So after a power outage at the internet cafe killed the first draft of this entry, here we go again!
On
our second day in Athens, we did all of the "touristy" things, such as
visiting the Acropolis/Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, the Plaka, and
all of the various ruins around town. Despite the "concrete jungle"
aspect of Athens, and the breathtaking sprawl, it is a bit charming.
The people are quite friendly, and the metro runs for very cheap all
over town. And gyros are cheap and plentiful. One of the best parts of
the day was the climb up the Pnyx Hill near the Acropolis to the
Philopappus Monument. We took a nap under some olive trees, only to
wake up and realize that we were sleeping on the top of a ruined tower
of a Macedonian fortress. Then we got a gyro. :)
We stayed a third night with our couchsurfer (accidentally, as we
locked our bags in her apartment and had to wait until she got back
from class in the evening.) She took us out to a bar in the student
district, with dark wood walls, stained by the heavy clouds of tobacco
smoke. It was an "American Music" bar, which started innocently enough
with some James Brown and Aretha Franklin, but veered wildly off course
when they started playing Ace of Base, some high school drum cadences,
and strangely, South Park's Chocolate Salty Balls
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chocolate_Salty_Balls). We went out to
the bar at 11:30, and didn't start heading back until 3:15 (ugh). A
short taxi ride home, and we were out.
After reading that Patras was nothing special, we decided to take the
bus to Nafplio, supposedly one of the prettiest towns in Greece.
This involved taking the city bus from her house to the center, the
metro to another stop, then another city bus to the central bus
terminal (and by central I mean two miles out of town). A two hour bus
ride, and we were there. The hotels and pensiones in Nafplio were quite
pricey, so we took another city bus to a small place near the beach
that rents out bungalows for quite cheap. Our room overlooks a lemon
grove, with plenty of friendly cats running around. It is a quick
two-minute walk to Assini Beach.
After that, it is a quick walk down to the town of Tolo.
We will be here until
we head to Cairo!
Miss you all!
