Patras

We left Athens on Thursday and picked up a rental car at the airport. Terry has done all the driving so far. While I have an international drivers license I have no desire to drive while here. The combination of a a manuel transmission, other crazy drivers, some freaking small roads, and not knowing where I am going does not make a great combination. I'll leave the driving to Terry and Liz.

From Athens we drove to Delphi and looked around the ancient ruins. We then got back in the car and drove the rest of the way to Patras. Our family friends, Paul and Cathy, have in-laws who are Greek-American and live here. Paul and Cathy have been here for almost three weeks and we have had the pleasure to hang out with them and their in-laws. Georgia, their daughter-in-law's mother is a kick and she has been a great tour guide. Yesterday was a delightful day of a short walk and seeing a castle. We then when back to Georgia's home for a lunch and the afternoon was spent at the beach. Everything about the day was wonderful! The food and company were especially nice. We even managed make it to dinner past 9pm! And I wasn't the first person who was hungry.

The highlight of the day was going to the beach and seeing Terry in this speedo. I was aware that Terry was bring his speedo as his only bathing suit, however, Liz wasn't. She was more than a little embarrassed! However, it wasn't until he got out of the water and realized that his bathing suit felt saggy that he might be showing more that he realized. He says "it is like the lycra dissolved in the salt water." When we got back to the hotel we realized that the back of his swimsuit was as see through as nylons! Georgia and one of her friends saw his butt through his suit. They thought it was a little unusually for this guy from Seattle to have a see through bathing suit. We all got a laugh out of the situation. When Terry asked Georgia where he could by a bathing suit she kindly passed on a new speedo type suit that her husband didn't like. It's much better considering people now can't see Terry butt.

Today we took a ferry across the Corinthian Sea and then drove another 30mins to a local family beach. It was amazing. The water was clear, the beach wasn't crowded... So we spent a few hours in the sun and water before having our afternoon meal. Being with people who know what to order is great because you get to try so many things that we would never have known about or tried on our own. We then drove back another castle and had drinks and sweets before heading back to hotel. The day was spent with Paul, Cathy, Georgia, Niko, and Theoni. Niko and Theoni are friends of Georgia.

The most interesting part of the day was taking the ferry boat across the water. Unlike in Washington where the ferry boats have two ends (one where you get on and one where you get off). Here there is only one entrance to get on the ferry. So if you are one of the first ones on you drive on and then turn around. Or you have to reverse your way on to the ferry or drive on regularly and then reverse off the ferry. With small cars this isn't a problem but with big rigs it takes a lot more work.... Yet it doesn't seem to be a problem for most of the drivers.

Tomorrow we are heading to a sand beach south of Patras. From there we will say goodby to Paul and Cathy and head south on our own. While tourists may not like Patras we have had a grand time being with our friends and meeting some locals.

I'm finding that uploading pictures to my blog from my iPad might not be as easy as I thought it would be.... Hopefully pictures will come soon...