Exploring the Land of Fire

November 17-25, 2018

“Hey Seattle SuperSonics!” he called out to me. Our colleague from the Baku office in Azerbaijan liked to refer to me this way.  “You know I’m still heartbroken about the team leaving Seattle” I responded, referring to the horrible "robbery" of our NBA team to Oklahoma City in 2008. He made my day with the next line: “When I’m rich I’ll buy the team back and return them to Seattle. It’s the only way.” And after that, I knew I’d like this country.  

Tony, a friend of mine who used to travel all over CEE for work, would always post on Facebook “Now I’m in ______, my favourite of all!” filling in the blank with wherever he was at that moment.  Even though the way he spelled "favorite" was incorrect, I still read his posts.  And since he seemed to say the same thing for every city, I didn’t think much of it when I saw him write about Baku. But now that I’ve been there, I think it might have been true!

The land of fire, and scary little fire sorceress girls

Baku surprised me a lot. In a good way. The city had a lot of nice sites, monuments, a variety of architecture, numerous parks and the Caspian Sea. Just outside the city we saw some things I had never seen before in my life, like petroglyphs in the cliffs (if you are a rapper, feel free to borrow that lyric), cold mud spewing from “volcanoes”,  and a mountain that is literally on fire. On top of that was good food and accommodating people. Even though I spent a whole week working there, it felt like a vacation. Since Zosia stayed home “with the kids”, I couldn’t help but think how much she’d like everything I saw and ate. Especially the local sweets.

It’s hard to go more than a couple days without eating gluten, but Zosia and I had been on a month-long gluten-free period and were just getting adjusted to it when this trip came up. I had 5 more days of gluten freedom, and had to try to survive in a new country.  I checked the calendar and noticed my first day of gluten would coincidentally be Thanksgiving Day. I didn’t know if I should be excited or concerned about what some stuffing and pumpkin pie might do to my stomach after so long without any wheat or bread.  Luckily it seemed that cutting out gluten, and re-introducing it with such reckless abandon, had no effect on me.

The flight to Baku took over 7 hours, with a short layover in Istanbul. Add another 3 hours for the time change and it took all day. Azerbaijan is bordered by Russia and Iran, and has been in a state of war with Armenia. To learn more about the city and country, as I usually do when traveling to a new place, I booked a guided tour for my first day (Viator.com is becoming a go-to). Baku has a lot of big, European style buildings, generally from money from the oil industry, the biggest investor being the Nobel family.  The city sits on the Caspian Sea, and there are oil fields everywhere. Not only in the sea, but nodding iron horses can be seen all around the outskirts. Speaking of the Caspian Sea, my first fun fact learned was that it is technically a lake, since it doesn’t have any connection to an open ocean. Boom.

City breakfast with a Caspian view

Jogging on the waterfront

City hall

 Azerbaijan is officially a Muslim country, but in what seems like a common theme for countries in the former Soviet Union, where religion was suppressed for a long period of time, it’s not strictly practiced. Baku is the capital, and is the name in both Farsi and English. While in Azerbaijani, it’s called Baki. I'm just telling you that so you don't sound like an idiot like I did, when I made fun of them because nobody could spell the name of the city.  The area around Azerbaijan, including Armenia and Georgia is called the Caucasus, which back in the 18th century gave rise to the term “Caucasians”. But why people in the US refer to all "European Americans" as Caucasians is a mystery to me.

One of the highlights of the city tour was seeing 10-15,000 year old petroglyphs in the hills around the city. When you see them, they appear so simple and could have been painted by some kids with a magic marker.  Most of them are exposed and could be subject to vandalism and deterioration from the weather, which adds to the intrigue.  It’s also interesting how they interpret the simple images of a cow or a boat to understand the culture or what happened during that time. Thor Heyerdahl is a Norwegian ethnographer who even thought that the Vikings might have originated in Azerbaijan, in his "Search for Odin", due in part to the similarities in the petroglyphs.  Scandinavia and Azerbaijan are very far apart, so it makes you wonder if it's just a coincidence.

Visit to Gobustan

These are 10,000+ years old!

