Saturday, October 11, 2008

Greece Lighting!

Opa! Matt and I are lucky enough to have just returned from a brief holiday in Greece. It turns out that abiding my the Islamic calendar really has its perks, the end of Ramadan is officially celebrated by a holiday called Eid, where it is customary to receive 2 or 3 days off of work depending where it falls. This year it fell on the 3 days preceding the weekend, and just like that *poof* we had 5 days off! Although you don’t find out when the holiday is going to be until the official moon sighting, which only happens about a day in advance, so as soon as we found out we needed to capitalize! After a quick scan of the airline points and hotel deals we found ourselves in a hotel room in Athens 48 hours later.

What a beautiful country! According to the locals we had the pleasure of visiting still in the wake of the 2000 Olympics which has still benefited the city with new infrastructure, better roads, and more widely spoken English. Although, I must say I was a little disappointed, my suspension of disbelief lead me to think that I could still wear a toga and bump into Socrates at any time!
First night at the hotel roof top bar, you can see the Acropolis lit in the background.

The Parthenon!

The Caryatids statues.The theater of Dionysus.

I'm so happy to be in Athens!


Dinner at the top of the Hotel Grande Bretange, with the Acropolis in the background.At Delphi, in front of the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, where the Oracle sat. The 5 1/2 hour ferry ride to Mykonos.Finally a enjoying a gyro on Mykonos.

The Aegean Sea.The Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion. Don't slip!


In front of the National Archaeological Museum.

Our buddy Agamemnon.

No comments: