Day 14

I can't believe it has been 14 days since we left? A Part of me feels like it has been forever, and yet time has flown by, as it always seems to. I was very impressed with FL's blogging. This time, I was the one who fell asleep when he started and completed his first blogging session all on his own. Obviously the writing wasn't a problem, but the format for editing and saving and posting can be a little tricky. I can't believe he shared our story of hotel room changes. I tried to be as diplomatic as possible, but disgruntled -- I was. The hotel manager was extremely nice and all turned out exceptionally well as FL explained. As I was plucking the dead flowers off the geraniums, I hear a voice from above. No, not God, it was Georgiou. He was the manager of the garden restaurant up above and he saw me. He called down "poli oraio". He went on to say that I must have a garden because I knew what the flowers needed. (not in Greek -- broken English). I nodded and said "Malista". (in Greek -- I know, proud of me you may be, but don't get excited, my vocabulary is very limited). That night at dinner, on top of the city, he cut a rose for me and said it was for a nice job of trimming back the flower pots. "Evharisto."

Saying good-bye to Thessaloniki, the cab driver took us on a route through a part of town that I wished we would have seen earlier. On the plane from above, I could see more of the landscape and the area outside of the city. It was far more beautiful that what we had experienced in the city. There were rolling hills with what appeared to be large houses dotting the landscape. The area reminded me a lot of Salt Lake City, with the mountains and hills surrounding the city. The fingers of land that FL referred to were prominent, and trimming them all was a turquoise blue edge along the white sandy beaches that was like nothing I have seen. It was as if God took a paint brush and along the edges of land, threw in a brilliant contrasting blue color. He didn't even bother to do shading. At a far distance, forming the left peninsula was Mt. Athos, and on the right, in the distance, were mountains lining the water and a peak which we believed to be Mt. Olympus. What a great place to take a road trip. The entire flight revealed mountains, and islands, and peninsulas and lots and lots of water.

As we approached the Athens airport, I got a little knot in my stomach. I knew Chris would be okay flying on his own -- he is only 26. But a mother never ceases to be concerned. We left instructions on where we would meet him if all worked out. After picking up our luggage and departing the security area, we turned the corner and all my worries were relieved. There sprawled out on a small airport chair was Chris snoozing. He woke up, got up, and we all got a great big hug. A little tear came to my eye. Now there were four.

One more day in Athens to view the Parthenon and its surroundings, then off to the beach in Kalamata.