Sounio, Ancient Corinth, and the Canal

This weekend Sean and I decided to rent a car so we could see more of mainland Greece. We were supposed to get a nicer car, but somehow we wound up with this little hunk-o-junk. I drove the first leg of the journey. Greece has roundabouts everywhere, which is kind of confusing at times. The GPS system would tell us to "enter the rotary and take the 3rd exit." So I'd count 3 and somehow I'd wind back up where we started. Needless to say, circling the rotary became fun and normal for me, but not so much for Sean...

After about an hour of driving, Sean and I reached the quaint town of Sounio. The area was very beautiful, the trees were still green and the land just looked lush with color. I think it might have been my favorite place so far. The town of Sounio is located at the tip of Greece. Here, the ancient Greeks built a temple to Poseidon, god of the sea, which is what brings people to Sounio. From the temples I’ve seen so far, the Temple of Poseidon looked to be in the best condition. And it had the best view. I tried to take a few creative pictures (and to make you nervous, Mom), so hopefully it was successful.

We came to Temple of Poseidon on a rainy day, so when it started raining hard, we left and headed for Glyfada. Glyfada is an area of Athens that’s supposed to be trendy and modern. We stopped here for dinner and shopping. Unfortunately, the majority of the shops were already closed by the time we got done with dinner, so the shopping was not so successful.

From Glyfada, we headed to Ancient Corinth. Unfortunately, the GPS didn’t recognize Ancient Corinth as a city, so we got directions to Corinth. The tourist book I borrowed from Kandis said that Ancient Corinth was only about 4 miles from modern Corinth. So 45 minutes later, after stopping to ask directions twice, Sean and I reached Ancient Corinth.

I had read on this website that you can see the church where the Apostle Paul preached to the church of Corinth and I really wanted to find the church. Fortunately, it was marked, since the GPS was now useless, and we were able to find it. When we got there, the doors were locked, so we were trying to take as many pictures from the outside as possible. The church is now a Triptych Mosaic, so I was a little disappointed that it wasn’t in the condition it had been, when Paul had preached in it, but I’m glad the church is well kept.

While we were there, the priest/minister of the mosaic came and he let us come in and take pictures of the inside. It was a LOT smaller inside than it appeared on the outside. But they had done a wonderful job of caring for the building.

From the church, we headed to see the Temple of Apollo. The temple is located inside an archeological site, and admission was 6 Euros and Sean and I thought the temple paled in comparison to the Temple of Poseidon, so we didn’t pay the 6 Euros to go in, instead we took our picture outside the gate like the cheapskates that we are!

After we left Ancient Corinth, we decided to head back to Athens. So we programmed the GPS and apparently confused the poor thing. It kept telling us to make turns that took us into olive fields. We spent probably 30 minutes trying to find our way back to the interstate. Finally, we got alongside a dirt road that paralleled the interstate, so being the careful driver that Sean is, he crossed a rock barrier and road dip to put us back on the road heading to Athens. I’m pretty sure we left the undercarriage of the rental back along the highway.

On the way back to Athens, we stopped to see the famous canal. It’s extremely narrow and big ships are pulled through the canal by smaller ships. Underneath one of the bridges, is a bungee jumping platform. It’s 240ft above the canal and has been featured on TV as one of the best jumps. It was pretty cool.

So after seeing the canal, we headed back to Athens, took another 3 or 4 wrong turns (Sean was driving and he didn’t listen to the GPS, sooo???) and called it a weekend.

Settled In

This is going to be a relatively short post. This week was spent working hard on the audit. (No sarcasm here, I did some work from home on it, actually).

On Friday, Marios, the other Greek auditor here, besides my boss, Anna, took Sean and me out to eat. Of course, he wanted to do a traditional Greek meal in traditional Greek style. So we left our hotel at 8:30 to meet him. We took the metro to the Keramikos/Gazi area. This is a popular spot with a lot of Greek restaurants. Marios took us around the area and then FINALLY at 10 we sat down for dinner!

Greeks value quality dinner time and conversation, so by the time we were actually finished and had paid, it was somewhere around midnight. I was full and exhausted and content to sleep the metro ride home. (I didn't, Mom, so don't worry, I practiced safe transporting).

Saturday, I slept in for a little bit, then headed to downtown Athens to get lost in the mass throng of people. I really didn't do too much sight-seeing, but spend a lot of time on Ermou Street and the Plaka area. I started my Christmas shopping, and Christie, I must say, I LOVE YOUR GIFT!! :)



Whilst I was walking around the area, I did pass an old church, so I stopped in to look. The inside was incredibly beautiful, but no one else was taking pictures, so I didn't either. I did notice that everyone was lighting candles as a sign of prayer, so I lit one too. Then on my way out, I realized that you were supposed to pay to light the candle, so apparently I stole a prayer.

Oh, and I collected 2 business cards and had the opportunity to get a 3rd, but turned it down. Apparently I look about 45 years old (not that 45 is a bad age, it's just not my age), because I had 3 guys over the age of 50 ask if they could take me to coffee. Now, these guys were also owners of jewelry stores in the Plaka, so it's possible they were trying to flatter me into shopping in their stores, but I didn't fall for it. The last guy was really trying to lay it on thick and by this time, I'd had enough, so I was a little not so friendly. He was telling me how he'd been to Chicago and Miami and loved it and blah blah blah. Then he asked me why I was wearing my sunglasses, I said, uh, because the sun's out? He told me he wanted to see my eyes. I said, "Not gonna happen" and walked away. Ugh, being a heartbreaker is so hard. NOT.

Sunday, I went to church and then had dinner at Goody's (the Greek McDonald's) with the Stricklands, the missionaries. Their daughter is 3 or 4 and likes me very much, it's super cute!

And that pretty much sums up my weekend. It wasn't full of excitement, but it was nice.

Anyhoo, love you all. And now it's time for your lecture: EMAIL ME!!! I have limited correspondence with home and I'd like to have my email flooded from people back home. Hold the forwards though... ;) rlkinney01@hotmail.com