One word people - haloumi! Until today I was yet to indulge in one of the finest traditional Greek foods during my time in Athens - I could simply not let this travesty occur. Mmm...haloumi. Was remembering our stints at the Greek restaurant in Pitt Street; Poppy, Juz, Paddo and Uncle. The family who owned the restaurant made sure I was seated with perfect vision of the Acropolis - bless. The whole lunch experience was near perfect - the service, food, ambiance - except for the large and loud bunch of Americans trying to order their chicken fried and not grilled! If they don't want the total culture experience, food and all, go to Macca's or better still, stay home. Sorry for the vent, but even American's themselves will admit they are not the best travelers.

The sites were amazing - the size of them has to be seen to be believed. I got a photo at The Temple of Zeus and I look like a tiny spec next to this mammoth structure. The craftsmanship is also fabulous - the ancient societies managed to combine purpose and structure - makes modern man and his structures very bland. Namely 70's architecture. At the site certain areas are roped off, and in the general areas there are tiny rocks and stones scattered where you walk. I figured as this is where I am allowed to walk, I could also take a stone with me. So now I have my very own fragment of The Temple of Zeus - kosher, probably not - oh well.

Made a trip to the supermarket - one of our favourite expeditions in each new city. It is very interesting to see the differences in this standard feature of modern living. In Athens there is no rhyme nor reason to how the isles are stocked - some cleaning stuff is there and the rest of it is over here. Made for a lengthy shopping trip for a mere 4 items, and there are stairs and lifts randomly appearing in the store.

Surprisingly I have not yet mentioned the...BIRDS. We all know how I feel about these wretched creatures, and in addition no one warned me about the sheer number of them in Athens. They are also the fly-at-your-head ones. Deep breaths, deep breaths.

I am finding the Metro system easy to navigate, as with most of Europe actually. It is so clean here i.e. see-your-reflection-in-the-tiled-walls-clean. And I learnt why yesterday when a security guard barked at me in Greek what I quickly translated as "Put your peanuts back in your bag now". Didn't I feel stupid.

Well that's it from me and my first stop in Athens. Off to Istanbul tomorrow - very excited. Will be sad to leave my private hotel room but the hostel in Turkey is one of those 'Top 10 Hostel' efforts - or so they say...

Have urged Katie to get typing but allegedly she is having to much fun.