This rock is hollow and is used as a musical instrument

Another highlight has to do with the natural resources in the country.  With so much gas coming out of the earth, you'd think it's lactose intolerant.  Gas is constantly seeping everywhere, from the land that is always burning, to the bubbling mudflows in the mountains.  The locals said that the mud is good for your skin so I bottled some up and brought home a gift for Zosia.  Smart move by me, since it was cheaper than cosmetics at the airport duty free shop.  Since there is gas everywhere, you can even light the mud on fire.  But the most fascinating thing to me was the fire mountain Yanar Dag. The mountain literally burns all day, everyday. There have been references to burning mountains like this around Azerbaijan for centuries, though as pockets of gas run out, the locations might change.  It’s hard to understand how much gas has burned just in this spot over the last decades, but then you think of the bigger picture and it's unfathomable to think of how much oil and gas we use in the world everyday, and how much is still inside the earth.  At the same time, it’s not hard to imagine that it will run out eventually, and we need to think of more sustainable sources.

I'll take 10 bottles, please

The burning mountain

"Iron horses" are all over the city

With a country of fire also comes stories and ancient beliefs connected to said fire. We visited a fire temple (Ateshgah), which was built in the 17th century by Hindus coming from India.  Eventually it was adopted by Zoroastrians. Zoroastrianism is one of the oldest religions in the world, and was thriving in Persia until the Muslims pushed them out.  Zoroastrians still exist today, scattered around Iran and India. In fact, there’s one famous Zoroastrian you may have heard of: Freddie Mercury.

Fire temple

Everyone there was friendly, and I felt a nice connection to the guy who used to work at the University of Washington campus in Uzbekistan (it used to exist!).  But our host at the office was especially accommodating. He made sure we were always overfed, if not by a big lunch or giant plates of snacks throughout the day, then the wonderful dinners with great company. We learned a lot about the culture and history, and all the different foods...meat, fish, and every meal finished with nuts, dried fruits, and candied young walnuts (so young that the shell is soft enough to eat).  I also learned a recipe for mangal salad (roasted eggplant, peppers and tomatoes) because we ate it almost every day and it was delicious. I also learned you should let eggplant sit in salt for a while to take out the bitterness before you cook it. Sorry to anyone who has eaten my bitter eggplant before.  That's what she said?  

A nice shell filled with rice and meat

I could eat this all day (but then I'd die)

The daily dessert spread

Daily snacks in the office (for 2 people)

Gutab, or a flatbread with some filling

Street food

Another funny thing I learned is that there is a national Spring holiday where everyone gets 5 days off in the middle of the usual busy work season, which is already amazing to me.  But they have tradition if you put your hat in someone’s house they have to fill it with sweets without seeing or talking to you. Even more impressive, one guy in his 30s spoke openly and casually about how he married his wife without seeing or meeting her, after his mom set up a few possibilities and their families met a few times to decide the best fit. I kinda wanted to be on this family committee who basically interviews family and friends of the potential partners to decide which spouse to choose. And I especially want to be part of the family “courting” parties where the families drink together all day before the engagement takes place.  Anyone need my help?

Old town Baku

Did one of these purses just wag its tail?

Speaking of feasts, they made sure I was taken care of on Thanksgiving. My big day of eating gluten again was not disappointing. We went to an international hotel restaurant which served the classics, and I was properly stuffed. The first bite of bread was delicious, the last bite of pie was perfection. Exactly like this trip to the Land of Fire.  

Familymoon in Bergen

August 27-31, 2018

After our first wedding in Vegas, Zosia and I were lucky to be able to spend several days with our friends who traveled from Europe at the Grand Canyon and in Seattle. Our Friendmoon was so much fun that after Wedding part II in Poland, we decided to have a Familymoon with my dad, bro, his amazing now-wife Thea, and Aunty Sara. Just a couple days after the big party, we were still flying high; from seeing friends and family from all over the world, the weather that held up, our somewhat complicated first dance, not messing up my Polish wedding vows too badly, the food, fireworks, campfire s’mores, and all those who helped make everything go smoothly. Sadly, we didn’t have a chance to hang out with everyone enough...so maybe we should have had an Everyonemoon.

Familymoon time

Brilliant Husky jerseys from the Brimmers

We wanted to pick a place where none of us had been before, and since I had always wanted to travel through the fjords in Norway, we thought why not. Especially if dad was paying! Just kidding, but not really...

