Sunday and beyond...

Sunday was another lazy day with a little bit of shopping thrown in. 

It was also the night of the full moon, which meant the area around the acropolis was absolutely packed. Once a year, on the night of the full moon in August, the museum stays open until midnight with free entrance and live music, and of course a fabulous view of the moonlit Parthenon. It brings a bunch of people out, but a few too many for my tastes. I met up with Jeremy instead and we had a much quieter and more pleasant evening away from the masses at a lovely little cafe.

And then I picked my things up at the hostel and scurried off to the airport...

... And a whole twenty plus hours later made it home in time for sushi dinner. Another summer successfully completed!

Saturday!

Saturday was an entirely lazy day. Sophie and I slept late and got to Athens in the early afternoon. From there I got a bite of lunch and read for a bit. 

The evening was spent with Some lovely people from the dig, having dinner with live music, visiting Bretto's...

and then taking a stroll around the bottom of the acropolis.

(This one's Hadrian's Library though.)

A most lovely night indeed!

Thursday and Friday!

So Wednesday night had a lovely sunset. And we had an impromptu beach party with a little fire and music and everything!

Thursday saw us back to work and miracles of miracles it rained!

And then it hailed and stayed rainy all afternoon! That was a nicely cool evening at least, though.

Friday was our last day and we did a bit of work in the field before retreating to the lab where I got to do a little conservation work, yay! We had one last afternoon on the beach...

And a cloudy sunset...

Before we had dinner at a tiny fish taverna which was most delicious.

We wandered along the beach saying goodbye to people and stopped in to have a farewell drink with those of us still left before bed.

It was a lovely evening all in all! Now I shall be off to Athens in the morning, and homeward bound on Monday. Hope all is well at home!

Tuesday and Wednesday!

More of the same! We worked hard and lounged around in the afternoon before delicious dinners.

Tuesday there were clouds making for some lovely sunset colors.

Wednesday's excitement was a proper thunderstorm. It even hailed!

Only a couple days left now! Hope all is well at home!

Monday

Today was back to work. It was another hot one and rather dusty. (That's not tan, just dust.)

And then a lazy afternoon. Tonight we are going to have a party because it is Marcus', Mariza's husband's, birthday today.

The evening turned out to be quite lovely.

And after dinner there was cake.

And then caipirinha on the beach. (They are Brazilian after all. ^^)

Now to find bed! Hope all is well!

Saturday and Sunday!

This weekend was all about lazy relaxation. There are a few little things to see in this area, but they are mostly difficult to get to without a car, so beach days seemed like a fabulous way to spend the weekend.

Saturday we slept in late then trundled down to the beach to laze around until dinnertime. 

Sunday I got up early and skipped on down to the beach to watch the sun rise.

It was quite lovely and rather peaceful, save for the odd strain if music drifting over from the bar still going at this hour of the morning.

And then I proceeded to stay on the beach for the next 16 hours, through the sunset and to the end of dinner. It was fabulous!

Thursday and Friday!

So these two days were filled with more field work and lab work! Hooray! Other than that there has been beach and food and sun everywhere. We did have a cloudy evening dinner at one night though! We eat right by the beach...

At this place every night:

After dinner on Thursday we went out to this little beach bar with a pretty pool.

This was me and my roommate Sophie:

The owner was very nice and made us shots before we left. Which he set on fire. A whole lake of fire!

Everything is so pretty here, though. This is the view from where we eat lunch...

The lab we work in is two towns over in Helike itself. Helike is a really pretty town.

 

Surrounded by a lovely view of the mountains in just about every direction. 

There are flowers and lovely yards everywhere.

During the day, the gates are opened and water flows through channels down to fields below the town.

The result is that there is the pleasant sound of trickling, moving water throughout the town. It's quite lovely.

Now for a restful beachy weekend. Hope all is well at home!