Ελλάδα, η πατρίδα μου

I had been taking photos all week to post here and yesterday, I realized that since I don't have my cable with me, I can't upload them. Now what.

I've been in Athens since I arrived last Sunday. The weather, if you're into hot and sunny, is pretty amazing. It's not muggy and humid like it can be in Toronto, it's just hot. For the first couple of days I was at my aunt's house and I'd meet up with Ilias at night. She lives in Alimos (Greek: Άλιμος), a coastal suburb of Athens. The main street is lined with beach bars and restaurants. It's sort of what our Harbourfront should aim to be more like if they decided to do away with crappy patios furnished with plastic chairs [insert photo here].

The thing that kinda blows me away about this city is the fact that you run into ancient history the way you run into doggie doo in Paris. We had dinner at this restaurant Pil Poul (Greek: Πιλ-Πουλ) and behind us, was a view of the Acropolis (Greek: Η Ακρόπολη) [insert photo here]. We walked through the downtown area called Syntagma Square (Greek: Σύνταγμα) and came across an old church from the 16th century, squeezed between the Zaras and D&Gs [insert photo here], not to mention the artifacts on display in the subway. We took a bus to the village Ilias' mom is from, called Nemea (Greek: Νεμέα), made famous by the myth in which Hercules slays the Nemean lion. Ilias likes to say that he's a decendant of Hercules, but as his uncle (who offered me a one-way ticket to Greece) pointed out, he's actually a decendant of the dead lion. His grandparents' neighbour (literally down the street) is the temple of Zeus and the stadium of the ancient Panhellenic Games [insert photo here - I didn't actually take one of this].

Tomorrow, we head to Piraeus (Greek: Πειραιάς), where, by the way, I had the best seafood I've ever eaten [insert photo here] at this restaurant called Ammos (Greek: Άμμος) - means "sand" in English - to take a boat to the island my dad is from, Syros (Greek: Σύρος) (Ok, I know this sentence has some serious punctuation errors, but I'm on vacation). We have a small house in the village of Galissas (Greek: Γαλισσάς). It'll be the first time Ilias meets my extended family. My uncle has been waiting for this moment since the White Oaks Spa accidentally sent him our confirmation letter back in June. I'm sure he and my dad will be waiting with baited breath at the harbour to pick us up. If I manage to find an internet connection, I'll let you know how it goes.