Greece!

Our apartment in Athens was another Airbnb success. Our host gave us the keys and a list of stuff to do and took off for the weekend. What luck! Except it turned out that you can see all there is to see in Athens in about one day.

So we decided to catch the midnight train to Meteora. 

It seemed like such a great idea! We would sleep all night on the train, show up at 6, run around looking at the incredible mountains, and be cozy in bed by sundown for the early train the next morning.

Except for...the train was just awful. Dirty, uncomfortable, and filled with inconsiderate jerks screaming at each other for the entire FIVE HOUR RIDE. Not to mention that somewhere around the two hour mark we had to switch trains and no one was speaking any English...and the tickets looked like this:

How do you pronounce a triangle?

Miraculously, we ended up in Meteora (I still am not sure how) but we forgot one small detail...to figure out where our hotel was from the train station. I managed to get just enough wifi to see kind of where it was on the map in relation to the mountains, and we just took off walking in that general direction. 

I don't know how we got so incredibly lucky, but somewhere along the way there was a sign to our hostel...and we arrived just as the sun was rising. 

The air was crisp and fresh and filled with the perfume of a million roses that seemed to be just about everywhere. 

Forgetting the fact that we hadn't slept yet, we checked in, ate breakfast, and signed up for the morning hiking group. 

So there are some skulls and a creepy shadow ghost in the monastery we visited...

We had time for a quick lunch before joining the next tour--thankfully this one was by car so we could relax a little!!

Richard and I shared a beautiful moment together on the top of the mountain watching the sun set. The sweet old tour guide stole my camera so he could capture it for us.

I think Meteora might honestly be the most breathtaking place I've ever seen in my life. I regret that we didn't spend more time there. It was certainly the best place we visited in Greece. I'd go back in a heartbeat. 

Instead, we took a train...to the metro...to the port... then jumped on a ferry and landed on the closest island to the mainland; Aegina. 

That's when we quickly learned...it was the apocalypse. There were No. People. Anywhere.

Entire hotels were abandoned. Beach side bars were set for a full crowd...and yet there were no humans to be seen for miles. Even in our charming little bed and breakfast we were the only ones.

So for three days we did a whole lot of nothing. And it was exactly what we needed.

For meals we'd walk over to this tiny grocery store across the street (for the hour or two they were opened) and buy fresh fruits and veggies and, of course, loads of Greek yogurt. It was the only thing we ate I think for three days. 

I'm not sure if we were in the off-season in Greece or if this was a sad testament to a country in crisis...but in general we missed Israel!! 

Finally well rested, we caught the next flight to Belgium.