Life in Greece: Day 2

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April 13, 2009
This day turned out to be a pretty decent day; even thought it had a pretty bad start to it. I woke up this morning still sick, with a cough and a runny/stuffy nose and I was still super tired. We woke up at 8 to get to our walking tour by 9:15 which met in the lobby. I think we all seemed a bit cranky, because we were all tired and didn’t have a good experience thus far in Athens.
Geneva wanted to see if the breakfast they offered was any good. Supposedly they offer French toast and eggs and toast; an actual American breakfast. No one was down there to serve it and there was no food. Great. So, we walked to a bakery a block away and got something there. I spent 1.50 on this heavily sugar soaked pastry that was heavy but delicious. We ate that and then went downstairs for our tour.
When we get to the desk, the guy asks us for our 13 Euro a piece. We’re like, huh? We thought it was free! Turns out it’s not. Great.
We all decided against it and wanted to explore on our own. So far, reception here has been a bit sketchy and rude…not too impressed. We got outside our hostel, looked at a map and right then and there decided that we needed to make the most of this day. At this point we all were upset and not having fun, so I suggested making the most of it and that is what we did.
Today was great fun! We didn’t get lost on our way downtown, we got coffee, AND free samples of pastry from the bakery at the coffee shop from the owner😊, we stalked the tour group that we signed up to be on…we followed them for a while to see where they went and we saw the entire Acropolis, Agora and we happened to get on the right tram to the beach. We also saw a little old lady get hit by a car, a prostitute/stripper on the tram and we made friends with a little old lady in a souvenir shop by the Acropolis. We got delicious make your own Gyro for 7.50 as well.
So far, Athens has had A LOT of stray dogs. They are absolutely everywhere! I took pictures of all the ones I saw, which was a lot.
Our neighborhood truly is sketchy, because once we walked downtown, we found all the tourist shops and such and had no problems at all. Downtown is SO much nicer than where we are; on a tiny little sidestreet in a poor neighborhood. Great.
For dinner we signed up the night before for Musaka to be served in the bar in the basement of our hostel. It cost 5.50 and came with Greek Salad, garlic bread and the dinner. It was pretty good! Then Sarah and I had a drink, a Sex on the Beach to be exact.
Oh! Before we went back to our hostel after we saw the beach, we went to the grocery store, where I picked up some more deodorant, some Halls and a pack of gum.
Today was just great. I also got to talk to Nate twice! Tomorrow Alex comes, so we are pretty excited for that😊 Time to go read and get ready for bed! I will be back in Aberdeen in 3 days, Nate comes in about a month and my parents a week after that! YAY!!!
We also saw how the Africans run when the police come. They pick up the four corners of there blankets and run away with their fake Prada bags. We also had a man offer us a free necklace if we gave him some cheese when he figured out we were from Wisconsin.

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