July 9th: 4 countries

Long day - left for the airport at 8AM, and arrived in Tel Aviv after midnight, having passed through 4 countries - Turkey, Greece, Cyprus and finally, Israel. I learned today that I will watch just about anything on TV when I'm bored at the airport - even formula one race car driving became interesting.

In the airport in Larnaca, Cyprus, I ended up sitting next to a group of 10 older Israeli men.
"You going to Israel on holiday?" one man asked.
"Yes." I said.
"What for?" he responded.
"Why not?" I asked back.
That seemed to satisfy him.

I had a 6 hour lay over in Athens. My friend Katrina, who runs a restaurant on the island of Paros (who I will visit at the end of the month), sent me an itinerary for the day, including getting to baggage check at the airport, getting into the city, and a three hour walk around the Acropolis, Thiseo, and the Plaka.

I love the image from the sentence: "He parted the curtains and let the sun shine in," from The Search for God at Harvard by Ari Goldman. I don't know what it is, but I am often on the verge of tears. For example, the simple line above brought tears to my eyes.

Kapinkarea, on the pedestrian walkway part of Ermou Street

Mosaic entrance of Kapinkarea

The Acropolis (of course)

Favorite quote for the day: "My dog's name is Zeus."
(Eavesdropping on a British woman)