We left the hotel sometime around midday and decided to brave the tram into town for some shopping. Figuring out how to buy tickets was a pain. Turns out if you are sneaky and lucky, you can ride the tram for free. But we eventually figured it out, and did pay our way. Greece does need the money.
We went to the giant flea market downtown where you can get off the train and look straight up at the Acropolis. There are even ruins to check out in the train station. It took awhile, but I believe that I can now navigate the Greek train stations on my own. The hardest part is deciphering the Greek names, even if they are in English.
One funny side-story about the trip on the train:
There were these two young men that got on the tram with us at the beach. They were dressed in trunks and had a soccer ball with them. One had a black eye and was loaded with tattoos. In America, he'd probably be considered a thug. On the train, they both started to dribble the soccer ball with their feet. It got away from them one time and ended up hitting Rosemary, Meghan's mom right in the nose. She began to laugh and so I did too, but the guy with the black eye was MORTIFIED. It was so cute! This thug looking guy, who could not speak English, folded his hands together and bowed to Rosemary in the most apologetic way and then went to literally stand in a corner facing the wall of the train. The other guy could speak some English and did apologize to Rosemary, but we were all laughing it off. Rosemary even added “I guess I should have used my head.”
The flea market was a great place to shop for souvenirs and vulgar t-shirts. We picked up a few postcards and fun items, but the best shopping was in a small little jewelry and bead shop on the taverna avenue. This guy evidently used to make and supply Pier One with all of their jewelry. He was an old guy, but he knew so much history. We must have spent an hour in that shop looking at beads and talking to the old man. He said he lived in Chicago for awhile and considers himself both American and Greek.
I do have to mention that the hardest part about this trip so far has been dealing with the kids. They are good children in general, but their internal clocks are messed up and when they are tired, they are even more cranky than I am...and you know how that can be.
About 4pm we decided to start looking for a place to eat. I do want to mention here that since my phone does not work here, I have not been keeping up with the time at all. I had no idea it was so late, but it explained why I was so hungry. We picked a lovely spot outside where we could look up and see the Acropolis. Louis, our only Greek speaking person, ordered us some lunch. We had a Greek Salad, which I need to mention does NOT come with lettuce, an eggplant spread that was incredible, stuffed tomatoes, Moussaka, Lamb “ribs”, and a gyro for Perrin. All of it was WONDERFUL. I think I could eat here forever.
We entered the train station which I would guess would be around rush hour. I was thinking that the tram as so crowded for this particular reason, but I had forgotten it was Sunday. With each stop, the train became more and more crowded. People just kept getting on and no one was getting off. Lena began one of her famous screaming and kicking fits, and by the time we had gotten about 10 stops into the trip, Perrin was crammed up against the tram walls and was having trouble breathing. I made the decision that we should all get off early because we had to change trains anyway and this was just unsafe. Apparently, there was a beach concert that night. The train was filled with drunk people and a group of Asian Jesus freaks. I know they were Jesus freaks because they were singing Christian songs in English on the train. I think that was the worst hell...worse than the Philadelphia Airport.
After the hellacious train ride back to our hotel, it was already 730 and we had promised Perrin ice cream, so he got ice cream, I got a frappe and we finally made it to Georgia and Marco's around 9pm for dinner. There was no ouzo this evening, but I did get the rest of the milk pie.
I have been also trying to pick up some of the language here and my Spanish classes plus my southern drawl make it a bit difficult. I keep wanting to give everything a long vowel sound plus I put the accent on the wrong syllable. I am constantly getting corrected but how else am I going to learn this? Greek is hard. Luckily, most places of business do speak English...or at least enough to tell me how much something costs.
Today, we are headed back downtown to the Acropolis. I am looking forward to seeing the ruins but it is going to be a hot day. Tomorrow, we leave very early for the island of Tinos. I am ready to do some relaxing.
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