Alright, so we've got some catching up to do, but let's start with the fact that we are now home. The flight home was long and we traveled for almost 22 hours. The length was due to a postponed flight in Frankfurt and other various things, but we are just happy to be home now.
Let's go back to the day after my episode in the hospital. We went to a beach on Santorini called Perissa. It is the black rock beach. We rented these lounge chairs and an umbrella and began to sun ourselves, intermittently taking dips in the refreshing ocean. It was beautiful and we had on plenty of sunscreen. What we didn't know was that the sun was being reflected off the rocks below our chairs and radiating back up onto us. It was literally cooking us. After a few hours, we decided to call it a day and we drove back to the hotel where the effects of the 'cooking' began to set in. Amy's back, stomach, and legs were bright red. My legs and back were pretty well done for, but it was mostly my legs. Almost a week later now and my legs are still red! We paid for this burning for the next few days as we couldn't hardly move. Laying, sitting, or moving...it didn't matter...it all hurt! Later I'll talk about that more. That evening we were able to make it to a little village called Oia and take in the sunset. It is supposed to be the most beautiful sunset in the world...yea it was nice, but the nicest? Nah. Anyway, we had an adventure driving there as the roads are so antiquated, narrow, and dangerous. There are straight drop-offs to the ocean below with absolutely no shoulder on the roads, and the people there, in fact in all of Europe, are incredibly reckless drivers. They go so fast, they pass with abandon, and almost run others off of the road. We noticed this in all of Europe. Also, Europe must be the scooter and motorcycle capitol of the world. People everywhere had them and the people who ride them all seem to have a death wish. They skirt in and out of traffic, switch lanes without warning, and drive so crazy. A man in Athens told us that about 5,000 people a year die in Athens because of the way they ride scooters. I am so thankful to be back to the states. Being in Europe was like taking all of the worst drivers, removing all rules, and saying: go for it!
Anyway, the next day we took a high speed ferry to Athens. Luckily, I GOT SICK! This trip really hammered me. My feet hurt and had blisters from all of the walking the first two weeks. Then I ended up in the hospital. Then I got sunburned. Then I got sick on the ferry. I'm still sick and feel horrible, but anyway,we got to Athens after about 4 hours of being on the boat where we were met by our transfer and driven to our next hotel near the Acropolis. WE should have been excited to explore Athens, but with our sunburns and my sickness we just wanted to stay inside our air-conditioned room. It didn't help that it was 101 degrees the first day we were there and then in the high 90's the next two days. So our first day in Athens, we just hide in our hotel trying to recover.
The next day, we took a tour out to Ancient Corinth. We spent an hour-and-a-half driving in the bus to pick up people, then anther 1.5 hours getting to Corinth. WE definately should have done Athens before Santorini, because we were no longer in the tourist mode. We were in the "we just spent 5 days relaxing, being sick, and getting sunburned, so we don't care anymore just get us home" mode. Seriously, we just walked around Corinth, the place where Paul converted many Romans to Christianity and were just very much 'ho-hum'. So it was interesting, but we just wanted to get back to the air-conditioned bus. It was still very painful for us to move. After getting back to our hotel, we just hide some more. We started day-dreaming about our home, our friends and family, and our pooch. We were unbelievably home-sick and ready to be done. If you could have given me a ticket to return home without seeing Athens, I would have taken it.
Our final day in Athens we were feeling better and we had one last tour. We were a little more excited and ready this day. Our tour took us to all of the major places of Athens. The temple of Zeus, the original Olympic stadium, the parliment building where the guards are famous for never moving until they switch posts ceremonily, and the Acropolis. It was all very interesting to see and think about. We saw the Mars hill where Paul tried to preach Christianity to the Athenians and was rejected. On the hill of the Acropolis we saw the ancient temple devoted to Athena and the other devoted to Poseidon. It was a good day and we had a great tour guide who made it all very interesting. After the tour, Amy really had a bug to get some shopping in, so we walked through this huge shopping district...but it was just all souvenir stuff that was silly and overpriced. We really did look for things to bring home to people, but in all of the areas we were in, it was all so touristy that we would just be spending a small fortune on crap that people would probably look at and be like, "oohh, a glass bead, that's special, thanks" and then throw it in a drawer. So sorry. We kept looking for things that we thought would be cool, but didn't really find anything.
The next day was our last and it was the travel day I started off with at the top so that pretty much wraps it up. Some final thoughts: 1. Italians have no idea what a line is...it's just form a large group and push your way to the front. 2. Europeans are the worst drivers in the world. 3. I don't want to eat any pizza, pasta, or gyros for awhile...although I'm still up for some gelato. 4. Never pre-book any tours, they offer them all when you arrive somewhere and for a cheaper price than pre-booking. 5. Europe is covered in sidewalks and roads that are cobble stone, stone, or marble...so bring very squishy shoes to protect your feet if you every go. 6. The dollar sucks in comparison to the Euro. 7. The French are actually realling nice people. 8. Kids in Europe have no questions as to the anatomy of the human body. There are naked statues and paintings all over the place. 9. WE had a great time and would change a few things, but overall loved it. We are blessed to have had the opportunity and can't believe it's over as we have been talking about it for so long. I guess it's on to kids now.
Thanks everyone for your comments and for supporting us while we were gone. I will continue to update and use this site so keep checking back in. WE will post more pictures soon. Our computer is on the fritz and so I'm using my neighbors right now. Take care, Davie
