It’s all Greek to me!

The most amusing thing about the language is the way English letters are combined with the Greek alphabet to form the words. Just when you think you're figuring something out - BAM! - a Greek symbol. Luckily I don't think I've encountered one local that can't speak relatively good English.

We took the ATVs out for the day again on Thursday - myself (aka. Nelson), Divven (aka. Bill), Kirsten (aka. Wayne [Gretzky]) and "the two Aussies" (aka. Heath & Ledger) - with no restrictions and armed with a vague map of the island. Quadbikes aren't known as all-terrain vehicles for no reason: we carelessly pushed them beyond their limit to wherever it looked good - up and down steep hills, along beaches and over dunes, through the winding streets of small towns, along highways, through and (when necessary) over olive farms - and it was awesome!! Especially when it started to rain buckets. Spinning unintentional donuts on downhill cliff corners, drenched from the rain, is more fun than is sounds dangerous. I'll definately do that again someday.

The wind and rain picked up on Friday so plans to take kayaks out were replaced with DVDs and a brief midnight stroll to the pool area on the beach to watch the distant thunderstorm. For the same reason, I've decided to skip the other highly recommended islands (Santorini and Ios) and only spend 4-5 nights in Athens which is where I currently am. I'll try return here next year in-season, to better experience Greece and all it has to offer in terms of natural beauty and outdoor activities.

My night bus/ferry arrived in Athens at 04:30, two hours earlier than I was expecting. A quick call to the hostel ensured I had a general idea of how to find it from the station. A free bus ride (score one for the tourist!), metro ride and two hours of walking the dark streets with a tiny map, and I was in bed to only wake up at 3pm.

There's an interesting story behind the large number of stray yet street-savvy canines in Athens. Quoting my Let's Go:

In the 1990s, an influx of refugees from unstable Balkan states prompted many Greeks to buy guard dogs. When local anxieties receded, unwanted pets were released into the streets. By 2001, Athen's stray canine population was estimated to be over 3000, and increasing all the time. [Ed: 'Greeks to poison up to 15,000 stray dogs before the Olympics' - Telegraph News]. The animals have become so accustomed to city life that the furry quadruplets can be seen standing patiently at crosswalks, waiting for the lights to turn green.

We affectionately named one of them "Made in China" last night, but then I scared him away with my Casio flash. There are just as many cats too, it's quite mad. But I do like the city very much. If I get a chance tomorrow I'll pay a visit to the Olympic Velodrome Stadium and surrounds, but I doubt it. Since I've decided to return here, I'm not that motivated to see all too much and am just chilling. I did a walking tour yesterday organized by the hostel, which was ok considering the guide was Brazilian and it was only his second tour. We visited the Temple of Olumpius Zeus, the Acropolis (one big restoration project, sadly - but mighty impressive views of the surrounding city), the Roman Agora and the Ancient Agora. As well as the extended (Sunday's only) changing of the guards in front of the Parliament building.

I uploaded over 100 new photos this morning in a 24hr i-cafe, complete with ACDSee 3.0 (woooo...a piece of 1999 software history) and a dodgy installation of WinXP that froze every half hour. Bonus. Captions and descriptions will be added in time, as usual.

I'm booking a flight to Berlin for tomorrow or Wednesday, and my itinerary for a week and a bit in Germany is as follows: Berlin, Dresden, Frankfurt, Bonn and possibly Cologne. Then into the Netherlands (Amsterdam), Belgium (Brussels & Bruge), back into France (Paris, Lyon & Chamonix, which I skipped earlier) and finally ending in Switzerland for which I don't require a visa.

Lastly, if you stumble onto this entry through me having given you my e-mail address or whatever, please let me know. I've been slacking lately with the "address exchange" thing, sadly, and have lots of photos and memories that are worth sharing.