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I'm in Greece now and have internet! Sort of, anyway. The connection isn't so great, but at least it exists and that's a big step up from what I was working with yesterday in Rome.

So Rome did redeem itself a bit, mainly thanks to my sister and her Rick Steve's Guide to Rome tour book. Also we stumbled across a restaurant with pretty good service and even better food and the best Moscato D'Asti ever, so that made me happy.

We managed to hit all the big attractions in Rome...Coliseum, the hill behind it, Capitol Hill Museum, the Roman Forum, the Vatican, Trevi Fountain, Spanish Steps, dead body...oh wait that's not really an attraction is it? We just managed to come across one as we sat and watched the sunset in the Piazza Venezia on our last night there. Yup, awesome. I admit that it's something that can happen in any big city, but I saw it in Rome and it was just another negative experience to add to the many negative experiences I had this time in Rome. Also, the Vatican ticket people were really mean and sent us back and forth between booths for no apparent reason.

After meeting some nicer Italians who I could tell were being nice but still kind of came off as brusque and snappy, I'm well aware of the fact that it's just a cultural difference, but it was one I didn't expect. From the French, I expected it and yet I found them to be very polite and congenial, if not friendly.

Happily, I'm finding the Greek to be much more agreeable. They are talkative and smiley and definitely know how to make a foreigner feel welcomed and loved. The older gentlemen who work the front desk are very chatty and helpful and have taught us a lot about etymology. They make me think of the dad in My Big Fat Greek Wedding who was always telling people how cool it is to be Greek. We tried our very first bottle of ouza tonight and though it wasn't bad, neither of us are huge fans of black licorice so I think we'll be sticking to the local wines from now on.

Also, fyi Athens is WAY cheaper than Rome/Venice and you get a LOT of bang for your buck! If it weren't for the ruins in Rome and the canals in Venice I would almost suggest to Paul that we skip Italy altogether during our next trip to Europe...even so we'll probably spend the bulk of our time in either Spain or Greece and breeze through Italy only to hit the spots that absolutely must be visited.

Tomorrow's agenda: Conquering the Acropolis.

Labels: Europe