Isle Be Back 6/9/09

Ok. That was corny. But I'm having a lot of trouble coming up with titles for these posts!

We ate the included breakfast at the hostel this morning, which consisted of cakes, jams, cereal, nutella, and eggs. Two comments: 1) it was a weird combination, but really high in energy. 2) I've noticed that the hard boiled eggs in every country we've visited have been different. The major difference is in the yolks, which have ranged in color from orange to pale yellow. I wonder if it has to do with what you feed the chicken.

After eating, we walked up the street to rent an ATV. We wanted to explore the island, and we didn't want to take a bus or taxi back to the port (we found out that you can pick up ATVs on one side of the island and return them on the other).



I actually haven't driven one since I was 12, but it was pretty easy to pick up - just gas and brake. We dropped by the hostel one last time to pick up our bags, check out, and say bye to John and Maria, the hostel managers. Yesterday, John said something interesting to us - we've gotten to be pretty cool with each other, and while we were talking, he said "I can tell you guys are good people because of something in your faces." As we were checking out, I read a 2 Corinthians 3:18 to him: "But we all with unveiled face, beholding and reflecting like a mirror the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from glory to glory, even as from the Lord Spirit." We told him that it's not us, but that we've been enjoying the Lord for the past two weeks. He nodded in understanding, and we exchanged contact information with him and Maria. I want to stay in touch. I like knowing people all over the world.

Before we took off on the ATV, Maria ran to a neighbor's store and bought us big shells from the island to remember them by. It was pretty sweet. We took a group picture together, did the Greek two cheek kiss thing, and then sped away.



For the next 4 hours, we drove through the island



and then around the coast, stopping at nice beaches to swim or climb on rocks. It was pretty awesome.













The best place we went to was on the northwest corner of Aegina - the water was warm and as transparent as glass, the sand was white and soft, and there were no waves (the other islands block big waves from hitting Aegina). It was a huge aquamarine swimming pool, and when you opened your eyes under water you could see out for miles. That's how clean it was. I have a new beach standard - Hawaii, you've been demoted.



We got to Aegina Marina at 2 PM to return the ATV, and then went to a small restaurant to eat. Guess what we ate? Gyros! I think we've eaten 10 during our stay in Greece, and I can tell you that I probably won't eat them for a while when I go back home. It was a pretty good deal, though. Two gyros and a soda for 6 euros.

At 3:30 PM we got on the ferry back to Piraeus, and watched a guy feeding seagulls all the way back. It was pretty cool. He would toss bits of bread up, and the seagulls would keep up with the ferry (which was going at a pretty good pace), catching the bread out of the air.



I should have put on more sunblock because I was wearing a tank and got pretty sunburned on my shoulders. Oh well. I'm pretty tan now :)

After we got to Piraeus, we metroed and walked back to the Reddy's flat for a quick shower (we were still salty from swimming in the sea), and then headed back out to get some packaged desserts and candy to take back (it was too hard to find any souveniers worth buying - everything was so cheap and fragile, and I didn't want to stuff it in my backpack). The foil wrapped baklavas were supposed to be decent, so I got a bag to bring home. I hope they make it back ok.

When we went back to the Reddy's, we helped them bring some old furniture down to the street (they had just recently moved). What's interesting here is that there aren't any thrift stores so people just leave their old things - furniture, clothes, etc... - in the street for other people to take (from what I heard, Albanians make up the bulk of the lower class here).

It was pretty funny because we brought a table down, and when we went up to bring the sideboard down, the table was already gone. Someone must have been watching us from their window or something. They left the sideboard until we came back down with the drawers.

Michael made us some bomb nachos for dinner, but I could only eat a little bit because of the cheese. We talked about things we could pray for for the saints in Athens and the political situation here. It was pretty chill, just eating and talking. At one point, David put a piece of melon on Sophia's plate, which she, apparently, didn't like. Her reaction was pretty hilarious. She didn't cry, but just got this sad expression on her face, walked over to her dad, and sat on his lap with her head buried in his chest. We eventually figured out what was wrong, so David took the melon off and everything was ok.

Aliki and Thomas came home from visiting her father in Gizi, and we chatted and took a family picture before Aliki put Thomas and Sophia to bed. Then, Aliki gave us a bag of Greek pistachios to take home. They're the national nut here, and taste different than the ones in the states - they're not as dense, and have a pretty distinct flavor when roasted.

Michael and Aliki just went to bed, and we're getting ready to fly home tomorrow. We have to take the metro to Syntagma Square, then the X95 bus back to Athens International Airport. After a four hour layover in New York, we'll be flying back to SFO where Chris is going to pick us up. I'm sad to leave, but excited to see my graduating friends.

I'm really surprised I kept this journal thing going for the whole trip. Everything happened so quickly, but at least I have a record of the important things. I'll put these notes in my blog when I get back home.

I just realized how crazy it is that I fly back tomorrow, and the next afternoon I'm driving down to socal. Gotta keep going - life's too short!

THINGS I ATE IN EUROPE THAT I WANT TO MAKE WHEN I GO HOME:

*Bread with olive oil and pesto/sundried tomato dip (At Ace's in London)
*Baklava - (Various places in Greece) - success!
*Macarons - (In Paris)
*Seafood - (Various places in Greece)
*Gyros - (Various places in Greece) - I might wait a while before I tackle this one...
*Pasta with olive oil, basil, tomatoes, salt, and pepper (Rome) - success!

