The taxi arrived at 12:30 am and took us, through the quiet city and beyond, to the airport. The girls woke up when we were checking in. There were people on the plane from ISKL and so they took some interest in saying hello despite their sleepy faces. Then, once on the plane, sleep found them again. The flights to Doha and Athens were good and our arrival - as is becoming customary these days - greeted us with a smiley face of Stefan. He welcomed us with a big hug and customary kisses and off we went to the parking lot. We set up the girls' car seats and off the car went. Laurence stayed behind, however, to pick up our friends Mayk and Dore who were flying in from Munich just an hour later. That arrival too was perfect and off they went to Marousi as well.
The four days that we spent in Greece was a combination of "we're-in-Greece-To-Do-Lists" and "we're-in-Greece-tourist-attractions". Needless to say the days were filled with Laurence running to tax offices, followed by visits to the Akropolis, followed by installing a car battery, followed by visiting with friends, followed by runs to the beach, all the while under the watchful gaze of cloudless skies and a blazing sun. All in all it was a successful - though at moments stressful - visit. The re-kindling of our friendship with Mayk and Dore, the time we had with friends (and particularly with Stefan and Vicky) and the time the girls got to spend with their Greek friends (Maria and Stelios' daughters Mikaela & Anastasia and Vasil and Sofia's daughter Stamatina) was a great chance to get our feet wet for the summer. Add to that the backdrop of either the Aegean or the Akropolis and one can't really go wrong.
Any concerns of petty crime, violence or political demonstrations, made grander by a year's worth of watching international media, were allayed as we walked around the city. Laurence went downtown twice, once to do the tourist "thing" and once to do some tax paperwork that highlights the leg work required to get even the most basic things done in Greece. On both occassions he found Athens to be much more friendly and "business as usual" than he expected after a year's worth of listening to the news. The stories of individuals were not present in his visits to the city. But the center lacked the threatening and dangerous feel that he had prepared for.
By the time we flew out to Madrid (on the way to Bogota) we were somewhat over jet lag (part 1), happy to have managed to see most everyone (Peter, we'll get you next time) and ready for a longer stint in one place. Like a whirlwind Greece came and went and, in that time, our days were exciting, entertaining, stressed and relaxing, all rolled up tightly in one, like that souvlaki we so love to nibble on. :-)
