Party in Αθήνα

I can safely assert that one of the top countries I wanted to go to this semester was Greece. I mean, who wouldn't? Sun-soaked and Mediterranean, the place where plenty got started, and full of GYROS, there was just no way I wasn't going to spend one of my weekends in this Hellenic Heaven. Early on in the semester, I heard about a group headed to Athens in April, and I immediately made the plans. Thanks to the flight prices and my Athenian desires, I decided to stay a day longer than the others and come home alone. I had a mission that from Friday til Monday I would see as much of the city as possible, enjoy myself as much as possible, and most importantly, EAT as much Greek food as possible. Oh, that and avoid the riots for the debt crisis. In all aspects, I was rather successful.
Praise be to the JFRC for not having Friday classes, and to me for not scheduling a Monday class until 6pm. I spent as much of the weekend as possible in the sunny, southern European nation. On day one, the six of us flew into Athens and took the pleasantly clean and modern Metro to our hostel, near the Acropolis and run by Australians. Almost immediately we set out to see some Athens but more importantly to have our first Greek dinner. On our way we met our new canine friend, Sheba, and her attention whore dog-friend, who we did not like nearly as much and therefore didn't give a name. They were hanging out at the bottom of the Acropolis, and followed us around every time we were in the area for that whole weekend. Finally we made it to an area with plenty of restaurants and then had an absolutely delicious dinner. Afterwards we wandered around a bit and wound up at some Spanish bar in Gazi with hams hanging from the ceiling. From there we went over to Psiri and got hookah which is apparently my new hobby, if you base my hobbies off of the pictures I have from my trips, that is. Anyway I think we got apple. Back into Monastiraki, our bro-tastic weekend got a whole lot better because we got, yes that's right, gyros. There's something about the goodness of biting for the first time into a food you love in the country of its origin. My first pizza in Italy and my first brat in Germany were memorable experiences. The street vendor gyro was a perfect and foodgasmic way to cap off my first day in Greece. Oh, except that it wasn't over. We went to one other bar and listened for a bit to some live music, but after getting up early to travel and walking all over Athens, Tim was starting to check out. I do believe I was unresponsive for a bit, despite the loud music the band was playing. Tired, we headed back to the hostel and I was fortunate enough not to fall asleep on the walk back.

The next morning, our first in Greece, we got up and went on our hostel's walking tour. It took us to plenty of places in the city and was fairly interesting despite not being too informative, and certainly not worth the money we paid for it. The tour guide dropped us off at the bottom of the Acropolis on a different side than we were used to, so our next move was to head on up and finally experience it. Since we didn't have a tour guide telling us what everything was, we relied on a map of sorts to determine what we were looking at. Because of that, it was more of an "Aw, neat!" experience than a "Wowww.." true comprehension. Still, being up there and looking all around to see the massive sprawl that is Athens, definitely worth it. Next up we scuttled downhill into the ancient Agora. It was alright, the Temple of Hephaestus was pretty badass. After that we got ourselves some food (gyros of course) and walked around a bit. Eventually we went to the [still-]new Acropolis Museum, which was very fancy and new and they didn't let you forget these facts. Shortly after our visit, in one of the more bromantic moments of the weekend, the six of us went up on a hill (the Areopagus if we're trying to be technical) to watch the sunset. Then, the sun set. No but really, it looked gorgeous, and it was a cool moment this semester akin to the sunrise in the Sahara or looking out on Dwejra Bay. So back in Monastiraki, a group of people with signs and a megaphone were in the main square. Oh no! A riot? Not at all, actually! It was a group of people offering free hugs! We took them up on their offer and got a few pictures with them before continuing on and getting dinner. I had moussaka and the house wine, half expecting someone's Papou and Yaya to come waddling out of the kitchen telling me I'm too skinny. Somewhere in the area we settled down for desserts and beverages (which may have included ouzo and beer) and ended up watching FC Barcelona play Real Madrid (and win).
Sadly, that was everyone else's last night, so Sunday morning they all went home and I got a bit more sleep. I started the day wandering alone with the ol' camera, and since I still had a ticket for it, I went to the Roman forum. I ended up back in Monastiraki where I bought a gigantic bag of strawberries (which were themselves huge) and found a place to sit and eat them while watching young African men sell sunglasses, watches, even cell phones. Temporarily filled with fresh fráoules, I looked at my map and decided I'd tackle one of the places we hadn't gone: Philopappos Hill. At this point it gets kind of weird as I literally wander some hilly open fields for 45 minutes, reading my map which was telling me I was on the Hill of the Nymphs, the Hill of the Muses, and finally Philopappos. I went all the way up to the Philopappos Monument and laid in the sun eating the rest of the strawberries. I'm pretty sure I accidentally reached nirvana up there, until I noticed a tourist giving me a few too many stares and I got uncomfortable and decided to head down the other side of the hill. I saw the prison where they supposedly put Socrates! Next I sought out dinner, and finally had authentic dolmades and baklava, finishing off my list of Greek cuisine I wanted to eat in Greece. Then I made my way back to the hostel, was happy to see my stuff not stolen, and paid for a few minutes of time on a comptuer. I saw that Emily, a friend of a friend that I'd once met briefly in America, had commented my status and was studying in Athens that very semester! Naturally, we met up and got hookah in Psiri. I also tried some honey-wine drink which was served hot and absolutely delicious.
My last day in Greece, I woke up, packed up, and checked out of the hostel. With my luggage I made a B-line for the last thing I needed to see: the Theatre of Dionysus! I went to it, stared and snapping photos without comprehending that I had studied it for a whole semester of Theatre History I, and peaced out. I also saw Sheba that day, which was sad but cute because she may have vaguely remembered me. I flew back to my home-a in Roma and, for the last time this semester, mozied back to the JFRC in time for Mensa and Intro to Opera.