A Belated Spring Break Update

Well, it's been almost a month since my Spring Break began, but I believe it is better late than never to record an experience. So here it is: My Month Long Spring Break. :)

Part 1: Greek Surprises
Throughout our time spent in Greece, I was faced with different aspects of the country I had not expected. Some bad, mostly good, all something that made me stop and think, "Wow. That surprises me."

Bad- The American tourists. They were everywhere. I have no doubt that I saw more American tourists than Greeks. This was confirmed when we were stuck going up a mountain on the island of Aegina on our moped and the one person that stopped to help us was from California.
-Stray animals. I suppose this could be good or bad. But there were literally cats and dogs everywhere throughout the city of Athens. Though amusing at times, we were left more than once wondering if the animal was just sleeping or, in fact, dead, a ponderance I would rather not have to face on a vactation.
-Scaffolding. It was almost impossible to really imagine the temples as they were thousands of years ago when they were all under construction and surrounded by cranes.
-TPless toilets. Almost all of the toilets, including the ones in our hotels, disallowed the flushing of toilet paper. Yuck.

GOOD! -Proximity. Our hotel was very centrally located, and we were never out of walking distance from many of the major temples, including the Acropolis, and the Plaka Market.
-Athens Easter Gift. All of the temples we visited on Easter weekend were free!
-Scenic routes. Michelle and I were able to walk up to the Acropolis via the most quaint and perfectly Greek neighborhood, proving again that sometimes the best routes are off the beaten path.
-Rita's shop. On our first day in Athens, we came across a hole-in-the-wall of a shop owned by a woman named Rita, who was selling her artwork to eager tourists. We adopted her as our Greek grandma and was grateful for all of her advice on what to see in and near Athens.
-Chance encounters. At the steps leading up to the Parthenon on the Acropolis I ran into one of my students and his family. The timing was cosmic.
-Greek music, Greek dancing. Rita (from above) advised us on a restaurant for Easter dinner, and after getting lost on the way there, we stopped to ask a man for directions. He then informed us of another restaurant that boasted "Greek music Greek dancing" and let us in even without reservations. Though it turned out to be a huge tourist trap (indeed, it was full of American high school students) it was great to be entertained.
-Moped ease. The idea of riding a moped around a Greek island was very appealing to both Michelle and me, though the potential difficulty of renting, and driving, as it turns out, didn't dawn on us until we were attempting the rental. After fabricating a little thing of ever riding a moped before (neither of us hadn't) we eagerly hopped on our moped and, with mild embarassment, puttered ourselves down the street. After a few jolting starts and gradual accelerations, we both grew into the comfort of riding on a moped and enjoyed what turned out to be one of the highlights of the trip.

All in all, I was thrilled to have the chance to visit a such a renowned and historic city, the flawless weather, and being able to visit an island on which it was possible to circumnavigate by moped. I could have done with less tourists, and my only regret was having just 5 days to spend there. However, with regret comes realization, which, for this particular circumstance, means that I may just have to go back. At least next time I will have an honest answer to the question, "So, have you ridden a moped before?"