I left last Friday and we flew into Athens. On the flight there we sat next to a language professor and she gave us a quick lesson on basic Greek. That was lots of fun. Coming out of the plane we knew how to say, "hello", "thank you", and "my name is ______". We hadn't really realized that not only do they speak Greek in Greece, but they write with the Greek alphabet too. This presents a problem when you have a map in lower-case letters and the street signs are in upper-case. Have you ever thought how different upper and lower case letters are? Or how difficult it is to ask questions about where you are when you haven't a clue how to pronounce anything? But, between the 4 of us we pulled together all of the mathematical equations and sorority/ fraternity names that we knew and by the end of the trip, we were pros at the alphabet (I mean, we could somewhat sound things out). It was a feat.
The first night we wandered around the area of Athens called Plaka. It contains the oldest flea market in the world so that was fun window shopping there for a while. We also ate some true Greek appetizers that were delicious. Greek food is much more flavorful than Spanish food and they have all of the black olives while Spain has the green olives. I'm definitely more a fan of the green than black after being in Spain this semester. But everything we had was delicious. One of the things we had was Mousaka (think My Big Fat Greek Wedding and Moose Caca). It was kind of like meatloaf in pie crust. Delicious!
The next morning we went to the island of Andros (early! We left the hostel at 5am). We chose this island in the beginning because the ferry was the cheapest and we found a really good deal on a hostel. We didn't really know what to expect, but when we arrived at the port and then took a bus to our "Villa" we realized how lucky we were. For under $20 a night we had a little studio apartment with a balcony, full kitchen, and a private beach across the street.
We all just stood there in the room when the owner walked us up in awe. Way better than we were expecting! Best shower I've taken all semester! As we talked to the owner, she told us that cars were really easy to rent and would only be like $7 each for a whole day. Since it was only about 10am at this point, we went to figure it out. Unfortunately, you had to be 23 and the oldest of us had just turned 22. So close. But we still had an amazing time!
We were in the town of Batsi which is exactly what you see in pictures of the Greek islands: white houses with bright blue detailing.
And the water was SOOOO blue and SOOOO clear. You could see down all the way no matter how hi you are. The weirdest thing was that the boats looked like they were floating. Now yes, I know that all boats float, but these boats looked like there wasn't anything under them. That's how clear the water was. Awesome. Unfortunately, the water was ice cold. I'm talking I ran in to my waist and by the time I ran out my legs were tingling and numb. But the sand was hot from the sun so we sat on the beach the rest of the day. It was so nice.
The next day we decided to go for a walk down the road. There are little beaches all around the island that are like little coves surrounded by cliffs and rocks. We walked along and saw this beach that we wanted to get to but couldn't because the stairs down were all gated off and impossible to climb over.
So we kept going to the next beach where we found a paddle boat with the oars. PERFECT! We could get to our little beach! So we hid all of our stuff in the bushes and ventured out on the Aegean Sea.
There were 4 of us in this little paddle boat that was probably made for 2 people but we just straddled each other and made it work. It was comical to say the least. Not to mention that we were probably above the weight limit and every once in a while the ice cold water lapped over the edge surprising us all. Luckily there weren't many other people on the island... especially the beaches. We pretty much had the island to ourselves (Apparently people like to come when the water is a bit warmer. I don't really blame them). So we paddled over to the beach, stayed there for a while sunning ourselves like turtles on a big slab of rock, and then returned the boat to where we found it. Awesome!
The last full day, Monday, we took a bus to another city on the island that is the capital. It was also a picturesque little white and blue Greek town on a bay.
It was a bit chilly that day so we were glad we had the time to walk around. We saw an island (more like a big rock) that we wanted to get to, but didn't know how. As we walked around we realized that there was a bridge to it. Now this bridge was more like an ancient arch of rock.
My friend Katrina was determined to get across so she braved this bridge. All of us were a bit leery thinking she would make it collapse. But she got to the top and started jumping on it to prove it was sturdy. So we followed. Katrina and Melinda were the mountain goats because they just ran across these rocks and up the hills and everything. Chelsea and I were the mountain monkeys crawling on all fours :D. But we all made it and finished our little adventure.
The whole time we were there we took full advantage of our little kitchen making pasta and french toast and everything. We had to be resourceful though because we only had a large pot. We had a packet of alfredo mix for one meal and thought it would be amazing with some broccoli. So, we steamed broccoli as we cooked the noodles using the wire dish drying rack. Very resourceful this group of girls I was with. It was also funny being somewhere where none of us had a clue what anything said. We were at the grocery store and saw something that looked like one of those no bake cookies and cream cheesecake mixes, but there was no way for us to know. So we asked the cash register clerk what we needed and how to make it. Everyone in Greece knows a little bit of basic English, so it was hilarious as he read it and we guessed what he was trying to say until we figured it out. Fun times!
Tuesday we returned to Athens and were worn out by the time we got back. We crashed at the hostel so that we could set out bright and early on Wednesday to see the Acropolis and all of the ancient sites in Athens before our flight. We went to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon
the Temple of Zeus
and all of the ruins in the ancient Agora and on the hill. We climbed the Aereopagos where Paul gave a speech to the Athenians. That was really cool. It's just this big slab of marble that has an awesome view of Athens.
It was a great trip and I had a ton of fun!
I'll add pictures to this ASAP when I have time. It takes forever for them to load up on here. I'm off to eat dinner.
Love you all and can't wait to see everyone when I get back!!!!
Your life abroad amazes me.
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