It's all Greek to me

This past week was a travel break at DIS. So I naturally took the opportunity to travel with Annika (a friend from DIS) to Athens and Rome. Both cities were amazing! Very different from each other but both places definitely had their charm. And the best part was that both places were warm! Such a change from the damp and windy city of Copenhagen. But for now, you only get to hear about Greece.

Athens

We got into Athens on Saturday night at about nine and after a long and dark bus ride, we found ourselves in a large square in the center of the city. From there, we had to navigate through the city to the hostel. There were actually two other girls on our bus who were also going to the same hostel and it was really helpful to meet up with them because it meant more brainpower for when we took a few wrong turns. Once we checked in and found our room, Annika and I pretty much just crashed. 

 

Our room!

Day 1

On our first full day in Athens, Annika and I explored the city. There were a lot of monuments but Annika and I didn't go to too many of these the first day. At first we walked around a large park right next to the Acropolis. It was so large and we didn't have a map for it so we got lost quite a few times before we were able to figure out how to get back to the city center. Once we did figure it out, we went through a flea market. There were tons of people packed into city streets and in alleyways. Most of the people had all their stuff spread out on blankets on the ground. Some of it was really cool stuff. I saw a lot of old books and military badges. There were also a lot of oriental antiques which was really interesting. But the majority of the stuff being sold looked like people had just rummaged around their basements for all the old and unused junk they had- which is probably what they did. 

 

View from balcony!

 

 

 

 

Right outside the flea market

 

For lunch, Annika and I pretty much played eeny, meeny, miny, moe in order to pick a restaurant. And we picked the right one because the salad I ordered was probably one of the best salads I've ever had. It was so good. But it's kind of hard to go wrong when you have mozzarella and avocado. 

 

After lunch, we walked around another park and then went to the Acropolis museum. The museum was really cool and had a lot of replicas of art from the Parthenon. It's truly amazing what ancient Athenians were able to make. All of the art and architecture is so detailed.

 

Main Square

 

Beautiful park!

 

 

Arch with view of the Acropolis 

 

For dinner, we ended up going to a place that the guy running the hostel recommended to us. He told us to ask for the head waiter and tell him Walter sent us. Well this waiter was wonderful. When he came to our table, he took a look at us and the first thing he said was "I'm gay. You can't have me". It was such a strange first thing to say. For the entire dinner he kept teasing and telling us he was too good for us. It was really amusing, especially because when we left he went to shake our hands, but instead of shaking them, he kissed them. Annika in particular thought this was the funniest thing ever and couldn't stop laughing. And the food there was spectacular! We had lamb and veal kabobs with pita bread and tzatziki. 

 

YUM!!!

Day 2

 We spend the morning of our second day on a guided tour. Our tour guide was a local archeologist so he knew a lot about all the monuments and buildings. The fist place we went was the Temple of Zeus. This sounds like it would be awesome, but it's actually a bit of a let down. Once upon a time it was a massive temple just outside the ancient city of Athens. Now however, all that remains are a few standing columns plus one that's fallen over. I can only imagine how impressive it once looked. Next we went through what used to be the royal gardens (one of the parks we were at the day before) and then we went to the parliament. Our guide timed it perfectly so that we were able to see the changing of the guards. They have very specific movements and rituals that they have to do for this, some of which is based in traditional dance. It was very interesting and I didn't fully understand it. I also felt really bad for the guards because they were standing outside in about 85 degree weather in uniforms that looked like they were made entirely of wool. You could see huge sweat marks on some of the guards.

 

 

  

Changing of the guard

 

Little church

 

After a few more small churches and monuments, we ended up at the Acropolis where our tour guide spend a lot of time talking about the architecture. The Acropolis was designed in such a way that when you enter it, you see the Parthenon from the perfect angle. So you don't see it straight on. Instead, you see it off to the right a bit (this enables you to see two sides of the building so that you can fully understand how large it is). It was also built on higher ground so that it looks even larger and more impressive. And the columns aren't built straight up and down. They all taper and angle slightly to the center. The architects did this to correct an optical illusion and make it so the columns actually appear straight when you look at it. All of these things were ingenious for the time.

 

View of city from the Acropolis 

 

You can't tell where the ruins end and where the city begins because they all look the same

 

 

Me right outside the Acropolis

 

 

First view of the Parthenon. Unfortunately, there was a lot of scaffolding (and tourists) in the way.

 

Another view of city from the Acropolis

 

 

Me in front of the Parthenon!

 

 

Me with the Acropolis in the back (I thought this was a very Christmas card worthy photo)

 

That night, we met up with one of Annika's friends from school. It was a lot of fun to talk to her and learn more about Greek culture. 

Day 3

After two days of walking all day long, we took it easy on the third day and took a tram to the beach. The water was incredibly blue and a fair bit warmer than what I'm used to from Sanibel. We sat in chairs reading under an umbrella for most of the day. It was glorious. 

 

Beach!

 

 

This is where we ate lunch right next to the beach

There were also a lot of interesting people there. Because it was a Tuesday, they were, for the most part, all elderly. And they were all so tan! It was actually rather unappealing because their skin looked like thick leather. Definitely a cultural thing.

 Our hostel had some interesting people too. We were, by far, the youngest people at the hostel- something I was not expecting. There were a quite a few people in their late twenties through forties. We had two beds in a six bed room and were alone for the fist two night. Then this older guy came and it was really awkward because he kept walking round in his speedo underwear (though it hardly qualified as underwear). And he had a beer-belly. It was not a pleasant sight. And then another guy and two Asian women moved it too. So we had a whole hodgepodge of people the last two nights. 

The people in all the tourist shops and restaurants were also interesting. They kept trying to talk to us as we walked by to get us to come into their shop and buy things. And they never stopped. You couldn't look at them because that just encouraged them and if you ignored them, they they tried to talk to you in another language. You couldn't even glance at the merchandise or menus without them coming up and talking to you. It was interesting because, for some reason, a lot of the people in Greece thought I was French. I don't know why but whenever I didn't respond when they spoke to me in English, they would try French next. But they only did this to me, not to Annika. People would also greet me in French at the restaurants. Then whenever I told someone my name, they would ask if I was French and I would be like "yes, my name is technically French in origin but no, I am not French". It was really strange.

Also, I've decided that breakfast doesn't really exist in Europe. In Athens, all the hostel had for breakfast was toast and hard-boiled eggs (and it was only slightly better in Rome).