My Big Fat Greek Adventure

10.27
Fall Break. Greece. AMAZING.
We landed in Athens around 2:30, greeted by a gust of WARM air! It was definitely a nice change to leave behind the fleece jacket and don the capris! Our hostel happened to be on the same street as a famous sandal shop; they have made sandals for a handful of celebrities, including the Beatles. I HAD to buy a pair! Hand-made leather sandals from Greece constitute a pretty awesome souvenir in my opinion!

We decided to take the funicular up Mount Lycabettus which promised to offer amazing views of the city, especially at night. I was not disappointed. Unfortunately, there wasn't a whole lot to do once we got up there, so we didn't stay to long. Rather than taking the Metro (subway) back to the area of our hostel, we decided to walk. We found a really fun area with a variety of little shops and food vendors that stayed open until 9 (relatively late compared to similar markets in other cities). We found gyros for 1.80E, which was without a doubt the best buy of the trip! I always thought the gyros at the county fair were good, but I don't know if I will ever shell out $6 for one again, considering I had the real thing for the equivalent of $2.50.

tower of the winds and the acropolis

10.28
Happy Okhi Day! We devoted the day to visiting the Acropolis and the ancient Agoras. Once we arrived we were surprised to find out that admission was free for the day (saving us at least 10E), can't argue with that. Greece was celebrating Okhi Day, the anniversary of their prime minister's rejection of an Italian ultimatum in 1940 regarding entrance into WWII. We slowly wandered our way up the Acropolis hillside, being led the entire way by a stray dog. (There are dogs (and cats) EVERYWHERE in Athens, they are well-fed and friendly, but it's still a strange sight). It was amazing to turn the corner and the Parthenon was right there. It was so cool!

parthenon

After working our way back down the hillside, our next stop was the ancient agora (market place). Again, I have to say that Art History is an amazingly useful class...how else would I know the difference between doric, ionic and corinthian columns?!

The afternoon was devoted to the Olympics. We first visited the sight of the 2004 summer games. Coming from an avid Olympics fan, I was actually kind of disappointed. The buildings didn't seem to be very well kept up, and a lot of the windows were blacked out. I did however get to see the pool that Michael Phelps swam in! Next up was the Panathenian Stadium, sight of the first modern Olympic games in 1896.





10.29
We started our day off with a 6 hour ferry ride from the port in Athens to the Cyclades island of Mykonos. The weather was perfect once again, making the ride much more enjoyable. We ported around 2, and got settled in at our hostel. It turns out you simply can't escape German -- the lady at the hostel was originally from Hanover, and she proceeded to speak to us in German, which was pretty cool. The only down-side of our hostel was it's location -- a half-hour walk outside of the downtown area. In the end that didn't make much of a difference though, as the weather was as perfect as you could hope for. We walked into town and did some exploring. The street were really cute, and we even saw the famed pelican, Petros.







10.30
The main event of the day was a trip to the near-by mythical island of Delos. The ancient ruins were endless, and the island was filled with history.



Back in Mykonos Town, we found the famous windmills before heading back to our hostel, and spending some time on the beach. I went in the water (Aegean Sea), but only up to my knees as I didn't pack a swimsuit (silly me...I had to fit 4 months of my life in 2 suitcases, and I didn't think to pack a swimsuit I would only be wearing once...).






That night we ate at a family restaurant near our hostel. I was adventurous and I tried calamari. It's hard to describe other than 'chewy'. At least I can say I did it!

10.31
We relaxed in the morning and took the ferry back to Athens in the afternoon. I knitted pretty much the entire way (I am now nearly done with my 3rd scarf). We upheld our Athens tradition, having gyros for dinner.

11.1
We returned to Munich, and did a little bit of sight-seeing. The 1972 Olympic games were held in Munich, and we visited the stadium (Three Olympic stadiums in one week...I was on a roll!)
We took the train back to Salzburg, arriving back 'home' around 6pm. It was nice to hear the familiar voice on the bus announcing the next stop, and actually know where you were going!