Greece Summary

We flew to Athens from Istanbul on Olympic Airlines.  The flight was just over an hour.  On arrival we took a Mercedes(!) taxi to out hotel, The Grande Bretagne, in the center of town across from the parliament building.  We rested in our room for a while and the girls played on the computer while Todd and Cheryl walked around the neighborhood.  The next day Cheryl needed to catch up on paperwork (email, bills, etc.), so Todd took the girls Geocaching, a kind of treasure hunting game using a GPS (global positioning system).  They were successful in finding two geocaches and had a great walk around the National Gardens.  The next day Grandpa Duncan arrived.  He had a business meeting in London and arranged months ago to meet us afterward.  After he got checked into the hotel, we all went to dinner at the rooftop restaurant where the views of the Acropolis were stunning.  The next day we visited the Acropolis and had lunch at an outdoor restaurant in the Plaka district just below the ruins.  Duncan left the next morning for Boston and we caught a one day “cruise” of the nearby Greek Islands of Poros, Hydra and Aegina.  It was a beautiful and hot day - the sea and islands were beautiful.  We got back to our hotel about 8pm and Cheryl went out to buy a new suitcase, as her original had finally met its end (a busted zipper on the flight from Cairo to Athens).  Exhausted from our day in the sun, we ordered room service,  packed a bit and got ready for our departure the next day.

Kona Moment:  The thousands of cruise ship tourists at the Acropolis reminded us of downtown Kailua on boat days.  Also, we watched a Japanese lady, an employee of the cruise ship company, feed five wild cats on the pier at Hydra Island.  She also gave medicine to several of them.

Starbucks:  We did see several, but did not go.

Weird McDonalds Menu Item:  They serve beer at McDonalds!  They also have the Greek Mac which is similar to the gyro and a sandwich called McToot.

Cultural Moment:  Our first exposure to a nude sunbather at a beach on Aegina Island.