Norway is an expensive place, and since I now have a Polish family, we prepared in the Polish way. That is, we packed several days of food and took it with us. I don’t mean packages of uncooked food from the grocery store. I mean we cut up the bread from the wedding ceremony and made 10 peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. The ceremonial bread is what the parents present to the couple before they enter the party, along with a shot of vodka. The bread has a hole filled with salt to add some taste. Not sure who needs the salt during the ceremony but I guess you don’t argue with tradition. I forgot about this literal salt mine, and bit into it when eating breakfast one day. I don't know if you've ever bitten into a large amount of salt, but it actually made my head hurt. It felt like a small electrocution. I can still taste the salt overdose just thinking about it. The day after the wedding we had a pizza party in Warsaw and had a few slices leftover. Those were lunch on Day 2 in Norway. Aunty Sara also cooked several times after grocery shopping which also helped keep (dad’s) costs down. 

This...

...turned into this

The sandwiches were better than this whale sausage

Wizzair has cheap flights from Warsaw to Bergen, and since we weren't really interested in Oslo, Bergen was the winner. Luckily everyone was super easy going and flexible.  Bergen has a nice waterfront and good seafood, but the beauty of the city is up in the hills with a wide view of the natural landscape. We went up the mountain with a gorgeous city view and did a short hike, then went to the visitors’ center to plan our journey to the fjords. Unfortunately we didn’t have enough time to do the iconic places you see when you Google “Norway fjord” but we did see some incredible stuff. 

On the first night I did something with dad and Sara that I don’t think we had ever done before; we went to a bar. Granted, it was an ice bar where everything was an artistic ice sculpture, but it was a bar nonetheless. We had several laughs when posing for photos and goofing around. And most of that was from dad and Sara. I’m also constantly reminded how Zosia is so good at creating a happy environment for everyone, because everyone seems to be smiling when she's around. 

Zosia goofing around, as usual

Inside the ice bar

Bergen was founded in the 11th century, and has a fortress that dates to the 13th century.  We only needed a couple hours to walk around the city and visit the Rosencrantz tower.  We couldn't help but imagine all the vikings that passed through.  Of course Bergen is a city centered on fishing and sea activities (and sea food). We had a delicious giant platter of seafood under the waterfront tents in the pouring rain, which was probably the best meal of the trip. 

Yes, please

Our cruise through the fjords started with a train ride to Flam. We booked it at the tourist center and it turned out to be exactly what we were looking for.  There was a "normal" train ride to Myrdal, then the famous Flam railway up the mountains, through valleys and past waterfalls. It was a beautiful route, and apparently one of the most visited attractions in Norway. We stayed in Flam for the night, after a walk around the village and overlooking another fjord. Dinner at the Ægir brewpub was great.  I just wanted to write Ægir, because that's a crazy word (I had to copy and paste from the internet because I have no idea how to make that letter on my keyboard).  

In the morning before the cruise, we made sandwiches at the buffet breakfast to eat for lunch and literally saved $100. The boat ride to Gundvagen went through a very narrow fjord. The sky was blue and it was a bit cold (even in August) but beautiful. There were small villages and random houses along the coast and we all wondered how they got there.  At the time I wanted to retire in a place like this.  Now, I would accept retirement anywhere.  The water looked like glass it was so still. I was mesmerized as the boat cut through it, and could have stared at it all day. 

On the train to Flam

Just a regular, everyday, normal fjord

Stealing a few quiet moments on the ferry

Once in Gundvagen, we had to visit the Viking village. It's set up to look like a village from 1000 years ago, and although it's a tourist attraction, supposedly the employees are not "actors", but people who actually live this lifestyle.  I mean, they all looked like vikings, so I believe it.  It was fun to throw axes, shoot some arrows, and see little huts where they lived. The "locals" were very friendly and funny. If you haven't watched the TV series Vikings, I highly recommend it, at least the early seasons.  There were seasons and episodes that I looked forward to more than Game of Thrones (and also Norsemen, which is a parody of these types of shows, a little like Monty Python).

