Cape Sounion

The pink cow!
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The weather was forecast for 36 degrees Celsius, which means mid 90's to me.  Rosa decided to make the trip to Cape Sounion in the afternoon, which gave us the morning free.

Rosa said she would take a group into Syntagma, the city center, via the Tram at 8:30am.  I decided to join the group.  I needed to get some more gifts and a few of us were on a mission to find a gyro.

It was very windy and we were worried that some of the smaller students and Rosa, may drift away.

Temple of Zeus
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The tram was amazingly clean.  It had been built for the 2004 Olympics and it looked like it hadn't been used since then.

When we got off the tram, we went to the parliament building which had a 24-hour guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.  We were able to see the changing of the guard.

From there, we wandered around to find the Plaka.  We walked down an entire street of shoe stores.  Luckily for my husband, I was with a group of men who were on a mission to find gyros.  They had no time for my window shopping.

Check out the tram.
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We found the Plaka with the help of Ski asking directions in Greek.  The main plaza had multiple fruit stands.  While I didn't purchase any, many others did and I got to taste some ripe, sweet cherries.

While traveling up the Plaka, I was able to buy some Greek olive oil, a Greek bandana for the puppy, a chain to ward off the evil eye, a scarf with the greek key on it, and some tshirts.  The Evil Eye is a superstitious curse that someone can cause harm by giving someone the evil eye, but by wearing the charms or hanging the symbol of the blue eye, someone can prevent the curse from happening.  I put up an example of some evil eye jewelry.

Darryl at Cape Sunion
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After all this shopping, we were having no luck finding a place that sold gyros.  The guys were looking everywhere.  Finally we made some turns down some side streets and we found a taverna where we could sit outside and eat.  We all enjoyed a gyro or kebobs.  Ski had the quintessential Greek meal, Greek beer, gyros, and baklava.  I couldn't fit anything in past the gyros.  Our waiter was Petros and the man who owned the place was actually born in New York City.

Evil eye jewelry.
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We left for Cape Sounion at 2:30pm.  The drive was along the Apollo coast and you could see water at all times.  The water was clear blue, similar to the Caribbean.  Because of the nice weather, there were windsurfers in all the capes and people crowded along the beaches.

The attraction at Cape Sounion was the Temple of Poseidon.  This ruin was located at the top of a cliff.  It was very windy and we were worried that some of the smaller students and Rosa, may drift away.  Rosa kept warning people to stay away from the edges.  Darryl decided to try out his yoga at the site, while others just took the leisurely stroll around the temple.  Lord Byron's name is carved into one of the blocks of the temple.

Mmmm, Gyros!
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After visiting the site, I purchased some postcards and an ice cream cone.

We had enough time when we got back to get cleaned up before dinner.  This was my first cold shower of the entire trip.  The boiler had broken and they were bringing in a technician to fix it.

Dinner was at the hotel again.  They served us cole slaw withe a honey mustard dressing for the salad.  The main course was macaroni pie, Pastitsio. Dessert was a creamy gelatin that had some strawberry glaze on top.  It reminded me of panna cotta.

We were all getting short on Euros because we didn't want to exchange anymore money.  We decided that we could pay the .60 Eurocents to ride the tram and see the Athens sites at night.  We started at the parliament, walked to the Temple of Zeus, saw some of the Olympic venues on the way, and then ended at the Acropolis.  The day time visits are full of hustle and bustle, while the night seemed somber and relaxed.

Downtown Athens had cows painted and placed all over similar to how Cincinnati displayed pigs.  I had to get my picture with the pink one.  She was also wearing her evil eye jewelry and garlic around her neck.

I didn't return to the hotel until 12:30 and had to be ready to leave for the airport at 2:30am.  I decided that sleep was not an option.  I stayed up with one of the students while she waited for her roommates to return from the city, then I finished packing my things.