Sweet Home, Chicago!!!

Managed to get to the train station with only one small detour (aka being momentarily lost!). I grabbed a coffee and pain au chocolat in the train station, and it was so good I repeated my breakfast at the airport! (I'm sure there are no calories in pain au chocolat when in Brussels!) Checkin was easy, although required a lot of explaining of transiting overnight.

Jet Air was a very nice airline - comfy seats in economy, the kind that slid forward when you leaned back. There were seatback screens for the inflight entertainment, and I managed to pass the 8 hours fairly easily. The Indian food was yummy. I'd fly them again, except....

... connecting to the U.S. in Toronto is a nightmare. You claim your bag, go through Canadian immigration, then preclear U.S. immigration and customs. The process took 1:30 of my 2 hour layover, and everyone in the line for the U.S. preclearance were freaking out at how close they were cutting it. One group was still in line with 20 minutes before departure; people were nice enough to let them cut in ahead. There was another guy on the Chicago flight right in front of me, and a family behind me, so I wasn't too worried. But by the time I cleared, I stuck my bag on the conveyor, walked to the gate, and boarded.

As I sat waiting for the doors to close - a lot of passengers came on behind me yet - I saw my flourescent yellow FlyerTalk tag putt up the conveyor belt into the hold of the plane, and sighed with relief. Oops.

When I got to Chicago, I waited for the Toronto bags to come out... they finally came out... everyone left... crap. No bag. No record of the bag after I claimed it in Toronto; American apparently doesn't scan them as they load them. I am not very hopeful about seeing it again, since I did see it go on the plane. And it's a new bag, only 3 months old. Luckily, I did stick my new purse and sandals in my carryon...

So I made the trip from O'Hare with less luggage than when I left, which felt very odd. And when I got home, Dozy came running and meowing and hasn't left my side since. That's the thing about travel: it's great, but coming home is sometimes even better.

Bye Bye, Greece!

Friday was my last day in Greece. I had made a plan for the day, but of course am now on Greek time and ended up adjusting it!

I walked down with Charlotte and printed my boarding pass, then said goodbye. Off to the Piraeus market, where I purchased a gift for a relative (oooo, is it you?!) and some Greek oregano. Back to the hotel, where I did last minute packing and some internet surfing.

For some unknown reason, I decided to walk to the Metro. With my bags. In the heat. By the time I got down there, I was dripping wet!!! Ew. At least everyone stayed far away from me, heh heh! The walk took a little longer, so I got to Athens later than planned. I decided to eat near Syntgama so I could get to the airport bus easily.

The restaurants on the square were, sadly, crap. So I walked a couple blocks off and picked a place randomly. As I looked at the menu, the name rang a bell so I checked my guide and yes, it was recommended! Very cute, little tables on the sidewalk with drawers containing the flatware. I ordered the "small kebabs" appetizer, and they were delicious. An excellent last meal in Greece!

The bus only took an hour to get to the airport, despite my fears of heavy traffic, so I was really early. Luckily there was free WiFi so I played on the computer until the flight boarded. Brussels airlines was quite good - it helped of course that I was in b.flex, which is like premium economy/business. The meal was tasty, as was the wine, and the seats were pretty roomy.

Arrival in Brussels: yay! I easily found the train, and once on, got unexpectedly emotional. I think it was a combination of being tired, being on my way home, and the memories of the last time I was there.

The hotel, unfortuately, was not as easy to find. As it was midnight by the time I checked in, I gave up my dreams of frites and beer and set the alarm on the phone for 6 am... ready for the last 2 legs home.

Museum Day

On Thursday, I got going a bit earlier and walked down with Charlotte, she giong to her office and me headed for the Metro. I got a wee bit distracted by the stores near the Metro and bought a couple things - some coffee, and a duffel that I knew I would need after all of my shopping. So, I ended up hauling those around all day!

When I got into Athens, I decided to look for a couple of shops that were in the guidebook. I ended up not buying anything, and headed to the Byzantine & Christianity Museum; I don't know why I decided to go there, but it ended up being a ood choic. How did I forget all of the ancient history I learned in school??? This museum was a great refresher course, and had

a lot of beautiful icons in its collection. I also learned about the exodus of Greeks from Turkey & vice versa after WWI, which I had not known about.

