Athens and Chios

Sunday (3/20). Today was “act like a tourist” day! We braved cold wind and rain to gape and gawk at all the buildings of the Acropolis complex.  Back in the day it was (in part) meant to instill awe in the souls of visitors. Seeing even the remnants today is still awe inspiring. Keeping in mind this was all done with the benefit of 440 BC cutting edge technology…and did I mention it was completed in about nine years? Yeah, wow!

After walking around the Agora and the Acropolis, and seeing all the temples and shrines, the words of the Apostle Paul really came alive. “Paul then stood up in the meeting of the Areopagus and said: ‘People of Athens! I see that in every way you are very religious. For as I walked around and looked carefully at your objects of worship, I even found an altar with this inscription: to an unknown god. So you are ignorant of the very thing you worship—and this is what I am going to proclaim to you.” Powerful stuff.

Monday (3/21). After two days of attempting to absorb massive doses of history, we took a day off just to roam. Parks. More history. Funky neighborhoods. Grunge. Noise. Congestion. We arrived back at the apartment to find our host had prepared a homecooked Greek meal for us. Eucharisto Aris! We rested our weary bones and fought off a food coma to do some planning. By evening’s end we had ferry tickets to Chios and a place to stay Wednesday evening.

Tuesday (3/22). Clean. Pack. Relax. On the road at 11am. Wandered nine miles through the maze of Athenian roads to the port of Pireus. Along the way we stumbled across a bustling street market. Everything from bras to bananas were on offer. Vendors calling out. People haggling. Endless masses eyeing the merchandise. It was awesome! Finally though we said good-bye to Athens. It was fun and kind of exotic being in a huge, hectic, gritty foreign city. Finally though, we’re just not big city people. Fun Fact: Phoenix has 3,400 people living per square mile. Milwaukee has 5,600. Athens has 44,000! Yeah, we’re ready for something a little more rural.

Wednesday (3/23). Physics lessons kids.  30+ mph wind across open water leads to large swells and a lively boat motion somewhere between an amusement park ride and NASA’s Vomit Comet.

Already loving the more laid back island vibe. Met many lovely people just in our first day. Also got introduced to bougatsa…I am ruined for life!!

Thursday (3/24). Yesterday we explored the town of Chios. Today we headed north along the coast. According to forecasts, we should be able to put away both our down jackets and wind shirts tomorrow. Not today though! An endless parade of ocean swells and white caps suggested that would not be a good idea today. Still it was another visually stunning day.

Friday (3/25). We said good-bye to the town of Chios for a little tour around the southern end of the island. Finally some warm weather weather and light(er) winds. Beautiful biking with serious climbing to Pyrgi. The town is famous for the geometric patters etched in many of the buildings. Found a quiet spot off the road a few miles outside of town Glorious.

Saturday (3/26). Wonderful, quiet evening in the countryside. Our first stop was Olympi, one of the famous fortress cities of Southern Chios. An 87 year old native of the town regaled us with stories growing up there, traveling the world as a merchant seaman, and owning a Greek Pizza restaurant in Washington D.C. for twenty years. Shared another bougatsa for breakfast…Definitely not helping my A1C numbers!

With sufficient calories on board, we biked to the next fortress village of Mesta before backtracking to Pyrgi. By far the highlight of the day was meeting Thanos (No – not that Thanos). Incredibly nice guy. He was born and raised in Pyrgi, but now lives elsewhere.  His mother still lives there. He asked about our travels and shared some of his. Then gave us a tour of the city, including a look in a traditional guest house he owns.  Fascinating to see inside something built many hundred years ago. Thanks Thanos for making our day! By days end we arrived at a deserted beach to call home.

Today will be our last full day in Greece. Tomorrow we ride back into Chios town to catch a ferry to Turkey! We are both nervous and excited. With my Greek language background I’ve been able to decipher enough to be comfortable finding our way around. Tomorrow, everything changes and nothing will be familiar! Tune in next week to see how we fare. Until then…STC!