Day Eighteen -- Leaving on a Jet Plane

We met in the lobby at 4 a.m. to take a minivan taxi to the Athens airport.  You can't take public transportation that early in the morning. We were more subdued and tired than we have been on other mornings...except Brendon who is looking forward to seeing his cats again. We have a Swiss Air flight to Zurich, a five hour layover and then a twelve hour flight to San Francisco. When we arrived in Zurich Brett and Brendon stayed at the airport and the rest of us opted to catch the train into downtown Zurich. Since Matt and I had made this journey before we got to the train without a hitch. It is a very short ride into Zurich and then just a brief walk to the river.

 

We walked along the river until we found an outdoor cafe serving delicious pastries. We enjoyed the relaxed Monday morning scene in downtown Zurich.

 

Then we took a stroll down the little side streets. It felt like not much opens until later in the day.

 

I found the scooter I want to buy.

 

We took the train back with time to spare. Back in the terminal we reconnected with Brett and Brendon and found our gate for our twelve hour torture flight. Early in this long flight Brendon fell asleep in his seat, across the aisle from me.  When the steward came by with a drink cart he hit Brendon's knee.  Instead of a quick apology he lectured Brendon on impeding his work. Then he returned and told Brendon that he couldn't sue him because he was covered by Swiss Air and this was international air space. He came back a third time and said he had written up a report about how Brendon was impeding the work of the flight crew; he had informed the captain; and Brendon was not allowed to leave his seat without permission. It was the most ridiculous thing I have seen. It put a bizarre ending to our amazing trip.

We landed in San Francisco on time and went through the rigors of custom control.  We all looked beleaguered and ready for a Rip Van Winkle sleep. We said our good-byes and Matt and Jane headed for the BART.  Brett, Brendon and I took a shuttle to their car. By then it was rush hour but luckily it was Memorial Day and we breezed across the Oakland Bay Bridge. We stopped at their apartment so that Brendon could spend time with the cats. Brett drove me to the Holiday Inn at Oakland airport. I knew I wouldn't feel like another plane ride and so I will fly home tomorrow morning on Southwest. When I checked into my room I marveled at the size of a typical hotel room in the United States.

Day Seventeen -- Rain, Rain, Go Away

We had agreed at dinner the night before to meet in the lobby at 7:45 a.m. so that we could get up to the Acropolis before the crowds. It was gently raining when I got up and the forecast said it would keep raining until 6 p.m.  Matt and I didn't go to the Acropolis while we were here before, wanting to save the experience to do with the whole fam. This is our last day in Athens so our only chance to see the Acropolis. There was only one problem with our plan.  No one had shared it with Brett. When I stopped by Brett and Brendon's room they were fast asleep. I told them that if we didn't see them in the lobby at 7:45 we would go ahead. Brett has been feeling ill for the last several days and I wasn't sure what he wanted to do. But they rallied and met us for breakfast in the hotel. I had brought an umbrella with me but couldn't seem to locate it on this particular morning...of course. We took the gentler route up the hill on the side that houses the Acropolis Museum.  Once inside the entrance we got a better view of the Odeon of Herodes Atticus.  

 

The rest of the group went down the steps to the Theater of Dionysus. I stayed up top where a German woman got me to take photos of her with her flip phone, barking instructions to me in German and then shaking her head in disgust. Then we started the ascent to the Acropolis, through the Buele Gate.

 

We could see the dark ominous clouds coming our way. Brett kept us moving by letting us know that the rain was soon to make our way back down treacherous. Plus, we could see bus loads of people arriving behind us.  We enjoyed the Parthenon, 

 

the caryatids on the Erechtheion,

 

the views of the city below us,

 

and views of the scope of the Acropolis.

