Despite my many concerns about returning to Cairo, I'm surprisingly happy to be back here. I liked that I could tell the young girls sitting next to me on the plane what we were flying over. I liked that I could tip the woman handing out paper towels in the airport bathroom, knowing that it was the culturally appropriate thing to do. I liked that I knew how much to pay for a taxi home and could put my foot down about it in the face of dozens of touts. I liked that I could direct my taxi driver to the hostel in Arabic. I like spending time with my friends here again. It felt like coming home, despite my qualms with the city. So that's good.
I could probably write about Greece for days, but no one wants to read that. I'm just going to post some scribbled notes from my notebook, accompanied by appropriate excerpts from my 650 pictures. Hah. Ready, set, go!
4/10 : Cairo to Athens
"first time seeing Cairo and its smog from the air... hard to believe I breathe that."
"Greeks are not thin people - despite qualms with American obesity, I feel this is an excellent sign."
"Athens smells like cedar and citrus blossoms."
"light breeze and church bells at dusk..."
4/11 : Athens
"walked up Ermoy shopping district to Parliament - ugh, I really hate tourist scams, especially ones involving pigeons and cameras."
"drizzly. kinda nice after Cairo."
"Temple of Olympian Zeus in fields of clover..."
"sandwiches with crusty bread... mmm, Europe"
"there's old stuff on display in the subway system..."
4/12 : Athens
"race to the Acropolis to beat the tour groups = fairly unsuccessful"
"these statues are much cooler in person. is it possible to fall in love with one?"
"changing of the duck-walking guards (!) at Tomb of the Unknown Soldier"
"gelato, where have you been all my life?"
"I'm starting to think I have a thing for climbing mountains to see the sun on the horizon."
"dinner and a 'bottle' (=pitcher) of wine in view of the Acropolis..."4/13 : Athens to Corinth to Nafplio (Peloponnese)
"train to Corinth: on our left, the Mediterranean, and on our right, mountains covered in cedar, cyprus, and olive trees..."
"the rocks!""after cursing our way to the top of old town Nafplio, we found our hostel and its American football-loving owner, complete with kittens and view of Venetian citadel from our window."
"climb to the citadel = flashback to Mt. Sinai... we're going to be so sore."
"fields of wildflowers in the castle!"
"this village reminds me of Lamu..."
"exhaustion hits like a ton of bricks."4/14 : Nafplio to Sparta to Mystras
"very early, cold morning, with sunrise out our window; smell of fresh pastries and citrus trees in Nafplio's empty streets."
"driving up steep switchbacks into mountains wrapped in low clouds; lush valleys with small villages and blooming fruit orchards"
"Sparta = disappointingly ugly and disappointingly rainy (and the Olive Oil Museum is closed on Tuesdays!) :( "
"Mystras and Byzantine castle complex on hillside - gorgeous, rainy, cold. but rainbows!"
"both cameras dead at entrance to ruins. worst possible timing."4/15 : Mystras (Peloponnese) to Kissamos (Crete)
"Mystras is even more beautiful in the sunshine"
"shoes still damp, but life still good""oh hell, we've discovered Greek coffee..."
"sleepy ferry ride and lovely clouds on the way into Crete."
"Crete sampler platter, calamari, and Alpha. definitely good choices."
"free fruit and ouzo after dinner. apparently shouldn't have ordered beer."
4/16: Kissamos to Hania
"morning beach stroll and noon bus to Venetian Hania (recommended by new friend Eva in Athens)"
"rooms for rent in Old Town - narrow streets and good smells"
"LAUNDRY DAY!""terrible Tom Cruise / Nicole Kidman movie to put us to sleep. he can NOT fake an Irish accent."
4/17 : Hania to Iraklio
"last bus ride - Mediterranean on the left, snowy mountains on the right."
"42 euro ferry to Santorini is our only option. d'oh AND woohoo - Easter on Santorini?!"
"Nutella and banana crepe (a la Duncan) for lunch"
"where the hell do we catch the bus to Knossos?!!"
"apparently everything closes for Easter... mediocre dinner at a tourist trap cafe :( ""people pouring into the streets after evening services, lighting candles and singing"
4/18 : Iraklio (Crete) to Santorini (Cyclades)
"free entrance to Iraklio museum for holiday... worth a 20 min stop to see the Minoan frescoes"
"fast ferry is fast...""got off at wrong bus stop and walked 2 miles to Perissa... embarrassing"
"to the beach! finally, swimming!!""black volcanic sand tickles feet"
"Greek coffee over the Chelsea-Arsenal match in Stothos' bar""Easter at the village church at midnight = thousands of firecrackers + candles + service + stars"
4/19 : Santorini
"woke up to the smell of roasting lamb... Happy Easter!"
"they're not out of firecrackers yet. thank God for that."
"Greek music drifting on breeze, plus empty beach due to wind and haze :) cold swims still worth it."
"bus to Fira - more sketchy Greek boys hunting foreign women at the bus station. ugh..."
"sunset at Oia = amazing. sketchy boys still eyeing us. we are way too smart for this crap."
"nice dinner on caldera rim - lamb, octopus pasta, fava Santorini, island white wine, and Vinsanto for dessert. must learn to cook Greek food..."
4/20 : Santorini
"day trip around islands with new friends from hostel = worth 20 euro"
"volcano still steaming. hmmm."
"volcanic hot springs not hot this time of year, but still swimmable for six of us brave enough to dive off the boat. every else just took pictures. of us. lovely."
"onward to Thirassia and steep path up from harbor - Becky, Laurel, and Heather on donkeys, Rachel on cameras"
"God, I'm such a rock nerd"
"dinner with Canadian, Australian, British friends at the hostel, then taxi to port and overnight ferry - glad to finally escape the noise of motorcycles and ATVs"
4/21 : Athens
"arrived at 5 AM, just as Metro opened; set off for hostel"
"wandering, book shops, coffee, ice cream, coffee, coffee, coffee."
"man got Heather's wallet - women gave us description of him, so we chased him down and got it back. yep. we're kind of badass."
"fruit for dinner and one last sunset from Acropolis hill"
"Heather's purse left behind, now gone... #*&%(!"4/22 : Athens to Cairo
"no luck at Acropolis police station - off to embassy..."
"people here really don't like immigrants. apparently they're solely responsible for the city's high crime rates?"
"last of our money for new passport. eek. at least Heather can get home."
"goodbyes and thank yous to friends at the hostel and Athens... wish things weren't ending on this note."
