We made our way from Nepal just in the nick of time. A few days after we left, a Turkish airlines plane skidded off the runway on landing at Kathmandu and while no one was hurt it stopped all incoming and outgoing air traffic for close to a week. Some 24,000 tourists were stranded there including our friend Ann.
We, however, arrived in Athens and after recouping a bit went out to see the sites!
We went up to the Acropolis first. It was kind of sad that the Parthenon was covered in scaffolding, but it is nice to see that the time is being taken to restore and preserve it.
We got to see an amphitheater...
Saw the Temple to Athena and Nike
Then we took a break for lunch. Deconstructed gyro anyone? The food was amazing.
There were some pretty steep stairs. Not sure if we have had the training for this level of climbing...
There was a nice view from up there though...
We also went to the Ancient Agora which has a lot of ruins as well as a covered structure that houses a lot of the original sculptures. It also has a great view of the Acropolis
The whole place is full of Olive and citrus trees. Look! Greek olives!
Grace however... was NOT a fan. Curse you Olives!!!!
There were parrots there enjoying the abundance. Not what I think of when I think of Greece... but there they were.
Saw an awesome Spartan shield. It was huge (about 4.5 feet in diameter) and solid bronze.
We also had some fun with the statues. This one got a Graceful new head...
This one was not quite so fortunate... (still not sure who made out worse... me or the statue).
All kidding aside there were some amazing sculptures
There were also a lot of edicts and proclamations that had been written for public record. This one was quite wordy. the closer the writing got to the bottom the smaller the letters got. the original "fine print" I guess.
Also found this gorgeous lady among the ruins. Yowza
After Athens, we headed to the west coast of Greece to the island of Corfu. It is a big tourist destination in the summer, but it was really quiet and nice while we were there. We really enjoyed it.
This was the fortress in old Cofru Town. Right on the water.
A beautiful view, even if it wasn't high season.
The water was so clear. We were really sad it was too cold to go snorkeling, but it didn't hold back at least one local... (yeah... he's there if you look, right side... about halfway down, speargun in hand)
Then we took a ferry from Corfu back to the mainland to get a ferry to Bari Italy. The ferry to bari (fun to say) arrived in Igoumenitsa at 12:30 am, so it made for a late night, but we got a kick out of watching this stray dog time the double set automatic doors (which only were activated by people going OUT) to get inside out of the rain. Smart dog. He came inside and kept us company for a while.
At 12:30 we stood outside in the blinding wind and rain for our ferry which was about 20 min late due to high winds and seas. however it was comfy inside and we slept though most of the 6 hour ride, and by morning most of the waves had calmed down, but it was still a slightly angry (maybe not angry, just frustrated) sea.
However, we got to Italy safe and sound, and disembarked on Italian soil (and it wasn't raining YAY!!!). Look how happy we are to be there!
More on Italy soon! Ciao!
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