Last Days of Greece: Part 1
With January near death I suppose I have to admit it: We're not in Greece any more, Toto.
It felt like maybe if I put off posting about our last days in Greece I wouldn't have to admit vacation was over. And, okay, yeah, untrue and all, but... like... shut up.
We're back in Moscow and temperatures are at the lowest they've been all winter, so actually I'm glad I've been slacking on blogging because that means I can revisit photos from Greece and imagine us back there! (And let's hope I remember what/where everything was!)
Last you heard it was New Year's Day and we were going to putter around a bit and see if we could explore the city a little and have lunch. That plan went pretty okay. We DID see the city. Lots of it. From atop a hill! We had to climb some (read: an insane amount of sprained ankle torturing) stairs between city streets to get to the base of this slope, then we took a cable car through a tunnel to the top where we saw THIS:
It was a gorgeous view of the whole city and insanely blustery and a bit cold. There was a small church at the top. It was pretty inside, but it was also open for actual church-goers, so I felt it would have been rude to try to take pictures in there.
When we'd gotten too cold and had all our pictures we headed back down to the subway to get back to our Acropolis neighborhood and saw a couple silly things along the way.
We tried to go to the same restaurant for lunch from the day before, but they were closed, so we went to a place two doors down that was open. The food was fine, but unmemorable. What WAS memorable was that Simon was being such an absolute cutie he charmed one of the hostesses so much she took him to the cafe next door (where, we told her, we were planning to go after our meal anyway) to get him some chocolates. He was very excited and gave her a hug and kissed her hand.
Now, I'm sure flattering tourists can only benefit the service industries in Athens, but my goodness people just doted on our child. They were so kind to us everywhere and made us all feel very welcome. It was an excellent part of our vacation experience.
After lunch we got treats from the cafe and headed back to the hotel to lay about like gluttons and eat strawberry marzipan and pastries. Simon had a chocolate sucker that looked like a reindeer.
The next day we were off to the island of Aegina. We took a ferry called a "Flying Dolphin" across the sea, which was ultimately a bus on water. The vessel used to be a Soviet patrol boat and... yeah. It wasn't luxury, but it got us to the island in about forty minutes and Simon was glued to the window the whole time.
We found our hotel and the incredibly welcoming owner inside. He fussed over Simon, showed us pictures of his children and grandchildren where they hung on the wall in the small lobby, and offered us lots of helpful information about how to get around the island and what to see.
We walked around the town a little bit and got Simon an ice cream cone (mango!) which sadly fell to the ground when we were trying to cross a street to go sit on the pier to enjoy coffee and treats. He was so, so sad. Copious tears. Ian walked all the way back to the ice cream shop for more, and then we all relaxed a little and planned the rest of our day.
We walked along the water near our hotel, then visited the nearby Temple of Apollo. It was so, so pretty. The temple ruins are on a bluff/small peninsula and it was very pleasant to walk around. So many green plants, and with the partially cloudy drizzle Ian remarked that he felt more like we were in Ireland than Greece. I've never been to Ireland, so I had to take his word for it. Those of you who have been to Ireland check out these photos and see what you think:
The rest of the day was very relaxing. We had a large late lunch/early dinner at the family owned restaurant next door to our hotel (recommended highly by our hotel owner, of course!) where we ate fresh caught fish, delicious homemade bread, fried eggplant, zucchini fritters, and drank house wine. Everything was delicious and the atmosphere was quite pleasant. The building was very old, made of stone, and were it not for the PJ Masks figurines on the table I would have had no trouble imagining we were living in a time long past, likely to see a sloop gliding on the sea outside the window, sailors scuttling the jib and such.
Lousy PJ pests. ;)
As this post is already very long I think that will be all for now. Also, my phone was dead for the last part of this first day on the island and I have to steal some pictures from Ian before I can go on. I'll get around to part two... when I get to it.
It felt like maybe if I put off posting about our last days in Greece I wouldn't have to admit vacation was over. And, okay, yeah, untrue and all, but... like... shut up.
We're back in Moscow and temperatures are at the lowest they've been all winter, so actually I'm glad I've been slacking on blogging because that means I can revisit photos from Greece and imagine us back there! (And let's hope I remember what/where everything was!)
