Greece Day 8

6/9/16

Day 8 -- I think that is the longest I've ever been on a vacation. Day 8 and it's not over yet - woo hoo.

Today was alot of traveling as we needed to cross most of Greece to return to Athens, but some interesting events did occur and we saw some things. So what you ask? Let me tell you:

We ate breakfast and Mama mentioned this was the last day with our land tour guide which reminded me we needed to tip them. It is customary to tip 4 to 5 Euro per day. I had prepped prior to leaving the US and gotten the money in the envelopes and in a safe place. Well I thought that safe place was in the inside zipper compartment of the luggage and I sent Jack up to get it before the luggage was loaded on the bus. He went up - in the middle of his breakfast (yes he is a good man) and hunted for it, only to come back down and tell me it is not in the luggage. So I say "yes it is" and go look for it myself, but alas, no envelopes. Its not a huge deal -- we have the money on us to tip them -- but it's over 300 Euros for all of us so I'm obviously thinking, where is it? After much deliberation in my feeble brain I think and hope it is in my Kelly camera bag that I decided at the last minute to leave behind. It has safe spots inside and would have made sense for me to place it there. I will find out when I get home, that is for sure.

After breakfast we headed to an icon workshop where they make the religious icons. For those that have no idea what that is, because I didn't, it is the paintings or decor with the halos. See wikipeida for more information :) They hand craft them here, down to the chiseling of the wood and the painting. It was neat to see that art is still being taught and handed down from generation to generation. The facility is ran by a priest and his family. My favorite part was going in the main painter's workshop; he was not on site and it felt slightly like an intrusion. However, I think I got some good pictures and it gave you a different view into the man and his art. I'm not much one for religious stuff sitting around my home, but given this is hand made I had to buy a little something to support them.

Afterwards we headed on toward Athens with a brief stop to take pictures of the Stork nest and the young Storks. They were pretty and I will continue to think so as long as they do not bring me any presents. No babies for me.

We then got in the bus and headed back to Greece. The trip was uneventful. We stopped at a gas station that has a restaurant in it for lunch. I ordered a hamburger patty with cheese on it from the Piccadilly line and well... it was the first bad food I've gotten here in Greece. I didn't know you could ruin a hamburger patty, but well know I know - you can. Jack got the same thing and I don't think he liked it either - he didn't hate it as much as I did, but he was quick to offer to go get us grilled cheese sandwiches. He had to instruct them on how to make it; apparently it is not a common order here in Greece. It was made with a different type of cheese than we are used to, but it was good.

And then we were on the road again. The next stop was the statue of King Leonidas in Thermopylae ... We passed some hot springs on the way and you would think they put the statue there, but no - it is just on the side of the road. It is built to honor the 300 Spartans who delayed the Persian army long enough for Athens to be warned and they really don't know where the battle happened, so why they choose this random spot for the statue is beyond me. The statue itself was ok, certainly not a highlight of the trip. Vivian had the group assemble to take pictures and they were changing cameras of the group to take several different pictures of the group for people to have. It was humorous to watch them -- watching her and Yanis the driver take pictures and change cameras was so cute. I loved it.

Vivian also told us the history before we got off to see the statue and that was good. I took several notes and love King Leondias famous saying; "if you want our weapons - come and get them".

Once that was done we were back on the bus headed for Athens. Vivian detoured a bit and drove us by the 2004 Olympic Stadiums. They had to build several and I wonder what they do with them now... I don't think we built stadium upon stadium to house the games in Atlanta, at least I don't think we did.

Once back in Athens we turned around almost immediately and headed out to the Optional excursion dinner. It was down by the port and was quite nice. I actually think Mama really enjoyed it; first time I've seen her have fun all trip. The food was good - conversation flowed and well it was just nice. It is a port with very large yachts and the sun was setting so it was quite pretty. Lots of foot traffic as people came to eat and visit; great atmosphere overall. I enjoyed it though by the end of the night I was quite cold.

And now we are back at the hotel... my eyes are dropping so I'll cut this short. Tomorrow we get to sleep in a bit -- 7 AM and then we head off to the cruise. See you then and have a fabulous evening.