well i’m on my way…

When we arrived in Athens I was feeling tired, a little burnt out, and thirsty. (I knew that a night out would cure all of that.)  We got dinner of souvlaki (chicken for Meg, tomatoes, onion, tzatziki, and fries for both of us) and chatted with some of our neighbors, all Ameircan, all male, all of varied ages.  Mike was black (one of the few I’ve encountered travelling, and that he has too), from New York and in his forties; Rob was from Connecticut and pushing 40; John and Eli were recent college graduates, John from Oregon, and Eli from Isreal, New York, and Toronto.  We all ended up in the hostel bar and out on the Saturday Athens nightlife, where we danced the night away and drank Mykos, the local beer.  (Meg, not a beer drinker stuck with Orange Bacardi Breezers, the first alcohol she ever got drunk on.)  I recall telling my new friends “The sky is blue, so that means it’s more early than it is late”.  I think we went to bed at five-ish?

Meghan and I woke up still drunk, but ready for the day.  Little did we know we’d end up walking for literally twelve hours!!  We saw flea markets, Parliament, changing of the guard at Parliament, broken chairs (they’re EVERYWHERE), the Archaeology Museum, Hadrian’s Arch, Hadrian’s Library (that we didn’t know it was until two days later), the Acropolis from a large distance, cats, walked around Plaka-the touristy neighborhood, and was amazed by mangy but well-fed looking dogs.  We fell into bed exhausted and slept like we’ve never slept before.

We took the three hour bus ride to Delphi the next day to look at some rubble-The Temple of Apollo, the Temple of Athena, the Bellybutton, the best preserved Stadium in Greece, and other unidentifyable rocks from ancient times.  The sun was relentless and there was no relief from the humidity.  Our feet were killing us from the day before and we were still probably dehydrated, so we didn’t talk much.  We spent a good 4 hours there before we headed back for a sleep-filled bus ride back to Athens.

Yesterday we went to Hadrian’s Library to realized that we already saw it the other day, took some photos, and headed for the Acropolis.  We only really checked out the Parthenon, as Meg didn’t have endurance because of the heat, heat rash, and sore feet.  We then went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, where we sat under a tree for a while, resting our feet, and hiding from the sun.  We somehow made it back to the hostel, with our sore, sore feet.  We both discovered multiple blisters and nursed them for the rest of the night.  

Today was Meg’s last day in Greece, so we decided to take it easy.  We did’t leave the hostel until noon and took public transport everywhere we went.  We checked out the 2004 Olympic Staduim Grounds, where we found the soccer field and running track.  We posed for running, kicking, and jumping photos.  There was a medal stand, where we shared first place.  (Aren’t we good sisters?)  After we had enough Olympian stuff, we headed back to the touristy area so Meg could pick up some souvenirs for her friends. 

After putting it off for days, I finally got to the train station to ensure myself a seat on the overnight train to my next destination:  Turkey.  And family, don’t worry, I’m not going to the Eastern part of Turkey, at least not this time!  I’ll see you all next time from the country that straddles two continents!

This entry was posted on Wednesday, May 27th, 2009 at 10:54 am and is filed under Europe. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.