Back for round two
Saturday, September 17th: Athens, Greece
When we woke up, Liz had began scratching the back of her legs and they instantly flared up with hives. After 30 minutes, more started to show up and they turned a bright red color. We feared the worst… bed bugs. We checked the comforter and seams of the mattress, but we didn’t find the culprit. We’re not sure if it was something we ate, sat on, etc. We even think it’s possible that Liz sat on a chair that a stray cat previously laid on.
We got on the road a little late, but drove two hours outside of Athens to Delphi. We are continuously impressed by the driving techniques here - we passed by a motorbike with a bicycle strapped on its side and someone else with a small kayak.
We made it to the countryside where the mountains rose above us. The land was arid and cotton fields lined both sides of the road. It was hard for us to envision the ski resort that operates here in the winter.
We parked in the village and chose a restaurant with a terrace that overlooked the valley for lunch. The pork gyro meat was probably the best we’ve had so far. They brought us olives and a dip to start. The olives were bitter, like they had not been brined for long - not even Matt enjoyed the flavor.
After lunch, we visited the archaeological site with the remains of the Temple of Apollo (where the Oracle of Delphi served). We walked to the old stadium and back, meeting several furry friends along the way. We had forgotten our backpack and water supplyC so we were parched at the end and splurged on fresh mango and strawberry juices at the cafe.
We didn’t have time to visit the museum or other sites, so we started making the drive back to Athens. Matt had little company while Liz and Michaela quickly fell asleep.
We got back to the AirB&B and drove our extra luggage to the storage facility. We couldn’t fit three people and all of our bags in the car, so we needed to cut the dead weight for now.
We went back to our new favorite restaurant - Caper - for the halloumi salad, tzatziki and kebabs. They gave us another round of the chocolate cake, cookie and banana ice cream dessert, but no mastika.
Accommodations: AirB&B, Filopappou, Athens