July 17, 2019
First day in Athens. I had planned a tour for us for 10:00 am, which was much more difficult than I had anticipated. I had no idea where we would be in the jet lag department. I thought we might be fully awake and ready to go, I also thought we might be totally wiped out and asleep. Lesson learned, we were wiped out and totally asleep. Aaron woke up around 6 am with a migraine and puked a few times. Sad and yuck. And poor Aaron. We went back to sleep until my alarm went off at 7:45. Too early. But we rallied. I got up and showered and booked it to a grocery store nearby. About a 6 minute walk. I put some groceries in a basket, bread, eggs, bananas, OJ, almond milk. Got to the counter and realized I forgot to put my wallet into my daypack. Thankfully the woman was so kind, she let me put my basket behind the counter. I fast-walked back to the apartment, we fast-walked back to the grocery store where we only bought bananas, bread, OJ and water because we had to meet our tour guide at 10. We were 6 minutes late. It was hot and humid, but easy. I walked about Athens by myself and found the grocery store. Walked among hundreds of people, Athens is a huge, busy, dirty, amazing city. All around us we are surrounded by modern buildings as well as buildings built in 135 AD. It’s hard to wrap my mind around it all. The Acropolis is always up there. You just have to look up, it hangs above the city like a star.
We met our tour guide. She was quirky and interesting. We went on a leisurely walk with her, she told us about some things here and there. Mayim was a wreck. so exhausted. Aaron somehow rallied from migraine and puking and was doing well. Somehow I was full of energy and Lavi was his cool, mellow self.
We finished our tour and walked down a long, busy, crowded shopping area with modern, chain stores you see anywhere in the world. Hated it. Much more interesting are the flea markets and the Plaka. We got coffee at a chic cafe where we met a young man from Nashville. We made it home, then went to the cafe on our street for lunch. Greek salad is delicious. Today’s was good, last night’s was amazing. I also had french fries with my salad, fries are very big here. Boys had many versions of meat. Lamb, beef. Mayim was craving hamburger. We learned hamburgers in Greece are patties with no bun.
Then home. For naps. Aaron and I slept for 4 hours of the best sleep ever. I love jet lag because my naps are the most wonderful. Then a nice, long walk through flea markets and shopping and Plaka. I bought a dress from the nicest woman. She put the dress on me, she put the belt on me, she styled me. My favorite. More walking. Tired Mayim. Then dinner at a wonderful restaurant also on our street. The ambiance, the people, the cats, the surroundings. I love eating in Europe. The meal took 2.5 hours. Lovely.
Now I’m in the nook. Stream of conscious writing because I am beat, I want to get this down and I want to get in my bed.
Tomorrow is more walking. More ancient ruins. More food. Gelato. Coffee. So many people. So many smells, many bad, some good.
Also, we discovered a second bathroom in our apartment today! Yasssss!
Love,
Eden
P.S. The photos were all taken with my iPhone. Tomorrow is Fix Camera Day.