Waterfalls from afar

A scary Viking and a guy with long hair

Z showing her skills

After that it was back to Bergen for one last night before Z and I flew back to Warsaw and dad and company flew to Iceland for an even bigger adventure.  We joked that after we brought food from Poland to Norway in order to save money, they should bring food from Norway to Iceland to save money as well.  Turned out we were right as Iceland is even more expensive!  We shoulda gone with them while dad was paying!

Polish wedding, actually

August 24, 2018

It's been almost a year and a half since our Vegas wedding, which was definitely the experience of a lifetime. But if there is anything better than one experience of a lifetime, it's two experiences of a lifetime.

Most people who go to Vegas to get married do it to avoid the hassle of a big blow-out "traditional" wedding. Nobody likes to argue with the family about whom to invite, where people should sit, worrying about logistics for guests, finding a DJ and photographer, weather problems, and all the decorations. What about entertainment for kids? Should we even invite kids? Oh, and finding a venue and a church that will allow a non-Catholic to get married there. And not to mention the cost. Who wants to deal with all of that? Obviously, we did! I guess?

Family

But oh yes, it was worth it. We spent hours and days watching other people's wedding videos and checking their photographs. We poured through Etsy for ideas on decorations and entertainment. We made a thousand origami cranes. It took a couple months, making them in front of the TV, on airplanes, even at work for one of us (ahem). And it was kind of sad when they were finished. Luckily it took another couple weeks to put them on strings to hang.

Weeks' worth of cranes

There were some things that we didn't want to draw out so we did them quickly, and others that took more time. I spent about 3 minutes picking a shirt and tie to go with a recently purchased on-sale suit. Zosia liked shopping for wedding dresses so much that she bought two. We had to meet with priests from 3 different churches to get approval; the church in Czersk where the wedding took place, Zosia's church in Mokotów where she attended regularly, and the church near our apartment to get permission to have a wedding in someone else's district (and so that they could announce the wedding and allow for anyone to oppose it). Zosia's mom also went to the church in Eastern Poland where Zosia was baptized to get her paperwork. Zosia was amazing at keeping track of all of these things, and I just appeared where I was supposed to appear, and pretended to understand Polish when they talked to me.

On one of the visits to Czersk without a car, we got stranded on a freezing February evening and waited for an hour in the cold for the bus to come. It never came, and since Czersk is a quiet town, there was no other public transport late on a Friday evening. We went back to the Church to ask the priest for help, and one of his friends who was hanging out after Friday service happily drove us to the next town so we could find a taxi home.

During these "challenges" we thought about Vegas, where it took about 10 minutes to apply for and receive a marriage license, but our adventures in Warsaw didn't deter us. After sending the invitations, we were excited for every attendance confirmation, especially from guys who actually wanted to travel to spend the day with us. We were humbled how willing people were to get to Warsaw. And of the people who had to take a tram or Uber to get there are also appreciated!

Speaking of invitations, we wanted to "save" the environment (and money, who am I kidding) by creating postcard invitations and electronic RSVPs, rather than those invitations with 7 different pieces of paper of various sizes and thickness and envelopes in one. I still don't know what you're supposed to write in that blank space next to the "M" on those fancy RSVP cards. And in Polish tradition, we tried to meet most people in person to give the invitation and receive the RSVPs. We didn't have a wedding cake; instead spending barely $40 on supplies to make s'mores by the campfire (some of which accidentally disappeared on the bus ride to the venue). And like most Polish weddings, we brought our own alcohol, which made it even cheaper.

A friend from Prague told me about her own wine tasting party, where they had to test wines they wanted at their wedding. It sounded like a great idea, so we bought a bunch of wines and invited people over to help. 20+ bottles later, we ended up with Georgian red and a Portuguese white. Not only is Georgian wine delicious and cheap, Georgia is also a meaningful place to us, and reminds me of my mom, since we were on a trip to Georgia when she died a couple years before. I'll never forget the sunrise the next morning when I could feel her presence all around us. We chose Portuguese because it is also a good value, but because we spent a week in Portugal after we got engaged. When there are millions of wines to choose from, it's easier to narrow it down if they have some meaning.

