Yesterday was my 53rd birthday. I got treated pretty royally.

Walking yesterday we came across this street. The top line means street. The bottom line is translation of the Greek (middle like). Pretty darn close, huh?

Usually I go to bed earlier than Kim and get up earlier, but she set her alarm to get up when I did so she could prepare a special breakfast for me. It was great, but she suffered. Not sure if it was sinus trouble (more below), getting too little sleep or what, but she ended up falling back asleep for a couple of hours after breakfast. That gave me time to work a little and run errands.

There was a major police presence downtown yesterday, but we don't know why. Saw a peaceful protest, but nothing troubling. Maybe a dignitary in town or possibly fear of G-20 reaction?

The paper said we'd be experiencing African dust through Wednesday, and that people with breathing difficulties should avoid outdoor time. I know this can be a problem, even further north. We experienced such warnings when we were in Italy.

We had "linner" (lunch/dinner) about 2:30 at this restaurant. I had seen a Vietnamese place but was told it was nothing special. Instead I took a recommendation from Athens Survival Guide. This guy has the best online resource for Athens - I highly recommend it.

Headed downtown and made the biggest purchase since we've been here: we bought our train tickets to Istanbul. Kim has made it clear that is the one major excursion she wants to make on this trip. It's been difficult trying to schedule, though. The dates are a given: the university has an Easter vacation, and that's when we'll go. The problem was how.

The remainder of the pictures today are Kim's. She took a picture of each course as delivered. The young lady at the nearby table just laughed at us.

Rental car companies in Athens will not allow you to drive into Turkey (checked 11 of them online, walked into Hertz). A friend suggested renting a car and driving it to the border, then renting a car from an agency there, where they are set up for such things. Checked flying, but the cost was significantly higher. Instead we're taking a LONG train trip. I'll report on that after we do it.

The lady laughing kindly volunteered to take our picture.

Also made a stop at an English-language bookstore. Had to have a book for my birthday (yes, I'm spoiled).

Kim in Aegina.

We invited Mark and Martha over for dessert. Kim made cheesecake for my birthday, in spite of not having a springform pan or US measuring cups. She knows I like it and it has become a birthday tradition, so she wouldn't let anything get in the way. I told you I was treated royally.

I got birthday calls from my mom and daughter, as well as e-mails from my son, brother, sister-in-law and a number of friends. The tough ones were the birthday greetings on Facebook, since I've given it up for lent. I have e-mail addresses for some of the people, so I could thank them directly, but don't have them all. Oh well.

Grilling octopus in Aegina.

Today's news is not about trivial stuff like politics or the economy. If you know anything about Europe, you know the important news is about soccer. Greece is closing in on qualifying for the 2010 World Cup after a 1-1 tie with Israel.