Spring Break: Location 2

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So, I've been in Athens, Greece for a little over a day, and it is amazing! The hostel I am staying at, Athens Backpackers, is right next to the Acropolis. However, its more like mini apartments with people you don't know, but so far so good.


Anyway, I arrived in Athens on Saturday evening. I took a train from Thessaloniki. It was the Intercity and took about 4-5 hours. I thought I had gotten a ticket for the express, but oh well. I wasn't overcharged so it's all good, and believe I checked when I realized I was on the 'slower' train. One thing I did learn on the train, when one Greek starts yelling, all the others have to join in. I kind of wish I could have understood what was being yelled down the train, but oh well. Greek is more about mumbling then actual pronunciation.

I found the hostel very easily. You just basically look for any signs for the Acropolis. The first night was a very chill night. I didn't feel like adventuring out in Athens, so along with the roommates, we went to the bar that is below/next to the hostel. It's a sports bar that was playing a lot of the soccer and rugby games. While there, we met some people from South Africa, Romania, and England...though some of them had just moved to Athens, or have been here for a few months/years. One of the Englishmen was 55 and has worked in Athens for 3 years. He bought all of us girls a round of drinks. It was kind of weird with him being around the same age as my parents, but he was just being friendly and liked that we supported Manchester over Chelsea. (English soccer teams for those of you that might not know!)

I ended up missing breakfast this morning, mainly because I just wanted to sleep. So at about 9:30 I finally pulled myself out of bed. I thought there was a walking tour for 5 euros that leaves from the hostel at 10:30, but apparently it doesn't run on Sunday. So I wasn't entirely sure what to do...However, Athens opens all the sites for free on Sundays, so I just started walking. I went to the Acropolis, the Agora, some temples, the Olympic stadium, some ancient theaters, Hadrian's gate, etc. I'm in awe of all of the ancient ruins that are just lying around.......

There was a lot of walking and random photo taking...and watching all of the random dogs that are just wondering around Athens. There are so many dogs that just walk around Athens....it's amazing! And they look fairly well taken care of. There seems to be people that just randomly feed them, pet them, etc.

PS. I had some souvlaki today...it was amazing!

That's basically it. Tomorrow I am going to try for the walking tour again. I wish I had planned for one more day in Greece to try to do a day trip to Delphi...but it just means I will have to come back!

Cheers!

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