updated. athens was our first european city of the trip-grittier than a lot of europe, though. although the riots are over, it still seemed a little rough around the edges. it was a shame to see all the graffiti on the beautiful architecture. the city looks beautiful from above though- way above-from the acropolis. we hiked up to see the parthenon temple and got a great view of the city and the aegean sea. there is tons of pride in the greek people but it comes out in unfortunate ways. being a member of the european union, it was a modern city with a well organized transit system. great food, too! the rest of our time we spent in santorini, one of the greek islands. beautiful, but quite different from any pictures you've probably seen. in the winter most of the islands almost shut down-so it was like a ghost town, not that we minded the lack of tourists! we rented a car (with a good heater) and explored the island on our own-we did manage to find a few cafes that were open and sampled some good greek food. we will definitely add santorini to the list of places we need to come back to in the summertime!
