Weekend in Greece - Day 3

Sunday morning was what I had been the most excited about.  This was the day we were going to the Acropolis!  We woke up early again and this morning had the free breakfast which actually wasn’t that bad.  I tried a boiled egg and actually liked that too.  The Acropolis was only about a 10-minute walk from our hotel and even early in the morning, the crowds began to multiply.  We started off by going to the main entrance and the views were indescribable.  You could see all of Athens from every angle with the Parthenon above.  We continued to climb the perfectly constructed marble steps until we were at the top.  The first thing we saw and talked about was a temple dedicated to Athena which sat in front of and a little below the Parthenon.  

Temple for Athena

Next was the actual Parthenon and the pictures I have seen do it no justice.  It was so large and the columns were beautiful.  We learned that not a single column was alike and every one were built to bow out, so that the illusion was created that they were perfect, even though not a single one had a straight line.  Because each column is different, the architects have a difficult time building it all back together. 

"Greeks" in Greece

Parthenon

KDs in front of Parthenon

We had the chance to wander around the entire area and got to take a lot of pictures.  Once again it was a time for me that I could not believe because I remember learning about these subjects back in elementary school.  It was very exciting to be able to relate what I’ve learned and be able to see it in person. 

After the area of the Acropolis we started to go down to the Agora, which was like a public square back in the day.  Along the way there was a rock formation, which is dedicated to the Apostle Paul for his missionary work.  We climbed to get another beautiful view of Greece and of the Agora from above. 

Stairs to climb to reach top of rock

Rock formation dedicated to Apostle Paul looking over the Agora to the right

The Agora had a large-scale covered patio with columns along each side with a museum on the inside.  We explored around for a little before being let off on our own.  A small group of us went to lunch at a café where I got a gyro.  It was hands down one of the best meals I have had on this trip so far.  It came in a metal tin with pita on the sides and the pork on top of all the toppings.  The pork was perfectly cooked and seasoned and the tdaziki sauce was on point too.  After lunch we all wandered around the little tables set up of trinkets and souvenirs to buy.  It was interesting to see because many tables had clearly stolen goods and a majority were selling just junk.  We passed through these tables quickly and got to the good souvenir shops.  Mixed throughout the tables and cafes were the men selling the “stolen” Louis Vuitton bags and sunglasses.  I haggled one man for a pair of sunglasses and got them for my appropriate price of 7 euros…I’m good at my job :) and then Jen did some good haggling as well.  The other girl we were with got a wallet for 5 euros when the guy originally wanted 20, she learned from the best ;)

Tdzaziki sauce, tomatoes, lettuce, onion, pork, french fries, pita bread= real Greek Gyro

Of course a day can’t end without a little excitement.  Dr. Goetz told us to follow the shops to the end of the road and it would lead us to where our hotel was.  Well that was definitely not the case.  We ended up getting turned around and walked past one restaurant 3 times after going up and down hills and around winding streets.  We pulled over and finally looked at the map after a good 20 minutes of just laughing at our issues and getting lost, good ole Lewis and Clarke for ya.  When we finally made it back home we took time to relax and read on the balcony for a bit before getting ready for dinner with everyone.

We started off our night with the girls meeting up at the roof top bar that had a perfect view of the Parthenon at night.  It was a perfect view of everything and once again beautiful.  After the roof top we all met up for dinner, which wasn’t as smooth going as the night before but ended up working out.  I was really craving good pasta but settled for a pizza.  When I got the pizza it looked like a bowl with just melted cheese on top and some tomatoes.  I was a little confused when I received my meal but Jen quickly stabbed it with her knife and discovered that indeed there was crust underneath all the cheesy goodness.

Strange couple from the bus to the left

Parthenon at night

My "pizza"

The end of the table we were at enjoyed some games of hangman and tic-tac-toe while waiting for our food and dessert.  Always a fun time :)  April and I had our dream fulfilled of eating baklava in Greece and it was so much better than I have ever had in the United States.  After dinner a few people had grand plans of going to some club which required the metro to get there and a taxi ride, which was ridiculous given that we were in a foreign country, thankfully my room along with nearly the rest of the group were not down for that.  Clearly some people in our group just don’t think too logically.  So the group split up and we wandered around the few blocks within our hotel distance.

April and John at dinner

BAKLAVA!

We were all just hanging out enjoying the area and we ended up running into our professors, which was quite entertaining.  It was funny to see them so much more relaxed when out on their own, and it was actually kind of fun to hang out with them for a few minutes.  After they left we slowly started to go back to our hotel.  The people we were with ended up just all hanging out in our room while a few went down to hang out at the bar.  Come to find out the “gung ho” group who wanted to go to the club didn’t end up going and ended up at our bar at our hotel…as we suggested in the first place.  Anyways we all hung out a bit before going back to just chill in our room because it was the largest.  We all shared laughs and stupid stories before heading off to bed.  It was weird yet cool to see how close we have all become, because all hanging out together that night felt like we had all been friends for years, when it was really only for 2 weeks for most of us.