Climbing

Lilac flowers hang on woody stems over a yellow building in Athens. The view is from the ground looking up at the sky.

I’m working propped up in bed today. White sunlight peeps in through the window slats to my right, but the room is fairly dim. It’s easier to get lost in another world when the lights on this one aren’t up too high. I feel good today. Contented.

This morning we went for a walk after coffee. We may not be in ‘tourist mode,’ but we’re still in Athens, and there’s no shortage of things to see. There’s a very tall, rocky hill (Mount Lycabettus) not too far from here; we can see it out our window, and we walked to it. So many stairs to get there! Up and up and up. When we reached the base of the rocky cliff, the ride in the funicular was ten Euros a person, so we decided to walk the rest of the way.

So we climbed, up and up and up. My thighs burned. The sun blasted down over our heads, unforgiving even in the morning hours. When we reached the top, we could see all of Athens spread around us, a dense, panoramic blanket made from a tumble of whitish buildings. Metal surfaces on the hillsides glittered like fool’s gold. In the distance, the Mediterranean was a flat, blue spill speckled with white sailboats. Paddle-shaped cacti packed the steep hillsides below. Tourists had carved initials into some of the fat leaves, leaving brown scars behind. Three feral tabby cats lounged up at the viewpoint peak, nibbling food that people had left for them, utterly unimpressed with my feat of athleticism or the epic view.

I thought back to hilly Lisbon with appreciation, because those huff-and-puff hills helped to make the calf muscles that carried me so high today. For once, I wasn’t the one huffing and puffing on my way to a viewpoint. It felt like exercise. Like effort. Not at all a bad thing.

We opened our phones to quantify our awesomeness. 55 flights of stairs climbed? Kickass! Feeling victorious, I returned to sea level, snarfed down a sandwich, and indulged in a nap. Now, I’m propped up in bed with my laptop, resolving not to move around unless I have to.

A good climb deserves a good sit. I’m pretty sure those tabby cats would agree.

Into the book I go.