Aegina

Today was the last day in Europe :(. But we spent it on the island of Aegina, on the beach. 

One final group hug for our delegation manager, Charlie.

More Athens

Somebody said recently that Greece is the gateway between Asia and Europe. I've been reminded a lot of Taiwan, starting with riding the public transportation, and the market places, and some of the attitudes here.  We started the day taking the tram to the city center, and taking a cooking lesson at a local restaurant.  The kids made salad, stuffed grape leaves, and bifteki.

Then, we took a tour of city hall

2004 Olympic torch

Stopped at an Ancient Greek stadium 

We hopped back on the bus, and headed for the Acropolis.  

 Our final stop of the day was at a Greek dance school.

  The instructors cooked us an awesome BBQ dinner to finish the day, then it was back on the bus :)

Athens

Today we left the hotel and stopped first at the Theater of Epidaurus.  

Sunrise over the Adriatic 

On the way to Athens, we stopped at the Corinthian Canal

Our lunch was at a home in Pissia.  Dinner was a buffet at the hotel, tomorrow we tour Athens.

Olympia

We arrived here in Greece around 3 AM, so far it's beautiful!  Just before lunch, we disembarked in Patras and had lunch.

Souvlaki 

A Greek Orthodox church near the restaurant.

After lunch, we went to Olympia, the site of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC.

The arch/tunnel that the first athletes ran through to the stadium.

Dinner was amazing too, at a cute little restaurant.  

Pompeii

Today we went to Pompeii, which has been on my bucket list for a long time.  I expected there to be more casts of the people, but it was still very interesting.  And sad.  It was 79 AD, and no one understood what was happening, or what to do.  

This house would have belonged to a wealthy family.  They know this because the square was a cistern.

The cast in the middle is a dog that died tied up in the garden of one of the houses.:(

After a long drive, we arrived in Bari to take the ferry over to Greece.  We should be there tomorrow afternoon.