Today, I continue (and FINALLY finish!) the story of our Summer 2008 trip to Greece. To see all of our pictures, click here. For most of the pictures, Nik has mapped them so you can see exactly where in Greece they were taken. If you missed them, here’s the post with links to all the parts.
Part 12 (of 12)
After we arrived in Athens late in the evening, tired but invigorated by
our time in Meteora, we had just one more full day before we flew home. We’d already seen the major archeological/historical sites in Athens, along with lots more in Athens with Theo Nikiphoros as our guide. So we decided to spend some time at the
National Archeological Museum, to see some of the most significant of the archeological finds in Greek history.
Here are a few pictures of our favorites:
See the bird at the bottom of this one?
It was a interesting way to spend our day – and a welcome relief from the heat of the city! My favorite part of the museum was probably the frescoes that were taken from Akrotiri, which is an archeological site on the island of Santorini. When we were there, the site was closed and so we weren’t able to go in. It was really cool to get to see the frescoes, which were taken directly from buildings excavated there.
That night, Theo Nik put out a huge spread of delicious food for our goodbye dinner and we had fun with Nik’s relatives:
From left to right: Theo Nikiphoros, a friend of the family, Nik, YiaYia (Nik’s dad’s mother), Theo George, yours truly, and Thea Kiki
The next morning, we took to the skies and flew home.
What an amazing trip! I don’t think I have the right words to describe what a wonderful trip we had: I saw amazing places and was welcomed and loved by so many. Most importantly, I now can understand and appreciate so much more of who Nik is – his family, his cultural and familial heritage, and his memories. I’m glad that I have memories of my own of all those places now.
And, now I know a lot of useful Greek phrases, such as:
καλα Πλάκα μου κάνεις What? Are you kidding me? (As in – Give me a break! – Useful for teasing relatives!
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στην υγειά σας Cheers!
μόνο νερό παρακαλώ Only water please
σε ευχαριστώ Thank you!
γειά σας σκυλάκια Hello little doggies! – Fair warning – don’t say this to stray Greek dogs unless you want them to follow you all over town. And if you do make such a mistake and they do follow you, the best thing is to look for a bakery that has a back door and escape through there. (P.S. Sometimes there are times when it is best not to show off the little Greek that you do know!)
καρπούζια watermelons
And there you go – now you know all you need to know to visit Greece – a fabulous itinerary and a few very useful phrases. If you do decide to go to Greece, let Nik plan your trip for you. He’s a fabulous tour guide.
τέλος
Salmon and Souvlaki 