Kalí hroñá -- Happy New Year!

So all morning I've been thinking the Greeks are whispering about Rachel and me because I keep hearing them say "California." But actually, I've now realized that their "Happy new year" greeting (Kalí hroñá) just sounds like "California"! Crazy...


Woke up this morning at 9am. Aimee is leaving for Cairo today. Showered, too late for breakfast but luckily we had our yogurt-cereal-banana stash. Realized, as we sat down to eat at 10am, that it was just only midnight back home in California! So strange to be so many hours ahead of home....


After breakfast, we packed up for a stroll over to Kolonaki so we could ascend the Lykavittos Hill.
The hill is located in the center of the city and rises to a height of 910 feet. It can be seen from virtually every corner of the city, and its views from the top encompass the city, the mountains, and the coast. We enjoyed the chance to breathe in fresh air and start off the new year with a good hike through the trees. About halfway up we came upon a chapel grotto. Inside the little chapel, the rock wall was visible. The floor was carpeted (interesting...) and it smelled strongly of incense. Watched a Greek woman light 2 candles and another man prayed. Saw lots of images of St. George (which reminded me of Natasha's house and all her paintings and enamel pictures of St. George). Then we continued up the hill (asked a Greek soldier which direction). Up at the top were beautiful sweeping views of the city! The Acropolis looked like a tiny little mound from where we were. Rachel enjoyed looking at the many rooftop swimming pools -- all brilliant turquoise blue. At the top of the hill was also a small chapel of St. George (a whitewashed building from the 1800s). Rachel and I looked inside and also were sure to get our picture taken together at the top. Being up high -- again, my favorite way to spend the new year! We noticed a lot of elderly Greek people were also making the trek up -- I wonder if it's a traditional thing to do?

After our climb, we meandered back down the hill and scouted for restaurants. Most places were closed, though there were many cafés open and packed with people! We decided on a somewhat tourist-y place in the Plaka (it seemed like most Greek people were visiting family homes and not eating out for lunch) that was actually quite good. We enjoyed feta-tomato-olive-lettuce toast sandwiches and greek salad. For once we actually ate at a somewhat normal Greek lunch time (2:15pm)! Then we headed back towards the hostel for our usual afternoon siesta and relaxation....