1st Day in Greece

Merry Christmas Eve!! This morning we woke and decided to go see the Parthenon and other interesting sights on the Acropolis. Peter ran to the grocery store, we ate breakfast, and slowly put ourselves together. There were achy tummies and we thought about splitting up and some staying at the apartment, but ultimately decided to try it all together. Since we have 4 days less than we planned here, we need to see what we can see! And we are so happy we did! No one threw up today!! Hooray!!! :D

We walked to the base of the Acropolis and up through the Temple of Athena to the Parthenon. The views of the city were beautiful! There are hills popping up throughout the city. One is Lycabettus (lae-ka-bett-ose) Hill, which is the highest point in the center of Athens. It has a beautiful white church on top. We explored and got many a picture, and then walked down to Mars Hill (more like a conglomeration of rocks into one big rock). We talked about the Apostle Paul and how he had taught there. We climbed it and enjoyed the view, then the girls slid down the big parts because it was so slippery. The vendors at every corner had Greek headbands and the girls loved trying those on! They also loved pigeon chasing, all except Clara that is (our sweet animal whisperer). And there are so many stray cats here, it is astounding! The girls had fun petting them!

We walked back in the direction of our apartment and stopped for a meal at Kati Anno. It was quite delicious! They served brochen with

olive oil (it was a hit with all of us!) and we got several things to share: rice and chicken (for upset tummies), their rendition of shepherd's pie, crepe with spinach and cheese inside, beef and rice with sauce, and lentil soup (best lentil soup I've ever tasted!). Leesie had refused to eat anything all day (other than one bite of banana), and so seeing her eat was such a blessing! We learned how to say "thank you" in Greek, though I can't remember it now other than "wrist" was in there somewhere because our cook pointed to his wrist when he said it. :)

We made it back to the apartment after chatting with a few people (we met a couple of Americans today!) and got ready to go to the Temple of Poseidon. By car it was a little over an hour. The sun was setting and it was the more gorgeous deep pink. It seemed to fill half the sky! By the time we got to the Temple of Poseidon it was pitch black (and closed so we couldn't go closer), but luckily it was lit. We made friends with a guard dog there (but much too friendly to be a guard dog) and got some pictures. That was one Addy really wanted to see, so it was fun we could go, even if it was in the dark.

One scary thing while walking through the city today, were the pedestrian lights- they are not on most corners. So you look before you cross and then make a run for it. We were in the middle of making a run for it while traffic was stopped on one side, when all the sudden we were crossing train tracks and looked up and a train was only 20 yards coming at us! I was in the rear and pushed the girls off the tracks and we all felt our hearts jumping out of our throats, and once we could breath again we were overflowing with gratitude for the angels who were keeping us safe (I have an inkling that Grandma Major was a part of that one)! We all kept our eyes up and aware at all crossings after that!

Things we learned:
Emma: To look both ways for a train if it's coming.
Clara: I learned to look both ways so you won't get hit by anything - because of the train thing.
Leesie: That the oranges here on the sidewalk trees aren't edible when they're orange.
Addy: That motorcycle people are crazy and people don't turn on their blinkers. Also, people drive really fast!
Kathy: I learned that the beautiful stray cats here are Greece's own breed: Aegean cats. The climate is so temperate here that they can survive outdoors through the winter. And everyone feeds them, Greek and tourist alike.
Peter: It was all super cool. I liked getting out and hiking up there and seeing everything. Even the pigeon chasing was fun (watching the girls).

Miracles:
-We didn't get hit by the train!!!
-Even though we got out later, we still were able to see what we wanted to today!
-That the kids were well enough to walk and not throw up today!
-There was only one restaurant left open (Christmas Eve) and we were able to eat!