I finally made it to Athens last night about 1 am local time after leaving home Friday morning at 8 am. After grabbing my bag, which fortunately made it, I found Kristin and Karen waiting for me. We taxied back to our hotel, the St. George Lyycabettus. I was assuming that jet lag (1 am in Athens is equivalent to 3 pm in California) would make it tough to go to sleep, but I had no problems in that area at all. In fact, I’m surprised how little I’m feeling the jet lag.
Karen and Kristin Enjoy Breakfast With a View
This morning, we had breakfast at the rooftop restaurant of the hotel. View, food, and company were all outstanding! I wasn’t feeling all that hungry, but knowing Kristin and her love of walking, we stocked up on fried eggs, tomatoes, cheese, and cereal.
Today was Election Day in Greece, so all of the museums and historical sites closed at 2:30 p.m. That was okay–we wouldn’t want to shortchange our tour of the Acropolis, so we’ll be doing that Wednesday.
We did hike up to the Church of St. George above our hotel–and we ended up even higher than the Acropolis. Then we walked through the National Gardens, checked out the Temple of Zeus, and walked up to the entrance of the Acropolis, before realizing we couldn’t go in. Needless to say, we were pretty tired by then (it was in the 90s), Kristin was getting sunburned, Karen was jetlagged after having been in California–Tennessee–Amsterdam–Tennessee–Greece in a very short period, and my feet hurt, so we grabbed a cab back to the hotel.
Kristin and Karen Looking Out Over Athens From Lycabettus Hill
Tomorrow is a work day, as Karen and I make our presentation at 4 pm. Hopefully, the jet lag won’t kick in! Stay tuned for more photos or check them on Facebook.
UPDATES!
Here are Karen’s first day pictures.
2nd day of pictures — Chairing a Session, Our Presentation and good friends
3rd Day of Pictures — Last day of sessions with many culinary experiences
4th day — Temple of Poseidon and Athena, Parthenon, Temple of Zeus, Olympic Stadium & more
5th day — touring the Greek Islands!