After all that learning I was hungry. And I wanted my lamb kebab pita! I think I'm addicted... So I headed to Monastariki and went to my little stand. Yum yum yum. That pita is so good that both times, I've chowed it down before thinking Oh, I should have taken a picture!

Needing to work off my lunch, I walked up to the National Archeological Museum. That place was very confusing in layout, and has a very very large collection. After 2 hours, I began to tire of looking at things! The statues and designs on the vases amazed me, though. And the jewelry - wow. I wanted it!

Charlotte and I had bene texting back and forth about the evening's plans, and I wasn't done at the museum in time to meet her for drinks. I eventually made my way back to Piraeus, stopping at a grocery store for ouzo & honey to take home and a beer to drink while I relaxed before dinner.

When I went down to get a taxi to the suburb for dinner, I had a heck of a time. The first taxi declined to take me to Glyfada. Then no taxis showed up. Then a car pulled over - and the guy started hitting on me! LOL! He was very good looking, but I turned down his offer to drive me to Glyfada and took his phone number instead. (In the end, I didn't call.)

Eventually I got a taxi and joined Charlotte, her coworker, Pamela & Kostas for dinner. We had about 10 different dishes, and I even tried the sardines (ick). It was nice to sit outside and socialize and eat, and I hated for the evening to end.

But it did, and Charlotte and I jumped in a taxi back to Piraeus, dropping Kostas off about 1/2 way back. Charlotte and I had a drink up on the rooftop, then both of us collapsed into bed and fell right to sleep. My last night in Greece!

Aimless Wandering....

Day 3 in Piraeus/Athens: no real plan. I didn't get going as early as I'd hoped, and it was noon before I got in to Athens. (I'm really getting on to Greek time now!!!) I spent the next hour or so walking around, doing a little shopping, and just enjoying the atmosphere.

I returned to Monastariki for lunch, because I had a craving for another pita. I ended up at a place called Quick Pita and had a gyro, which was pretty good for basically being fast food. As I finished my beer, the waiter brought another one, confusing the heck out of me until he said it was from the gentleman a couple tables over. Eventually the guy came over and we had a nice chat - but oh, did he have some bad teeth!

I made my escape by saying I needed to go to the Acropolis Museum before dinner, which was true. But first I headed to a leather goods store that I had checked out the previous day. I ended up walking out with a pair of sandals and a purse, both of which I love.

Then I went to the Acropolis Museum. It was quite cool, with artifacts from different sites on and eras of the Acropolis. The video presentation of the Parthenon definitely had a bitter tone when discussing Lord Elgin!

At some point, my phone had run out of credit and so I was completely out of touch with Charlotte. I ended up buying a phone card so I could check in with her, and in the end I didn't make it back to join her in her after-work drinks. I got back to the hotel incredibly hungry, and ended up going around the corner to a little restaurant where I had Greek salad and calamari. Yes, I had calamari! I liked the little tender bits but the larger, more rubbery pieces got left on the plate. I definitely did not enjoy the squid breath afterwards!

I went to bed planning an earlier start on Thursday, aka "Museum Day."

History and Heat

I got a late start on Tuesday, arriving in Athens just before noon. I figured I would head for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier for the changing of the guard, since it was so close to the top of the hour. It was fascinating to watch - I'm going to have to read up on the origin and meaning of the unusual footwork during the ceremony.

One of the Frommer's walking tours started from Syntagma, so I decided to go with that. One of the first places of interest was a pie shop - and since it was recommended, what could I do but get something to eat?! I got an eggplant/zuchinni/feta pie. It was yummy!

The walk continued down Ermou Street, and since I was there, what could I do but shop??? I actually managed to resist buying any shoes, a mazingly enough, and followed the walk along into Monastiriki Square and the surrounding area, where I picked up a couple of little souvenirs and postcards.

I veered off of the walk route at this point and walked around the bottom of the Acropolis, by which point I was hot, sweaty, and slightly sunburned. This seemed like a good time for a break - so I found a cafe and after a loooong wait, got a frappe. Yum. I sat and enjoyed the cool drink, the shade, and the view for quite a while!

