to find some 'breakfast' just after showering. there was a tourist-friendly spot just around the corner where we both ordered this really lovely bread with tomatoe, feta and olives. I have officially had my first Athenian olives ... and they were fantastic! :)
One of the best moments of the morning was just after we left our hotel. We were looking for food, and G says "look left". I did, and right between the buildings rose the Acropolis. Wow! i immediately teared up - it was really cool.
One of the funnier moments was before we left our room. We heard a commotion out on the street and so went out to look. It appears that one of the street vendors was being chased off by Police. Between that and a 'parade' later in the day (I have pictures); we decided we could probably pretty much hang out on our balcony and watch Athens go by us instead of the other way around!
After eating, we wandered the plaka a bit and I purchased a hat (I was too wimpy to barter ... I'll try to do better next time). Then, after leaving the shops, we almost immediately came upon the ruins of the Roman Agora. We wandered a bit, especially examining an impressive temple to the winds. We read a bit about it in the guidebook. it had eight faces for the winds, facing every direction. Very cool.
More walking and juice and water, and we found ourselves on the more modern streets of Athens. Everything we're seeing is a bit run down, and there is an impressive amount of graffiti everywhere. I tried to take some photos showing how close everything is. The ruins of the Agora, for example, are surrounded by hotels and the modern-day marketplace. Everything is just right in the middle of daily life. It's interesting. G took a few photos of some of the more interesting or artistic graffiti. I took a picture of a gecco. *grin*
We looked at some more ruins, including a library and a 4th century church which still had inlaid tiles from the floor in the ground. A Heart (<3) motif surrounded it, and we wondered aloud when that had come to symbolize a heart, or feelings of love. It seemed a disconnect to see the floor of an ancient church decorated that way!
I can tell I'm a bit slap-happy, so I'm going to sign off. I'm trying to stay up until about 9PM so that I can get my days and nights straight here soon. Karin and Eric are due to arrive any moment, so perhaps we will have some dinner and then go to bed.
Athens is alive and exciting. Unexpected things include the number of motorcycles, the coming together of so many different nationalities, the amount of smoking and the ease with which nearly everyone we have encountered speaks English. It's an adventure, and it's really really good.
Quote of the day? "Who knew Athens was a party town?"
BTW, N -- you were right about the number of pictures ... I'm already at 98! *grin*