Day 13- Sat. May 23

Day 13 (Saturday, May 23):

Today we left Nafplio to go to Delphi. We also stopped in Thermopylae to see the battlefield where the Spartans fought the Persians. (For the non-history people, this is the site of the battlefield in “300”). Then we kept driving. We drove ALL day. But, it wasn't too bad; just long.

After we arrived we went to our hotel, and the hotel owner/ manager was a character for sure! He would boss around both of his grown children, telling them what to do and he yelled at a guy in our class for using the hotel lobby computer to check his email. I quote, “Get off. Now is the time for reception. Now is not the time for computer. Get off.” I thought it was pretty funny. And the way he talked to Rob and his wife Beth (who had made the reservations) was hilarious. “Where is your mother [Rob's mom] going to sleep? What, well, of course she sleeps with you!!”, and apparently there had been some confusion about how many beds were required, and when Beth tried to explain how they were “big boys” and “they didn't want to sleep together”... I just about died laughing inside. The way he would just look out and survey everyone. You can tell the hotel was his pride and joy. Oh, and we were not allowed to set our luggage in the lobby, because “in Greece, we do not put our luggage there.” So instead we put it next to the desk, obstructing everyone's ability to move. The hotel itself is actually quite nice. It is decorated a little weird, I will grant, but nice, and my room is like a log cabin.

It is so funny to see how different people obsess over certain things. I like to think its certainly not worth getting upset about. It is better to just observe it and let it go. Different people in the group though have different reactions, and its been eye-opening to see it. Some people are totally fine to go with the flow, and prefer no plans. Other people like having a plan, but don't get upset when it doesn't all work out (like having to re-organize some rooms, or not having a specific bathroom stop planned). And others still need to have a rigid schedule and full itinerary that doesn't change to feel comfortable. Its such a study in contrast. I think I fall somewhere in the middle. I like structure, but I am not upset if things don't always go to plan. Its funny, I think in my day to day life, it upsets me more when things don't work out, but its like while I am traveling, I expect so much to be new and different, and hard because (of course) things won't work out, that I am a lot more relaxed and less perturbed. Its funny.

And dinner was GREAT. We all went to a restaurant that had an AMAZING view. It was on a cliff and looked to the hills/ mountains, and the water. Andy ordered some carafs of local wine, and we had a bunch of great appetizers: greek salad, anti-pasto, (and I suggested) the village sausage (sooo good!), stuffed vine leaves, and then I had pork souvlaki for dinner. I think it was the first dinner I was mostly relaxed at (more or less).