Sea breezes and strange places

Hello!  I’m currently in Belgrade (Beograd), Serbia, and feeling pleasantly surprised after the confusion and heat of Athens.  Everyone I’ve encountered here so far has been remarkably helpful and kind, and the hostel (and surrounding area) is very homey and funky.  I wasn’t sure what to expect, except that I knew I couldn’t read/speak any Serbian, but the tourist infrastructure seems really solid.  I’m definitely excited to explore now…

Athens was hot, dusty, and worth getting out of.  The Acropolis was magnificent, and seeing Medea performed in Greek in an ancient theatre (complete with plenty of audience commentary!) was a fantastic experience, but other that that there was not much to do or see in the 100 degree heat.  So what did I do?  Got out of there fast!  Three nights ago, my third night in Athens, I got to talking with an Aussie girl (a very cool lady and high school science teacher named Kat) who was also sick of it, so we found a place to stay in Aegina (an island 1 hour away from Pireaus port) and the next morning we were on a ferry.

Despite the motion sickness-inducing ride over, the island was a welcome respite, with cool sea breezes, crystal clear water, and lots of friendly, laid-back locals.  We stayed at the “Hotel Liberty”, owned by a man named Costas and his wife, and they were so sweet and kind.  When they heard I would need to leave at 6am to catch the ferry back to Athens for my flight, they told me “We will make you some toast and wrap it up on the counter for you, so you don’t miss breakfast!”  Low and behold the next morning there is not only “toast” (Two toasted ham and cheese sandwiches!) but also water and juice wrapped up in a little bag.  It definitely made the hectic journey to the airport much nicer! (My taxi actually broke down and I missed the ferry, so I had to take the next one…and arrived at my gate just at 10:15 for my 10:30 flight!!)

Now back to checking out Beograd…and definitely washing my clothes.  With all the hot weather I”ve been pretty smelly.