I can cross it off the list 6/5/09

I've wanted to go to Greece since 6th grade, and I can finally cross it off my lifetime to-do list.

At the same time, it's crazy to realize how quickly this Eurotrip went by. I've always said that I like to travel (without having any travel experiences other than Canada or Mexico), and now I know for sure.

We had our first minor snafu at the airport this morning: It seemed like we had plenty of time because we arrived an hour and a half before departure, but we got pretty close to missing our flight because our bags were too big. This was the first time that happened!

Mine was over the weight limit, but the checker decided that the size was fine and let me through. David's bag, on the other hand had to get checked in. By the time we got through the scanners, it was 5 minutes before departure. Luckily, the flight was delayed 20 minutes so we made it. Thank you, God.

The flight was pretty uneventful. Interestingly, it seems like the flights from west to east take shorter than the other direction because you go with the wind or something. Even though the flight was delayed, we still made it to Athens on time. I hope the flight home doesn't take super long. This is a picture of a lonely cloud over a lonely isle. I thought it was pretty cool:



After arriving in Athens (the airport was recently constructed/remodeled which is why flights in and out of Athens are expensive), we hopped on the X95 bus to Syntagma Square, where we were going to meet the family we were staying with. It was pretty nice to be in a place where there weren't as many pickpockets. People left their luggage on the bus unattended and without locks, which was a good sign.

Still, we found out that due to the upcoming elections in Athens, there were a lot of political protests/terrorist threats. Apparently, right now cops will pull over anyone who doesn't look European, and they can hold you for up to three hours without reason if you don't have a passport on you. Your golden ticket is to have a U.S. passport because the cops know that the economy of Greece is boosted by tourism. So I guess I'm going everywhere with my passport here.

It's interesting how the symbols we see in our calc and physics class are the letters of an actual language. I've known that in the back of my head, but it's weird to see it used as an alphabet here. It's actually pretty useful to know the names of the letters because then you can sound out the words of locations. THAT was pretty helpful on the bus ride. Neither of us knows any Greek.



When we got to Syntagma, Michael and Luke picked us up and I found out that Michael was roommates with someone in my small group back home. It's really funny how we're all connected - it's 6 degrees of separation in the world and 2 degrees of separation in the church.

We dropped our bags off at Michael's flat, met his family, and headed out to our first Greek dinner.



Michael reminds me of someone I know back home (more in demeanor than appearance), which is pretty comforting. Aliki, his wife, is witty, super nice, and fascinating. Her father was in the British Secret Service or something along those lines (bad memory!), and she moved a lot growing up. She can speak English, French, German, Cantonese, and Greek, and has that characteristic British charm. For some reason she reminds me of Evie from The Mummy. They both have great, warm personalities.



Their kids are pretty cute, too. Thomas, 6, wasn't shy at all when he met us, which is a huge plus. He climbed on us when we were sitting on the couch, and told us jokes. He's pretty brilliant, too - he's levels ahead of his grade in math, and he plays chess and backgammon like a pro. This kid's going to go far.



Sophia (AKA Fifi, Soph, Sophie, or Sis) took a while to warm up to us, but soon enough, she was playing doctor with us. It's pretty cute because they both have British accents and speak proper English. Sophie, for instance, says "My Thomas" when refering to her older brother. She's three.



A quick 10 minute walk from the flat took us to a small Greek restaurant that served fast food. I ordered my first gyro, which was really filling. They put french fries in them, which is pretty tasty. I'd take one over a big mac anyday. The meat plates and stuffed tomatoes were delicious too. I love cultures that know how to eat, and I know I'm really going to like it here. This is a side note, but the sweets here are supposed to be unparalleled. I have to try real baklava when I'm here - when you say it, the emphasis is on the LA, and there are a bunch of different types! I'm not a dessert person, but I'm pretty excited.



The dinner conversation was pretty interesting because Michael and Aliki told us how they met in London, and we told them how it was like being raised Christian, and all the things the Lord had to do to bring us to where we were today. It was the first time I told people about some major experiences I had during college, and I'm surprised that I felt comfortable enough to tell them. Just like in Germany, they felt like family from the moment I met them.



We got gelato after dinner and then went to a grocery/toy store to pick up some stuff. The Reddy's (that's Michael and Aliki's last name) needed clothes for the kids, and we got some goggles for swimming in the sea (I keep wanting to say "ocean," but technically it is the sea). I'm really looking forward to this. I've heard the isles are amazing, and I really miss the beach. The one we visited outside of Rome was just OK.

Plus, there are no dangerous sharks here! I read that on wiki, and additionally, the waters are warm and calm, and clear and blue. Jealous?

I'm exhausted, but pretty excited to go visit the Plaka and Acropolis tomorrow. One of my coworker's friends has a jewelry shop in the Plaka (they work with the U.S. Embassy and sold jewelry to Hillary Clinton when she visited Athens), and he gave me the contact info to find his friend. I'm going to try my best to locate the guy, whose name is George Nikopolis. Having little missions like this is pretty cool.