Greek God Search Day 3: Overwhelmed in Athens

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I remember the first time I ever saw the acropolis. It was second grade social studies class and the teacher had one of those old fashioned slide projectors. We were learning about Geography or something, and one of the slides was a bunch of falling apart white stone columns, which apparently represented the country of Greece. I didn't get it then, but believe me, I certainly get it now. I may never meet a Greek God in Athens, but it doesn't matter anymore, seeing the Parthenon live in person was a sensation way better than falling for some greasy Greek God, of this I'm sure.

My third day in Athens, New Years Eve of all days, is one I will never, ever forget. We got off to a slow start, waking up a few hours behind schedule and one of the disadvantages to traveling with such a large group is that you kind of have to work around everyone's schedule. Which means just because I'm up and ready to go at 9 am sharp, I have to get over the fact that no one else is. Being a perfectionist has its drawbacks, and this is another one. Schedules when travelling are meant more as a loose guideline and are never to be taken literally...at least not with my family...but moving on

We did eventually make it up and to the bus stop, and then the subway, and finally back to the central square of Athens where we caught a bus to the Acropolis. You simply can't come to Athens and not make the treck to see the Parthenon in all its fame and glory. This was made obvious by the crowd of people gathered at the bottom. I swear I saw a tour group nearly every country, China, Japan, Norway, Great Britian, Italy, Sweeden. There were tons of ethnicities and a variety of age groups from barely walking toddlers to senior citizens. It didn't matter that the climb to the top was steep and slippery, if you made it all the way to Athens, you were going to see the Parthenon. Simple as that.

The treck to the top was brutal. It was steep and crowded and there were a lot of steps. But all amazing things in life usually come with a challenge, and the Acropolis was no different. At the top of the hill, it finally hit me. First I saw the view of the sprawling city, which was amazing, and then as I turned my head, there it was. You really can't describe what it feels like to see the Parthenon in person for the first time, its mind numbing, jaw dropping, stomach butterfly inducing. It's like the first time your crush talks to you in 8th grade, even just to ask you for a pencil. Yeah, its kinda like that, but better, way better...the acropolis can't be compared to a 14 year old boy with bad skin and a pokemon obsession. I couldn't help but start snapping pictures, I mean afterall, I wanted to do anything and everything I could to capture this moment. I've wanted to go to Greece forever, and I don't think it was until I was standing there, staring the acropolis straight in the face that I truly felt like I was here.

My brother and I couldn't wait to climb up there, enthusiastically scaling the stairs taking in every new sight, sound, touch, and angle. I just couldn't get enough of it. I swear I'll come home with 800 boring pictures that to everyone else will be of the same boring pile of rocks and pillars, but to us, each angle was so new and exciting, I just don't think I could delete a single photo. Just remind me when I beg to let me show you my pictures that 4 or 5 of the acropolis is enough to get the picture, otherwise you'll be forced to see a lot more than that.

Watching my Mom, Brother and Grandmother take in the Parthenon was amazing too. Watching their faces full of the same wonder I'm sure was on my face as well was really special and another moment I'll keep with me for a really long time.

After an hour of scaling walls, and snapping photo after photo, we made the treck back down. It was almost sad realizing that we'd seen probably the best Athens had to offer, it'd be hard to top the Acropolis. At the bottom we found benches to rest on and my brother and I found a huge pile of rocks to climb on, and by climb on I mean slowly scale while trying not to slip and fall to an early death. The view of the city from the top was amazing though, and it was a treck I was glad to make.

Finding food was our next adventure, and truthfully finding restaurants has been a constant struggle for us in Athens. It seems that the Greeks just don't eat. They have plenty of places to get coffee, but no where to quell a hunger pain, and believe me after climbing up and down from the Acropolis, there were plenty of hunger pains to go around. We began exploring the Plaka district, one of the most famous (and touristy) of Athens. But even here we were met with cafe after cafe, and the stomach growls kept getting louder. We finally settled on a small restaurant near the metro station, with a very persistant waiter. But the homemade, authentic cuisine was worth putting up with the persistance. I had moussaka a famous layered dish with minced meat and zuchinni, my brother and grandmother had beef stew and my mother pork and potatoes. We were also treated to mealtime entertainment when a group of local kids came in and sang us Greek Chrstmas carols while playing instruments, apparently a New Years Eve tradition similar to our Trick-or-Treating in the Orthodox Church. We gave them a few small coins and continued enjoying our lunch.

After lunch we hopped on the bus and made a visit to the Panathenaic Stadium, host of the first modern Olympic games. A great bargain Athens destination for 3 Euro you get a free recorded english tour and free reign to explore the massive stone stadium as you wish. You really could feel the tradition and Greek Pride from this place. The Greeks were such a huge part of establishing modern culture. They birthed Democracy, modernized warfare, built the world's longest lasting empires and established the olympics. After climbing around and taking some fun pictures, we made our way out and tried to see what else Athens had for us to explore.

My brother and I thought we were headed to Zeus's Temple, the one place we've been trying and failing to see all trip (Basically to see if the statue really talks to us like it did to Hercules in the Disney movie we were obsessed with as a kid). But instead we found ourself in the middle of the National Garden at Athen's Christmas Villiage. What should have been heartwarming and adorable, turned out to us to be terrifying and scary. Not only was the lifesize nativity scene extremely offputting, but the blaring Greek Christmas Carols sounded like Alien communication or talking robots or something. We high tailed it out of the park and failed once again to make it to Zeus's temple before his unreasonably early closing time. So instead we found ourselves back in Syntagma Square to buy some chocolate and head home to rest up for the New Years Eve Celebration we'd be coming for tonight.

Okay...so I know you haven't heard about my Greek God Search for awhile, truth is most of today was too hectic to search for any. But that all changed when I came back to the square that night for a Christmas Concert and fireworks. In fact, I got way more Greek God action that I had bargained for, and that's not a good thing. Turns out the square seems to be like some sort of Greek God gathering spot, and apparently no Goddesses are invited. That means I guess that I was dealing with a favorable ratio, but it was rather scary and intimidating, not really the scene I was going for. For the most part celebrating New Years Eve with the locals was fun. They played a lot of fun Christmas Music and lit up the sky with spotlights. My mom, brother and I sang along, dancing to the music and sipping on our beers (yes, my 17 year old brother was buying and drinking beer...still not sure how I feel about this). Then the guys in front of me started dancing, it was awesome. We even managed to capture some video until stuff got a little crazy. All of a sudden one of the guys started talking to me. I don't speak Greek so I don't know what he was saying. Then it got a little scary as a few of the guys started pulling on me and saying something. They kept grabbing and my Mom and Brother didn't really know what to do. Finally one local guy sensed my distress and pulled us all away from the ensuing riot and a few other non-local girls followed suit, afraid to get caught in the action as well.

We found a more family friendly spot and while the looks and jeers certainly didn't stop from where we were, the touching did and I was free to continue enjoying my New Years Eve. Around 11:30 a full uniform brass band came on and t midnight I saw an unforgettable display of fireworks explode over the Greek Parlimentary building. It was unforgettably amazing. My mom, borhter and I toasted our Heinekkens and took in the spectacular view. Athens never ceases to spellbind me. I'm pretty sure it will be nearly impossible to top this New Years...although I'm completley up for the challenge! Hmm lets see...next year, Barcelona? I think too...plus I can search for Spanish Casanovas if the whole Greek God thing doesn't work out....

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