Day 9: Athens
Saturday, May 29th, 1999
After
enjoying a cup of coffee on the patio in from of the Delphini Hotel, it was
once again time to head out on the road. Our goal today way to make it back to
Athens.
We
head south and east from Menidi passing through Adrinio, Messolongi, and
eventually meet the Korinthiakos Kolpos (the body of water which separates the
mainland of Greece and the Peloponnese Peninsula.
We
stop to tour the harbor village of Nafpaktos and then continue on towards
Athens. We pass the ruins of Delphi... as we had all been to this spot in
Greece before, we decide not to stop.
We
break for lunch in a village called Galaxidi, a village situated around a small
fishing harbor. At the restaurant, Niki points out an interesting and amusing
site. At the front of the restaurant is a caged parrot that, of course, speaks Greek!
Although it makes perfect sense, we all find this extremely amusing.
Continuing
on, we pass through the ancient town of Thiva, or Thebes, and arrive in Athens
late in the afternoon. We meet up with cousin Fonis and his friend Voula and
are escorted down to the Plaka for a late dinner.
As
usual, the restaurant doesn't get crowded until after 10:00 PM. Fonis arranges
for a wonderful table situated in an outdoor garden. I'm not sure, but I think
he ordered one of everything on the menu. After gorging ourselves on food, we
sit back to watch a group of young people perform traditional Greek dancing.
Fonis explains that each dance is representative of a particular place in
Greece. We are amazed!
