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Published: April 1st 2018
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Listening to Mimmo talk about the Greek culture. Among the Greeks
The alarm sounded as soon as I closed my eyes. At least it felt that way. So after getting roughly 2 hours of sleep within the past 48, we were all up and ready for the day. All 37 of us.
The trip package included breakfast and dinner each day and a large spread was waiting for us this morning. These tours have learned through the years that Americans eat a great deal more for breakfast than the Greeks do. They usually just have a roll and coffee. That will just not suffice for us. They had pastries, eggs, ham, turkey, fruit, coffee, juices, rolls, olives, cheeses, cucumbers and tomatoes. I guess all Greek meals have the options of bread, tomatoes, cheese and olives.
There was no real plan for today since our flight times were so weird the day before. So we sort of had a free day. We had to change hotels so we dropped off our luggage at the new hotel and headed out on foot. Mimmo, our tour guide, took us into the suburb of Glyfada and told a little about the Greek culture and things we could see.
Glyfada sits on the edge of the Mediterranean Sea and has lots of cute shops, bakeries, coffee houses and restaurants. Ordinarily everything would have been open and ready for the tourists but today is a holiday - Palm Sunday. So only the eating establishments were open.
Even though we could not go into many of the places. we did do lots of walking, admiring the structures, streets, people, food options and mostly noticing the different lifestyle that is found here. After a while we decided to opt for a lunch due to tired feet and the threat of rain. We had lamb, chicken, and Greek salad. It was tasty but we could not eat it all. After lunch we wandered into a bakery and somehow managed to purchase and consume more food - macaroons and Bueno ice cream.
We stopped by Everest Coffee and Shelby enjoyed herself an Arabica Cappuccino due to a suggestion from a friend. We were able to walk inside a church in the middle of the city where we saw and heard a ceremony this morning. It was absolutely beautiful. We people watched a bit more, stopped by a couple of vendors and went
back to the hotel to officially check into our room. After a quick break, we went to the roof of the hotel (patio garden and pool were located there) and got to see the surrounding landscape - including the sea and mountain villas. The ones that immediately come to mind when you think of Greece. We took lots of photos and headed down to the beach.
The wind is always stronger at the coast and today was no exception. It was ‘blow your hat off’ kind of wind. But it did not distract from the beauty. We could sea some of the Greek islands in the distance and admired the blue colors of the water. The beach was all rocks, but those too were awesome. Being there - at the Mediterranean Sea was one of those very unique experiences. We decided to go back to the market to get some water for tomorrow’s travels and walked into another bakery. I tried to ask what a type of bread was on the counter for it looked like mini croissants. But she did not speak English and just gave me one to try. And then another type and another and another.
Before I knew it, I had 2 handfuls of cookies (not breads) and had not found what I wanted. But I purchased some cookies from her. After her generosity, I wanted to show some back.
We finally purchased the water and went back to the hotel and waited for our dinner time which was at 8pm. 4 other travel groups arrived to our hotel today so it was a bustling place. The small group from Savannah joins our group for the remainder of the trip. So we are now a group of 44. The dinner was ok - nothing special. We are having to learn a few things concerning meal times though. 1. They do not provide ice for your drink. 2. If you want anything other than tap water, it cost extra. A small can of soda was around 2.5 euros. 3. There are no refills - only another purchase if you want more. 4. Every meal comes with bread. 5. They do not have salad dressings - just olive oil and vinegar. Try getting 44 people from AL or GA to eat a salad without ranch dressing - that just does not work. They prepare their food
differently which is expected. But eating cold cooked carrots and Brussel sprouts was just more than I could handle.
After dinner we all raced back to our rooms for some long well deserved rest. Tomorrow we head into the middle of Athens and get to see some of the iconic Athens monuments which is where our official tour begins. I know it will be awesome and more than we can actually process mentally.
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