I'm getting so spoiled with European generosity. Despina became our endearlingly overprotective Greek mother for the week (except when we went out at night). We had the best care, food, and lost in translation laughs you can possibly imagine. Our first major outing was to take four different trains to get to a secluded mountain village called Kalavrita. The last train on the journey had only two cars with an engine in between. The ride up was gorgeous with lush forests and swollen rapids on either side of the train tracks. It was truly an unforgettable experience.
Eleni and Despina speak English very well. Eleni's husband Simon and Simon's mother Yia Yia (Greek for grandma) are another story. Simon was our private chauffeur one day and we saw a plethora of important places such as Sounion (the Temple of Neptune) and Marathon (including the large man-made lake of Marathon). We stopped in Marathon for a snack which consisted of Ouzo (to clear our senses) and various animals with tentacles. Keep in mind that we had no idea what had been ordered. I tried everything in order to be polite, but man was that boiled octupus chewwwwy. I would recommend trying grilled octupus, however. It was actually pretty tasty (and the suckers are crunchy).
I really wish I could understand Simon. I tried speaking in Italian hoping there was some crossover, but that was a grande fallimento. He made a joke about Obama that was later translated by Despina for us to understand. Simon said that when God made Obama he had been drinking too much Ouzo and left Obama in the oven too long... I think the Ouzo in our own systems allowed us to find that horribly racist joke hilarious.
The next few days Josie and I ventured into Athens via public transportation. We spread out the places to see so as not to get too worn out. We saw the Acropolis, the Olympion, the Archeological museum, Ermou avenue for shopping, Plaka neighborhood with lovely neoclassical houses, the changing of the Guards at the Parliament building, the National Art Gallery, and my personal favorite: the Benaki Museum. There was so much to take in!
We went to Athens at night twice with Despina to get a feel for the Greek night life. One night we watched the sunset from the Acropolis rock and then walked around and tried Souvlaki (sooooo good).
Our last full day Eleni drove us to Delphi aka the center of the world. It was great! We hiked through the ruins (Ancient Greeks were in excellent shape) and then checked out the museum. Our lunch was a 45 min drive outside of Delphi, right next to the water. The owner of the restaurant was a painter so I showed him the watercolor paintings I had with me.
Here's the Greek I picked up:
ευχαριστώ "eharisto'" (thank you)
παρακαλώ "parakalo'"(please/you're welcome)
μετά "meta" (after)
ναι "neh" (yes)
λίγος "ligo" (little)
καλός "kalo" (good)
πολύ καλά "palli' kalo'" (very good)
πολύ καλά "palli' kalo'" (very good)
εντάξει! "daxsis" (ok)
πάμε! "pame" (let's go)