Last you heard it was New Year's Day and we were going to putter around a bit and see if we could explore the city a little and have lunch. That plan went pretty okay. We DID see the city. Lots of it. From atop a hill! We had to climb some (read: an insane amount of sprained ankle torturing) stairs between city streets to get to the base of this slope, then we took a cable car through a tunnel to the top where we saw THIS:
 |
| Paaaaaaaaaaaa |
 |
| aaaaaaaaaaaan |
 |
| norama-rama!! |
 |
| Ian and Simon checking out the church |
 |
| A view of The Acropolis and the sea beyond |
 |
| The Temple of Zeus is down there somewhere in the greenery |
 | ||
| Bell Tower |
When we'd gotten too cold and had all our pictures we headed back down to the subway to get back to our Acropolis neighborhood and saw a couple silly things along the way.
 |
| Ypsilanti? YPSILANTOU! |
 | ||
| Mario Batali is not welcome on Athens subway escalators |
We tried to go to the same restaurant for lunch from the day before, but they were closed, so we went to a place two doors down that was open. The food was fine, but unmemorable. What WAS memorable was that Simon was being such an absolute cutie he charmed one of the hostesses so much she took him to the cafe next door (where, we told her, we were planning to go after our meal anyway) to get him some chocolates. He was very excited and gave her a hug and kissed her hand.
Now, I'm sure flattering tourists can only benefit the service industries in Athens, but my goodness people just doted on our child. They were so kind to us everywhere and made us all feel very welcome. It was an excellent part of our vacation experience.
After lunch we got treats from the cafe and headed back to the hotel to lay about like gluttons and eat strawberry marzipan and pastries. Simon had a chocolate sucker that looked like a reindeer.
The next day we were off to the island of Aegina. We took a ferry called a "Flying Dolphin" across the sea, which was ultimately a bus on water. The vessel used to be a Soviet patrol boat and... yeah. It wasn't luxury, but it got us to the island in about forty minutes and Simon was glued to the window the whole time.
We found our hotel and the incredibly welcoming owner inside. He fussed over Simon, showed us pictures of his children and grandchildren where they hung on the wall in the small lobby, and offered us lots of helpful information about how to get around the island and what to see.
We walked around the town a little bit and got Simon an ice cream cone (mango!) which sadly fell to the ground when we were trying to cross a street to go sit on the pier to enjoy coffee and treats. He was so, so sad. Copious tears. Ian walked all the way back to the ice cream shop for more, and then we all relaxed a little and planned the rest of our day.
We walked along the water near our hotel, then visited the nearby Temple of Apollo. It was so, so pretty. The temple ruins are on a bluff/small peninsula and it was very pleasant to walk around. So many green plants, and with the partially cloudy drizzle Ian remarked that he felt more like we were in Ireland than Greece. I've never been to Ireland, so I had to take his word for it. Those of you who have been to Ireland check out these photos and see what you think:
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| The view from our hotel room |
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| Beach across the street from our hotel, tree line on the right is where the temple ruins are |
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| Our hotel is on the left, ruins on the right |
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| Flowers! In Winter! |
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| Ruins below the Temple of Apollo |
 |
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| Looking back to the island |
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| APOLLOOOOOO |
 |
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| Mosaic floor of an ancient synagogue |
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| Pitcher plants? I have no idea. They were interesting. |
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| DIS MY WALL |
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| Simon pleads for his mother to stop taking so many damn pictures and bring it in for a family hug. No, really. |
The rest of the day was very relaxing. We had a large late lunch/early dinner at the family owned restaurant next door to our hotel (recommended highly by our hotel owner, of course!) where we ate fresh caught fish, delicious homemade bread, fried eggplant, zucchini fritters, and drank house wine. Everything was delicious and the atmosphere was quite pleasant. The building was very old, made of stone, and were it not for the PJ Masks figurines on the table I would have had no trouble imagining we were living in a time long past, likely to see a sloop gliding on the sea outside the window, sailors scuttling the jib and such.
Lousy PJ pests. ;)
As this post is already very long I think that will be all for now. Also, my phone was dead for the last part of this first day on the island and I have to steal some pictures from Ian before I can go on. I'll get around to part two... when I get to it.
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