Monday, November 3, 2008

I love Greeks!

Especially the Rikakis family!! A big thanks to Mike, his sister Carolina and uncle Andreas for helping to make my first trip to Greece so amazing! But, in general I love all Greeks - they are such a friendly, fun-loving people, with a gorgeous and historic country, not to mention fantastic food!

I arrived on Thursday afternoon, made my way into the city and had a late lunch while waiting for Mike to finish work. Mike lives next door to his uncle so we went to dinner together and had a great time with lots of laughs. There were several "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" moments - like the stories about all the second cousins and the time that I mentioned that I thought I could understand a few of the Greek words due to my Spanish and I was promptly told by Andreas that there was not one bit of Spanish in Greek!

On Friday, I joined Mike and Andreas for breakfast...a daily event in their houses. Then Mike went to work and I was off to the park near his house for a run. It was a nice park, but I was more entralled by all the people...old men playing chess and backgammon....little kiddos running around.

Then it was off to the Acropolis. Very impressive...I think the pictures speak for themselves.
At night I was taught how to make a proper Greek salad..not bad! Insider tip: put the olive oil on before the oregano so the oregano stays crisp!
It turned out a lot better than the "delicious" pasta that Mike made!
Then it was back to an area of town near the Acropolis to meet Sophia for a drink..sitting outside with a view of the Acropolis by night...not bad!
We only slept for a few hours because it was off to the airport at 3:30am to catch a 5:45 flight to Santorini where Mike's sister lives. This will turn into the longest post ever if I include Santorini as well, so stay tuned for a new post!

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