Thursday, January 29, 2009

Καλώς ήρθατε και πάλι!

The subject says "Welcome Back" in Greek (at least, google translate tells me it does).

Today, I'm in Athens, Greece. Last time you heard from me, I was in Rome, which was settled in 750BC, and I talked about how long ago that was. That might be a long time, but it's peanuts compared to Athens.

According to Wikipedia (and we all know wikipedia wouldn't lie to us), Athens has been continuously occupied for 4,500 years. Four and a half _thousand_ years. Think about how long ago Jesus is said to have walked the earth. A long time, right? Double that. Then add 500 more years for good measure. That's a long time. The Roman republic that everyone talks about? Guess where they got the idea? Right. All those fancy Roman pillars and construction methods? They might have shined them up a bit, but guess where they started? Yep, right here in Greece.

So what do you do in a city that's been around long enough that when it was founded there was a different polar star? Eat! Greek food is amazing! I can't wait to get it from the source. And since we'll be eating so much, it's a good idea to walk! Well, it's probably too big to walk the entire time, so we're also taking the bus. There's a route called the 400 line that takes you all over the ancient city for a low daily price. I expect that I'll be getting to know the bus pretty well.

I'm going to have to do a post when I get back and link to all the pictures I'm taking, aren't I?