Save a Tree, Hug a Pillar: My Escapades in Athens

I arrive in Athens very late at night, considering I woke up at 7:30 the previous morning, and proceed to pass out on the bus on the way from the airport into the center of the city.  Once we stop and get out, there is a nice cab driver who asks if my friends and I need a ride.  Of course, being me, in the back of my mind, I am thinking that he is probably going to scam us and then murder us in a back alley of Omonia.  But, I'm dead tired, and he's wearing a suit, speaking perfect English, and only charging 15 euros to get to the hotel, so why not?!  He ended up being a pretty cool guy, who talked about buildings we passed and the like.  It was at this moment that I realized how fearless Greek drivers are.  I wouldn't say bad, because to them, it is not, but they sure do drive with some gusto.  They have no regard to pedestrian traffic, nor do they really pay attention to signage all that much.  I begin to realize this even more, when we venture into the city and I am nearly hit a few times.


Here in Budapest, the drivers are really pretty good about pedestrians.  There really aren't tons of crosswalks, especially by small streets, so if there is a small break and you start walking, they are sure to stop for you.  The bus will slam on it's breaks for you, and not blow their horn.  Athens is not the same.  They do not give a crap where you are walking, all they care is that you are walking in their way.  Traffic stops for nothing, not a person, not a cat, here, the pedestrian does not exist. The traffic consists of about half cars, and the other half mopeds and motor bikes.  And only about half of those riding said bikes (a quarter of the whole if you will) actually wear helmets.  Obviously a comforting place to walk around.


My first impressions of the city are as follows:
-children (especially boys) have the most awful haircuts you will encounter, and were really meant for a girl.
-The city is bright everywhere you go
-The homeless are both heartbreaking, and terrifyingly gross.  I saw one guy with open sores on his legs and his entire person was splattered with dried blood.
-The city is FULL of cats, mostly strays, Athens has a stray problem.
-Almost everyone speaks English, which is something that I am really not used to at this point.  I live in a place where I ask everyone I come across if they speak English before proceeding.  In Athens, everyone simply starts speaking to you in English, before you can get a word out.

I have no clue what this is.
I am going to deem it a shading
device.

The first day we wandered around, with the ultimate goal of making it to the Acropolis.  Once into the center of the city, Syntagma Square, we ran into a Green Design Festival, which was really really neat.  We went to go into a historic church, but weren't allowed to go in due to what we were wearing.  The sign said something along the lines of being covered up because it's a holy place of God.  So naturally, I pull up my shirt.  Then continue reading, and it says that means no shorts.  I suppose when you are in an ancient city, ancient religious practices are still in play.  Then the journey to the Acropolis began.


Every time you get a glimpse of it, you think you are almost there, well you are wrong.  There is no path to get to the entrance, you walk up alleys by people's houses.  And by up, I mean up a mountain, on slippery ancient rocks.  My calves, are rock solid muscle people.  At the entrance you are required to buy a ticket that is approximately 15 euros.  But, I mean, hey, this is 75% of the reason I came to Athens in the first place.  The girl asks if we are students and we tell her yes, apparently the Greeks still love learning, because I got in for free.  On the way up we met another study abroad student (who knows from what school).  We got to talking to him for a little about studying abroad and such.  It was nice to talk to another person, not from the McDaniel bubble, that spoke American, not just English.


If you ever ever have the opportunity to travel, you must get to the Acropolis.  It is not just a pretty, or amazing thing to look at, but also stirs up emotions and puts your mind in awe when you realize where you are.  I'm sure everyone experiences something a little different, but for me, it was completely surreal.  I still don't believe it was me taking the pictures that I look at, or standing in the same place that some of the greatest thinkers of the world, and of all time.  It's fascinating, and somewhat indescribable.  Maybe I'm a freak, and this doesn't happen to people, and my imagination and mind got the best of me, and everyone else just sees it as a piece of history that is cool to look at.  But, I couldn't even try to comprehend that.  I tried, trust me, because I felt a little crazy feeling the way I did, and imagining all of the slaves that somehow got these huge boulders up a mountain, and then proceeded to build massive buildings with beautiful intricate carvings that were able to withstand the hardships of time, both natural, and those produced by man.  

