greece is the word (first part)

so after another visit from the hospital I am ready to write about Greece! (don't worry, it's all good now. Oh, and happy Passover and soon-to-be-Greek Easter.)

Here is the rough itinerary of stuff I did. I'll put it here and break it down.
Day 1: arrived in Athens, met Rory's friends, ate true gyros for the first (but definitely not the last) time in Greece though mine was sans meat
Day 2: Monastiraki, Psyrri, introduction to the magic of Greek bakeries
Day 3: Saw the Parthenon and the Plaka district, big taverna dinner as a going-away pary for one of the CYA kids
Day 4: Visited the Agora and a Byzantine church with one of Rory's classes
Day 5: Explored the Temple of Poseidon at coastal Sounio
Day 6: Rode the bus to the idyllic seaside Peloponnesian town of Nafplio
Day 7: Took the ferry boat from Piraeus to the island of Aegina and ate at the cutest taverna ever


Here were some highlights among many (I'll write more about stuff in the next post):
-the yayas aka Greek grandmothers
-the ridiculously blue and beautiful ocean
-Greek food: saganaki, tzatziki, eggplant salad, dolmades, fluffy pita, baklava, souvlaki, need I say more? Oh and bakeries and pastry shops and street vendors...
-old Greek men fiddling with their komboloi (worry beads)- I even went to a worry bead museum in Nafplio
-the views from Sounio and Nafplio
-walking peacefully along the coastline of Aegina
-actually getting to see the Parthenon in all its glory after endless discussion of it in AP art history back in my high school days
-Greek clothes ( a welcome relief after the eurotrash styles of Israel)
-taverna dining (and the wine)
-the Athens metro...so clean, so pretty, so efficient
-I'm not sure if this was a highlight, but constantly getting lost in the sketchy Botanical Gardens and "zoo"
-Greek Orthodox churches
-um and ICONS...I am such a sucker for Orthodox iconography
-the blooming wildflowers
-seeing people get ready for Easter
-Greek coffee (if you call it Turkish coffee they might shoot you...also, it's Greek delight, not Turkish delight)

more to come!