Day 1 in Greece
We, my mother and I, began our decent into Athens around about 2pm yesterday (6am Huntsville time) where my eyes came upon a wonder I will never forget. As I looked out the window I found myself staring in awe of the city as it gleamed in the sun beneath us. Sparkling with the intent and brilliance of crushed glass strewn by the hands of the gods over the land. No particularly high buildings could be seen or perhaps I simply ignored them as I spotted Mt Olympus hovering just above the scattered clouds. It was then I realized with the utmost amusement that I had to be sleep deprived. . .
As I watched the land pass underneath I realized the striking resemblance to New Mexico and the foothills of the Oregon Mountains. Scattered plant life, dry climate, lots of sand, I was home or at least a reasonable impersonation of it.
After our landing we took a short taxi ride, of course by this I mean our taxi driver made a 30 kilometer trip seem like 5 minutes as my life quietly flashed before my eyes, to a hotel embarrassingly named The Eden Beach Hotel Resort. We walked in to the smell of sandalwood and a shifty-eyed manager, who looked more like a man out of a murder mystery (he done it) than a clerk of any sorts, who sent us up to a room no larger than maybe a dorm from Southeast. I was not impressed . . .
As we settled I did as I always do and started to explore all the nicks and crannies of the room just to get the feel of the place, pushing all the buttons, snooping around all the shelves and bathroom when I found that we had our own balcony (it was hidden behind about five layers of curtain so don't mock and scoff me for not seeing it sooner) where we did find a lovely scene of the beach with a road right in front of it, filled with parked cars and loud motorists. I quickly came to the realization that our balcony was the only source of ventilation we would receive, apparently air conditioning is a southern thing, and began to wonder how the hell I would sleep at night. Excited beyond belief at the where and how and what and when we immediately did the first thing that came to mind. We went to sleep. Well, not right away, first we laid down on beds that felt like the beds from Southeast and I began to wonder whether they had correspondence with UAH. I turned to my mother and asked with all seriousness and dismay, "Is this considered luxury?" She aptly replied "no" with a smile and pointed out how much she liked the need vs greed of the entire room. Mom has always had a way with turning any situation into a taoist tone.
We awoke hours later, time had lost its meaning, just in time to watch Apollo finish his round for the day and decided to visit the beach. Needless to say, it was dark, wet, and rocky as hell. I was lucky to be wearing sandals or my feat would have been torn to shreds. The pavilion the hotel hosted down by the beach had already began to close and the only other people out were a single family. Mom and I sat down and listened to the first sounds the beach had to offer since we had arrived. It still wasn't Eden quite yet.
We walked from the underground passage that connected the beach to the hotel and asked another shifty eyed clerk about the local restaurants. It was about 10pm at this point but mom insisted that this was the usual eating time. She wasn't lying. After meeting up with a couple from California, we traveled via a transit system all together new to me. Extremely exciting and exhilarating in ways I cannot express save that I saw my life flash before my eyes once again. The restaurant sent a car for us.
Hard bread, Athenian olives, bottled water (must be a thing over here), beef steak (hamburger, I started light for my first meal in a different country), and a delightful conversation overlooking the pier and a small open theatre. We waited for a very long time before our companions (they had been once before) recalled that one must ask for a check prior to receiving it. Mom was right however, the place was just getting packed as we arrived. If there is one thing I've learned from this trip it's that Greeks eat late, drink late, party late, and eventually go to bed whenever it seems appropriate to them.
Around 12:30am we arrived back at the hotel and rolled over as we realized that the late partying Greeks might keep us up until they chose to go to bed but luckily we were still able to collapse with little trouble.
As I watched the land pass underneath I realized the striking resemblance to New Mexico and the foothills of the Oregon Mountains. Scattered plant life, dry climate, lots of sand, I was home or at least a reasonable impersonation of it.
After our landing we took a short taxi ride, of course by this I mean our taxi driver made a 30 kilometer trip seem like 5 minutes as my life quietly flashed before my eyes, to a hotel embarrassingly named The Eden Beach Hotel Resort. We walked in to the smell of sandalwood and a shifty-eyed manager, who looked more like a man out of a murder mystery (he done it) than a clerk of any sorts, who sent us up to a room no larger than maybe a dorm from Southeast. I was not impressed . . .
As we settled I did as I always do and started to explore all the nicks and crannies of the room just to get the feel of the place, pushing all the buttons, snooping around all the shelves and bathroom when I found that we had our own balcony (it was hidden behind about five layers of curtain so don't mock and scoff me for not seeing it sooner) where we did find a lovely scene of the beach with a road right in front of it, filled with parked cars and loud motorists. I quickly came to the realization that our balcony was the only source of ventilation we would receive, apparently air conditioning is a southern thing, and began to wonder how the hell I would sleep at night. Excited beyond belief at the where and how and what and when we immediately did the first thing that came to mind. We went to sleep. Well, not right away, first we laid down on beds that felt like the beds from Southeast and I began to wonder whether they had correspondence with UAH. I turned to my mother and asked with all seriousness and dismay, "Is this considered luxury?" She aptly replied "no" with a smile and pointed out how much she liked the need vs greed of the entire room. Mom has always had a way with turning any situation into a taoist tone.
We awoke hours later, time had lost its meaning, just in time to watch Apollo finish his round for the day and decided to visit the beach. Needless to say, it was dark, wet, and rocky as hell. I was lucky to be wearing sandals or my feat would have been torn to shreds. The pavilion the hotel hosted down by the beach had already began to close and the only other people out were a single family. Mom and I sat down and listened to the first sounds the beach had to offer since we had arrived. It still wasn't Eden quite yet.
We walked from the underground passage that connected the beach to the hotel and asked another shifty eyed clerk about the local restaurants. It was about 10pm at this point but mom insisted that this was the usual eating time. She wasn't lying. After meeting up with a couple from California, we traveled via a transit system all together new to me. Extremely exciting and exhilarating in ways I cannot express save that I saw my life flash before my eyes once again. The restaurant sent a car for us.
Hard bread, Athenian olives, bottled water (must be a thing over here), beef steak (hamburger, I started light for my first meal in a different country), and a delightful conversation overlooking the pier and a small open theatre. We waited for a very long time before our companions (they had been once before) recalled that one must ask for a check prior to receiving it. Mom was right however, the place was just getting packed as we arrived. If there is one thing I've learned from this trip it's that Greeks eat late, drink late, party late, and eventually go to bed whenever it seems appropriate to them.
Around 12:30am we arrived back at the hotel and rolled over as we realized that the late partying Greeks might keep us up until they chose to go to bed but luckily we were still able to collapse with little trouble.