I have been doing some very nice pictures lately. I brought an art pad and pencils with me. At the moment I am not feeling so gung ho about traveling. I miss Israel and feel like I abandoned them in a crisis. I am very worried about the war ( Nostradamus predicted world war 3 in the East for 7 years). It is depressing to watch a war on T.V. like a football game. I am also very different from Paz, who relies on me, and is insecure about travelling alone. I suggested tonight that I would only travel 3 months and she almost broke down, so it is a bit of a burden of responsibility. I am excited about travel but want to see everything now! And I am not so keen on Greece anyway. It actually reminds me of Russia. Israel was brash and crude, but Israelis laugh and talk to each other in the street. Athens just seems like a grey, workers city, a drudge - if that is a word. Maybe other countries will excite me more.
We are riding the tram cars for free, as you are supposed to buy a ticket and click it in a box on the bus, and unless an inspector comes on board, no one knows whether you have paid or not. So we sit close to the box and just keep an eye out for inspectors. So far none have come on board, so we are travelling free! We spend our time in the hostel gathered in the "news room" where the communal T.V. is, watching the progress of the war.
We met 2 Canadian girls and returned with them to the Plaka, to a less touristy market. It had every imaginable piece of crap for sale. T.V's, shoes, records, army surplus, jewelry etc. Being a Sunday it was crowded with locals, so we wound ourselves through the narrow ally ways. We also visited an archeological site just below the Acropolis. We got a good deal - paid 200DR(160DR-$1) and got to go on the site and to an adjacent museum and temple. We were a bit late in the day, so were rushed, but it was definitely a high light.
We went to a restaurant recommended in Let's Go. Very warm and full of Greeks, not tourists, it is a 2 story house. They were all drinking red wine out of plastic juice type bottles. We ordered a menu in sign language( you know you are off the tourist route when the waitress doesn't speak English) and to our horror a lady brought a huge tray our with everything on it. We found out that this is normal, and that we were supposed to take from the tray what we wanted. But not knowing this we thought we had to take it all. We had Greek salad, meat wrapped in grape leafs. Meatballs, kidney beans, calamari in red sauce. It was seam bursting, and we sat there as long as possible just to enjoy the heating. We paid - obviously more than we had bargained for.
We are riding the tram cars for free, as you are supposed to buy a ticket and click it in a box on the bus, and unless an inspector comes on board, no one knows whether you have paid or not. So we sit close to the box and just keep an eye out for inspectors. So far none have come on board, so we are travelling free! We spend our time in the hostel gathered in the "news room" where the communal T.V. is, watching the progress of the war.
We met 2 Canadian girls and returned with them to the Plaka, to a less touristy market. It had every imaginable piece of crap for sale. T.V's, shoes, records, army surplus, jewelry etc. Being a Sunday it was crowded with locals, so we wound ourselves through the narrow ally ways. We also visited an archeological site just below the Acropolis. We got a good deal - paid 200DR(160DR-$1) and got to go on the site and to an adjacent museum and temple. We were a bit late in the day, so were rushed, but it was definitely a high light.
We went to a restaurant recommended in Let's Go. Very warm and full of Greeks, not tourists, it is a 2 story house. They were all drinking red wine out of plastic juice type bottles. We ordered a menu in sign language( you know you are off the tourist route when the waitress doesn't speak English) and to our horror a lady brought a huge tray our with everything on it. We found out that this is normal, and that we were supposed to take from the tray what we wanted. But not knowing this we thought we had to take it all. We had Greek salad, meat wrapped in grape leafs. Meatballs, kidney beans, calamari in red sauce. It was seam bursting, and we sat there as long as possible just to enjoy the heating. We paid - obviously more than we had bargained for.
No comments:
Post a Comment