Despite it being very sunny and very hot, I decided I may as well go to the Acropolis since I was there and had my walking sandals on. And it was wow: incredibly hot, seriously windy, stunningly beautiful, and almost mind-blowingly historic. The Parthenon was gorgeous, as was the view of Athens. The Ancient Agora was serene and a welcome break. Part of me had - and still has - some difficulty abosrbing just how old the structures, sculptures and items are; it's amazing to think how long they've been around. The art in the Ancient Agora Museum - painted housewares, jewelry, sculptures - was impressive.

Charlotte and I arranged to meet for dinner in Athens, and after I had wandered the Ancient Agora for some time I headed out to the surrounding neighborhoods. I poked around in a few shops

, including a leather goods store I need to go back to. I realized I was starving so had an appetizer - lamb pita - delicious!!!! Then I strolled around Psyrri for a bit, running in to some beautiful old signs.

After Charlotte arrived, we went to Platanos Taverna for dinner: Greek salad, saganaki, and lamb with eggplant... I am completely loving the food here! The Taverna was on a quiet little side street, so we enjoyed the food, the cool night, and the company for quite some time before calling it a night... and were actually back in Piraeus by midnight. An early evening!

Athens - Day One

My first day in Athens! I hopped on the Metro in Piraeus for the quick ride in and wandered around a bit before meeting Pamela at her hotel.

We decided we were hungry, so headed for Plaka and found a taverna. Two salads later (one Greek, one Cretan) we were off to the National Botanical Gardens.

The gardens were a bit smaller than we'd expected and not nearly as green as we thought. We had a very pleasant walk around, though, and saw the "collection of birds and animals" which consisted of chickens, ducks, geese, a couple mules, a cat in with the aforementioned birds (!), and a couple of parakeet-sized birds in a very large enclosure.

Next, we headed to Brettos, a liqueur maker in Plaka. When we arrived, we were the only customers, and the proprietor was very generous in giving us tastes of the various flavors: ouzo (2 kinds); banana, pomegranate, mango, and blue liqueurs; rakomelo; and mesticha. We each got a glass of liqueur - I had rakomelo - and chatted with the proprietor and a couple guys from San Francisco that came in. By the time we left, I was feeling very mellow!

We then went looking for the Ouzo King, and finally found the shop, but were disappointed to discover samples were not offered. After a snack, we headed back to Piraeus to meet Charlotte and change for the evening.

Then, off to the Hilton Galaxy Bar for drinks and a view of the Acropolis at night. It was fabulously beautiful, but I was glad I had mentally prepared myself for the drinks - some of them were as much as 25 Euro! We savored the drinks and the view then went to dinner in Kolonaki. Next - off to a bar, Belafonte, that was in Conde Nast. Unfortunately, it was closed for filming of something for tv - which was really disappointing, it looked like a cool place!

We hailed a taxi and asked the driver to take us to a fun bar. We had no idea where he was going! but we ended up in Psyrri, which is a very cool area with lots of restaurants and bars. We chose a hookah bar, but didn't get a hookah for the table - although I did get a lesson in smoking a hookah from one of the staff.

After finishing our drinks, we headed home.... another night of getting to bed at 3 am!

Hydra

Friday evening we got on a ferry to Hydra. It was a very pleasant 2 hour ride, which Charlotte and I spent ossiping and catching up.

When we arrived at Hydra, we went straight to the hotel (following directions that made NO sense when I wrote them down, but total sense when we got here!), dropped our luggae, and met 4 other women that Charlotte knows from NY at a ta

verna. We ordered all kinds of food and shared, which was fun and gave us the chance to try a lot of things. I loved everything, but the zucchini balls were my favorite that night.

After dinner we bar hopped - we ended up at a bar that played salsa music (!) and were all dancing. Charlotte and I got back to our room at 3:30 am....

I managed to get up at 10 am on Saturday and picked up iced coffees and a cheese pie for our breakfast, yum! We headed down to the port and got on a water taxi to the beach. It was very cute. We spent the entire afternoon there, going in the water occasionally to cool down. Well - we did take a break to go to the taverna for lunch (stuffed zucchini, stuffed tomatoes, Greek salad and spinach pie - all yummy!).