After our descent, we wandered around the shop area at the base and went to dinner.  The shopkeepers of Athens haggle you like there is no tomorrow, and speak to you like they are your Aunt trying to assist you.  When I was looking for things to bring back to my family, the nice woman was asking me about my parents and sister and what price point I wanted, because she wanted to be sure that she didn't try to sell me something I couldn't afford.  She wanted to know my sister's age and personality, the color of my parents kitchen (and then made fun of me when I forgot it for a hot minute), they just want to make you happy.  Which, is a stark contrast of the quiet and closed people of Hungary who come from a culture built on the fight against anti-semitism and communism.  The people were just so joyful to help.  I ate the best baklava in the world, and the lightest fried potatoes you can fathom.  The wheat bread grilled with olive oil and spices.  I spent a lot on dinner, but it was all so totally worth it.


The next day was spent trying to search out some of the beaches of Athens.  Now, I told you that if you get the chance to travel you must go to the Acropolis.  The opposite is in effect for the beaches of Athens.  Do not take time to do it people, unless you feel like seeing nastiness.  The beaches are really quite rocky, full of cigarette butts (strange considering that compared to Hungary, no one smokes there), and stray animals.  However, the water of the Mediterranean is to die for.  Clear and blue, warm like a personalized bath prepared by your chambermaid.  So salty you can almost float carelessly.  We found a beach with relatively small pebbles and minimal cigarette remains.  It did have three men of middle eastern descent who stared at me a better part of our time there, in addition to an old man with a see through speedo.  The smell is nothing like the beaches of the Atlantic, that smell like moldy ocean.  It is clean and salty smelling.  So so slight, yet so present.  Seeing another ocean really made me think about how big the world is.  Sure, all us East Coasters have looked at the ocean and thought, "On the other side of this is England and Europe, and gosh that is far away."  But, I don't feel that you can truly realize how big this marble is until you stand on the beach or coast of another ocean.  On the other side of this one was Africa, a continent nowhere near my native America.  Yet another vast thought to think about, which is what a lot of this trip consisted of.  Sort of like thinking about the universe, and what it is, or where it ends, or if there is other life.  It is just hard to wrap your head around even a fragment of it.


Once back at the hotel, I passed out for about five hours, and then woke up way to awake to go to bed for good.  We went to a bar right next to our hotel to try some ouzo, because you can't come to Greece and not try it.  The bartender gave me a skeptical looked when I asked for some, I suppose not thinking I could handle it, and at first I thought he may have been right.  In Greece it is custom to mix the liquor with water and drink it in a proportion smaller than a cocktail, but larger than a shooter.  When mixed with water, the liquor goes from clear to cloudy, milky white.  This is due to the molecule is anise oil that makes it licorice flavor or anise, which is soluble in alcohol, but not in water, so the molecule separates and you can see it.  If you look closely you can see the little beads of oil in the the drink.  It's a viscous liquid, but not thick, it's hard to describe really.  At first, it was pretty nasty, and then I kept drinking it (because I paid for it) and was able to take bigger and bigger sips.  I can see why people get hooked on this stuff.  I guess the bartender thought he would give us something worse, because he was thinking about these Americans thinking this was awful since they drink their alcohol fast for a purpose, not slow for enjoyment.  I have no clue what it was called, another Greek delicacy apparently, but it was pretty dreadful.  And, before you knew it, I was feeling the little bit a did drink.  


So, that's my two days in Greece, Athens specifically.  Do it if you can, everyone should see a city that just builds on top of ruins over and over again, and then digs into them when they build the metro station (true story).  Hope you've had a good start to the week.  If you wish to see more pictures check out my Facebook or McDaniel's admissions Flickr page.


Szia!