Athens: Part II

(Sorry for the small font size in the previous post!) Aaaaaaand we're back!

Saturday

Saturday I woke up a little later than I wanted to but still made it to breakfast before it closed at 9:30. Breakfast included bread and some fruit. I could already tell it was going to be a hot day. We got all our things together and set out a little after 10 to....go to the Acropolis! How cool; I was so excited, especially because it's such a short walk. It was so hot, too, about 70 degrees. I was loving every minute of it, and I had even brought my sunglasses from Paris. Good thing! We did a lot of climbing, and each view of the city was more breathtaking than the one before. We kept climbing higher and higher. I had no idea how spread out the city was—it expands for several miles and you can see endless mountains and even the sea in one direction! We all would have loved to go to the beach if we had had more time. The ruins themselves were incredible. It's hard ti imagine that things can endure so long, and that we were in the very place that so many historical things happened. It's the beginning of civilization! Ah, so wonderful. And to see the Parthenon was amazing. These are the sorts of things you see pictures of in history textbooks and can't imagine actually visiting. There was sufficient construction, which was a bummer, but I was still so ecstatic to just be there. I don't think it really sunk in until after I got back to Paris.

We took a lot of photos and enjoyed the sun and the scenery and eventually had to come back down. There is simply too much to see all at once because the ruins are scattered all over the city. Get this: my art history student card from the Sorbonne got me into the Acropolis for free! Who knew that it could work internationally?! :) It all really felt like a dream and the whole time, none of us could believe were in Greece.

We spent the rest of the afternoon doing a lot of souvenir shopping. I got lots of things that I needed for people at home—surprisingly, no souvenirs from Paris yet, oops!--and some things for myself like rings and a air of sandals. I couldn't leave Athens without a pair of Grecian sandals. It was productive. We walked around the same streets so many times that the restaurant workers and shop owners began to recognize us! We were like local friendly faces that everyone recognized, haha. It was kind of funny, but I loved it. The shop keepers are a very persistent bunch and you are almost harassed into going into people's stores, sometimes. That I didn't like as much. We headed back to the hostel to relax for a little since we had done a lot of walking during the morning and afternoon. We had also gone to a field where athletes were practicing shot put and the discus—the real roots of the Greek Olympics! Haha. It was cool to see not only the touristy sights but also some small local things like that.

This time we had the intention of going to the first restaurant but we got intercepted by Jimmy, who told us he wouldn't be able to sleep that night if we didn't eat at his place. We didn't want to eat at the same restaurant two nights in a row, so we said we had to shop first. It was hard to say no to Jimmy because he is so funny and crazy and we loved him, so we promised to come back for dessert. We ate at the place where we had intended to the night before, and it was good, but the experience at Estia, “our” place, was a little better. I ate a lot of veal that was so yummy, but my chicken kabob at lunch was not as good as those that I have had in Paris, surprisingly. We went back to Estia for dessert and it was divine. :) The night was more or less the same, with us walking around and peeking into shops before heading back to the hostel. We had tried to see some more ruins that were closed off behind a gate. I wish we could have gotten closer to them, but they were still beautiful, especially the way the light from the sunset was hitting them. Le sigh....

Sunday

And on Sunday we woke up, had breakfast, and checked out of the hostel by 10 am. I don't know how I did it, but I managed to fit everything into my back! It was quite a feat for all of us. We had some time to explore more of Athens before we had to leave for the airport so we wandered and I found us a beautiful park. There were orange trees everywhere! Also, there are a lot of dogs in Athens, laying everywhere, in the middle of the sidewalk. Though they have collars, I don't think they all have owners. All they do is sleep. Anyway, there were gorgeous trees in the park and we took photos and enjoyed nature for a bit before heading back to the metro.

The next time I come to Greece, I'm definitely going to go to the islands. There is still so much more to see in Athens, too, and I want to see it all. We had an almost-incident on the metro when we thought we were on a direct ride to the airport when it stopped at a station. The lights went out and we didn't realize that all the other passengers had gotten off. Once we did, we scrambled to get our things together and get off the train. Julia, Courtney, and I made it but the alarm beeped and the doors shut before Monica and Leanne could get off! It started to pull away and all 5 of us were speechless and motionless until a guy banged on the door to stop the metro so they could get off. Hahaha, it was hysterical! That WOULD happen to us, right? On every trip, there's always something. :) We luckily made it to the airport very early and you can believe we went right through security and got to our gate. No taking any risks this time, though Leanne's water bottle made it through security when it definitely shouldn't have...this flight was better—aka, normal—without problems. The flight is about 3 hours but we occupied ourselves and talked the whole time; it was nice. And I have to admit; seeing the Eiffel Tower lit up from a distance as you fly into Orly—the night view really makes Paris seem like the City of Lights—is pretty cool.

I have just returned from one of the best weekends of my life. The trip was so much fun and I made new friends and became closer with others, and I couldn't be happier about it. My only regret is that we didn't do this sooner! All 5 of us traveled so well together and everyone is so sweet and fun. And to have been in Athens is just indescribable: everything about it is beautiful. I didn't want to return to Paris, especially to the freezing cold! There are some things I realized I preferred about Athens to Paris, and some things I prefer about Paris to Athens. I know that if I really want to return to Greece later in life, then I will. The photos don't do it justice. And seeing the huge Christmas tree in front of Notre Dame with its ornaments and lights was so beautiful (how many times can I use that word here?) that it made me happy to be back in my city. All in all, I had a wonderful, amazing trip! :)

(In fact, Leanne, Courtney and I all got kabobs for dinner in the Latin Quarter upon arriving back in Paris, haha! How fitting, to bring the weekend full-circle)