Greece Part 2

It's roughly the halfway point in our time in Greece. I have surprised myself with how much I've enjoyed the history and culture that is all around. From everyone's advice Athen's only warranted 1-2 days and I was concerned we would be bored, man was I wrong!

Morning of day 3 we head to Delphi with a Chatour group, it's a 3 hour bus ride and on the way we get to see more of the rural side of Greece. Farmers and small towns dot the countryside. Delphi is on the second tallest mountain of Greece and lays mostly in ruins. It was still an amazing place to visit but took some imagination to appreciate it at it's greatest. They also have a museum there with houses the statues and other pieces to precious to leave outside. It had some nice pieces and enriched the experience for us. Maddy was very interested in some of the statues, namely the male ones with intact genitals. I guess if your 3 ft tall that would be the first thing you'd notice. Delphi was a long day and we arrived back to Monastraski square just in time for the lively dancing and partying of a Saturday  night. Maddy danced for a while in the circle, impressing everyone that watched. At the end of the night her favorite part of the day was of course, dancing with her friends.

Day 4 was our final organized tour, it was the one we were supposed to do on day 1 but got rescheduled. We headed to the islands! We were a little early to the meeting point and got to see the Parliament with the guards in their traditional outfits they wear on Sundays and holidays. On Sundays they perform a full changing of the guards ceremony with marching band at 10:45. Although we weren't able to see that, it was still nice to see their ''fancy' uniforms. When we arrived at the hotel we sat and had coffee with a 4th generation Athenian, it was amazing to hear his family stories. So welcoming and interesting to talk to, he told me his grandfather died at age 108! Finally it was time for the bus to take us to the port.  We boarded a ship to cruise to Hydra, Poraes, and Aegean. Initially, I was a little put off by the "tourist trap atmosphere" that the ship had but soon we went down the lower deck and maddy had more space to run around. Our first island was Hydra, we did Rick Steve's walking tour and experienced thing that I don't think we would have otherwise. It was a relatively small island where no vehicles are around, only donkeys. Maddy loved the donkeys and tried on several occasions to sneak off onto one of them. The next short stop was Poreas, the route to it is through a cannel that separates it from another island and was very picturesque. Our final stop was Aegean and we decided to duck into a little café for hot chocolate and bacavila. Delicious dessert and time to head back to the mainland. After our final stop the crew put on a show of traditional greek dancing with audience participation. Of course, Maddy was all of this! She soon became a hit with the large group travelling from Malayasia and China. I'm certain that she is an internet sensation somewhere! She soaked up all the attention like a sponge and after she finished every dance she would bow to her adorning fans. Such a ham already! We got back to the meeting point around 8:30 pm and headed right for our apartment, a homemade dinner and early bed was exactly what we needed!

Our final full day in Athens got off to a slow start. We enjoyed sleeping in and taking our sweet time to get ready. Around 11am we left our apartment and we're amazed how lively the neighborhood was. All the other mornings we left around 8am and practically nothing was open but this morning it was alive with vendors and locals sitting around enjoying cigars and coffee. We walked to the ancient Agora, which is the remaining ruins at the foot of the Acropolis that was once the main square of Athens. It reminded us of the Roman forum although the building at the forum were found more intact and excluding one most of the Agora was in ruins. It had started to sprinkle when we arrived so after starting the Rick Steve's audio guide we headed into the small museum they have there. It is set up chronically and outlines the discovers on the site. The museum is housed in the rebuilt south Stoa, it was rebuilt in the 1950's by American architects. Wondering around the artifacts was a true reminder that people are all the same and although our lives had adapted throughout history all the same needs existed. Some evidence of this we found, a 4th century B.C. potty training chair, multiple examples of ancient BBQ's and different polling ballots for government election. When we left the museum it was cooler and more rainy, after getting lost twice with the Rick Steve's guide we decided to just head to lunch. We found a nice cozy place, Dia Tayta, and enjoyed a delicious sampler plate on traditional Greek dishes. We sat for a while and enjoyed the lazy pace of the day, sipping coffee and talking. Around 3pm, Maddy and Trey headed back towards the apartment and I headed to the Hammam Bath, what I had been waiting for all trip! It was a quick walk to the location and when I entered it felt like a traditional spa with some special touches. I was promptly taken upstairs and explained what to do. I was instructed to bring my bathing suit because nudity was not permitted. I was quickly reminded that nudity means something different in Europe when I opened the door the bath and saw a bunch of boobs. After getting adjusted I relaxed for a while before being taken to the next room for the Al-Mama which is essentially a washing ceremony. It was quite an experience like no other spa service I'd had before! Afterwards I enjoyed a 60 min massage and another short stay in the Hammam bath before heading back to the apartment.

This final morning we woke up early to assure everything was packed and headed to a local bakery for breakfast. After some funny language confusion we ended up with some breakfast pastries and what I thought was donuts (turned out to be powder sugar covered round cookies). I headed to a local market and picked up a couple things for Maddy's stocking and enjoyed visiting with some very friendly locals for a while. Then we were off to the airport. We had allotted a total of 3 hrs but after an unexpected train exchange and 30 min wait on the platform it proved to be nearly not enough. Luckily for us the Athens airport was running well and made it to our plane on time. Maddy and I were sitting next to a Parisian on the plane and got some good advice about things to do for Christmas.

Our journey to our apartment in Paris was an adventure! Paris' metro is always so intimidated to me at first because I feel like every map I see looks different. After 3 trains and a lot of stairs we arrived at our apartment. Mid-transit heading down a flight of stairs a man tried to pickpocket trey, luckily he was carrying everything in his inside jacket pocket and the guy quickly fled when trey started yelling at him. He had one suitcase and maddy and I was in front of him with 2 other suitcases. We knew we were big targets with our hands full and obliviously tourists so we were on hyper alert the rest of the way. It was a scary moment and we were glad to get out of the subway for the night. After getting settled into the apartment we headed to a local café for a late dinner. Maddy immediately squirted Dijon mustard into her eye, screaming and running downstairs to the bathroom, crisis was mainly adverted. We settled in for the night and hope that Paris will prove better in the morning.