We woke up in our own time today since this was one of the very few excursions that didn’t start early, in fact it started at 3pm. So we went to breakfast and back out on the town. We hit the same internet cafe again and we all checked our emails. My mother had sent one proposing that I go to a family thanksgiving dinner on the day I got back from my trip, but I figured I wouldn’t be up to it, and as it happened, I was pretty tired when I got back. But that was yet a day away.

It was hard killing time, as we didn’t want to venture too far since we’d have to get back for the pickup, but we also had visited everything we wanted to in the immediate vicinity. It didn’t help that everything was closed. Every shop and stand appeared to be shut, we weren’t sure if it was for the day or just for the morning. We discovered that virtually the entire population were in cafe’s, as when we went to one we found it packed and choking with smoke. I had a 5 euro peach smoothy that, though good, was certainly not worth it.

Later the girls picked up lunch at a take out souvlaki and gyros place. I didn’t partake because my indigestion and acid were reaching truly bothersome levels. We basically hung out until 3pm and then waited in the lobby for the Cape Sounion person to arrive, and one finally did, and just as we were about to board the bus, we were told that though it was a Transat-related tour, and though it was going to Cape Sounion, it still wasn’t quite our tour, and we went back to the lobby.

Eventually our bus arrived, and we could tell it was ours because when we got on, we were cheered by some of the other passengers, all of whom recognized us, and us them, from previous tours and such. We were pretty recognizable, a rare group of three, and Alicia being Chinese amongst all us Caucasians. Our tour guide, Marina, first took us to the ruined temple of Poseidon. In was incredibly windy there, exposed out on an outcrop of rock, which was the point of building it there, since it’s the first thing you can see coming back. There was the story of King Aegeus who threw myself into the sea when his son returned after killing the Minotaur because he forgot to change the sails from the black ones to the white ones. I think the moral of the story is to always account for forgetfulness.

I’m surprised the wind hasn’t knocked all this down

We were then taken by bus down to a village where they served seafood and that was their claim to fame. This was another reason I was less excited about this excursion, since I haven’t eaten seafood for more years than I can account for. She described the appetizers, bread with Tzatziki, and a blended fish roe which the description of made my stomach turn. What really made it turn was the sight of the little whole headless fish which were to be eaten whole which was another appetizer. They also had calamari, which I still have no desire to eat. I was pretty hungry at this point, but still acidic. I could have signed up for the chicken alternative, but I had to pay for my previous pizzas. I was at least going to try the main.

The restaurant was called Akrogiali (Alpha-Kappa-Rho-Omicron-Gamma-Iota-Alpha-Lamda-Iota) and all of the above were their delicacies, and the main dish was a whole Gillhead fish. For someone who doesn’t eat seafood, this was pretty hard core. It wasn’t a simple fish fillet with no bones or eyes staring back at me to worry about, it was a whole fish. When it arrived, Alicia and Laura laughed at my expression, but I was trying to make as little expression as possible. At least there was someone else at the table who had the same difficulty, and she opted for the chicken. But one of the other people took off his fish’s head and made it into a puppet, which didn’t phase me really, but Alicia figured I’d have difficulty with it.

I shocked everyone, including myself

As the meal went on, it became clear to the other people at the table that I had issues with fish, which wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but in the end it didn’t matter. I scraped away the skin and began eating one side. Someone told me to cut the pieces very small to help avoid bones, which is exactly the sort of thing it’s helpful for me to know since I really had no idea what I was doing. I eventually worked my way through half of the fish. I did flip it over, but I didn’t eat much from that side. I was curious for a second if there were parts one wouldn’t eat, but Alicia then ate the eyeballs which prompted me never to wonder that question again.

There was quite a bit of house-wine imbibed during dinner, and the alcoholic content of the bus rose sharply. On the way back, people started dancing in the aisles and singing. It was a fun ride back to the hotel. We then prepared for bed for the last time in Greece, as the flight was tomorrow. I was not looking forward to it.

To Be Continued