We took a few other ideas from a friend at work, like putting out jars for people to write notes of advice, stories or messages for us to open after 1, 10, and 25 years. We also bought a bunch of flip flops for ladies with high heels and umbrellas in case of rain. Although we were frugal in some areas, we decided to splurge on a videographer with a drone. The castle at Czersk and the venue Firleje were great for this. Zosia was concerned that the castle wouldn't allow it, but the videographer had the approach of "just do it" and see if they try to stop us.

Tomek and Zosia's mom helped a lot with transportation, setting up, flowers, signs, and decorations. Tomek even took days off from work to help us. You don't think of how many things you have to do, from flower centerpieces, signs for the table assignments, name tents, and all the other decorations. When we picked up the fireworks, we didn't have space in the trunk of Tomek's car, so Zosia had to literally sit on top of a box of explosives. Luckily there were no events at Firleje the day before, so we were able to set everything up on Friday.

Don't fart on the explosives! 

There were so many things that we needed help with on the day: Ania and Lukasz driving us around, guys at the Sheraton who stored and carried stuff for us, Doremi and Garth organizing the bus rides, guys serving drinks at the castle, my bro helping with the many generous gifts (and being my "witness" even though he had no idea what the Polish speaking priest was saying), our impromptu flower girl, Ania and Ash with beautiful speeches (and Ash's balloon animals), Tomek put together a lovely video, Alan provided Alanówka, and all the people movers, vodka pushers, and influencers who ensured everyone had a good time. Zosia's dad also helped financially which was a blessing. Once everything was set up, we really didn't have any stress on the day, because there were so many people taking care of us.

Ania was Zosia's maid of honor

I was Zosia's groom

We originally thought it would be nice to have the wedding in Czersk, after visiting with Colin and Rachel several months before. We asked at the castle if they have wedding receptions there since the church is just next door, and they looked at us like we were crazy. But the idea of wedding photos inside the castle stayed in our heads, and I didn't understand how it wasn't a "thing" already. We didn't want to do the party there, but at least stop in for some photos and bubbly drinks. The biggest problem was that it was an hour outside of Warsaw, and that we didn't love any of the reception venues in the neighborhood. Plus, having church weddings where you don't have any connections is often hard to do. So we set that idea aside. We visited many possible venues, in the country side, in the city, near a lake. Some were too small, some were too fancy. One was amazing, but they treated us like they were doing us a favor just by letting us visit, and it would be difficult logistically. Finally we found Firleje, which offered the countryside feel we wanted, a lot of space, a good price, and a very attentive event planner, Agata. None of the other places advertised any kind of help, let alone friendly and willing help. That was all we needed, and we were sold.

But what about the church? Could we find one nearby? (nope). Did we still want to go to Czersk? (yep). Unfortunately we still faced the issue that we weren't from Czersk, nor did we ever attend church there. Why would they allow us to take up one of their valuable summer Saturday wedding slots? Then we caught a lucky break. Zosia's dad (a surgeon) told us about a patient he just met who was from a small town outside of Warsaw. One that we might be interested in meeting. The mayor....of CZERSK! She was lovely and immediately introduced us to the priest in Czersk, and everything was set. Someone (or something) was looking out for us big time.

Hugs in Czersk castle

Throwing the bride, because why not

Agata was amazing. Let's just start with that. I didn't think we'd get this much help when we started this process. She answered a million questions, was always available, WANTING to help, not making us feel like we were bothering her. She even met us for a drink in the city, to discuss logistics and introduce us to her friend who also got married in Firleje to answer any questions. We had a couple small hesitations about the venue, regarding the dim lighting, far distance, and dietary needs of some guests (vegan, gluten-free, lactose-free, etc), and she made everything seem so simple. She suggested the DJ, who turned out great and could announce everything in both English and Polish, and made sure we had all the on-site help we needed. The only downside is that it wasn't close to home. Nor to Czersk. So we got comfortable with the fact that guests would spend nearly 3 hours in the bus that day. One hour from Warsaw to Czersk, another hour to Firleje, and a third hour to get back home. If we could entertain them with vodka, spam musubi, and games, we figured they'd survive. Even if not everyone "survived" the ride home.

