ATHENA STILL...

Day 85,86
Athens, Greece (Athena as the Greeks call it!)
FIVOS HOTEL

Mum, great that your internet is up and running again!! :-)

Just heard from Andy Pans...that the DOCKERS WON!!!

Freo...way to go..FREO!!! hahaa..Fremantle Dockers are legends! hehe

Have to find who they played now! And i'll be able to...this computer is set with English language!

That's one thing about Greece, even though the language is difficult to understand and to read, most Greeks know English so we've been very spoilt. They seem very modern actually and we love being here because they're so friendly and helpful. Even to the extent that if you even look slightly lost, they come over to help.

And i mean, what about staying in Nanna's apartment on Thursday night, the night of the big soccer game. Due to the fact that she'd gone to Meteora to stay with other relatives.

That was an experience and a half for sure. We could see Nanna's little icons everywhere, being one of 98% Greek Orthodox that are in Greece. It was quite strange...seeing pictures of her and her family on the walls...the lounge that had a bowl of lollies in it, the kitchen, the wardrobe that we knew were full of her clothes. The only downfall being that we had to use a bucket to flush the toilet. Something she had obviously been doing without complaint because noone seemed to know this is what she had been doing.

That was hospitality at it's best. To allow us to stay there, when everywhere else we tried, and they tried, were full. The daughter welcomed us when she knew we were to be trustedd (and we found she was embarrased by us staying in Nanna's room because she didn't think it had been cleaned, but her father had organised the cleaners to change Nanna's bed for us and to leave us fresh towels). Such generosity and we'll always remember that hotel with much fondness and gratefulness for sure!

We've found Athens such a friendly place. The little restaurant where we've been having dinner each night gave us dessert last night (after remembering the previous night we didn't eat the antipasta AFTER the meal!) What a gorgeous family that run the restaurant. And what YUMMY food. Still haven't eaten the greek souvlaki or moussaka yet but apparently the greek islands have these in abundance. Moussaka doesn't seem to be a common menu item..and when we asked a greek lady she told us the whole recipe...so it could be that it's made more in the home than in restaurants!

We bought a little bottle of ouzo and bread cruskits from a shop here called the Lesvos shop today. And we bought dried apricots, figs and chocolate from the markets! We also couldn't resist the round roped breadsticks that seem to on the little carts on all the street corners here as well. So tonight, we have a feast!

Something peculiar to Greece, that we've noticed so far, are the showers! There are NO shower curtains or screens in any of the bathrooms! It's just a little cubicle and we've certainly sprayed water everywhere we've been....oh dear.

Oh and also, in every fast food outlet (where we go to get salads!) there is also beer. The alcohol laws in Europe are very lax. I'm wondering what their road toll, alcohol related illnesses etc are like here...maybe it's low..who knows ?

Yesterday we ventured up to the Acropolis in the rain and at first i was thinking..should we really be making the effort in the rain?? YES! It was an eye opener..it's really weird but just when you get monument fatigue (or monumental fatigue) something so fascinating for words pops up that you think, yes it was worth it! There is so much history attached to the Acropolis and just being there really makes the Greek myths and legends feel very real.

Acropolos, we learned means high city! acro = high and polos = town! And from our very centrally based hotel we can see it lit up at night. It's great! I'd recommend this hotel..even with it's weird bathroom and small rooms!!!

Today we went to the archelogical museum as well to see a lot of the artefacts that has been uneathered here in Greec, at the Acropolis and at other burial sites and now ruins of Greece.

I can't wait to go to the Greek Islands tomorrow! We met a wonderful Canadian couple at breakfast this morning who enlightened us about accomodation etc on the Islands and it's all very reasonable, unbelievably! We thought it'd be really expensive. We've got the next two nights sorted, in Sardinia, as there is a Greek holiday on Monday so that's a good thing at least!

But after that..we're off to Mykinos and then Lesvos and Lemnos. Lemnos is where Grandpop spent time as a medic in the first world war, in 1915 so i can't wait to see that island as he was a very special to me. From there we will go to Gallipoli to also see where he was a medic in the same war.

I'm in an internet cafe at the hotel at the moment and it's one of those that has a heap of people watching tv behind me..and i feel as if people are watching over my shoulder. It's quite disconcerting. Greg's reading the paper in our room upstairs so i'm off to join him...early morning tomorrow!

And it's time for me to sign out anyway. It's 3 Euro for half an hour on here..and i don't have any more change to put in the meter.

Will let you know how the Greek Islands go...

Hugs and luvs to all, we hope all is going well for you all!! Email us! :-) We love to hear how you guys are going as well.

xxx