Welcome to my world...

These past few days with Jason have been so wonderful! He's finally getting a taste of what I've been up to these past six weeks and this may not be the 'vacation' he was looking for... mostly because of all of the walking and archaeological sites we've been doing. I'm trying to tone it down so that he doesn't get too overwhelmed with tons of information and Athens' heat! :) But I think he's been enjoying himself, and I know that I've loved the city more now that he's here to experience it with me.

Picking him up from the airport was quite an adventure. I went with one of my classmates, Dick, to the airport (because he was also going to pick up his wife). We tried to catch the airport bus at a bus stop near the school only to find out that we were at the wrong stop. We waved to the bus driver and he signaled to get on at the next stop, so we ran as fast we could... only to have him wait 5 seconds before driving off. Hopeful, we decided to run to the next stop a block away in the hopes that he'd catch a red light and wait for us this time. The driver decided to wait 10 seconds and then pulled away. Infuriated, I ran another block to the next stop and the bus driver finally opened up the doors for us. I guess the last two bus stops were to test if we really wanted to get on that bus! Needless to say, we made it to the airport right on time and I was beaming to see Jason coming through the gate.

Our first night in Athens we wandered around the neighborhood near the American School and I showed him the highlights of Kolonaki and the surrounding area. We walked through the National Gardens, then saw the Panathenaic Stadium, and then stopped at my favorite pastry shop along the way (delicious!). We watched the sun set on the top of Lycavitos Hill and then had dinner at a nearby cafe. It was a wonderful day... and Jason wants me to add that what he remembers the most was the heat! :) It was a very hot day. (I don't think he's gotten acclimated to sweating continuously yet!) :)

Yesterday we took a trip down to the ancient Athenian agora. We saw the Hephaisteon (one of the best preserved Greek temples) and took a stroll through the Stoa of Attalos. We also did some shopping in the tourist/souvenir area known as the Plaka. From there we walked to the Arch of Hadrian and to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Jason thought everything was pretty neat and was amazed at how long these monuments have lasted. I just enjoyed seeing everything again from Jason's perspective and especially through his camera lens. He took some aMAZing pictures! We had our more gyros together for lunch, which was pretty exciting! But the highlight of the evening was watching the sun set on the Aereopagus. We had our own spot staked out on the rocks and spent a couple of hours just sitting there and watching the sky change colors and the city beneath us light up. There was a full moon and the Acropolis was opened late so that tourist could visit the sight under the light of the moon. It was neat to sit where we were and watch hoards of people flock to the acropolis just to experience the beauty of the place in the moonlight. Hands down the highlight of our trip thus far. We had a fun Greek dinner at a great restaurant (Platanos) were the food was lovely, though the service could have been better. But the fun part of the meal was being visited by the sweetest stray dog who lay at our feet looking so pathetic and hoping that we would give him some food. He ran away and chased a cat before we could feed him, so he missed out!

Today we felt lazy, but still did our fair share of walking. In the afternoon we headed to the Acropolis so Jason could experience the magic and wonderment for himself!! :) I think he loved it. It was fun to give an edited version of the things I had learned to Jason. My version lasted 10 minutes as opposed to the 7+ hours I had spent listening to lectures on the acropolis throughout the course of my program. I think Jason appreciated my version more. :) Afterwards we visited the New Acropolis museum. Jason really liked the lay out of the museum and thought that it really enhanced the experience with its view of the Acropolis. It was a nice time. One of the better museums to be sure! We ended our day with more walking (it's never ending!) and a delicious meal at this lovely restaurant and now we're ready to crash and prepare for our trip to Santorini tomorrow! We can't wait! Let's hope that our ferry ride goes smoothly! Either way, I'm sure it will all be a great adventure!