After heading back we did some shopping, then some more shopping, and then just a teeny bit more. We met up with the others for a quick drink,and Charlotte and I had ouzo, yum. Eventually we decided we were hungry again despite having been stuffed after lunch, and met the others for dinner at a taverna witha beautiful garden patio. We ordered 5 or 6 dishes and shared again, and again everything was delicious. We had the house wine, which was so good that we decided to get a second bottle. The waiter assured us that he was happy to have us stay for the second bottle, so we sat and drank and talked while they cleaned up the tables around us! We finally left at 1 am.

Charlotte and I decided we weren't quite ready for bed, so we ended up at the same bar we'd ended the night at on Friday. This time we sat at a table outside and enjoyed the beautiful weather... heading back to the hotel at 3 am! Thank goodness it was about 20 yards from the bar!

So now we're packing... the plan is to go to another beach until it's time for the ferry this evening. Although I'm looking forward to exploring Athens, I'll be sad to leave Hydra!

Greece, Here I Come!

Spent a very lazy day in Tonbridge yesterday, lounging around the house most of the day. We did go for a coulple of walks - we took a nice long walk to the train station, then through a park and the countryside. The scenery was really beautiful, and it was nice before to get some exercise and stretch the legs.

We went for a second walk later - to the train station, to buy my ticket for today, then to get food for dinner.

The rest of the evening we watched tv - there was this incredibly bizarre and gross show about teenagers' bodies (they showed an infected tongue piercing, ew!). We also watched Hell's Kitchen, which I'd never seen before, and a show called Bring Them Back - this guy rounds up the cast members of old shows/movies and interviews them, then brings them together. The first one we watched was the cast of Fame, which was interesting and funny and really good. The second one was the cast of Star Wars, which sadly I only made it through half of before going to bed. There's one on the A-Team, I have got to find it and watch it!

After staying up late I slept in this morning. Had some breakfast, then took a walk on Tonbridge High Street, then off through the park again. I'll post pictures later, it really was so beautiful.

Finally it was time to leave, and 2.3 hours after I left Tonbridge, I arrived at Heathrow. Everything went smoothly until I went through secuirty - I had my saline out of my ziploc and they threw it out for being 4, not 3, ounces. Apparently 'medical essentials' here requires a doctors note or prescription, unlike in the U.S. where saline/contact solution is a given. Rar.

So - off to find food, I'm starved. Next post will be from Greece!

On My Way

Not in Greece yet, but on my way! I left Chicago at 9 am on Tuesday, arrived in London at 10:30 pm the same day. Nice! The day flight definitely minimizes jet lag. And I managed to stay awake the entire flight - watched THREE movies. Now my Netflix list can shrink by .03%!

Not sure why American has taken to serving the 2nd meal 45 minutes before landing... I thought it was a fluke coming back from Budapest, but it happened again yesterday. I was about to gnaw on my arm, I was so hungry.

So one more night in London, where it is chilly and at the moment, sunny. Then tomorrow evening, off to Athens - so looking forward to 91F and sunny!

The Countdown Begins....!

Ya sou! Just over a week before I head back to Europe - this time, a couple days in London then Piraeus, Greece!

Why Piraeus? Charlotte is working in her company's Piraeus office for the summer, and was generous enough to invite me (and others) to visit her while she's there. A few calls to American for some award seat wrangling, and my visit was a done deal.

Piraeus is a port near Athens; in fact, the cities are connected by the metro, making it easy to explore Athens while Charlotte is working. On the weekend I am there, we're going to Hydra, which is a 2 hour ferry ride away and very scenic.

Two of my work friends are Greek American and have been trying to teach me basic Greek ( they are very patient!). I've also downloaded One Minute Greek Lessons and listened to them on the train the other night; I'll have time on my business trip this weekend to listen to them again. So hopefully I'll have at least the basic pleasantries down before I go!

I'm so excited... and a little anxious about being gone so long - this is the longest vacation I've taken. I am definitely looking forward to it though - stay tuned for updates and eventually, pictures (including the inevitable food photos!)!