we got up early this morning and found the rental agency with surprisingly little trouble. it was so close in fact that we decided to walk back to the museum. we were quite glad we hadn’t done all the driving last night to return it to the airport. when we arrived at the museum we discovered that it opens at 13:00 on mondays, so we felt a little cheated for having gotten up early. back to the hotel for us then, we took this opportunity to again check the internet and watch some CNN. i also went by a computer store and got a charger for my ipod and phone so i’d be sure to have my electronic devices fully charged for the flight back.

after a bit of dawdling and some snacks, we returned to the national museum to pace through it’s many halls. we spent four hours going through it and finally seeing in one place all the greatest treasures and stories of the sites we’d been visiting over the past two weeks. the effect was a bit overwhelming, and it was hard to stay focused. i gave the immense pottery collection a particularly cursory overview. i can’t really say i am all about pots. we had seen reproductions of several of the finest friezes and statues elsewhere, but there were a number of unique pieces that were awe-inspiring, particularly in the statuary and roman sections.

after four hours of walking around the museum i was throughly exhausted, and welcomed a brief nap when we returned to the hotel. we went out again and on the athens guide’s recommendation found a delicious taverna only a few blocks away. we ordered our favorites and sat back and enjoyed ourselves. at the end of the meal katharine wanted ouzo, so of course we had to order some.

the 20cl bottle prominently displayed “46%”, but you could tell it was strong from the alcohol odor itself. in fact, the only thing stronger than the alcohol odor is that of black licorice, as ouzo is flavored with anise. of course katharine and martin did no research as to what ouzo was like, and as they hate black licorice it was soon clear who the task of consuming the bottle was going to be incumbent upon. i poured them glasses anyway, dropped in the ice cubes and watched as the liquid turned a milky white. then, drink! the taste is as you’d expect a combination of cold vodka and black licorice, not altogether unpleasant from my point of view. the strength though was definitely noticeable, and i refrained from finishing the bottle and instead brought the remainder home with me.

anyone interested in a taste of greece?

our last big driving day. kalabaka was mostly dead on sabbato morning, but we managed to find breakfast of yogurt and tost, check out, and head south by noon. with only a few detours getting throug athens we made it all the way to sounio, the southernmost tip of the attic peninsula. for what felt like the hundredth time we hiked up to see a bunch of pillars and tourists, but once again it was well worth it. the temple of poseidon is a beautiful structure and the location with the mediterranean behind it is perfect. we took some photos and grabbed overpriced sandwiches from a nearby vendor and left without waiting for the sunset since we needed to make it back to athens.

we headed north into athens and the traffic and navigation was just as horrible as we had expected. we did eventually find the exarchion hotel, park our car, and get settled for our last day. after a drawn out debate about whether we should drive to the airport and return the car tonight or in the morning we settled on our hunger and let the car sit while we sought out food. cheap gyros and expensive crepes fed us well, and while katharine and martin took advantage of the free internet at our hotel i went and scouted out a seat in the nearby bar to watch greece in the eurobasket 2005 championship game against germany. they won handily and though the tv later showed photos of celebrations and fireworks we didn’t really see or hear any of it.

meteora can be tricky to find when there is road construction. after seeing a few rockfalls from the storm last night and the requisite dogs sunning themselves on the road we finally made it to the monasteries. at least we had a chance to stop by a bakery on the way out of town and get some awesome muffins.

there were more people and tour busses at meteora than i had thought possible. combine that with the fact that each individual monastery is actually quite small insite and everything becomes crowded to the point where you can’t even get in. still, we managed to see a substantial portion of the more crowded ones before heading to those further from the road to savor more deeply. the iconography and painting in the sanctuaries was simply stunnying. i wish had a better understanding of the orthodox saints and their representations to better follow the themes. we made it to five monasteries in all, with the best being the last two since they were almost completely vacant. though we had to do yet more hiking to see them, it was well worth it for a chance to really soak in the experience – and to get some photos without seventy people in them!

we headed back to town and headed to the discount market to get some snacks to tide us over until dinner. we ended up getting a bunch of crazy european / greek foods:

• yogurt with chunks of nuts in it
• french-fry shaped cheetoes with a sharp cheddar flavor
• paprika pringles (yum!)
• potato chips in thin mini-fry shapes

it was all quite tasty despite the strangeness. we snacked and watched arsenal v. west ham tie their game and then a little more euro basket, figuring out that it’s actually the semifinals of greece vs. france. go greece! for dinner we headed to the town square and saw some live traditional folk music and dancing while we ate yet another fantastic meal. sensing a trend here? greek food is so good.