Acropolis

Today we all woke  around 3:30 a.m. local time and tried our best to sleep in until 6:30. Some of us were better at this than others...

When we arrived at our hotel yesterday, they informed us that it is absolutely impossible to have four people in a room and so we would have to rent another room for an additional $400. After much discussion, we bought the second room. The front desk lady seems to be one of those who think that if you speak louder, the tourists will understand you better. It was not pleasant but since Dashiell was already asleep on the lobby couch and the money we had already paid for our first hotel room was non refundable, we were stuck. So we are in two adjoining rooms. What our hotel has going for it is location and a big breakfast and the smallest elevator we have ever seen.

This is the view off our balcony. Notice how everyone has a balcony, and that graffiti is everywhere.

When we got up at 6:30, we ate as much Greek yogurt as we could hold and walked to the Acropolis.

Greek yogurt in Greece is less tart and of course thicker than we are used to at home. I think we may have wiped out the hotel of yogurt just as about 30 French tourists came through. Oh well, we paid $400 for that yogurt...

The Acropolis is part of a huge complex on a hill that Athens was built around. Everything here is ancient. And no one feels bad spray painting their own special message on any or all of it.

How old are those graffitied buildings in the background of this picture? Over a thousand years!

The Acropolis.

Leftover pieces they had laying around. No biggie. Just a few thousand years old. 

There are piles like this all over. Everything everywhere is guarded by people in normal looking clothes who look like tourists but watch like hawks to make sure that no one touches anything. 

Near the Acropolis.

Also near the Acropolis.

Tourism recovery, involving liberal use of gelato.

The doorway to this place, a very old church with grass growing on the roof, but otherwise in good condition:

The painted ceiling in that church was very striking, but too dark to photograph well. If you can look it up, you should.

Also, we wandered around the Acropolis area in some twisty, whitewashed streets. Chase took photos of that and they are gorgeous. Unfortunately, I can't use them on the blog because I can't upload them. 

We also saw the Church of the Transfiguration, which while quite tiny, packed a big punch with it's dome and icons. We just stumbled upon it in our travels. Unbelievable.

At the end of our time in the Acropolis, the tourists rolled in. It was like after a packed Main Stage show at Cornerstone, but much older. We were really glad that we had gotten there earlier. We were so shocked when they all ascended the hill that Andrew took pictures. The tourism industry is alive and well at the Acropolis !

So, we went to a huge and convoluted warren of streets around the Acropolis where people sell stuff, from grilled corn and gyros to gold jewelry and knockoff designer purses.

After some gyros, we headed back to the hotel to recover from 7 hours of walking. No one is allowed to sleep until 9p.m. local time so we can get on a normal schedule. 

I am in charge of irritating them if they try, so wish me luck!

Flight!

Here we are with our baggage, all ready to go.

Here is Dashiell, having a great time in the airplane, which we got to preboard because he is with us. We wound up in the center aisle and he turned around to look out the window often, which the elderly people seated by the windows really enjoyed. He could not contain his delight or his giggles and everyone seemed to think he was adorable. 

First snack. Look at this Traditional Austrian cuisine!

Chase enjoying staying up all night. Handsome and tough. 

Sadly, this is all we will be seeing of Austria, since we are here on a layover on our way to Greece.

It is 2:30 a.m. back home. 9:30 a.m. here. Ready for bed but about to get on another plane...

The Little Red Backpack

This is the backpack I am bringing to Europe, and here is what it contains:

The only things not pictured are my iPad mini and small leather purse.

But this is all I am bringing, except what I can sneak into my kids backpacks- some ziplock bags, a Rick Steves travel book, and dryer sheets for dealing with bedbugs (we hope they won't be necessary, but we might be glad we have them...)

Tomorrow we leave for the airport to head to Greece for the first part of our trip. The plane leaves around 4p.m. and there is confusion over if there will be food provided during the flight or not. It is a loooong flight to not have sustenance, so we will get some airport food (Hello, Frontera!) to take with us just in case. Winters are not happy when we get hangry.

I am really glad that we are all able to travel with small backpacks, and somewhat amazed that we can cram a month's worth of stuff into such limited space. It helps that we are staying in hotels the whole time, so we don't need towels, shampoo, bedding, etc., just a mountain of small electronics, cords, and chargers, and the ability to live life on the edge. Because we are daring, fierce people, descended from Celts, Germans, and Irish who could travel light. (But we need our hotels, iPads and 3 DS's just in case.)