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By the time we got back to Athens last night, it was getting on toward twilight, so I set a brisk pace to the restaurant I'd chosen. I had looked only at the cheapest ones, and we ended up in a really seedy neighorhood. The last block was nearly shoulder-to-shoulder on the narrow sidewalks, and all men. The Greeks, while not as forward as I'd been warned, make no bones about eyeing all women who pass up and down. I adopted a Greek nose-in-the-air attitude and pushed right through; I was just so desparate for these recommended restaurants to be our panacea. Becky and Margaret were freaked out when we arrived at the right spot, which had a nice-looking restaurant, but not the one in the book. Later Margaret mentioned that it's probably easiery on me because with my coloring, I at least blend in a little. In retrospect, I think she's right.

They didn't want to have to walk back through in the dark, so they started wandering around looking for something. Finally we found a cafe with mediocre food and rather expensive prices. I was really put out. We formed a plan to alternate days: doing things in me and Margaret style one, and Becky style the next.

Also, I had really good talks with both Becky and Margaret while the other was in the shower.

This morning we got up before dawn to make the seven o'clock train to Corinth. I was a bit cross, but I think it was mostly from being tired. I had stayed up pretty late thinking. But Margaret gave me beef jerky, and Becky gave me a kudos bar, and I napped a bit during the two hour ride, so by the time we arrived, I felt much perkier.

We had nearly an hour wait for the bus to Ancient Corinth, so we stopped at the bank and at a small store to buy breakfast and lunch. After my spinach pie, I was pretty much golden.

Ancient Corinth is amazing. I'm not sure if it's because we were finally on our own, but I think it was the setup of the site itself. The city was quite large, and for a three euro ticket you can wander all over it. Only a few special places were roped off. We spent hours exploring. I had a blast just exploring every nook and cranny.

Most of the ruins seemed Roman, judging by the prevalent use of brick. The amazing part was that the walls were covered with thin sheets of marble. The colors and quality of the stone was stunning. They also had some statues in the open air.

We did run afoul of a rain storm; after huddling under a tree for several minutes, we at last took refuge in the museum. My favorite part there was the colorful, intricate mosaics from the site.

After the sotrm we took advantage of the shine part of the rain and shine to explore the rest of the site. My personal favorites were the fountain and the spring, which I'll show you in the pictures. I've taken an insane amount of them already.

We took a taxi, which cost slightly more than I had hoped, up to Acrocorinth, on the mountains. It used to be a fortress, and is pretty much completely open for exploring. It requires some steep and slippery climbs, though, so there were few people.

Margaret and I went off on our own and climbed all over the fortress. We saw some amazing things. One thing I didn't catch on film was a miniature humming bird, only one inch big. I also got a kick out of the ant trails along most of our footpaths. We saw huge beetles, a ton of crickets, and some snakes, to boot.

The views were breathtaking and the ruins fascinating. Our two hours there were a real highlight for me.

When we got down, we found that Becky had done some exploring, too. Everyone was happily tired. Margaret and I finally ate our sandwiches.

The journey home was uneventful. Becky and I got take-away for dinner. My Greek salad was very nice. We ended up taking an earlier train back, so I had time to do email.