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Hey all! This is my travel blog for the Epic EuroTrip 2008 I'm currently embarking on. Here I'll try to put up at least one entry for each of my destinations, complete with pics and ANECDOTES (or not).
I just arrived in Athens, Greece at 9:30AM today. Of course, getting to my hostel took me until after freaking noon-- 10 euros of train passes and an hour riding on a free public bus that earns its fare brings me to the "Soph & Chris hostel" (which I'm currently posting this from-- yay free WiFi!). This is the first time I've traveled in the country whose language is COMPLETELY foreign to me (although my "math" "background" helps with the phonetics)-- so finding my way to the building was a chore. Fortunately, at least three locals tried to help me without my even asking (3 because the 3rd one knew English, yay) and success was had. At least I know how to say "thank you", sort of (efhareesto) which I said over and over today. Next to learn "excuse me" and "sorry"...
After I unpacked and such, I ventured into Athens with the goal of visiting the Acropolis. The public transport
system here is actually pretty good if you're riding the trains instead of the buses. One thing of note-- people aren't kidding when they talk about crazy driving. Drivers here seem perfectly content to drive at high speeds within an inch or less of one another. The bus driver went places I would have wagered were not passable. And people also seems willing to make new lanes or go down the wrong way in one-way streets
AS LONG AS THEY CAN LAY ON THE HORN LOUDER THAN ONCOMING TRAFFIC . I even saw a car driving down a lane I'm pretty darn sure was only for trolleys. Guts. And I didn;t see a single scratched-up car today. Amazing.
Anyways, I made it to the Acropolis around 3pm, and with the thing closing at 6 I thought I had to rush it. Turns out there's not all that much to see if you don't do the museums, and what is there is largely under repair (see pics). It was still nice to see it in person though.
After I trawled through the ruins, I ate at a place I knew was a toursit trap, but that had okay
prices and I was hungry, darnit. At least I had "genuine Greek cuisine" on the form of Pasticcio (if I remember right). Almost order baklava and ice cream but I was full, so tomorrow maybe? Oh, and fresh strawberry juice is awesome.
Also, it seems that there is no dog/cat/etc pound in Athens. I saw at least 3 dozen dogs and a few cats in the ruins and surrounding area. Cool, if it weren't for the fact that they looked bored and malnourished.
So tomorrow, I'm planning on trying to do a dy trip to the Cape of Sounion. This may or may not happen depending on the accuracy of my guide book's (Let's Go Western Europe On a Budget 2008!) bus listing. either way something epic will occur tomorrow, you wait (jinx)!
NOTE: It seems travelblog does not natively support embedded images and video, so you'll just have to guess/assume/divine which of the images I posted belong with what part of the post until I figure out how to get around this without too much work 😉
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Brett
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It is very cool that you are keeping a blog. I have it bookmarked and look forward to reading about your travels. "It's not very ruined if they keep using it." I LOL'd. I saw a television show about Athens once, and it said that the feral cats have been a huge problem for many years. Maybe Bob Barker needs to take a trip to Greece.