Athens, Greece, Thursday, June 7, 2007

Thursday we would fill up the morning with last-minute sightseeing and then board the ferry for the island of Kos. But that was before Rosi called a distant relative of Aaron's with whom she had previously exchanged emails; her name is Mathilde. We were finally planning to change our itinerary to try to visit this relative who lives in Ioanina in the west of Greece near the north.

We called this morning to find out that the woman's mother is still alive and lives in the town of Larissa, exactly on the route we had previously planned to take. That gave us still another alternative to consider. Then a half hour later, Mathilde called to say that she forgot to tell us that her aunt lives in Athens.

This aunt, Aaron's distant cousin's name is Nike. Actually that's not her real name but that is what everyone calls her. Mathilde, who lives in Ioaninna, and with whom Rosi has been corresponding, is her niece. Her sister, Mathilde's mother, lives in Larissa. That should straighten out some of the relationships.

We learned all this on our way to recharge our minutes on the cell phone and to check out the subway station. The girls were not going to wheel their suitcases to the subway station if it was going to be too difficult. We got to the subway station, two blocks from the hotel, to find that they were working on the down escalator. Surely, I thought, they will be done 5 hours from now.

On the outing we discovered a huge, wonderful bakery, where we decided we would return to buy fixings for lunch.

When we got back to the hotel we called the aunt and arranged to visit today. Unfortunately, she did not know her Spanish/Ladino numbers, and I had trouble understanding her Greek address. So we called again from the lobby and asked the desk clerk to talk to her and figure out where she lives. We got in a taxi and went to her home, just a couple of kilometers away, and spent a couple of invigorating hours making new friendships and talking family.

For the longest time during the conversation, she could not nail down exactly what the relationship was, but eventually, everything became clear. Her Spanish/Ladino was rusty and limited, but we invented some words and gestures and made ourselves understood. Soon her husband showed up, and asked in Hebrew if we speak Hebrew. He speaks only Greek and enough Hebrew to navigate in Israel. Shortly thereafter, her husband's sister came to visit. I don't know if she came because she knew we were there, but she didn't seem surprised.

Pictures were passed around; addresses and phone numbers were traded, and soon we had to bid farewell, as our ferry was to leave in just a little over 3 hours. It was hard to find a taxi; drivers don't stop for fares; I don't get it. Finally, a taxi was stopped at a light and I went to the window to ask if we could get in. He would only take us once I told him our destination. He barely spoke English, and it was difficult to express exactly where we wanted to go, as our hotel is on a little known side street. Once he understood, by my hand-drawn map, he suggested we get out at the other side of the traffic circle. I think he was trying to save us money, as the route to the other side of the plaza was cut off; it wasn't really a circle.

On our way, we stopped at the bakery, bought lunch pastries, as well as a loaf of bread and baklavas and other sweets for later. The girls went back to the hotel to set up for lunch while I went to the Agora to buy tomatoes, peaches, cherries, and olives. On the way back I stopped at the cheese shop to purchase 3 different kinds of Greek cheeses – out of many options.

After lunch, we rolled our suitcases to the subway and the down escalator was not fixed. Oh, well. But we had the experience of the train ride to the port of Pireaus, from which the ferry was to depart. We got to the ferry in plenty of time and relaxed for the hour until departure. It was fascinating to see the precision with which they backed up huge semi trucks into the vehicle section of the ferry, “parallel parking” the trailers with inches between them.

We have a cabin as this is an overnight ferry, arriving at 5:00 AM at the island of Kos. We put our things in the cabin and brought our food to a table and had an enviable dinner of cheese, fruit, olives, and bread. Yum.

Well, it's time to go to bed if we are to get up in time to disembark at sunrise.