Our Final Day Back in Athens
Back in Athens we were met once again by Thanasis our loyal bus driver. The ride was short back to the same hotel where we started this adventure and we had to say our very first good bye and that was to Thanasis. We dropped our bags and then set out on foot on our own for a morning coffee at a sidewalk café. We took one more walk through the lovely Anifiotika neighborhood as we made our way to the Ancient Agora with the help of our Rick Steves walking tour audio app. This was a fascinating journey back in time. The Agora was the hub of ancient "downtown" Athens and dates to 600 BC. In New Testament times, Paul the Apostle would have walked these very pathways congregating with his peers. The Agora was destroyed by barbarians in 267 AD.
We then had a light lunch on Souvlaki Row and set out afterwards to find our Worry Beads in the Plaka – bought some for each of us and the entire family! We then made our way back to our hotel and lo and behold, there was Tassos our dear Greek friend still working out in front of the restaurant trying to encourage tourists to enter. We had a lovely chat and said, yet another goodbye. |
The Ancient Agora
Our Final Dinner Together
After a rest in our room we joined up with the group for the final tour farewell dinner at a very exquisite nearby restaurant – amazing cuisine tastefully presented! We enjoyed re-visiting our fond memories of this amazing trip with our new friends. We said our final good-byes and headed up to our room for a very short night!
We were up very early the next morning to catch our cab for the airport. As a bonus we had a short layover in Paris and even got a glimpse of the Eiffel Tower from the air. After a harrowing rush through the airport we settled into our cozy two seats at the back of the plane. Our long flight home gave us ample opportunity to reflect on all we had seen and experienced. We now had a new understanding not only of Greece and its history but also of the Greek people who we came to love. Yasas Greece! We will be back one day!
Epilogue: Tour Reunion Weekend Edmonds WA, January 2017
With the Rick Steves Tour Alumni Reunion fast approaching, we signed up and crossed our fingers hoping some of our Greece tour members would be attending. We also wanted to check out the Village Italy tour as this one interested us for the next adventure on our bucket list. We had kept in contact with Ann and Mike from our Greece tour and they graciously opened their home to us for the weekend as they live in Edmonds. Great friends!! Great times walking down memory lane and reliving our incredible trip together. They had already signed up for the Ireland tour in the fall so we “test drove” this tour with them too! Oh the choices! It was also great to see Barb, a fellow Canadian from our tour and catch up with her!
And yes, no photo shopping here, the four of us snapped a quick selfie with none other than Rick Steves himself!!
Living the dream and embracing life to the fullest, we will continue to explore all that Europe has to offer! But why stop there; we plan to take on the world!!
And yes, no photo shopping here, the four of us snapped a quick selfie with none other than Rick Steves himself!!
Living the dream and embracing life to the fullest, we will continue to explore all that Europe has to offer! But why stop there; we plan to take on the world!!