Yacht Harbor, Dinner on the Hill, and Ohi Day

Well I think I'm about two blogs behind, so please accept my humble apologies...

Two Saturdays ago, I took the bus down to the yacht harbor in Athens. My friend, Bea, from church took me there last year and I was able to actually go onto one of the boats and take pictures. This year, I didn't get that luxury, but it was nice to go anyway. The harbor is lined with shops and cafes. There is also a boardwalk-type area where a lot of people go to walk or run. From this walk, you can climb down onto the rocks and enjoy the view and sound of the sea or fish. Personally, I would NOT fish in this area, as some people have mistaken the sea/rocks and a garbage can. It's not overly dirty, but dirty enough that I wouldn't want to eat anything caught there.



Anyway, I sat on the rock until it started to rain, then I got back on the bus and when to see the old marble Olympic stadium. Anna said that later on this year, when the Olympic games start, they will actually bring the torch to that stadium for awhile. I think she also said the opening ceremony might be there, but don't quote me on that.


Sunday, after church, I was talking to Bea and we were talking about going to get something to eat. Suddenly, Ashley, the missionary's little came running up to me, saying, "There's water over there! There's water over there!" The church is in the basement of a building and whenever it rains (as it had been for the past week), the city's sewage system backs up and and basically throws up in the church, flooding the church with rain water and poo. There used to be a pump in the building that would pump the water back out, preventing the church from flooding, but whoever rented the building before had stolen the pump. So every time it rains, they have to deal with this. Also, their shop vac quit working, so yeah. I wouldn't normally do this, but if you the urge to, I've included two links where you can
1) contact them and ask how you can give them financial support: http://jstrickland.foreignmissions.com/contactUs.asp
2) send them a generic fund towards their special projects:
http://jstrickland.foreignmissions.com/projects.asp

They didn't ask me to do this, and they don't know I'm asking you. I just felt bad for them; they have done everything they can to make the building a decent place for church, but being able to purchase a new pump or at least a better shop vac would do wonders for them. Sooo...thanks for anything you decide to do to help.

Monday, one of our VPs, Paul, came to town, so we went to dinner. Anna wanted to take us to "a place with a view," so she took us up on a hill called Lycabettus to a restaurant called Horizons. According to Greek mythology, Lycabettus was created when Ahtena dropped a mountain she had been carrying from Pallene for the construction of the Acropolis after the box holding Erichthonius was opened. It's the highest point in Athens and actually, I've taken pictures of the restaurant from the Acropolis, without knowing that's what I was taking a picture of.

It was rainy the day that we went, so it was a little overcast and dark, so I didn't get any pictures from the hill, but I was able to see the Acropolis, Attica (the Harrods of Greece), Parliament, Zeus' Temple, the old stadium, pretty much everything.

The items are the menu were weird. They had dishes like wild boar and bull fillet. I got the veal. It was pretty good, but as always, with these "great view" restaurants, it was overly priced and the quantity of food was very small. I think this Citi Bank commercial sums up exactly how I felt about the amount of food we received: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tiVRLgD8ZS0. It was very tasty and we had a good time.

Wednesday, the 28th, was Ohi(Oh-hee)Day. Ohi Day is a national holiday and celebrates when the Greeks stood up against the Mussolini who had come to take over Greece and establish Communism in WWII. Everything closes on Ohi Day. Businesses, shops, malls, everything but restaurants. I took this opportunity to go back to the yacht harbor and read my book by the sea.


As I was walking to my special rock, I was stopped by a couple of Turks who wanted their picture taken, so I took it and then they wanted their picture taken with me, so I obliged them and headed to my rock. I sat down and started reading. Next thing I know, they had come up and wanted to take more pictures with me. These European men are so forward, it's kind of refreshing because apparently American men find me intimidating and therefore don't even try to talk to me, but at the same time, it's very annoying, because I am NOT interested. Also, I was reading. And anyone that knows me, know that if I'm reading, and you disturb me, it's not pleasant. So, I let them take a few more pictures, silently thanked God for the language barrier and put my headphones on and kept reading. They left me alone.



When it got too cold to keep sitting there, I headed back to Kifisia, but stopped at a little mom and pop shop along the way for some homemade pizza. I'd passed this restaurant probably three or four other times, but could never remember where I'd seen it. I finally found and am very glad I did, because the pizza was delicious.

And that concludes the weekend before last and the days in between.

P.S. Sorry I don't know how to make the links active links, but you should just be able to copy and paste them into a new browser...?