I can't say that I was actually nervous for the wedding. It was amazing to see all our friends and family there, but since we had already "practiced" in Vegas, I didn't feel any pressure. Except for having to repeat the vows in Polish. I had to practice quite a bit before, and it turned out that I was only prepared for part of it. I don't know if the priest forgot to warn me about the second part, or if I just blacked out. But when he started asking me to say more stuff in Polish, I panicked a little bit because I didn't know what he said. The priest decided that we didn't need a translator, since I claimed to understand what I was saying. To test this during one of our meetings, he told Zosia (in Polish), "I'm going to check if he knows what I am saying", then asked me "what time does the wedding start?". That was it. That was the test. But in fact, this was not actually testing my knowledge of the Polish language, it was testing my ability to keep track of our wedding schedule. Luckily, the answer was 3pm, and he was convinced. The priest was pretty intimidating and direct during our meetings, but during the ceremony he was the sweetest guy we could have asked for. Many people even commented later how nice he was.

The ceremony

All smiles

Everyone inside the castle walls

Zosia was also stressed for the first dance, but somehow I wasn't worried. I guess since everyone knows she can dance after years in a dance/performance team, she felt pressure to look good, while I just had to look like the clumsy groom, which is pretty standard for wedding dances. However, we didn't want to have something slow and sappy. We tried to make something fun, telling the story of our time together through lyrics of different songs. We procrastinated long enough in our preparations that I was beginning to think I wouldn't have to do any dance, but finally Zosia decided we needed to be at the gym at 6am every day to practice in front of the mirror in the fitness room. After a few days of working on the choreography and morning practice, I started looking forward to our rehearsals. I'd jump out of bed in the morning, and pretended we were in the show "Dancing with the Stars". The professional (Zosia) was teaching the hopeless one (me) how to do it. It turns out I wasn't so terrible.

Showing off her sweet moves

Andy made a cameo appearance

The weather was great, it wasn't too hot and the rain stayed away. We were worried it would be too hot, which it was inside, but since we could go out for fireworks, s'mores, flip cup, and just to hang, there was no problem. I was happy that we started the party with the traditional bread and vodka greeting from the parents, then danced the Polonez in a huge circle outside (which looked great from the drone). It was also nice of the kids to let me break the pinata later.

My favorite part of the Polish wedding tradition

Polonez dance out front

Zosia's favorite part: s'mores

The day flew by, and just like everyone says, it was difficult to be able to spend time with everyone. But it was SO MUCH FUN. From the dancing to speeches, videos, games, catching up with people, the hugs, inspirational talks, and just the feeling of love. We were so happy to see all of our family and friends in one place. It was unreal for me to see so many friends from Seattle and different times of our lives come together. For some of us, we hadn't been together in the same room at the same time for 20 years. The party went until after 3am, which still felt like a snap of the fingers. Had the wedding been in the Seattle or Hawaii, not only would it have cost 3 times more, but it would have finished at 11pm and we would have 4 fewer hours of memories. It's great that people make the effort to say a few personal words during the reception line, because sometimes that's the most you'll be able to talk to people in the night. Except in Poland you feel like you should drink vodka with everyone, so I was busy trying to accomplish that goal. I tried to eat whenever I could, but Zosia didn't eat much. There were a ton of leftovers, so she was able to finish them for the next week, and even a year later, we still have some leftover alcohol (for 120 guests we budgeted 1 bottle of vodka, half bottle of wine, and a third bottle of prosecco per person, plus a couple kegs of beer, which left us with 60-70 leftover bottles in the end). But I guess that's better than the opposite, which would be dealing with a revolution when the drinks run out. We've since experimented making different flavored and fruit infused vodka.

We of course have to say thanks to my dad, who was very supportive and easy going, and sponsored dinner the night before for our families to meet and to welcome our friends from home. I will also remember the moment that Kevin showed up after Friday dinner and found us on the street outside of a bar, and everything became real. The gang was all there.

The second wedding was a success, and now we're wondering when (and where) to have the third. It's probably time for it!

We can't stop watching these, so apologies if you are sick of it, but here's our wedding video "trailer" and our first dance. Special thanks to our wonderful photographer Pawel Kotas and videographer team from Spark. We highly recommend them!

