It’s all Greek to me…
I can actually read Greek. I don't know what I'm reading but I can make it out. Turns out all the symbols we used in engineering were Greek letters... I guess my degree was good for something.
We arrived in Athens and went to meet our couchsurfing host, Ced. What an amazing guy! He took us out to a small taverna where we ate traditional Greek food and and tried a Greek alcoholic drink called reki. The next night we all went to a couchsurfing event which ended in very poor karaoke singing but much fun.
While in Athens we also managed to do some typical tourist things. We saw the changing of the guard at Parliament and saw the temple of Olympian Zeus. More impressive was the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Truly awesome! I've seen it in pictures and movies but they don't give justice to what's really there.
We are now island hopping through the Cyclades islands. The first stop was Syros. The town was cute but has little to do other than hang out with friends. Thankfully Nikolas, our couchsurfing host, offered us his friends. We spent two nights hanging out at port-side cafes, eating calamari and drinking ouzo at tavernas and dancing all night at a beach party.
We are now on our second island of Paros. The towns here look like what I imagined: white builgings climbing up the hill side along the sea. We rented a scooter and rode all around the island stopping at beautiful beaches to swim and soak up the sun.
So far, we really like Greece. The scenery is beautiful which captivates you. Also the people are incredibly nice. They are genuinely interested in helping you and getting to know you. We love all the people we've spent time with. And the food is the best...hmmm, gyros...
The party is over (not really), the adventure begins
Today we did one of the hardest tasks there is (I believe) when preparing for a trip; that is packing! Yes, we all know how hard this can be. Luckily, I do have some experience from my previous trip to Europe. You know that from the pile of things that you want to take you will split that in half and then that one in half (quick math is 1/4 of what you started with). I think we did pretty well. We even got a first aid kit this time around.
We wanted to thank our closest friends for coming last night to say goodbyes. We really had a good time. I also uploaded photos of the event to the photo section and of course to my Facebook profile.
Tuesday we head to Calgary to visit the Ginzburg side of the family.
P.S.: If anybody would like our packing list, do not hesitate in requesting it.