Safe, Happy, and Exhausted

I suppose I should have known when I saw the cutoms officer stamp our passports, cigarette smouldering at his elbow, that I was in for a bit of a cultural baptism by fire. But I suppose before I delve into my musings on Greek culture (all 12 hours of culture that I have thus far experienced) I should bring you up to date on the trip.

Our flight from Denver to London lasted about 8 hours, Griffin slept for 6 of those hours...this child is an angel. Sleeping on a plane has never been one of my talents, nor Landon's, so I'd say we got a few hours in if you add it all up. We landed in London at noon local time where we had a 9 hour layover. Instead of finiding a cozy corner of the airport to sleep, we left the airport and headed out to see the city. I'm glad we did because Landon had never been to London and who knows if/when we might get the chance again. It was a crash course, to be sure, but well worth the effort.

Griffin's First Train Ride

Buckingham Palace

After Lunch in St. James' Park

Big Ben

Our flight to Greece left London at 9pm, and we hoped that Griffin would once again sleep through the majority of the 4 hour flight. This time we weren't so lucky but Griffin was still a really good baby on the flight and only really lost his patience with the whole process as we drove to our hotel from the Athens airport at 2:30am.

To answer your burning question: yes, it is all Greek to me! And yes, Landon and I have made that joke with surprising regularity and we have yet to find it unfunny. We are staying in a bed-and-breakfast-type hotel just down the street from the ritzy Greek shopping district. I discovered today that it would be possible for me to spend our entire savings on a few pairs of shoes and couple of handbags if I had the mind so do so. Thankfully, I've no intention of doing anything of the sort.

I also have decided that I need to learn the words for "cute baby" in Greek because I'm pretty sure that's what all of these people eyeing Griffin are saying, but I can't be sure. I just hope they aren't saying, "weird Americans."

This afternoon we went to lunch and then to the supermarket a few blocks away and it was definitely a testament to how laid back Greeks really are. At the sandwich shop all of the outdoor tables were full of mostly mustached men, none of whom appeared to have ordered any food, but all of whom were clearly enjoying taking in the afternoon and talking about very amusing-sounding things, but it was all Greek to me. (See, it's funny when it's true)

The supermarket was also quite an experience. This was where we got the most "cute baby" type comments. One Greek grandmother told us our baby was adorable, but that he was so fair skinned that he needed a hat in this sunshine (We only understood this because a younger woman there stepped in and translated for us). Anyway, so far everyone has been really kind and friendly and they don't seem to even be peeved about the fact that we can't speak Greek. I'm hoping though that in three months I'll sound at least a little less clueless when I go to the supermarket. But for now it really is all Greek to me...ok, maybe the joke is starting to get a little lame.