We're Here...

...and exhausted! We left our house (thanks, Deane) at 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, June 9, and got in to the Athens airport at 10:30 a.m., June 10. Subtract eight hours from that--about seventeen hours of travel. The flights were all on time and uneventful--that's about all you can hope for on a seventeen hour journey. We got to the hotel via Yannis, our taxi driver. He gave us a quick geography lesson as we rounded Mt. Hymettus. The airport is situated on the other side of this small mountain. As we rounded the mountain and went through a few tunnels, we saw sprawling Athens' suburbs. We wound around streets alongside motorbikes and other vehicles as Yannis pointed out that he would not recommend driving in Athens. As we rounded our last corner, we spotted the Acropolis. It's so very strange to see such ancient ruins as we travel the down streets that, aside from the Greek words, aren't that different from the states. Our hotel is nestled right next to the Temple of Zeus. We got here before check-in time and met with a representative from the local travel agency that our travel agent uses here in Greece. Costas overwhelmed us with information as our heads were already swimming because of a lack of sleep. After meeting with him, we got a quick bite to eat at a restaurant around the corner that he recommended.

 Good, crusty bread with olive oil

Spinach pies and stuffed eggplant 

tzatziki 

chicken with a good sauce (don't remember what it was) and fries

From there we walked back to the hotel and headed up to the rooftop bar. With this view:

Yes, that's the Acropolis on the left and the Temple of Zeus.

We hung out out there for a minute but went back to the room as we were exhausted.

After Tim took a quick nap, we decided to stroll the streets of Athens from our hotel. We had dinner at another recommendation from our Greek travel agent. Tim still looks wiped out!

We forgot to take pictures before we ate! Kebabs are not like ours. They are more like sausages formed around a stick. They were juicy and tender. The kababs were served with pita, onion, and grilled tomatoes. Tim and I split an order in order to save room for dessert.

Speaking of dessert...

Lukumades are little puffs of dough fried crispy on the outside and almost custardy on the inside. Mine were topped with honey and cinnamon, Tim's with chocolate and almonds. A big shout out to Robin Avery for insisting that we got some. We're in Athens for four days--I suspect we may be back!

On our stroll home, we got a peak of the Acropolis at night:

We'll head back up to the rooftop bar and restaurant at some point to see the grand view at night! Tomorrow we have a big day of sightseeing in Athens. I've GOT to get some sleep!