Athens= ehh

So, SURPISE, but I don’t love Athens. Maybe I was spoilt with all the lovely and wonderful ports we’ve been to, but this one just doesn’t compare. We walked out and it STUNK. When we walked inside the customs area we thought it would smell slightly better. Wrong! It smelt worse. There is trash piled up everywhere, graffiti everywhere (which some is kind of cool!), and wild animals roaming the streets (really only cats and dogs but still!!). The rose and beer Indians are back and on the prowl begging for moohlah! Besides that, the city is trashy and there is not much uber exciting. But we still had a really good (and random) day in the city!

We started off with one plan- Harry Potter tickets. So we hopped on the bus and sat in it for 30 hot and sweaty minutes till we reached the Acropolis stop, thinking it would be central. We only had a list of the names of the movie theaters, so it proved difficult. We ended up just going to a famous sandal place- The Poet’s. He makes all these sandals handmade and has created them for celebrities (supposedly) so we decided to give it a try. We walk in and expensive radar goes off since it’s real HANDMADE leather shoes. So we grab a “shoe menu” (literally what its called!) and, since I somehow am the designated talker (when did that happen?), they made me ask. Turns out they were all under 30 euros and we were in!! So I got a pair that I watch him fit to my feet and then nail the straps in the approximate size! It was awesome. There was a dude in there getting new shoes that said his old ones lasted for 8 years! So I’m super stoked.

After that, we asked directions to a theater and they pointed us toward the Acropolis. So we hiked all the way up and asked again. They pointed us around the Acropolis. So we asked again and again and again, all of them telling us different ways. We end up at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and watch the guards change. Right across the street from that was the main square and there were signs and protest graffiti (I think. I don’t exactly know what letter lambda or delta are….). The square literally had police in riot gear guarding every 10 feet… pretty sweet! So we didn’t explore. We keep asking directions and end up on the opposite side of the world, so we ate lunch (gyro…. YUM) and headed back to the Acropolis.

By this time it was like 3 and the perfect time to go. The crowds were gone and the sun was slightly (and I mean VERY slightly) cooler, so we had a grand time. The Parthenon was amazing, I can’t believe it is standing after all this time! The fact that we learned all the caratids on the Erechtheion, along with the friezes on the Parthenon, were fake kinda made it less impressive… but oh well. It had a great view and was mind boggling to look at how it was built and still stood!

After that we decided to head on down to the Temple of Zeus and start sight seeing. On the way there, we ran into the Acropolis Museum, a new Greek museum that is apparently stellar. So we went in and looked at the REAL caratids, sorta. They had the front part of the exhibit where you can see the faces blocked off, so we were bummed. We noticed there was a lot of security and people with ear pieces in, so we were moderately confused. We quickly figured out why. As we were leaving, we were suddenly pushed to the walls of the museum by a huge mob of people in suits. Turns out, as we saw, the Hillary Clinton was making an appearance in the museum for some odd reason. But we saw her! I think we made eye contact, but who really cares. So it was HER that made us not see the caratids’ faces well! Erg. But the museum was awesome and really amazing. The ground level floor was completely see through glass, so you could look beneath you feet to view current excavation of Greek ruins going on! They also had a wall of windows that looked out at the Acropolis, which I can only image what will look like at night! We were not allowed pics in the museum (sadly. The one bummer of the place!) so I shant be able to show you… oh well.

After that we started back on our way to the Temple of Zeus, which had closed at 2:30 (who does that?!). So we were figuring out what to do when we ran into some friends from the ship. They were hightailing it to see Harry Potter in a theater they had found. Since we had gotten no luck on the wild goose chase to find HP, we followed them and had to ask directions another 40 times. Athens’ roads really blow. They aren’t spelled with letters we are used to, so if you get an English map but the roads are spelt with Greek letters, you= screwed. So we got there with 2 minutes to spare and… I won’t say much. Just that I bawled through about 98% of the movie and thinking about it now is bringing tears to my poor eyeballs. Childhood= gone :( WHAT AM I GONNA DO WITH MY LIFE NOW?!

Now I’m packing for Mykonos (adios Athens! Thank goodness) and cannot wait! Except for the fact that we are winging how we shall get to the airport. There has been a metro strike for a few days now, and tomorrow is a 48 hour taxi strike. Hopefully the buses or the planes don’t go on strike, but if they do it’ll be a good adventure!! Yayayayay!!!