 

Our next stop was going to be to sit and enjoy some coffee at a sidewalk Taverna on the other side of the hill.  We made our way there but the rain was not letting up. We started down the stairs, lined with little cafes, but by now the water was running down the steps.  We had one spill but not fatalities. This was not a place to enjoy a relaxing cappuccino. At the bottom of the hill I bought an umbrella from a wandering salesman. Matt told him I wanted the purple one with polka dots.  Tourist!  We found a nice restaurant to sit down. By now we were pretty well soaked through.  

 

Our next hope was to stroll leisurely through the Monstiraki Flea market.  The man at the restaurant assured us that they were open, rain or shine.  It was nothing like the last time Matt and I had been there. Brett and Brendon headed back to their room to get dry. Matt, Jane and I wandered through the permanent shops of the flea market looking at furniture, jewelry, gramophones, juke boxes, ivory carvings and other treasures. 

 

By then I wasn't feeling well.  I headed back to the hotel and Matt and Jane headed off for more exploring in the rain.  When I got back to the hotel Brett and Brendon made me tea and gave me some medicine.  Then I headed for my room, put my pajamas on and went to bed. I slept and shivered for the rest of the afternoon.   I am the latest recepient of the illness we are all sharing with each other. Around dinner time, Matt checked in on me.  He and Jane will bring me back some soup.  When they returned with the soup they shared their photos of their afternoon. They had walked through different parts of Athens and then enjoyed a couple hours at the Athens Museum of Contemporary Art. That was one of the things I loved about traveling with my sister in Italy, finding modern art in a city known for the ancient.  We all went to bed early. Tomorrow our ride to the airport arrives at 4 a.m.

Day Sixteen -- Traveling to Athens

I awoke early this morning and opened up the door to the little porch outside my room. The fresh air felt nice. I thought I heard thunder in the distance. I crawled back in bed and fell asleep. An hour or so later I woke up to a downpour and water running into my room.   Matt and I ended up in Brett and Brendon's room catching up.  Brett has been ill the whole time they have been here.  He has seen very little of Mykonos.  I ate breakfast with Matt and Jane and then they headed out to enjoy some coffee and a view. 

 

I puttered in my room, packing for the ferry ride to Athens. At noon we all checked out and walked down to the town. Matt and Jane did a little shopping.  Brett, Brendon and I went past little Venice,

 

then up the hill to the windmills we followed a pink pelican.  I have never seen a pink pelican before. I was entranced.

 

With a half hour left before we needed to head up hill to catch our van to the ferry, Brett, Brendon and I sat down at a cafe near the water for some appetizers to hold us over. The service was so slow and the number of water side cafes so numerous that we left and found a cafe that could meet our time schedule. We enjoyed our last few minutes. Matt and Jane shared a souvlaki on a park bench on the beach. 

 

Our Seajet ferry was late. I find the boarding of ferries almost comical. You get in a long queue of people and when the ferry lands they tell you to hurry. They have fifteen minutes to get passengers off and on. People are running up the gangway dragging their bags. They leave the port when everyone is on the boat, most of us still stowing bags in the cargo.  I had reserved seats with a table so I could blog and journal. When we finally found our seats someone was in them but they kindly moved.

 

We arrived in Athens after the rain and walked to the Metro station with all our luggage. It wasn't long before we got off at the Monastiraki stop and walked to our hotel in the Plakka. Brett is still feeling quite ill so he elected to stay in the hotel with a bowl of soup. The rest of us headed to a restaurant around the corner called 2 Mazi.  It was recommended by our guidebook and looked like it was in our price range. Since the guidebook came out it has become a Michelin recommended restaurant. It was definitely more expensive than we expected and way exceeded our expectations.  The meal was outstanding. I had my first tastes of caviar and fish soup. I admit to liking them both. 

 

My room that night had a view of the Acropolis. I sat and stared at it before I succumbed to my tiredness. 

 

Day Fifteen -- Sacred Delos

The guidebooks and the front desk clerk agree. Why would you come to Mykonos and not go to Delos? Mykonos is mostly bad food, beaches, charming streets and partying. Delos is the sacred center of the Cyclades islands and the mythical birthplace of the twins, Apollo and Artemis...and it is about a half hour boat ride from Mykonos. It has been named as a UNESCO World Heritage site. No one lives on Delos now but there were people here beginning in the 3rd millennium B.C.  Matt, Jane and I took the 10 a.m. boat from the old port.

