Hello Hellas!

Early morning on the 17th of February we left Bulgaria. It was all so very sudden. Our plans for how it was going to happen didn't really pan out. We were getting really close to our 90 days in the country. With some research and a couple visits to the police station we decided it best to leave Bulgaria with a few days as back up for when we need to return for mike's paperwork. So we had 1.5 days of packing franticly, moving out of the apartment, deciding where it is we would go, tying up loose ends such as bills and rental agreements and things of the sort. It was very straining on the nerves for me. Mike seemed excited more than anything. Excited for the adventure of the unknown! Once we had a semi plan I was excited too.

We called my aunt in Athens and she arranged for us to stay with her! She doesn't have her own place, lives where she is employed so it was a little complicated. This aunt is my dad's youngest brothers wife. My uncle died about 30 yrs ago leaving her with a 1.5 yr old and a really big baby inside. She delivered the day after she buried her husband! Her story is a very hard one. I am soo happy that I got to know her/meet her. Haven't seen her since I was 5. I just knew her from what my parents would tell me. She is an amazing woman. You would not believe the running around she did for us! We have never and will never again be waited on like that! And we will never forget all that she did for us. Our time in Athens was so special to me because of her. I was so happy to come home in the evenings and just talk to her. She is usually so lonely. Alone in the country...supporting her kids back home in Moldova. She has no one to talk to and was so happy to have company! I was honored to be that company. And was a little ashamed of how she was treating us...like we were royalty or something. I felt uncomfortable. I really came to love this woman. We were able to stay in Athens for a long time because we didn't have to buy a single food item or pay for stay.

We stopped in Thessaloniki and Meteora on our way to Athens. Thessaloniki was nice but we weren't too impressed. Meteora was amazing. There are these monasteries built on top of mountains that look like fingers of rock are coming out of the earth. You have to look at the pictures, it's unlike anything we've ever seen. 

In the 9 days we were in Athens we did a lot of sightseeing. We did the usual of course such as the acropolis and all the city's historical sites. It was interesting to see a place with so much history! The ancient world. There were bits of ruins everywhere you looked. Their building of the subway station took a long time because as they dug they kept bumping into ancient artifacts that were 2.5 thousand yrs old! (for example) There were many modern buildings that had fenced off pieces of old houses or something right next to it. Or just walking through the city in between the regular buildings will be a tower or something from 2000 yrs ago. We went to the Olympic stadium they built for 2004 and ran into a ton of the fenced off pieces of the ancient world. It was neat. 

We also traveled out of Athens quite a bit. We did 3 day trips. One was to the city of Marathon where there was once a battle and an Athenian man ran back to Athens to bring the news that they had won. It's a little over 20 miles from Athens. That is where we get the word marathon, from the battle of marathon:). Greek history is full of stories like that which is what made this trip so fun, I've never liked history this much. 

Two was Delphi, Itea, and Arahova. Delphi was a town that a famous fortune teller from the ancient times lived. She was well known for her predictions. Many kings would travel to see her before war, for example, to see how they should proceed. There is a scene in the movie 300 where king leonidus travelled there to seek her advice. Itea was a little beach town and Arahova was a little mountain town. Reminded us of South Lake Tahoe, only without the lake and built on the edge of a mountain. I really liked the feel of the place. Relaxed and so so pretty. Loved walking the streets and peeking into shops. I think the reason I liked it so much was because it was different than the ruins we've been looking at for a week. 

Trip three was Corinth, Mykines, and Nafplio. Ancient Corinth was built around 500BC. We went and saw the old city and the stage from which apostle Paul spoke to the Corinthians. That was most interesting to me. Mykines is where historians believe the  first civilization of main land Greece began. There was an old castle there that was built 1300BC. A lot of the modern governments and language are attributed to the Mykinians. It's crazy to see how old some of these sites were and to think that this tribe was around even 400 years before king David and Solomon ruled in Jerusalem is amazing. Nafplio was the first capital of modern Greece and it also had a massive medieval castle on top of a mountain. We explored the castle for a few hours, the views from there were amazing. 

Monday afternoon our time with T. Anya (aunt) had come to an end. Leaving was a little hard. A lot harder than I thought it'd be. To think only 9 days prior I hardly knew the woman but leaving was just as hard as it was to leave family at home. We drove back to Corinth for just the night and early morning we started heading to Olympia. Olympia was pretty cool, a bunch of ruins in my eyes but with a ton of history. The history of the Olympics. We saw the exact place that the Olympic torch is lit for the Olympics. I may just not pay attention to things of the sort but I was so amazed at the fact that they light the torch here every four years and fly the flame to wherever the Olympics are that year. I thought that very interesting. Mike and I had our own little Olympic race in the original Olympic stadium! We had to do it!:) and it was so fun! From there we drove towards the Ionian Sea and stayed in Patras for a couple days. It is the 3rd largest city in population. We explored a bit and found wifi at a coffee place. My favorite though was hanging out in the back of our car on a huge pile of pillows/blankets and watching the sunset. Had an awesome view of the Rio Antirro bridge (the largest suspension bridge in the world with a toll fee of 13.20 Euros..."scammers" mike says). We left the Patras area early Thursday morning and started heading up north. Today we stopped in a couple random little towns. We found another little coffee shop and used their wifi in exchange for the purchase of 2 cappuccinos. We liked the sunset setup so much that we did it again today!:) today's was better. We didn't see a soul in the 3+ hours we were there. Mike read, I wrote, we ate, mike skipped rocks, I watched, we took pictures. It was absolutely amazing!! My favorite of all the moments we had in Greece!

We're leaving the country very pleased! I loved how nice everyone was. We read that the Greek are a hospitable people but we didn't expect so much! One family gave us (complete strangers) a free place to stay and for a week!! Another family was so awesome in spending time with us, showing us the sights. The dad of this family was in the restaurant business for many years...the cooking he did for us was so so amazing! I was just in awe! They were so sweet! I mentioned that I'd like to learn to make tzatziki...the next time we saw them what did we do? We made tzatziki! I love that old man! 

We're living in our car. Everyone we tell feels sorry for us or something...but  I think it's great!! It's like a very cozy, very little home. The only complaint is the not so warm nights. But we've figured it out. With each night we get better at it. We have a pretty complex system of cold air blockage and cushioning and other means of comfort. We fit very well. We have a wagon, a ford mondeo, maroon. Slept in the car a total of 4 nights combined. This trip it's been 3. The further north we go the colder the nights will get though. We'll have to sightsee fast or get more creative.:) The plan is to stay in the car unless it's super cold or we're in dire need of a shower. We're gonna make our money last!:) Been 3 days, it's getting close. Baby wipes won't cut it for too much longer. We are slowly making our way up to Romania to see mike's family. The plan goes like this: Macedonia-1 day, maybe 2. Serbia-same. Maybe longer, depending on how many families we visit. Mike's got family there too.

We are having the greatest experience ever! It is so great to just be free. No plan really, no time frame, no obligations. If we want to detour and see something along the way we're free to do that. If we like a city and want to stay an extra day we can. I've always wanted to live like this! It's so fun!