Greece

It's Sunday and I am feeling wonderful. This is my vacation for the year and I am spending it in Greece. I love being here! After being in a unseasonably cold London, I am actually enjoying the 90 degree weather. What makes the heat enjoyable is the lack of humidity. I arrived in Athens on Thursday evening. I was thrilled to see Dan again! We took the extremely nice metro to our hotel, which is right in front of the parliament. He was going to surprise me with a nice dinner to celebrate our one year anniversary. I was expecting a little restaurant in a crowded square. Yet to reach our restaurant, we had to board a cable car, which takes you up the side of the mountain. At the very top was this very elegant, swank even, restaurant, Orizontes, that overlooked all of Athens. What was even better is that you had a perfect view of the Acropolis. The food was delicious and the view was spectacular! The company wasn't too bad either. The next day we went to the final panel of Dan's conference, which boasted the chief justice of the European Court of Justice, and the chief justices of the supreme courts of Colombia, South Africa, and South Korea. Parellels to supreme court justices from Germany and the UK also presented. Honestly, I was bored. Dan was in his element though and we enjoyed coffee with various legal big-wigs in the courtyard of the Zapeion, the location of the conference. I now know what proper networking looks like. When I'm at a conference, I do my thing and then I head to the bar or a coffee shop. To network you ask? No, to caffeinate or to "relax." Anyway... The rest of the afternoon was spent at the Acropolis and eating Greek pastries. Saturday we took a three island cruise. I was initially unsure of the trip given that the minute we stepped onto the ship, two people dressed up in traditional Greek garb grabbed us and we had our photo taken. Think Disneyworld. Oh dear. Next, there were the Japanese travellers who were singing kareoke in the main lounge at 9 in the morning. They were on our bus to the ship and were very sedate the entire time. For this reason, I was even more shocked by the singing and dancing. Luckily, the rest of the trip wasn't so campy. We saw three islands: Poros, Hydra, and Aegina. I felt like a jet-setter (well, except when I rode a donkey at Hydra). Really though, the trip was lovely. Dan and I want to return to Greece to see Santorini. Today is our last full day here. I want a real gyro and that is my goal. As I say, aim high, aim high.