 

We did not hire a guide but struck out on our own. There are suggested routes that take 1.5 hours, 3 hours or 5 hours. The sun was out in full strength. I tried to imagine what this magnificent place was like in its heyday.

 

Most people who have heard of Delos know of its Terrace of the Lions -- a gift from the people of Naxos to guard the island.  The impressive ones outside are copies.

 

The real ones can be found inside the island's museum.

 

It is an extensive site with temples,

 

walls and walls built in many different centuries,

 

statues,

 

impressive homes,

 

frescoes,

 

a theater,

 

and a phallus statue, the symbol of Dionysus.

 

Matt and Jane wanted to hike the steep steps up Mt. Kynthos for what promised to be an amazing view. I stayed below and wandered among the ruins. But I did get a shot when they reached the summit.

 

Back on the boat, the sun and the walk had made us tired.

 

When we got back to Mykonos, Matt and Jane went to our hotel's sister hotel that has a nice pool. I had a scrumptious waffle at the old port.

 

Brett is quite ill, so I stopped at a pharmacy and described his symptoms. They loaded me up with medications. I took Brett lunch and medication before heading to my room for a nap. Later I headed back down the hill in time for the sunset. 

 

I walked around the lovely streets of Mykonos. 

 

I had a slice of pizza, sat on a park bench and soaked up the beauty. 

 

Day Fourteen -- Traveling to Mykonos

We managed to eat our breakfast, return our ATVs and get our luggage up the steps to the square by 9:30 a.m. Every other time we have asked for a transfer they have arrived early. We waited for 10 minutes and I started to get nervous. When I said that I was worried we would miss our ferry Jane said, "It would be terrible to get stuck in this hell hole." That helped me get perspective. By 9:45 when no one had arrived, Brendon went down the hill to check with our hotel. When he didn't return right away, Brett went to look for him. That is when a large shuttle bus came to get us. Matt ran down to find Brett and Brendon. The square at the top of the hill is tiny and stuffed with cars, ATVs and motorcycles. Once we were all on the shuttle, a truck delivering gas, oil or water (I don't know which) came and blocked us in. Our driver got out and they had some words. The other driver moved his vehicle and was helping direct us out. There were more angry words. Our driver said, "He called me dangerous!" In spite of my worry that we would be late, I found this whole interchange thoroughly entertaining. But it does make me wonder how the infrastructure of this little island is going to handle all the new hotels that are currently being built.  One taxi cab driver told me that there are over 2,000 hotels on this little island already.

I needn't have worried about time. We arrived in plenty of time, plus our ferry was late. We waited with a long line of other people. When the ferry arrived they rush you on so they can get to the next island.  We hadn't even  stowed our luggage in the cargo hold before the boat was rushing out of the port. We stopped at Ios and Paros.

 

We read, slept, snacked and dreamed of Mykonos. 

 

We were checked into our hotel by 3 p.m. I headed out with Matt and Jane to explore Mykonos. We went down to the port,

 

past Panagia Paraportiani,

 

to Little Venice in search of food. We said we weren't trying to find the best food, just the best view.

 

The view was good but the food was so bad that we ate some of it and got out as quickly as possible. 

 

We hiked up the hill to the windmills.

 

Then we wandered down the beautiful little streets.

 

We poked our head in some shops.

 

Matt and Jane waded into the water.

 

Then we returned to the hotel to rest and enjoy the sunset from our rooftop terrace.

 

Matt made reservations for the three of us to eat a restaurant called Nautilus. Just the walk over was lovely.

 

The food was amazing.. 

 

Matt and Jane had sea bass. It was a work of art...with a cup of butter.

 

Using Google Maps we made it home through the winding streets.