2024 Ruth & Rik's Adventure in Greece with Clara

Before we left our tiny hotel room this morning, one of the large jars of honey I bought yesterday - at the Spartan monument from some locals - jumped out of Rik's backpack and committed suicide. (Honeycide?) Anyway, we are down a jar of honey. By the way, our bathtub was a death trap. One side is 6" lower thn the other side and the shower head is in the middle. I almost fell out twice. Rik and Clara reported the same experience.  We were so tired last night we fell asleep right away.  Looking forward to our big day with the monks! -Ruth 

Today we joined a tour group for an overnight trek to the interior of mainland Greece. Our tour bus is large and the group is small so the three of us all got a window seat.  In the distance, we could see Mt. Olympus - home of the gods. We passed by the cities of Thebes, Levadia, and Arachova.  Out the window on our right, we approached Mt. Pannasus. The locals are overjoyed at the snow in the mountains. It has been dry for the past few years and they need the water. After much switch-backing we got to the village of Arachova. We got through the skiers and wannabe skiers and continued on to Delphi. The ancient city of Delphi was built at the bottom of a sheer rock face - part of Mt Parnassus. The walls of the city are all form-fitted.  I couldn't help but wonder how they got all the massive building materials up the mountain. Then the guide told us about 10,000 slaves who were freed after one of the gods told them to or something. The names of each slave was etched into ...

You know that saying that "Bad luck happens in threes"?  It might be bad luck or it might be simple stupidity, but we've had our three so I'm hoping that's the end of it. Our apartment is on the 5th floor and the stairwell is pitch black. (We didn't find the light switch for a couple of days so that was fun.) Rik lost his bank card on Day 1.  But.  He found it on the stairwell steps the next day because it's so dark nobody found it.  Come to think of it that might've been good luck. Yesterday we left the apartment to join a "Greek Food Tour".  As soon as the door closed and locked, he said "Does anyone have the keys?"  Hmm.  Nope. So we had to contact the owner in Poland en route and come to a solution. His dad was in town with a spare key. Phew.  So, Rik missed 45mins of the tour but, we got the door open and the keys back. This morning we packed a bag as we were joining a 2-day tour to Meteora. I couldn't find my credit card. ...

As we were leaving our apartment, I left the key inside it and closed the door. Oops. Ruth messaged the owner and told him what had happened and we hoped for the best. Keyless, we walked to the oldest area of Athens, called the Plaka and met Zoe, our food tour guide. She was super enthusiastic; this tour is a new one and she's very  eager to make the tours go well. We were the only people on the tour - SCORE!!! She was also happy to have a break from translating a book; she speaks at least four languages fluently. And she's nice. :-)  Our first stop was at a traditional Greek coffee shop, down an alley and away from the very crowded market area. Ruth and Clara had Greek-style coffees and I had a mountain tea. Good stuff, all of it. There was also a Greek cookie that was made with honey - the Greeks love their honey! And we enjoyed mostly 70's music like David Bowie drifting in from the last remaining vinyl record store in Athens. And there was also a traditional sweet Zoe r...

This morning we got up early and walked to a place called the Zappeion Hall. (More on that in a few days.) It took a while to find the location because Google maps likes to play tricks and the entrance is actually on the opposite side of the building not facing the street. Odd? I think so. Our plan was to visit the original Olympic stadium. But first we met up with a professional water polo player from Athens who taught us about the history of the Olympics.   The goal of the original Olympics was to achieve fitness of mind and body. It was about fair play and sportsmanship - participation by amateurs to do your best was the goal. Rumour has it that men performed naked so nobody could disguise themselves. (Like a mom sneaking in to see her son compete, for example.) Before we went to the Olympic stadium, our guide took us to a public gym to let us try our hand at some of the original Olympic events. First she told us to jog around the building. Clara and I walked/jogg...