We are writing this blog for a number of reasons. The main reason is to capture our adventure in a way that we can all remember it. The second reason is to assure our family at home that we're OK. The third reason is for friends and family to, we hope, enjoy the pictures and travelogue. The fourth reason is to create a reference for Connor and Tessa for when they travel. We are trying to document all the mistakes we make, as well as all the spectacular things we've done. Today was a mixture of both. The day started with a trek to apply for our tourist visas from the Indian Embassy (while heading over there, we saw the changing of the guards in front of the Presidential Residence). Barry had checked on the Internet to make sure we could get these visas in Athens, and we could. However, when we got there we found out a number of things.

We need our passports and photocopies of our passports. We need color pictures of each of us. We need letters for each child, stating that Connor and Tessa are our children and that we assume all financial responsibility for them. We need a letter explaining why we are getting our visas now as opposed to in our home country. We need a local contact number. We need a list of the countries we will visit before entering India and an itinerary within the country. It takes seven business days to process, and they need our passports for the entire time. This means that we will have to stay in Greece for more days than we'd planned. What to do? What to do? Ah, how about a six day stay on Santorini and a two day stay on Mykonos? Funny how things work out!!

We left the embassy and walked over to the Olympic Stadium where Barry did his "I coulda been a Contender" pose. From there, we went through the National Garden, to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, and a few other historic sites.

When we got near the Plaka (the Old Town - a really cool, thriving, marketplace kind of neighbourhood), we stopped at a travel agency (www.activetravel.gr) to check a few things out including ferries to the islands and flights to Egypt, Kenya, and India. We got some great information from the Reservations Manager, Socrates Anastasiou. We also met another one of the staff, who is originally a Londoner. Barry Russell gave us a whole Athens tour to do on our own, including a 45 minute "Sunshine Express" mini train trip; brilliant, because then we knew where everything was when walking around later (normally, we just get lost and stumble across these sites, so it was nice to find them on purpose for a change). He also suggested that we end our evening by hiking up to a cable car which took us to the top of Lycabettus Hill, also known as the "Other Hill", which overlooks all of Athens. Most people take a cab to the cable car, but not us. We walked up all the steps! We enjoyed the glorious sunset and the Stairmaster workout, as well.

Tomorrow will find us checking out ferries, airlines, visas, and a little more of Athens.