Spring Break blogging from Laney

3/12/2007
Dad and I arrived in Athens today, 1:50 Athens time and 06:50 am C’ville time (or maybe 7:50 with the earlier daylight savings time. We had no difficulties and even found the correct bus to take from the airport to the hotel. We thought riding a bus would allow us to see more sights than the metro. We tried to exercise in the airports between flights by walking the concourse several times and even found time to split a beer. This evening we have been walking the streets of Athens to find our way around. It’s a good thing Jackie isn’t here because there is a shoe store on every corner. We went to the parliament building to see the changing of the guards. While watching them I couldn’t help but think of that has a future costume for one the classics Halloween parties. They wear shoes that look like LLBean duck shoes with large tassels that protrude from the toe. They also wear skirts with white stocking and tassels on the lower leg behind the knee. You should probably Google it to get the full picture. While we were eating dinner this evening in an authentic Greek restaurant, we saw 4 groups of armed police walking by. There is a big protest in the square in front of the parliament. They have pretty good music too. We are all set for a big day of touring some of the historic sites tomorrow and looking forward to meeting up with Kakie on Wednesday morning at the airport.
Love, Mom

3/13
We started the morning, after breakfast in the hotel, which provided lots of laban, with a walk to the Plaka. There are stray dogs that lie in the street and don’t seem at all bothered by passersby. They seem well fed but lethargic. We walked by a butcher shop with lamb hanging in the window with the head still attached, which was a little surprising. Perhaps they have to prove that it is not the dog.
We felt very confident with map in hand that we could make it to the Acropolis so through the Plaka and up the hill we went. We saw one or 2 homemade sides that indicated we were on the right path. As we wondered our way up the hill, we were walking on very small pathways that passed by the open windows & doors of peoples homes. Because we could see the Acropolis as we walked, we continued on the path up the hill stopping occasionally to appreciate the view that is until we came to a dead end and a kind man came from his house and said “Acropolis?” He pointed us in another direction, gave Jim a Greek lesson and sent us on our way. It wasn’t intuitive to walk down the heel when we were trying to go up, but we did and found our way to the north entrance of the Acropolis and enjoyed the visit for several hours.
We also tried our first Greek coffee. I can mark that one off the list.

3/14
Got an early start to catch a bus to the airport to meet Katherine. Her flight from Turkey was on schedule and Jim was standing at the gate with his Davidson cap on so she couldn’t miss him. The first student out asked if we were Stewart’s parent and said that she would be out as soon as she retrieved her luggage. It was worth the trip to see her big smile and sigh of relief when she walked through the doors and saw us. We spent the next several hours in the airport waiting on our flight to Mykonos. We met several of the other Davidson students, looked at all of her pictures, listened to stories and told a few to catch her up on family and friends. The Athens airport is very nice with all types of stores and restaurants. We had a nice lunch while we were waiting on the flight.
The flight was a short one with a bumpy landing due to strong winds. We picked up our luggage and headed via cab to the hotel. At the hotel we asked for a map of the island but the hotel keeper said there were no more maps and a map was really helpful because the road/paths would not be on them and we would get lost anyway.
With a few directions from the inn keeper, we set off to find a place for dinner. So many of the places are closed for the winter. We found a small family-run restaurant and had a nice dinner and watched 2 men play backgammon. The young women eating at the table beside of us rolled her own cigarettes. Many people smoke here but don’t roll their own that we have seen.

3/15
After breakfast in the hotel, we headed out to explore. When we were by the sea, one of they fishermen befriended us and took us around to see a few sites. The wind was so strong that the fisherman did not go out. Mykonos is very quiet in the winter time. I think the locals enjoy the tourist more when there are so few. We walked for hours and finally stopped when we came across a Starbucks for a little taste of home. When we returned to the hotel it was so late that we decided to combine lunch and dinner.
Around 5:30 we headed back down the maize of streets to the waterfront to find a place to eat. We enjoy ordering a couple of appetizers and entrees and eating family style. Of course we are trying the local beers, Mythos and Alpha so far.

3/16/07
Today we were determined to find a fortress that we read about in the National Geographic travel guide, no one seem to understand when we asked about how to get the fortress. We were pretty sure that we could see it up on the mountains so we headed out on our own. After a very long hike we discovered that what we were seeing was a beautiful resident and stone fencing. We continued our hike for an hour or so longer and stopped along the road at a café for our third Greek beer, Fix, and lunch. We also found a .99 store to visit.