Greece Day One

  I’ve never celebrated my birthday in two countries before! Half the day was in Israel, some was spent flying in the sky, and I arrived in Greece for lunch! We walked down the road from our hostel to get a traditional, Greek lunch consisting of Saganaki (fried cheese, which would be come part of our regular diet in Greece), and pita with vegetables, fries and a white yogurty sauce. Afterwards, we went to the hostel hang out room and met some other travelers- a 24 year old Canadian, preppy teacher who currently lives in London , and one Wisconsin history major freak who talks a lot and is very knowledgeable about Greek history. The dude would eventually become our annoying but necessary tour guide. We walked around to the Olympic stadium which was brilliantly lit up, and then ventured to the Acropolis which is majestic and enchanted at night. Hanging out with a teacher was super weird because I’ve never been old enough to do so- before this, they’ve always seemed so old and “above” me, but for the first time, I was drinking wine and eating stuffed peppers with one. When did I get so freakishly old??? For my birthday dinner, they came out with us to an empty Greek restaurant with a guitarist and mandolinist performing in the moonlight. We feasted, danced a bit to the music, and slowly headed back to our hostel. We walked past colorful, grafitti-filled streets with a black dog that followed us home. It was sad shooing the dog away before walking into our warm, safe hostel. Poor pup.