March 1

This morning we got up bright and early in hopes of attending a Greek Orthodox service which held a service in English. This service begins at 7:30 and required about a half hour walk. We left the hostel a little before 7am. Unfortunately, when we finally did get to the church (we got a little bit of course from the map at one point), the church was closed. We kept walking in hopes of finding another Greek church, regardless of the service’s language. After about 10 minutes, we did find a little place near a school. (And for the last 20 mins we have been accompanied by a stray dog. It’s not unusual to have a canine companion on our walks – they seem to take care of the tourists). We went inside and were invited by a very friendly lay person to sit wherever we liked and listen to the chanting that was soon to begin. We sat near the back in these wooden chairs. The church was small, and dark, but there were frescoes on the walls and icons hanging everywhere. The stained glass windows were also very pretty, serving as the only source of light at the time. We listened for about 30 mins, and I was able to read from the Book of John a little and pray. It was a great experience. We left when an old, irritated woman made it clear that I was sitting in her seat. The priest came over to her and made it clear that what she was complaining about wasn’t appropriate and urged her to sit somewhere else, but we got up and gave her the seat.
After this venture out, we decided to head back to the hostel to take advantage of the free breakfast and to try and find the nondenominational church (our second choice to the Greek Orthodox service). Allie and I also wanted to see if it were possible to pick up our ferry tickets at the Athens office instead of waiting until we got to the port (this was the suggested pickup place by the website). So we changed into our street clothes, grabbed a bite (all the hostel served was boiled eggs, white toast, and coffee), and made the plans for the day. The man at the front desk (with whom we had inquired about local churches and English services) remembered that there was an Anglican church right near the ferry office. Perfect right? He didn’t know when the service was, and there was no indication online of the service times, but we thought it wouldn’t hurt to check it out, especially since we would be in that area anyway.
We left the hostel, headed for the ticket offices, and bumped into the church. It was 10:08 am at the time, and when we looked at the church’s board, we saw that the service began at 10:15! We were right on time. The service was so nice. It was just like the Rite One service at home, and it felt so nice to have a familiar setting. The people in attendance were obviously from all over the world. Allie chatted with a guy holding a Boston College mug (she is from Boston), and I chatted with the priest who happened to be heading to Turkey the next day. I joked that his trip must not be a long one, as I never laid eyes on a single church and I was there for 3 weeks.
After church, we went to the ticket offices, but they were closed. As we headed to Syntagma Square, the starting point of the walking tour, we passed this carnival. Krentz had mentioned in an email that all those still in Greece needed to head to this festivity. As we headed into the crowd of costumed families, I felt like I had stepped into a movie set. How is it possible that the day we are in Athens, there is a traditional festival going on, where families all dress up in costumes (we still don’t know what they were celebrating) and head to this one street in downtown Athens. There was live music, miniature ponies, face painting, the Greek version of fair food (fried dough balls with honey or chocolate on top instead of funnel cakes; and grilled pork on sticks instead of Turkey legs). There were clowns on stilts and balloons for sale. The light posts were decorated to look like lilies and there were even small rides full of children. It was such a surreal, but excellent little fair. We passed through the Athens National Gardens trying to find a bathroom. Here, not only was the landscape beautiful, but there was also a little aviary and animal zoo. We saw some peacocks, parakeets, hens and roosters, and then some over-weight pigeons that had squeezed into the cages to take advantage of the bird seed.
After this beautiful, and unexpected festivity, we began our walking tour of Athens. The guide book had us start at the famous Syntagma Square, the location of all the famous riots and protests for the past century. On one side of the square was the Parliament building, which used to be the palace of the Athenian royalty before the monarchy was abolished, and on another side was the famous Hotel Grande Bretange. This hotel has been the preferred stay of dignitaries since its transformation (it too was a royal residence) in the mid 19th century. There was even a plan (which was thwarted, thankfully) to bomb the hotel during Winston Churchill’s stay here during WWII. The tour then took us to to several different interesting sites, including the old Bazaar, the Roman agora, several churches, a traditional Greek neighborhood, a couple of monuments, and a few museums, which were closed on Sundays. While we were on this tour, we stopped for lunch at a very cute taverna, the Byzantino Vizantino, with great outdoor seating. It was on a pedestrian street, and we could do plenty of people watching as we ate and drank the house wine. I was able to order the wine in Greel (“krasi chima, miso kilo), but I forgot how to say “red” in Greek. Busted! I had to cave and answer in English. Our plan was to have a large, late lunch and eat a light dinner (the Greek way to eat). After lunch, we found a great gelato place and each ordered one scoop – I got a serving of banana chocolate on a cone.
As we walked along the tour we bumped into Silvion, the director of the archaeological dig at Eretria. He recognized us and we knew who he was, but it was so weird to bump into someone we had met while on this trip. Apparently, he lives in Athens when not on the dig. Next, we passed by a two-man band from the Congo, playing the drums and a guitar-looking instrument. Allie bought their CD because her boyfriend loves this type of music.
By the time we finished the tour, it was nearing 5pm, and our feet were tired. We headed back to the hotel to eat our groceries (I picked up some fruit and yogurt while we were out) and pack for Santorini. Our ferry was set to depart at 7:25am, and we still needed to pick up our tickets at the port. We talk to the front desk about our transportation options. Given the weight of our suitcases, we decided the easiest thing to do was call a cab, especially since we would be sharing the tab. So to give ourselves enough time (and have a cushion in case something were to go wrong), we decided to call the cab at 5:30am. I have forgotten what it feels like to sleep in, so we both shrugged our shoulders and oh well, we’ll just go to bed early. But, we were a bit giddy from the fabulous day we had, so we didn’t really go to sleep till 11pm. We knew there would be time to sleep on the ferry if need be.