That flight never is easy, but was able to meet 2/3 (Afia and Sarah) of the CTF Team 37 in Amsterdam and we were able to all 3 fly to Athens on the same flight! Aline arrived 20 minutes after us so it was perfect timing!

It was about 5:00pm local time by the time we had the rental van pointed towards

Athens and a short 45 minutes to the hotel. We quickly dropped our bags in our hotel room and made our way to an area near here and totally lucked out finding an excellent Greek restaurant where we ordered to much food – but everything looked SOOOO good.

We were able to see the changing of the guard at the Unnamed Soldier Tomb. Very interesting- we all agreed we liked the skirts the soldiers were wearing.

Everyone mostly slept well, we met for breakfast then made our way to make food at a local NGO that supports refugees and the homeless. We were asked to prepare food for

125 people with: carrots, potatoes, rice, beans and chicken. The 4 of us set to work chopping veggies and preparing the food. Some of the regulars watched for about an hour then came in and made the magic happen with added spices and sauces.

Once done- we dished up plate after plate of chicken, rice and beans oh and potatoes with carrots and parsley. It was delicious and in the end 145 people were fed. In the 3 hours we were there we were able to take turns stepping out from behind the cooking and hold 1 of the 3 ten day old  babies who where there. Littles ran between the parents and those waiting to eat. They were everyones kids in that everyone picked up a toddling toddler to wipe a nose or give a kiss to, older kids carried the younger ones to parents out of eye sight. It was so beautiful to see people from all over the world: Afghanistan, Syria, Iraq, Eritrea, France, UK and the US reaching out give a hug or a hand to someone else’s baby.

After many goodbyes and pictures we next made our way to Athen’s Central Market where we purchased more food (veggies and beans) for a camp about an hour from here. It was getting dark by the time we arrived in camp so only had a few minutes to unload, say a few quick hello’s/goodbyes before we had to head back to Athens.

Dinner was at a favorite veggie restaurant of mine and we met another volunteer from Macau by way of London. So many interesting people- she is from Macau but went to High School, college and law school in the UK and is now mostly living and volunteering in Athens.

We walked around the beautiful cool evening- views of the Parthenon lit up agains the moonless sky were around most corners. Even more beautiful at night –