Athens

Katlynn and I finished up Paris with a bang. It wasn't so great when we first got there but by the end it was fantastic. I ate so many crepes and ham and cheese sandwiches I didn't know what to do with myself. We met an awesome Canadian girl named Barbara who we shared a room with and eventually a hotel with. We went to the catacombs, sacre coeur, and lots and lots of shopping. I honestly don't know what we would have done without Tess. She was a lifesaver. When we were done with Paris, we carried our huge bags down another flight of stairs and departed from Charles de Gaulle. When we arrived in Athens, our flight was late and my bag was practically last getting off of the plane. We were met my Katlynn's second cousin Paul and his dad Lakie, which I'm not sure how to spell in english. They are a some of the few who can speak english with us. We got to go out to a bar our first night which was awesome, and really puts american bars to shame. After eating some popcorn and drinking a few beers we came back and crashed. The next day (saturday) Paul took us to get our cell phones and we got some coffee at a nice place on the beach. We got to go back to his parents house to meet Peggy (his sister) and Sophie (his mom) who is actually from Canada and moved to Greece and met Peggy and Pauls father there. We had so much fun talking with Sophie for hours and stayed at there house until about 3 am for the midnight service for Easter.

There really isn't much I can say to describe how awesome easter was. We stood outside the church with candles and at midnight fireworks go off, bells ring, and everyone kisses and says in Greek "christ has risen" to which you respond "he truly has risen." We came back and ate food and talked until early in the morning. Then we went home and slept for a few hours to wake up to head out to the families house in a village my Patra.

On Easter day we got to walk on the beach, eat, laugh, and do some card tricks. It was so much fun. Katlynn's family have been so welcoming, and most of them speak to us in Greek which we try to understand. Our knowledge of Greek and ability to speak has definantly improved, and I think it is going to be really hard to leave here to go to Ioannina. I have no relation to any of these people but they treat me as though they have known me for years. I am so happy to have been able to have this experience, and I hope that the rest of our trip in Greece is as wonderful as this portion has been.