Athens

After tearfilled goodbyes with the fam at the Larnaca airport, a late night flight brought us back to Athens where we were just 3 weeks ago, though it felt like it had been months. Even after 3 weeks in Cyprus, we still felt crazy culture shocked by the developed world. Mainly, people were ultra fashionable and we didn't attract the stares and glares we had become accustomed to. We did a fair job of shopping in Cyprus, but it's rather iffy if Cyprus is really as developed as the west we know. So, when in Rome...We went shopping. We got a little western world happy and stocked up with some none third world clothing and may I say we look mighty fine. We also spent a day or two relaxing at the many western cafes in town, drinking coffee, eating Greek sweets, and doing a mean job of people watching. We had revelled in the west enough and decided it was time to hit the archaeological sites. We eased our way into archaeology by spending the first day at the brand spankin new Acropolis Museum. M held it together very well and even let us check out all of the floors before she got antsy. If you don't know this about M, she has a tough time at museums. Kind of like the beach. Maybe it's the Greek in her, but she seemed thoroughly interested for quite some time before we saw the "It's time to go" face. Wandering the narrow, windy streets of Monastiraki and taking in the countless hours of daylight kept us out and about later than we had expected.

The next day, we really decided it was time to brave the heat and head out to the sites. We made our way up the hill to the Acropolis with loads of other tourists, mainly Americans which struck us as strange after seeing barely any for practically our entire trip. The Acropolis was fantastic and the site of many self timed photos. Even though the Parthenon was entirely covered in scaffolding, (since 1982 it seems according to the signs), the remaining sites made up for it. The theaters built entirely of stone were majestic as they looked both ancient and modern all at once. We didn't have the opportunity to check out a show at one of the theaters, but we hear they are well worth the time so check one out if you find yourself in Athens. Our week in Athens quickly came to an end as we packed our bags for the last of our super early flights.

Off to Spain!