It's crazy, compared to America, how close I am to so many remarkably different countries. After being here three months, I finally was able to take advantage of that. Elise and I booked a weekend trip to Athens, Greece. Sounds crazy, but it was only a short flight. We arrived a four PM, and were greeted by this:
Just a few police with riot shields. No Big Deal. There was a big group of protesters.. but I was a little scared to take pictures of them, considering the last few weeks Athens has been burnt to the ground. This next picture is what used to be a Starbucks until it was hit with Malitov Cocktails:
I've always wanted to Couch Surf, but never had the courage. Athens was my first time. We were hosted by this amazing girl Despoina. She is a University student. We hit it off, and I'm sure we will be forever friends. She lived really close to town, and down this awesome street:
She spoke perfect English and had fun teaching us Greek. She was a great host. Friday night we cooked a yummy dinner and then dressed up for Carnival. We went out to the bars, had a drink, then came home. We were so exhausted from traveling, that we called it an early night. Plus, we had a lot to see the next day. Like this awesome sign... thanks for putting it in English!!:
Saturday morning we woke up... very early! We had a yummy breakfast of Greek Yogurt, honey, and fruit. Then we were off to the Acropolis! The Acropolis was.. well.. very old. It was pretty cool, because its on this hill right smack dab in the center of Athens.
You can see the entire city of Athens from the top of the hill. Athens is huge. It's like a city that just keeps going. It was really beautiful.
Here's a sign that tells you what you're not allowed to do. Singing and making loud noises is one of them. I almost asked for a refund.
Thank goodness we found this:
After all the hiking through ancient time, we really wanted to see the beach! Both Elise and I miss seeing the ocean everyday (she's from New Zealand.. i dunno if I've mentioned that) So we took a dodgy train to what we thought was the beach. An hour later, we ended up at the Pier... We got to see the ocean, but sadly, no beach. It was still nice. We stopped and had a traditional Greek Frappee.. which is watered down coffee with too much sugar, and sweet and condensed milk (not so tasty if you ask me). Then we decided to go home to Despoina. She made us popcorn and we hung out and.. well.. did what girls do best: talked about hair, boys, and makeup.
Since it was Carnival in Athens, everyone was getting dressed up. Despoina had the great idea to make signs that say "Free Hugs" and walk around the club area. Are you kidding me? It's like we were made to be best friends.
Here's a picture of my favorite costume:
We walked all around town, and got some really great reactions. The best was when someone said, "Hugs? whats that?" and I went in for the hug, and he screamed and ran away. We met some really interesting characters, and I learned a lot about Greek culture.
Here's a view of the Acropolis at night:
We had to get on the bus in the wee hours of the morning and catch out flight to Amsterdam. I was so sad to see Greece go. I really had a great time there, and hope I get to go back someday.
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