In contrast to my last blog, this one will be much shorter.
After getting off my ferry from Italy in Patras, I realized that I was in a place that felt more foreign than anywhere I had been yet, probably because Greece does not use the Latin alphabet. Luckily, I had taken enough math and science classes to know the names of all of the Greek letters I saw besides 2 of them (which I learned later were the uppercase versions of gamma and lambda), and I reasoned that they all made the sound that their names started with (e.g. θ is called theta so it makes a "th" sound). In this way, I was actually able to pronounce Greek words and very impressed with myself. For instance, I knew I wanted to go to Αθήνα (A = uppercase alpha = "a", θ = theta = "th", ή = eta = "e", ν = nu = "n", α = alpha = "a") because that makes "Athena" or the Greek name for Athens.
Temple of the Olympian Zeus
The Arch of Hadrian (which says "this is Athens, the ancient city of Theseus" on one side and "this is the city of Hadrian, not of Theseus" on the other)
The parliament building on Syntagma square, where the changing of the guard takes place every hour. Its also where the rioting takes place, there were riot police there and there was metal lining many of the buildings.
The road from the Agora to the Acropolis
I finished the day off with a gyro, the best I had ever had. The yogurt is also very good here.
The next morning I woke up bright and early to watch the Athens marathon. It was the buzz of the city the whole time I was there, and most of the people in the hostel were running in it. The thing about the Athens marathon is that it follows the original path from Marathon to Athens after which all marathons are named. According to tradition, after the Athenians fended off the Persians in a battle near Marathon, they sent a runner to bring news to Athens of the victory. After he delivered his message, he immediately collapsed and died. Anyways, the marathon was very exciting, with the finish line being in the original 1896 stadium which hosted the first Olympic games.
Chiquita was even there giving out free bananas (you know its a big deal if that's happening). This resulted in all of the trash bins for a mile radius around being overloaded with banana peels.
After the marathon I met up with the Irish girls again and we went to the Acropolis museum and then the Acropolis itself. The winds ridiculous on top but I managed to hold my camera and get some pictures of the Parthenon and the city like these ones.
The rest of the day I hung out with the nice Greek girl at the reception and taught her how to swing dance. This morning I caught a train to Meteora, which is where I am now. To say the least, it is amazing and I haven't even seen much yet. Photos to come in the next blog.
After getting off my ferry from Italy in Patras, I realized that I was in a place that felt more foreign than anywhere I had been yet, probably because Greece does not use the Latin alphabet. Luckily, I had taken enough math and science classes to know the names of all of the Greek letters I saw besides 2 of them (which I learned later were the uppercase versions of gamma and lambda), and I reasoned that they all made the sound that their names started with (e.g. θ is called theta so it makes a "th" sound). In this way, I was actually able to pronounce Greek words and very impressed with myself. For instance, I knew I wanted to go to Αθήνα (A = uppercase alpha = "a", θ = theta = "th", ή = eta = "e", ν = nu = "n", α = alpha = "a") because that makes "Athena" or the Greek name for Athens.
Anyways, while I was wandering around and feeling smart because I could pronounce Greek, I ran into an English guy named Jason around my age who was also looking to go to Athens. We found out that because of financial problems, the train line no longer existed, but I was delighted to find that they honored my Eurail pass on the bus that we took halfway there before transferring to a train. On the journey over, Jason and I talked about a lot of politics and realized we had the same views about quite a few things, and he ended up giving me his book on political theory to read over the course of the rest of my trip. He was meeting his dad in Syntagma square, so I just followed him there since I had no idea where I was going and thought it must be at least somewhat central and close to hostels. Afterwards, we both realized that it was probably not the best place to meet since that's where all the riots take place. Nonetheless, I was able to find wireless internet and book a hostel at the last minute.
In the morning I went on a walking tour of the city with an awesome guide. He was a local guy who knew pretty much anything we asked (and had apparently participated in the riots). I met two Irish girls on the tour that I spent most of the rest of the time at the hostel with too. To be honest, the tour was quite miserable because it happened that Greece was having a horrible cold spell (the highs were around 49 degrees F versus the normal 65) with 40 mph winds and I wasn't dressed well enough, but it was worth seeing so many cool sights like these:
The ancient Greek Agora, center of daily life in the golden age, where many of the most famous Greek philosophers and play writers met.
I finished the day off with a gyro, the best I had ever had. The yogurt is also very good here.
The next morning I woke up bright and early to watch the Athens marathon. It was the buzz of the city the whole time I was there, and most of the people in the hostel were running in it. The thing about the Athens marathon is that it follows the original path from Marathon to Athens after which all marathons are named. According to tradition, after the Athenians fended off the Persians in a battle near Marathon, they sent a runner to bring news to Athens of the victory. After he delivered his message, he immediately collapsed and died. Anyways, the marathon was very exciting, with the finish line being in the original 1896 stadium which hosted the first Olympic games.
Chiquita was even there giving out free bananas (you know its a big deal if that's happening). This resulted in all of the trash bins for a mile radius around being overloaded with banana peels.
After the marathon I met up with the Irish girls again and we went to the Acropolis museum and then the Acropolis itself. The winds ridiculous on top but I managed to hold my camera and get some pictures of the Parthenon and the city like these ones.
The rest of the day I hung out with the nice Greek girl at the reception and taught her how to swing dance. This morning I caught a train to Meteora, which is where I am now. To say the least, it is amazing and I haven't even seen much yet. Photos to come in the next blog.
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