While things like the internet drive me crazy in Egypt, getting random time off does not. Upon arriving back in the country in late August we found out that we were getting about 8 extra days off of school due to the instability. Obviously I'd love for Egypt to be stable and have a functioning democracy, but I can't complain about extra time of work. And to make it better, a group of us decided to head to Greece where my mother's father was from. (He was the first one in his family born in the States.) We decided on a road trip through the south west with a few stops. Driving through the Peloponnese was quite the experience.
Our first night was spent in Athens so we could see the Acropolis and local Athenian sights. It was pretty amazing, but of course there was a ton of work going on so it was hard to take in with all the equipment around. The views from the top were amazing and it was great to see something that I've only seen in text books till now.
The next day we headed out and drove through Corinth to the ancient site of Mycenae. Mycenae was a pretty cool walled site on top of a small hill with a view out to the sea. Being one of the most well known centers of Greek civilization, it was worth the short drive from Athens. From Mycenae we headed down the coast on some gorgeous coastal roads with extremely sharp turns that were a bit of a challenge for our van. Randomly we stopped at a small little coastal restaurant with a great view of the beach. I ordered a Greek salad, some olives and some feta for my meal. This was a mistake. I love feta, but I ate in one sitting more feta than I had had in the previous 3 years. On top of the salad was a brick of feta accompanying the other brick of feta that came with my olives. I had to eat all 3 pounds of it because when you live in Egypt, you can't just ignore delicious cheese.
After the restaurant we hit the road again. Unfortunately we kind of misjudged our route and the distance it would be till our next stop. We ended up driving through the mountains and towns that were so small we actually drove through cafe seating areas. At certain points there were only inches on either side of the van as we drove between walls or parked cars. The views from the mountains were stunning, although I couldn't totally enjoy them as I was driving. Steve took over later in the evening and got as to our next stop of Ancient Olympia.
In the morning, 4 of the 6 of us woke up relatively early and headed to the site of the first ever Olympics. We got there early enough that we were basically alone for a while. The site had been messed up by some earthquakes but was still impressive. Obviously we had to run on the original track. (I might have taken the race a little more seriously than my friends. I might be a little too competitive...) Either way, walking in to the stadium and imagining what it would have been like hundreds of years ago as people lined the surrounding hills and chanted.
After the site and breakfast we hit the road again and went to the port so we could take a ferry out to the island of Kefalonia. The ferry was smooth and comfortable and we had no issues. Once on the island we had some more twist and turns as we drove to our house for the next couple of nights. We picked up a few liters of wine, feta and other staples on our way. The house we stayed in was great. 3 bedrooms with a pool and located on the side of a hill over looking a small little gulf. It was gorgeous and one of the most beautiful scenes I've ever scene. The beach down the hill was really beautiful as well. It was a marble beach so the sand was perfectly white and covered in tiny smooth little pebbles. The water was warm an comfortable. After a couple nights we headed back towards the port and stopped at the Melissani cave. The cave was really impressive. It wasn't huge but was filled with perfectly clear water and there was a huge whole in the roof of one cave.
Our next stop was in a tiny mountain town just a few hours from Athens. It was really cool and quite a change. We drove through more precarious turns and drop-offs to get there, but it was worth it again. We were about the only tourists in the town which is on the side of a cliff looking out to the sea way off in the distance. We did a 'pub crawl' and stopped at all 3 establishments in the tiny town that were still open. Not too many people spoke English, so it was a challenge at times but we got by. The rooms were really cool and made of wood and raw stone with huge fire places. Even though it was pretty chilly at night, the accommodation doesn't allow fires till later in the season. The next day we walked around the town in the daylight and took pictures. It was a really relaxing end to a nice vacation. After our little tour, we drove back towards Athens stopping in some sketchy borough to get lunch at a 1 Euro - Gyros place and load up on wine and cheese at a grocery store.
It was a great little trip and I hope to make it back to Greece some time, perhaps with a little less driving.