Athens

My last stop (before Israel of course) was the ancient city of Athens. We visited the Acropolis — theater of Dionysus, the Parthenon, etc. — wandered around the fruit and veggie markets, and ate some meals in the windy streets of Plaka. We also ended up walking through a seriously sketchy area to get to the Archeological Museum, but we survived just fine.

Parthenon

  ancient bling

 So I have a theory about karma and coincidence, because every time we are about to leave a city, something troublesome or annoying happens. It must be the city's way of telling us that it's time to leave. So in Athens, on the last day, we tried to find the Greek Costume Museum, which apparently did not exist. Then we attempted to ride the funicular up to the top of Lykavittos Hill, and it was broken. Finally we tried to go into the cultural center and the national library, both of which were closed that afternoon. So by the time the day was over, we were ready to leave.

We took a late train to the airport at 11:00 p.m., and hung out until our 2:15 a.m. flight to Tel Aviv. I am settled into my apartment in Jerusalem and it's amazing. It's a nice feeling to return to a familiar/holy/bangin' place after having traveled to all those places where I didn't know which way was up. It's good to be back in the motherland.