Greece at the Science Museum

We drove downtown again today, to see an IMAX film about Greece at the Science Museum. Beautiful movie, showing not only the history of Greece, but the country today. I didn't realize that Greece had so many islands. Miles and miles of beautiful beaches surrounded by blue-blue water. White-white houses built onto the sides of cliffs overlooking the Mediterranean.

The roads are so narrow, winding up and down and around all those cliffs.... there were more scooters and motorcycles than cars in the film, and I would imagine that people walk more than ride. One thing was puzzling...... I didn't see many gardens surrounding the houses. Don't people grow their own vegetables there? Or maybe that's just not possible in the cliff-side areas, unless they have small container-gardens set outside their kitchens. Mostly all of the houses were painted bright white, with an occasional blue house dotting the mountainside. Personally, I'd choose one of the blue ones.

There was a small hotel set into the side of a cliff.... lots of beautiful views from all the rooms, I'm sure. Small enough to make your stay more authentic, rather than staying at a Hilton. We learned that during our trip to Hawaii........ one Hilton is the same as another, and you could be anywhere in the world when you're in one of those American-owned hotels. Better to stay at an authentic, privately-owned hotel, to get a better feel of wherever you are.

After the IMAX movie, I stopped into the museum's gift shop, fully expecting to see some displays of items from Greece. Nothing. Not a thing from Greece. Which is unusual, indeed, because the Science Museum has always been very good in coordinating the items in the gift shop to whatever is being featured within the museum. Oh well. That's the way the baklava crumbles.

We stayed downtown for lunch, and went to a Thai restaurant. Now you'd figure we would've gone to our favorite Greek restaurant downtown, but being that we had just finished up all the Greek foods we bought at the Greek festival last week, my husband had a taste for Thai food, so that's where we went. Very different than our Thai restaurant here...... the food was very good, just cooked a different way. I'm sure there are dozens of ways to cook Shrimp Pad Thai, just as there are dozens of recipes for lasagna or spanikopita or anything else.

Downtown restaurants are more artsy than they are out here. Our restaurants here have a more homey, nautical, traditional flair. Downtown restaurants are likely to be more modern, more simplistic, more cutting-edge. And the parking lots are smaller there, which makes for interesting angles when you're parking your car, and the sidewalks are more crowded in the museum and the university areas because more people are walking instead of driving. A whole other world in the downtown area here.

As we drove past the park in the center of town, there was a wedding party having photographs taken by the water fountain. It never fails...... whenever we drive past that park, there is either a bridal party or a Quinceneros princess having pictures taken. The Quinceneros is the Mexican celebration of a girl's 15th birthday..... and the parties they give are equivalent to a wedding party. The birthday girl is dressed in a long gown, complete with gloves and tiara, and she has attendants dressed in long colorful gowns as well. Thousands upon thousands of dollars are spent on these lavish birthday parties..... the Mexican families go all-out for the 15th birthday, similar to what American parents do for the Sweet Sixteen parties of their daughters.

The weather has been beautiful...... warm days, lots of sun without broiling hot rays, and cooler nights...... "sweater-weather," as we call it, when the temperature dips down below 80 degrees.