Today was another amazing day getting to know the city. We woke up early and got going at 9AM. We visited the Athens Parliament building and took a tour this morning. It was interesting to hear all about the history of Greece as well as the different parties. We got to sit in actual Parliamentary seats that are used while they are meeting! A few of us got distracted today because it was very hot, but we loved looking at the pictures in the mini-museum especially when we saw the Kennedy's!
After the tour, we began walking back towards the college. We got to talk to Tom, who is in charge of Technology here at this campus. He knew a lot about Greek politics and told us about a strike that will be happening in the next few weeks. He explained that basically over 2,000 city workers will be laid off and therefore people are striking. We know to avoid the square whenever we go out, but the strikes are nothing like the news make them out to be.
We went to one guy Mike's favorite restaurant today and I think it will probably be a favorite of all of ours by the end of our trip. They have amazing food. The best part? 2 euro gyros. THEY ARE AMAZING! Plus for going there so often Mike gets a discount or what they call "for you..a special!" which is really nice as well. The gyros here are amazing and its not just a pita and meat like at home. They put all kinds of things on top, onions, tomatoes, sauce, and to top it off Greek French Fries. I am officially addicted!
After lunch I went to go figure out my class. They apparently thought I wanted to take Intro to Soc which is definitely not the case, so the class I'm taking doesn't start til next week. Whats nice is that my apartment is literally two buildings away from where I'm taking classes. Doesn't get any better than that!
I told my friend that I didn't have class this week, so he researched different places to explore. He said "Hey wanna go to this arch" and I was like sure why not?! So Yentl, John and I walked over in the heat to check it out. In the afternoon Athens gets very hot, which is not fun to be out in, but also clears out A LOT of the tourists that go in the morning or weekends I guess. The arch is called Hadrian's Arch and although the exact reasons aren't know for why it was built, they think it was a gateway to welcome the king. After this we realized we were not too far from the Temple of Zeus. Another why not moment! So we suffered through the sun and checked it out. It was free for students so that was an added bonus. I couldn't stop talking about the movie Hercules (sorry I'm a little obsessed) It was great and so cool to discuss how and why they were built.
Whats so cool about Athens is that there's literally "ancient ruins" everywhere. All of a sudden you'll be walking down a street with modern restaurants and there will be a gated area with all this cool looking things inside. Since we are new, the three of us are constantly just stopping to stare.
I stopped and got a bracelet while we were walking around. I was so excited and it was only 5 euro. It was great. I had another Gyro for dinner (like I said addicted). But my total spending for the day was 9 euro for two meals and a bracelet. Thats what I call a good day! Oh plus .50 Euro for 3 huge bottles of water. Bottled water here is so cheap its great because we buy them, drink them, and fill them up with fountains that are located all over the city. Love it!
was very exhausted last night and forgot to include the best part of our day! A trip to the Acropolis. What an amazing piece of work/artwork/amazingness to finally see in person. We just walked around it a few times to take it all in. I can't believe the rich history that went into building the Parthenon. We were walking around taking pictures and began talking to these two women from Canada. They took some pictures for us while we took some for them. I kept saying thank you because they took many photos of the three of us and the woman said to me "No need to thank me! I think life is all about giving to others.....The most important thing is human connection". What a perfect quote and it is so true. It also made me think of my mentor Michael who says things like this all the time. It really is amazing to have that human connection so far away from home from a complete stranger.
LIz
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