Traveling with an 8-year-old has its ups and downs, especially when it's his first trip overseas...
After breakfast, we set out for some sightseeing, starting with the Monastiriki flea market. As we entered, we saw an organ grinder who was singing a strangely moving high-pitched song.
From the market, we went to a cafe near the Ancient Agora, where Alex unfortunately burned his tongue on the hot chocolate. That set the tone for the next few hours. We walked around a bit, but his mood deteriorated, and we ended up taking a cab to Syntagma Square (near our hotel). It became clear that he was getting homesick, so we decided to take him for a familiar happy meal lunch (again), which helped a bit. Then we took a cab to the olympic stadium near the National Gardens, followed by a visit to the Temple of Zeus. While we were there, Alex wanted to play with some stray puppies, and I vetoed that idea--which sent him into a bit of a sulk. Happily, with the combination of Alex and Athens, even sulks can be quite photogenic!
At that point the only way to cheer him up was to take him to an Internet cafe, so we spent an hour at an overheated but reasonably priced spot near the hotel, and then spent an hour or two relaxing in the room.
For dinner, we tried to go to a restaurant that had been recommended to us, called O Platanos. It was no small task to track it down, but when we finally found it we discovered it was closed on Sunday night! So we wandered back down through the Plaka and ended up at a restaurant on Adrianous called ΥΔΡΙΑ. The waiter treated Alex like royalty, and the food was really wonderful--it was the first big, healthy meal Alex had eaten since we arrived. Good rolls and butter, Greek salad, and giant grilled shrimp in a delicious sauce. We capped that off with baklava topped with ice cream and chocolate syrup. I adore baklava, and Alex loved the ice cream, so we were both happy. (And I was even happier when the good red jug wine we'd had with dinner was followed by a complimentary after-dinner retsina...mmmm!)
Tomorrow morning, we get picked up bright and early by George the famous taxi driver, and we'll take our two day trip to Delphi and Meteora. No posts between now and when we return Tuesday night, I suspect. But we're SMS-enabled if you must get a message to us.
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