He was up at 9. We did pretty well scrunched in the small bed. He played Mammals while we got ready, mainly feeding the elephant and making it poop, and talking to Carly about animals.
We went out walking after 9:30. Smart Car “I call it a cute cute car.”A couple very closed blocks away we found Cafe Appolonia. August insisted on eating inside, but then didn’t like the comfy chairs and insisted on standing while he ate. Carly gave him some challenges, like walking up and down the stairs. Carly got a club sandwich and I got the eggs Benedict with salmon. We both had cappuccinos. Carly tried to take August to the bathroom. They were outside, around the corner somewhere. It was dark, with motion sensors, and August was scared and wanted to be picked up. Carly pushed on a door and a woman said something and August let out the loudest scream. They decided to go back to the hotel.
We walked back to the hotel at 10:40. August wanted to watch television. First we found the end of a marathon. August liked watching something live, and we saw a woman win it. He then changed the channel and ruined the Formula 1 race for me, as we saw Lewis Hamilton win. Carly and I were trying to decide how to get to the AirBnB place. August said, “Well while you decide I’ll keep watching the robot video.” “This graphic violence part.” He found a music video for “Ignis” by Rompasso and we added it to his playlist. “Watching complete non-educational stuff.”
We packed up and headed to our Airbnb place. It was about a 5 minute walk to the station. Along the way, August found a car covered in sequins, and a huge grasshopper about 3 inches long. We figured out the subway system, just missed one train, then took a packed train 4 stops south. I had the stroller and a couple backpacks and was taking the stairs to avoid the big crowds. Felt like Korea again, walking the stairs with August in the backpack and holding groceries.
We got to the apartment at 12:30. August spotted a bunch of “cute cute cars” along the way. I spotted lots of Peugeots, Citroens, and Renaults.
Andrew showed us around. August was calling it “super fancy” before we got there and Carly was nervous. She need not be, as August loved it. They sat out on the balcony for awhile. Inside, August ate a bar and I helped him build circuit #99. We threw the hedgehog pillow around. We left at 1:25 to find a grocery store. Most are closed on Sunday, but we walked to a small one called the OK Store. The song “Let’s Talk about Sex” was playing as we looked around. We got some snacks, cheese, eggs, apples, carrots, coffee pods, juice, etc.
We headed back to the condo. He found a cartoon called Leon and Cam. We tried the fruit drink and ate the package apple pastry that reminded me of Seoul (particularly the little shop in the Children’s Grand Park subway station with the guy that called August “Kimbop boy” where we would buy a similar thing). We opened his drink only to find that it was Paw Patrol branded water in a tinted plastic bottle. He thought that was pretty funny.
More circuit (he discovered that the different remotes make different noise patterns) and cartoons, although now he was watching Inspector Gadget on his iPad. We got going back out at 4. August was very negative about it, saying he was afraid of the rain. We talked a lot about the forecast and light rain versus heavy rain, but he wasn’t convinced. We got him outside, in part because I gave him Carly’s old phone, now set up as a camera for him with a wrist strap. He took a few photos on the way down, then outside.
He was reluctant to leave the awning of our building. We got him to, but then had to carry him the entire way to the park, Lambrakis Hill, that we were walking to. Then, when we were there, he had a sort of mini panic attack, not wanting to be set down, clamping his eyes shut, etc. Carly took him, and we headed back. On the way back though the sun came out and he calmed down and we were able to get him to walk. He found another dead insect. Along the way too there was a little dog backing at us from a balcony. There was a purple curtain hanging down and you just saw the curtain moving as it barked. We all found that pretty funny.
We walked right past the condo and headed towards the subway area. We decided to head north, past the Acropolis, to the Monastiraki Flea Market and Pittaki Street, which is lit up at night. We were ultimately unsuccessful with these, neither looking at the flea market nor seeing Pittaki, but we still had a good walk.
We did some window shopping both directions, saw our first views of the Acropolis, and went to a restaurant called Ather just north of Monastiraki Square for dinner. We ordered the spaghetti and the chicken souvlaki. While we waited we played some Heads Up! Kids on my phone, then the empire building game, Polytopia, that he’s been requesting. The food was good and he ate a good amount. Carly took him to the bathroom, and he was scared again and screamed because of the hand dryer.
We left after left after 6:40. On the walk earlier (grocery store?) he had seen a bunch of flies and said he made something to suck them up, and then made found out of them. He had been making things like fly soup and mosquito pie for us. He did more of that now. He found a few treasures along the way, include a plastic-y strip that he bent into a shape. We took a different street back part of the way with lots of shopping on it and Carly commented on wanting to buy everything. August said he had a ton of money and could buy things for us: “maybe a couple suitcases, some jewelry…some mosaics for myself…” Near the end he was simply buying everything with eyes on it for Carly.
About the halfway point back we stopped at Kayak Ice Cream. Quite a place. August chose cookies and cream, and while Carly got it he asked me, “Isn’t it funny I’m getting ice cream?… I’m getting away with some treats!” We went upstairs and he ate it, then we continued the walk home, stopping to look at some birds in cages. We also saw a funny looking brown dog inside a shop. It was cute, and looked out at us. August reached out and hit the glass door, and the dog suddenly jumped at him, barking. Startled us all. Luckily, he found it funny. He picked a couple of pine needles off a tree and said, “This is Mr. Long Legs” and played with them as Carly carried him. He dropped them a couple times and asked me to get Mr. Long Legs, using a funny voice. He asked “Why so many cute cute cars?” And, “Do you think Lydia when she lived in Greece had a cute cute car?”
We got back about 8. August found a cartoon with bees, in Greek, and I made Carly and myself coffees using the pod coffee maker. He volunteered that if it started raining he’d be hitting and hitting. Earlier I’d congratulated him on a great adventure and he said, “I still hate the rain.” He says he doesn’t like the wetness and the coldness. We all sat on the couch and were watching his cartoon. He didn’t like that: “We’re not ALL going to watch this. I’m going to turn it off if you keep watching.”
Carly gave him a bath standing in the shower area, then he and I played the blue mook game. I got the pullout bed ready. Carly was putting him to sleep and I was going to sleep there. I left them at 9:15. They read Skybrary books and I think he was asleep about 9:45.
Huge grasshopper:
Being carried in Athens:
Touching a dead bug:
Walking in Athens:
Buying us everything with eyes:
