A Scrap of Life

This morning was relaxing. We meandered our way out about 10am for the last few sites we wanted to see. Along the way I started taking photos of one of my favorite parts of Athens... all the cats! They are everywhere! When I asked my tour guide about it he said “cats are better than rats” and then went on to explain that at the height of the economic crisis in Greece, over 40% of Greeks were unemployed. They couldn’t feed their animals so let them loose. Now the streets and ruins are filled with them and everyone just lets them chill wherever. We’ve seen them napping on motorcycle seats or chilling out on the counter of a ticket booth. Our guide also explained that the community takes care of them - takes them to be fixed and leaves out food. There are apparently Facebook pages dedicated just to the cats! Look at just some of the cats we encountered over 3 hours of walking around. Our first stop was the Ancient Agora. We listened to a Rick Steves a...

Another amazing day in Greece! We started the day off right because we actually slept all night long. So thankful we are getting acclimated. Breakfast was a ham and cheese pie we picked up at a nearby Greek bakery. It was so delicious! Then we set out on foot to see more of the ancient sites. First was Hadrian’s Gate, which just hangs out on the side of a very busy road. Once upon a time it was the gateway between the old Athens and the new Athens. Hadrian’s Gate was eclipsed by what was right next to it - the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Wow, the size of these columns! Absolutely huge. There’s not a ton left to see but one of the pillars had fallen many years ago so you see how they were made in big pieces and then stacked atop one another. Pretty cool. Next was a little more walking until we reached the Panathenaic Stadium. We saw this briefly on the tour yesterday but today we took time to go in and do an audio tour. We learned so much with the audio tour! Original...

Today in one word - AMAZING. Visiting Greece is another bucket list item for Brian and I. We really wavered on whether to add this to the trip or not, since it’s a little out of the way. We are so glad we did! First up was a walking tour with Athens Free Tours. These are tours they give for free and then accept tips at the end, so it’s up to the guide to earn it. Our guide, Jonathan, was awesome. He spent 3 hours walking around telling us about history and the sites. One of our favorite sites was the Panathenaic Stadium. We got some photos outside but know we have to return to see more. Later we visited Academia. This gorgeous building has the statues of Athena and Apollo on pillars outside. It's absolutely beautiful! Then our tour guide walked us through the traditional markets - that was quite an experience. We walked through this huge street of stalls selling tons of lamb and other "interesting" pieces of animal. I eat meat and I know where it co...