Arrival and first night- Athens - City Bus Tour

We arrived in Athens before our hotel was ready for us, so it was off to the beach - the quintessential experience of Greece for those who are not into antiquity. I was too jet-lagged to think about swimming yet, but enjoyed the ride out to Artemis. Below is the coach that took us all around. Zwölfer Reisen out of Austria - highly to be recommended.




Mediterranean life looks a bit different than life in Minnesota.

These pictures represent my first impressions of Greek life - random shots of daily life and scenery.

 

Olive trees were everywhere as was construction. The fact that rebar is sticing out of the top of the home below does not men they are still building.  Many houses seem to leave the rebar on the roof in case they decide to add an addition later.

 

 

 Fruit stands are also a common occurrence along the highway.

 The beaches are famous in Greece - the skies and waters a crisp inviting blue!

 

Our group answered the call and immediately went for a walk along the beach.

 

It is hard not to notice all the flowers, lots of oleander and other flowering bushes and trees.

Our bus driver and fearless leader enjoyed a brew and a fishy snack while the rest of us explored the region.

 

I decided to walk around the town. There are lots of white square buildings.

 

The fruit stands are amazing receptacles of intense color.

 

This seems to be trumpet vine.

 

Where there is no space for gardens, people plant balcony gardens full of pots with lush vegetation.

Then all too soon it was time to reboard the bus and head to our hotel.  

We stayed at the Golden Age Hotel in Athens.  They welcomed us with a complimentary glass of Ouzo or juice and we toastd to our adventure.

The rooms were clean and nice. We even had a balcony.

 

The view from the balcony was of a little park where you could see people walking their dogs and feeding the pigeons.

 

The lobby was comfortable and modern...

 

and you could look down on it from a little seating area on the floor above.

 

 

Breakfast the next day was quite good, although I found the coffee a bit acid and it made me sick.  Nonetheless, I did not want to miss a second of the city tour provided by a local guide. We saw a lot of important buildings, university and government edifices.

They have a kind of Buckingham palace guard box thing going, where the guards have to be very serious and can only move back and forth.

 

 

Of course the Parthenon was pointed out to us (which reigns over the city of Athens) up on the hill (the Acropolis).

Here was someone in traditional Greek costume welcoming the tourists.

 

Here is a closer view.

 

This is the temple of Zeus in a park in the middle of the city near Hadrian's gate.

 

We would first go to the Acropolis and then have a chance to wander around the city. I'll show that in the next post.

First Camp Day in Okinawa

So first thing in the morning we had breakfast and then moved from Naha in the south to Nago in the middle north.

On the road we got our first glimpse of the ocean for that day. It was brilliant aquamarine and beautiful. There had been a typhoon not too long ago, so the atmosphere was still a bit overcast and unclear, but the beauty still could be sensed.

I love the jagged rock islands that one sees in the Pacific. I caught this one as we were zooming by in the car.

This is another shot I took from the moving car. You can see the mist in the air.

Next we headed toward our hotel in Nago. The main shopping street is lined with tropical plants and flowers and reminds me a little of Southern Mexico with its heat and saturated colors, despite the very strong sun.

These shots do not really do justice to the surroundings, but they give an idea of the atmospheric flavor.

It is wonderful for me as a Southern girl to see the tropical flowers and orchids.

While our host was running a few errands, I explored some of the inner shopping areas. Unfortunately many of the old family run businesses are disappearing and thus the inner labyrinth of shops and stores can be recognized as only a shell of its former abundance.

Here is a worker in his baggy pants, helping with some renovations.

This vegetable market had tiny women tending their wares. All the food looked so delicious that my companion and I were wishing we had access to a kitchen.

We waited on the corner in front of the tourist office, which had many brochures, but unfortunately nothing much to offer in English.

Some of the older houses could be seen in this central area of town.

When we got to the camp we got to meet the group and started with introductions.

You can tell the kids are a little nervous, but they were energetic and excited about going to camp.

The building is fascinating. A deco inspired building (?) that is only about 7 years old, it serves a as a nature center and has many hiking trails. They are a green facility and are very concerned about the environment.

This is the interior of the foyer. There was an exhibit of figures made from sticks in the back part of the hall.

The building is a quad and has an inner courtyard with balconies and an un-raked rock garden.

Here is a view from the side.

Students had an orientation session and then we started class all together in the third floor classroom.

After class we were all exhausted and so we took a quick trip to the beach to watch the sunset. I hate sunset pictures, but I always take them anyway. I feel obligated to put a few in even though they are never as impressive as the natural event that one has witnessed.



I invite the viewer to close his or her eyes and imagine a sunset in lieu of looking at the following pictures!



You peeked!

Finally there is one last picture of the hotel. The room is quite spacious by Japanese standards and very clean and enticing. My refrigerator needed defrosting (so I unplugged it for the evening, but other than that and the absence of a clock in the room) it is an absolutely perfect place to stay (wait until you hear about tomorrow's breakfast! (wink!))

I especially like that there is desk space! I was very happy to have a place to work!