This was our last day abroad. I’m honestly very sad to be coming home, even though a big part of me is more than ready to see everyone again.
we had an early start to a very busy day. chelsea and her mom (lisa) were going to skip out on the tours because they had to pick up the rest of chelsea's things, so the rest of us got onto a small bus to tour athens. we drove around while the tour guide pointed areas out like the two main squares, the library, the ruins of the temple of zues, and hadrian's arch. since our bus was smaller than most tour buses, we got to drive past the presidential palace and the most expensive neighborhood in athens that surrounds the palace. we stopped at the ancient olympic stadium, panathinaiko stadium, where the olympic torch is brought before each olympic games. we could only take pictures from outside because they were busy putting in ramps so that they could hold the special olympics there later in june.
we drove up part of the hill to the acropolis and walked the rest of the way up. even though it's eroding, the ground was made up of a lot of marble, so it was pretty chunky and slippery in spots. the entrance gate was huge, but the parthenon was even bigger. it was under construction, but it didn't really take too much away from the image. the most amazing thing was the view of athens from the acropolis. i didn't realize how big the city is until i had seen it stretching from the aegean sea up toward the mountains, completely filling the valley below the acropolis. and what trip to the parthenon would be complete without a group photo?
after we came down from the acropolis, john took jacee and eddie back to the hotel because jacee wasn't feeling well while the rest of us went into the museum. it was really neat because they are excavating more ruins directly underneath the museum. the floor is clear so you can look down and see the site two stories beneath your feet! the marble slabs that circled the top of the parthenon were wrapped around the middle of the top floor of the museum, and the walls there were completely glass so there was a great view of the acropolis.
after the museum, our tour guide took shannon and avis back to the hotel via the metro, while the rest of us stayed in the plaka. our bus was supposed to pick us up and take us back to the hotel, but it wasn't worth it because there was a protest that went from omonoia square to syntagma square. the protestors march down the only major north-south street in downtown, so it would be impossible to drive back to our hotel, which was only two blocks from omonoia square.
the plaka is a tourist shop area at the base of the acropolis, but chelsea told me that the shops were cheaper at monastiraki. we went to the atm and then had a quick lunch before consulting our map and walking toward monastiraki. once finding it, we all agreed to meet back at a certain shop in an hour before splitting up to get our shopping done. i bought lots of presents for people as well as a dress and necklace for myself. we ran into chelsea just as we were meeting back up to head back to the hotel. i wasn't ready to go yet because i needed to go to one more store, but it was about to rain and it was supposed to take an hour to walk back to the hotel.
since chelsea knew her way around athens and knew where the metro was, she came with matt, jenna, colleen, and me to the store i needed to go to. everyone else started walking back. after we left the store, it started raining a little. we picked up our pace, but then it started pouring. we stopped under an awning for a minute to decide what we wanted to do. we decided to run for it and stop every time we were covered. chelsea had just bought a suitcase to help her get all of her stuff back, so we put our purses in there and gave it to matt.
first we ran across a huge square made of slippery marble. there was a covering at the corner, so we all stopped there before taking on the next street block. chelsea and i were running in front, followed by matt, jenna, and colleen. matt completely wiped out on the sidewalk and the suitcase went flying. shop owners were standing in their doorways cheering us on and clapping at matt's dramatic fall. we had to wait under the next covering a little longer because we were laughing so hard - matt's entire side was soaked from where he had landed on the ground. he got cut on his arm, but he's a trooper. so we started running the next block, but jenna ran into a metal drainpipe and cut part of her toenail off. we stopped to laugh at that, and a taxi sped by and drenched us all with gutter water. it was one of those moments that everyone stops laughing and is in shock for about three seconds before cracking up again.
this was when we decided that we didn't care about being covered, so we just walked quickly the rest of the way. right before going into the metro station, we walked through a marble square. there were protest posters and tarps and tents everywhere. people were huddled together under tarps strung between trees trying to stay dry. we were some of the few people out in the rain. vendors would run up to us to try to sell us umbrellas, but umbrellas weren't going to help us at that point. i really wanted my camera to take pictures of the protestors and their signs covering the square, but it was keeping dry in my bag in the suitcase.
we took the subway back to the area near our hotel and walked past some neo-classical buildings (one was the library) that don't blend in with the rest of modern athens. once back at the hotel, we dried off and went to class in the hallway to hear the last of the presentations.
we all got ready for dinner before leaving the hotel. a few people went to the left, but there wasn't anything down there. the only place open to the right was the same place we had gone the night before. everyone wanted to keep going that direction, but at that point we were only a block away from omonoia square, which is one of the most dangerous places in the city. it's the place where the prostitutes and drug dealers hang out. i refused to go, and everyone else was convinced when a guy ran past us with blood down his arm and a needle in his hand. scariest thing i've ever seen. needless to say, we just stuck with the same place as the night before, where i tried octopus! it was chewy, but not in a bad rubbery way. and it wasn't super fishy like you might think.
we walked quickly back to the hotel after dinner, and i bought a small suitcase at a stand outside so that i could carry all of souvenirs with me in case my checked back got sent to the wrong place.
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