After three days of following in the footsteps of Socrates, Plato and other Greek philosophers whose philosophies we don't know, Liz and I were, as they say, "all ruin-ed out." So, for my birthday, we decided to take a leisurely stroll up a mountain. Delphi is a small town built into a cliff-side, overlooking the Gulf of Corinth and is, in a word, stunning. We followed a stone staircase up the hill, carpeted with wildflowers--it was kind of like the Sound of Music, especially since we ran into two nuns in full habit the day before at the ancient ruins.
Upon our descent, it was time for birthday lunch--grilled octopus and white wine, after which the hills in the little town of Delphi seemed a WHOLE lot steeper.
We resigned to our little hotel room, balcony overlooking mountains and water, for the traditional Greek siesta from 6 to 8.
We rose for dinner and made our way to a little restaurant on the hill, recommended to us by a young Greek man the day before. It turns out that young Greek man owns the restaurant--we may have felt a bit duped, if he hadn't been there to light a candle on top of a mini birthday cake, buy us ouzo and, later, tequila shots. He assured us that there were two 'parties' going on that night...and thus the festivities began. After a margarita at a rather mellow-ish lounge with a view, we made our way to the Downtown club--which was full of about 10 Americans looking silly on the dance floor. I refuse to dance with such coordinationally challenged folk, so we returned to the lounge and introduced Cristo (our new friend) to the ever-favorite American drinking game, Never Have I Ever.
Of course, drinking games are sort of birthday-must, however they don't lend themselves well to the eleven hour travel day to follow. A three hour bus ride, mercifully air conditioned, but still on windy mountain roads and a stifling metro ride led us to the most incredibly luxurious ferry ride--beyond Liz and my wildest dreams. After so much time in Central America, Liz and I were picturing ourselves vomitting over the side of an overcrowded, rickety/sinking boat for five hours. Instead we were greeted by escalators, taking us up to an espresso bar/lounge, full service restaurant, lounge after lounge of reclining first class size seats with tray tables and flat screen TVs, rooftop patio and bar, a gift shop and even an internet cafe!! It was eight stories high!!! if heaven were a boat....
Anyway, here we are, safely in Naxos, where we plan to explore various towns, mountains, beaches and...who knows!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Happy happy birthday pictures
good place to rest your feet
on top of the mountain
among the wildflowers
self portrait
Delphi from up high
drunk driving??
birthday aftermath...
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