Zosia's surprise birthday in Athens

April 20-22, 2018

After Zosia and I got engaged on her birthday in 2017, I thought she might be looking for another birthday surprise in 2018.  I thought maybe I could get away with just a balloon and a cupcake, but I probably have to let her down slowly...can't just give up completely, right?  At least not for another year or two.  So I decided to plan a trip without telling her the destination. She packed her bags, we headed to the Modlin airport (so she knew it was a RyanAir destination), and I asked her to guess where we were going. She looked at the departures board but couldn’t guess, so I gave her a clue: a piece of paper with images of some temples and gods, the seaside and souvlaki. It took her only a few seconds to scream “Ateny!!” after she noticed the Parthenon. She had always wanted to go to Greece, especially after we visited Macedonia the previous year. I was happy the destination was approved.

Athens is named after Athena (or vice versa), the goddess of war, who was born out of Zeus’s head. I’ve always been a fan of Greek mythology (and the re-named Roman versions - for example, Athena is Minerva), but I wonder if people actually believed someone was born out of someone else’s head? She was supposedly cut out of his head by Hephaestus. How does that even work? Athena and Poseidon had some sort of competition to become protector of the city. To influence the decision makers, Athena gifted them an olive tree while Poseidon gave water. They chose Athena, so Poseidon got to hang out at Sounio (his temple is beautiful there), and the rest is history.

View of the Acropolis from our apartment balcony

Besides the Gods and Goddesses, the “real” ancient history is fascinating. From the first Olympic Games, the original marathon, all of the famous Emperors, philosophers, fraternities and sororities, and even the language.

The city itself has not done well since the financial crisis. They struggle to support themselves and tourism is barely keeping them afloat. The city is somewhat dirty, but still packed with visitors, restaurants (and greeters who really test your patience when trying to get you to go inside), pedestrian areas, street vendors, marble, smokers, and cats.  Zosia took more photos of cats than of the ancient sites.

We joined a free walking tour, which took us around to many nice parts of the city: We saw the white houses of the Anafiotika neighborhood, churches, the national garden, parliament, the agora, and of course the sweaty hike up to the Parthenon on the Acropolis. After a while, you kinda get numb to the thousands of years old buildings and ruins. Down below, the size of the columns of Zeus’s temple were impressive. That’s what she said.

Blending in in Anafiotika

Parthenon

Zeus's ancient graffiti has lasted a long time

Zeus's temple is small?

Nope!  We're so sneaky.

We also took a trip out to Poseidon’s temple, 30 minutes down the coast. It was super windy but the scenery was beautiful. The rocky coast reminded me of driving along Maui towards Lahaina, or around Big Sur in California. I guess we sometimes forget to appreciate what we have in the US.

Poseidon's temple

And oh, the food. And free tap water. That's money.  Literally.  You don't have to buy water in restaurants.  And it’s nearly impossible to be on a street without a restaurant. That's a lot of free water.  And outdoor seating. There were so many mouth watering places that we were always hungry. We had good, cheap seafood at a place called Atlantikos, and we tried another place recommended by our guide with a sign I can’t read (so don’t know the name). The place was so busy that the waiter was sweaty from running around so much. On our way out I poked my head to the kitchen where he was catching his breath to tell him we appreciated his hard work.

Luckily Zosia also likes to eat and try different things, so we were happy to order a lot and share. In just a weekend, we found many dishes we knew from eating in other countries, but the "original" versions somehow tasted better.

Delish

Greek yogurt (of course) - which was thicker than the Carrefour brand, served with honey and fruit
Znakopita - spinach pie
Moussaka - we made some when we got home
Meat and souvlaki pita, where we learned that "gyros" is the meat shaved from a giant spit (what they call "kebab" in Poland), but kebab is minced meat grilled on its own individual skewer
Fava puree - Hannibal would be proud
Dolma
Pita and Tzatziki
Fried eggplant with yogurt and tomato sauce on pita
Greek salad - it really is Greek!
Ryba po grecku (just kidding, this was nowhere to be found).

For those unfamiliar, “ryba po grecku” means “fish in Greek style”, and is a very common dish served at Polish Christmas. Nobody has been able to explain why they call it "Greek style", as it’s definitely not Greek. But anyway, I really like it, which shows how much I like Greek food...just put the work “Greek” in the title and I’m a fan.  Greek sheep intestines?  Ok no, it doesn't work for everything.

After such a nice trip, I'm already starting to plan Zosia's next birthday surprise....in Radom.