European Travel Begins... First Stop Athens!

So Here is a little bit about my trip to Athens. We left Thessaloniki on Friday, April 3rd and returned Monday, April 6 at about 3am...

Friday, April 3, 2009

So it is about 8 am and everyone in Alexandreas is waiting outside for the Zorpidis bus company to show up and take us to Athens. So 8:30 rolls around and they are still not their. Our study abroad cordinator, Kate Diedrick, called the company and asked where they were. Their response was "We do not leave that early (8am) we will be there soon!" Ummm... Ok so the school just paid you to show up at 8am and you confirmed the reservation but you decided that you didn't want to wake up that early so you just didn't... That is Greece for you though....

So we waited, and waited, and some of us ran back to the apartments to get stuff that we had forgot. Finally at about 9:15, we see the bus round the corner of Del Fone and we were like oh... only 1.5 hours late...

We got all of our stuff loaded on and it was about 9:45ish. Our trip to Athens had finally started. I was so excited to finally get out of Thessaloniki for a change. I don't feel like a tourist anymore and staying in the city was getting to be a little "old." So what better place for change than to go to Athens?!?!

It was a pretty uneventful 6 hour bus ride, so that was good. We watched "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" on the TV (we felt it was very fitting) and then stopped at a taverna for lunch! I was shocked... When we walked in, the first thing I noticed was that there were 2 clocks on the wall... This is the first place I have seen in Greece that has a clock! I could hardly believe it!

We arrived in Athens at about 5:30pm and one of our first sights was the Acropolis and the Parthenon. I couldn't believe that I was actually in the same city as one of the 7 wonders of the world! We got to see the 2004 Athens Olympic Games Stadium and some pretty cool hotels along the way to our hotel. We finally got to the hotel (which by the way was right across the road from the sea/beach - Amazing view) and got off the bus! We unpacked and then went for a walk down by the board walk!

Once we got back to the hotel around 9:00 and it was time for our first tour of the city... We took the TRAM to the center and then our guides showed us where most of the food, shopping, bars, and touristy stuff was, then set us free to explore Athens.

We explored a bit and then set out to find the famous ICE BAR. It was so cool, the bar was made of ice, the chairs were made of ice, the cups were ice, and the walls were ice. The bar provided you with big furry winter jackets and gloves so you don't freeze - which we did anyway - but they helped. It was so much fun, except for the fact that my shoes kept sticking to the floor.



Saturday, April 4, 2009

This morning we had continental breakfast at the hotel and it was so good... We met in the lobby at 10 and then headed to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. I couldn't believe I was actually standing in front of the PARTHENON. I am not going to lie, it was not what I had expected, and it is a little over rated. I don't know if I was expecting something more but it was exactly like all of the pictures you see. But don't get me wrong, it was still AMAZING to see.

After the Acropolis we went to another taverna to eat dinner and then we did a little bit of shopping!!! The shops were all on one street and they basically sold a lot of the same things.

We took the Metro (first time riding on the metro - ever) home and then went back to take a nap... But after about a half hour, Annie, Stephanie, Sarah, and I couldn't sleep at all and decided to take a walk down to the beach. The sea was so cold, clear, and blue! We spent about an hour here, skipping rocks, writing in the sand, and just taking all of Athens in! It was pretty relaxing.

We went back to the hotel and were laying around trying to waste time, so we could go out that night, but we all kept falling asleep. So we got up, got some supper, and then watched some TV and went to bed by 11. I couldn't believe it. I was like, "Sarah, we are so lame... We are in Athens, Greece and going to bed by 11!" But honestly, I really didn't care, I was so tired. But we knew we would be the only ones with a full 8 hours of sleep the next day!


Sunday, April 5, 2009

Again, this morning we had breakfast at the hotel and then went to Parliament to watch the "Changing of the Guards." The guards change every hour on the hour. Their changing process is rather interesting. They have kicks and certain steps that they do while being changed out. I felt like I was at a danceline show (Just Kidding). There outfits were pretty interesting and each "pom, pom" shoe weighs 6 pounds.

After the Changing of the Guards, we walked through the Royal Gardens and then up to the highest point in the city. The gardens were cool and there was a zoo of the most random animals in it. There were donkeys, peacocks, goats, rabbits, chickens, and roosters.

The walk up to the ___________ was rediculous. The path zig-zagged up the mountain and at one point the hill was steeper than Eau Claire's that takes you up to the dorms. I felt like I was walking up "Barn's Bluff" in Red Wing or someting except that it was on the streets with cars driving towards you.

When we finally reached the top, we were all so out of breath it was rediculous (but it definatly wasn't becasue we were not in shape.. .it was the altitude! HAHA) Ok, maybe a little of both but you will have that. The view was breathtaking (literally)!

The walk down took about 20 minutes, compared to the hour and 15 minutes that it took us to get up the dang thing. So we headed to the taverna for lunch which was delicious. We had something other than slouvaki or euros. It reminded me of lasagna but with cream sauce instead of tomato sauce. It was so good!

We were supposed to leave the taverna to come back home at about 2:30pm and then the bus broke down so we waited at the taverna.

Lovie, you would be proud, I had a deck of cards in my purse and we whipped them out! I couldn't play Euchre because no one knows how to play it, but we still played cards!

We were told, the bus was fixed, but somehow when we got to where it was sitting (it was fixed but yet we still had to walk over a mile to go to the bus - it couldn't come to pick us up). A little sketch but we went with it. But wouldn't you know, when we got to the buses, they were not running - go figure. So we went to a cafe and just sat there for about 3 hours. The company wasn't sure whether it should send another driver from Thessaloniki - 6 hours away (or use one of the buses from the Zorpidis bus company in Athens - or send the new part) After about 1 hour of deciding what they should do, they sent a new part and fixed the bus. It was about 7pm when we finally left the city of Athens.

The bus ride home was uneventful as well and I slept most of the way. When we were nearing our Apartment building, one of the professors from the school got on the intercom on the bus and was like "Good Morning, Sunshines..." And then he just started talking the rest of the time. We have come to the conclusion that he is just the type of person that likes to hear his own voice!




All in all, Athens was amazing and it was a blast. I would definately go back again!

I am off to explore the rest of Europe for the next two weeks so I probably will not be posting anything on here til we get back from Spring Break.

Again our travel plans include:
April 11-15: Rome, Italy
April 15 - 17: Barcelona, Spain
April 17 - 20: Paris, France
April 20 - 22: Dublin, Ireland
April 22 - 26: London, England
April 26: Thessaloniki, Greece



Hope all is well with everyone at home! I miss you all!

Love ya!