More Athens

I met up with my parents at the hotel, right in the middle of the Plaka, with a great view of the Acropolis. We went up to see the Parthenon and everything, which was pretty great. That's definitely one of those places you hear about so much that it doesn't seem real even when you are there.. kind of like the Grand Canyon. Too powerful to really comprehend. We explored the Plaka for the rest of the day and ate a few times at random cafes all around the area with my dad's friend Athos and his wife. I picked up a Greek phrase book and have been spending a lot of time trying to figure out this crazy language.. but it's not an easy one.

The next day we went to the antiquities museum, which has some of the most amazing, ancient Greek sculptures and artwork imaginable. We explored more of Athens, and we went down to Pareius to look for my dad's old sailboat. (We didn't find it.) I met up with that girl from Newcastle again and didn't end up going to sleep until about 3am..

We got up at 6 to go to the airport. We flew to Corfu (Kerkyra) to start the rest of our trip. Everyone I talked to before the trip said Athens was a pretty miserable city, with garbage everywhere, and nothing going for it except for the Acropolis and Parthenon. Being there, however, it seemed much different. The Plaka is a great place with that definite old European city feel with narrow streets and sidewalk cafes, and it has the Mediterranean feel with all the colorful stucco buildings. We didn't see much outside the Plaka, but what we did see seemed okay to me. I think Athens was a good place.

Corfu, on the other hand, is amazing. It's one of the bigger Ionian islands right next to the Greece/Albania border. Like so many other places I've been on this trip, it has an "old city", which is full of charming streets and buildings. It's like the Plaka, but more laid back, more islandy, and much more beautiful. We spent all of today exploring the fort and the city. I got some great pictures, which I'll post as soon as I get back.

My Greek isn't progressing too much, but I think I have reading down pretty well. I can count to 10, say please and thank you, ask for water (tap or mineral), ask for beer, and say a couple more random words like "metro station". It's interesting to see how Greek roots influence some English words, like "micros" for small and "gyneca" for woman. I definitely won't be able to have a conversation by the time I get back to Israel (I'm still thinking in Hebrew).