Birthday

Summer birthdays are always problematic.  Growing up in Connecticut, my birthday was always either the week between school and camp or the first couple of days of camp, so I never knew anyone on my birthday.  Since I began traveling at age 20, I've tried to beat the system by having as many birthdays as I can in another country; I might as well not be home!  So I've had some adventures on my birthday.

Today's:  45.  At the last minute, Phil and I decided to check out what was going on downtown, even though we knew there were scary news reports involving tear gas and "riots" and the buses were on strike, so we had to walk to the nearest metro stop.  We lurked on the edges and timed the visit carefully to be out before the vote.  It was actually very civilized:  there were plenty of  protestors, lots of face masks/respirators and cold cream-covered faces (to dilute the effects of tear gas), but very little action.  We went in from the tourist side, skulked around the edges and snapped a few photos, and then a woman scolded us for being there with Ellie and we left.  There was a large police presence in the side streets, but they were relaxed and unhurried so we didn't worry until they all jumped on their motorcycles and drove off away from Syntagma.

We had a pleasant picnic near the statue of Constatine Paleologus, though all the cafes were open, and bought some beads and then moseyed on home before the vote was taken.  CNN seemed to be playing up any little scraps of violence; it reminded us of the hurricane reports in Florida where a weatherman stands in the wind showing off and Floridians drink up their stores of water understanding there is now nothing to worry about as the weathermen are playing hero.  We came home, I had class, and then we went to dinner.  Here was the real action:  a Cretan taverna with snails, graviera (gruyere) cheese, hortopita, squid, stuffed zucchini flowers, black-eyed peas, squid, raki and a Cretan honey-liquor.  Ellie and Phil polished off the tentacles and the waiters tried twice (with limited success!) to extract the snails.  Then the students surprised me with a delicious French cake (with "trois chocolats" written across it!):  delicious!  Quite a nice birthday, overall!