We're in Greece!

It has been a long time since my last blog, but I have good excuses. We didn't really have any good internet in Sweden, and when we got back to Cairo, we practically just washed all our clothes, repacked, and left for the airport again.

I won’t be able to post any pictures until we get back to Cairo, because I forgot the cable, but I can assure you that we are having a great time in Greece – despite a couple of mishaps along the way.
The plane from Cairo to Athens was delayed, so when we finally arrived and had picked up our car, it was way past 2 am. We had already decided not to get a room at the airport – 230 Euro for a double room that we would sleep less than 8 hours in? – but by the time we were out of Cairo it was so late, there was really no point any more to check in anywhere. We stopped and slept for an hour at some rest stop just north of Corinth, and then I drove the rest of the way to Ancient Olympia. Somewhere along the way we had our first mishap, or rather, realized it. The backpack we use to carry Abraham in - the super expensive baby carrier he was brought to the top of Mount Moses, among other places - was still sitting in the Hertz parking lot at the airport in Athens. It would take us hours to go back and get it, if it was still there. So tired, I almost cried. Will we ever see it again? To top off the loss, it had Abraham’s new crocs in it, bought in Sweden and only worn a few times, after we lost one of his yellow crocs at Prague airport, running to catch our flight to Sweden in June. Sigh.
The boys all three slept the entire way to Olympia. We were not sure there was any point to drive straight to our hotel – the Best Western Europa, since we only had a reservation for the following night, and check-in only officially started after 1 pm, but, as we were so tired that we didn’t know what else to do, we still asked at the desk. The nice lady took one look at me and the boys, made a couple of quick phone calls, and took us straight to our family room. I almost kissed her!
We just laid on our beds for a while, half asleep, but then decided to shower, eat, swim, and then nap in the afternoon. After all this we woke up sometime after two, refreshed, and ready to take on the sites. We went down to the village of Olympia and had a light meal in a Taverna; tzatziki, Greek salad, squid, pasta with beef in a tomato sauce, kebab, beer (Courtney) and sodas. It was wonderful! I remembered theoretically that the food is good in Greece, but I had in reality forgotten how good it tastes. Yum! After our meal we visited the museum and the archeological site. Here, mishap number two and three happened: first, August’s sandals broke, and then, after our obligatory run on the original Olympic race tracks, Courtney’s sandals broke. Not as big of a loss as the backpack, but still. Apart from this, the visit was great. The museum had some really cool monuments from the temple of Zeus, Greek gods, statues of Hercules, warrior helmets from Assyria, armor, etc. and although the ruins where mainly, well, ruins, the track was really cool, and there was enough that we could imagine how impressive the temples and buildings must have looked. After our visit we walked along the little shopping street of Olympia, and one of them had the perfect pair of sandals for August, who was very upset about his broken ones. We also found a grocery store, where we bought all kinds of little goodies to have in our room: Retzina wine and Ouzo, tzatziki, nuts, drinks, and the most succulent, delicious peaches you will ever find. Courtney and I spend the evening on the balcony with drinks, after the boys had passed right out.
Today after breakfast, the boys and I drove out towards the coast to find a beach. After a bit of searching, we finally ended up on the beach of Katakolo. It was probably the least child friendly beach I’ve ever been to, mainly because of the traffic. Yes; cars, motorcycles and vespas kept driving by, on the beach! We still stayed and swam – close to the water! – and the boys played in the sand, picked sea shells, explored jelly fish, and had snacks. Courtney stayed at the hotel room to work on his paper (We came to Olympia for a Plato conference, right!), and when we got back we all swam in the pool, and then we took Courtney down to the town hall to register for the conference. The boys and I did some shopping, and then we went back to our hotel for another superb dinner and a glass of wine.
Tomorrow Courtney presents his paper in the morning, and then we head out towards the southern parts of Peloponnese; exciting beaches, caves, Sparta, camping, and – hopefully – more good food and drinks.