Greece was amazing. Everyone we talked to recommended a short stay in Athens to maximize our time in the islands. We scoured the map weighing the pros and cons of each island (nightlife in Mykonos, scenery in Santorini) and decided our best bet would be Poros because of its close proximity to Athens. It turned out to be a great place and we got that at the perfect time. An international boat show was starting a few days after we left and brought with it the start of the high season. We managed to see the boats coming in, yet still pay the low season prices and have the island practically to ourselves. I'd say the highlight and lowlight of Poros would be the temple of Poseidon. Just like my dad, I'm a sucker for "twine ball" historical monuments. When I saw Poros was home to a temple built in the 7th century BC, I made up my mind to make the trek up the mountain. KK reluctantly agreed to join me on our bikes.
A quick side-note: all I wanted while living in Spain was a scooter. It didn't quite fit in our budget so I relegated the thought to my dreams. Then on our trip I decided renting a scooter for a day in Greece would be my one treat to myself. While KK shopped at all the posh European shops I was content to fantasize the wind whipping through my hair while I zipped around a curvy clifftop road overlooking the azure Mediterranean. My dreams were quickly dashed when the scooter lady told me I had to have either an international driver's license or an motorcycle license from the US. Having neither, I hung my head and walked away with two beach cruisers complete with baskets on the front.
Back on the mountainside, going was a lot tougher with bikes than it would have been on a scooter. I comforted KK during the stretches where she had to dismount and push her bike with visions of a beautiful temple with amazing artifacts. I thought she might turn around and return to the comfort of the beach and cold Mythos beer, but she is a trooper and kept going. We finally got to the top, parked our bikes and looked around. Ivory sculptures, Doric columns, and richly decorated pediments are all things one would expect to find at a famous Greek temple. Instead we found a few crumbled stones and scattered olive trees. Apparently all that remained of the once great temple were the foundations and these were mostly covered by excavation equipment. We snapped a few photos of KK pretending to smile with a hazy view of nearby islands in the background and began our rapid decent back to sea level.
From Athens, we returned to Barcelona for a day and a half before flying back to the States. We had a few short hours to wander the streets we had grown to love, but spent most our time haggling with the bank about transferring our money back and repacking our worldly belongings.
Since returning home we have caught up with both our families, most notably the two new babies. We went straight from the airport to Kara's house to see Hayes, who is already showing the signs of a great swimmer: flailing his arms and peeing in the water. We met Sims at the beach in Florida where we spent Mother's Day weekend. He is precious and got to show of this summer's most fashionable baby beachwear.
Our lives now take us to Birmingham for the foreseeable future. We are still homeless and unemployed, but other than that we're having a great time. KK starts her LSAT prep course in July and it looks like I will be coaching and hopefully doing an internship.
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