picking up the pieces

We are sitting in a cafe in Syntagma Square, sipping cold Viennoise chocolate and snacking on tiny chocolate croissants.  We got up early to watch the Changing of the Guards ceremony and are now escaping the heat in a most Greek manner.

Tonight we have tickets for opening night of Turandot at the Acropolis; I'm wearing the new dress I bought at H&M and will probably cry with excitement through the entire show.  Seeing Turandot is on my life list - and I'm so excited to be crossing even more things off my list while on this trip.

It has been so different not having the guys here - we have been moving at a much slower pace, more leisurely.  It feels like a real vacation now, lingering meals at tavernas and many cups of tea in cafes.  Lots of sleep, knitting to Jane Austen movies at the hotel once we have retired for the evening.

Owen and I talked yesterday about how it feels to be comfortable in Athens - it is just another city now, still special in that it is Greece - but not as awe-inspiring as it once was.  I feel like I can leave here and not be heart broken, can leave in peace and not long to return.  Somehow I managed to pick up all those pieces of myself that I've been scattering about over the past three summers, and I feel complete.  I know I will be back here at some point in the future - I will never stop traveling, never stop loving it here, but for now I am ready to see another part of the world.  It's a good feeling, having closure, and now I am just going to soak up these last two weeks.

~RLM