Greece...dundundaaaaaaaa

Well getting to Greece was...a challenge. First of all, the reception dinner was so much fun with all of the tour group having cocktails and chatting together at the hotel in Venice. We all got a copy of the group photo we took in front of the Colosseum and it is gorgeous! One of the young girls actually said she was going to miss me and her parents said I would make a fabulous teacher. I told them I was kind of like the comic relief of the tour, but it was really nice to hear. 5am rolled around pretty early. The flight to Rome went very smoothly. I had an over 2 hour layover in Rome to catch my flight to Greece which was on a different airline. After many gate changes, freak-outs, calls to Dad at 2 something in the morning, calls to Mom at the airport in Greece waiting, I finally managed to get to the right gate and they printed my boarding "card" right there 2 minutes before I boarded. Unfortunately, my luggage did not make it to Athens with me. They were not sure really where it was for over 24 hours. The good news was Mom was ready and waiting to welcome my crying, tired self to Athens. The bad news is I've now been wearing the same clothes for almost 2 full days, and just now got to brush my teeth at 6:00pm on Sunday. The first day after checking into the hotel, Mom and I walked to the Acropolis and had dinner at an outside restaurant with a view of the Acropolis. We turned in early because we were both exhausted, but I did manage to wake up at midnight and walk the 2 flights down just to check and see if my luggage appeared. This morning we had breakfast at the Cecil Hotel and walked to the National Archaeological Museum. We stayed there for a few hours, then walked around Athens looking for these darn restaurants in our Frommer's guide that we are now convinced DO NOT EXIST. Out of sheer hunger, we picked a restaurant next to a cathedral just because we saw it was crowded and thought it would be good. We both had greek salads (YUM) and split yogurt with fruit and honey for dessert. We walked up to the Acropolis through like people's back yards. It was bizarre. Then, we paid for a tour guide to show us the Acropolis, Parthenon, Theatre of Dionysus, and an ancient auditorium where famous people have performed such as Maria Calais, Frank Sinatra, Yanni, and etc. Just standing on the ground where the Apostle Paul preached and where ancient people walked in thousands of years before Christ was too amazing for words. We just found out my luggage has been found and should be here sometime before 5am, which is good since we leave our hotel at 6am. I do not have my camera cord so pictures will have to wait. Next time you hear from us, we will be sunning ourselves in the beautiful sun and scenery of Santorini. Yeah baby.