i'm going to do another random assortment adventures to catch me up...
1.) first I have now had the chance to become one of the crazy fans I swore never to become. On the opening night of Remember Me, a few of the girls from the program and I waited a few..okay four hours in front of the movie theater in order to get a prime spot to see Robert Pattinson himself. And I was not disappointed. In fact I'm a little sad to admit how giddy I got, giggling as he signed autographs right in front of me and said in his sexy British accent, "ahh, I'm getting bombarded." It was also very cool to see how a movie premier works and the time and effort it takes a lot of people to make the event happen.
2.) We also went to go see Rupert Friend in "A little dog Laughed" which was very good. Probably the best comedy I've seen in London so far, and afterward we waited by the stage door and got to meet Mr. Friend himself and of course get a picture :)
3.) I went to Bath on Friday and loved the city. It was cute, with a lot of history and a hilly landscape. I'm really happy with how much of England I've got to see going on pound trips through our program. Bath was our last day trip, but I'm going to continue seeing the English country by traveling to the Southern Coast this weekend with my bestest friend Marissa from home! 24 hours until she's here!
4.) In those 24 hours though, I have a paper to write for my Lit class, and I can't seem to make myself start...! I wrote my Contemporary Britain paper last night, and I can safely say the work I've done in London has not only been some of the hardest to accomplish, it's very close to the weakest work I've ever handed in as well... which makes me worried for next semester... in which i'll be a senior! I can't convey in words how much that scares me.
5.) A month from today I'll be hopping on a plane back to the United States. No matter how much I miss certain people and am happy to be heading back to see them, it makes me sad to think about leaving in only 30 days. I feel that I learned so much in the time I've been here. Not just the history and geography of London, but things about myself; the people I want in my life, the things i want to accomplish in the future, the personal space I require, and the ultimate knowledge that I can travel an ocean away and still be myself and build a life.
Monday, March 29, 2010
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Adventures in Holland...wait The Netherlands...wait...
So I once again have been quite slow at updating my blog, but I'm back to it as I am procrasting writing my screenplay due tomorrow, poli sci paper due monday, and lit paper due wed...
Well, I went to The Netherlands this past weekend, a term which confused me greatly because everyone calls it the Netherlands, but it's in Holland. I may or may not have been under the impression they were two different countries...oops. Anyways I started my journey a little late and stressed myself out the entire tube ride worrying about if I was going to get through security on time so that when I finally did get through security I had to buy myself a chocolate bar to claim my nerves :) The start of the weekend of junk food...I arrived in Amsterdam to meet a very unfriendly Dutch man at the train station counter, who didn't seem to really want to sell me a ticket to Utrecht. After I finally obtained the ticket I went to the platform he named and waited. Since the signs were in Dutch(and whoever says Dutch and German are similar I would like to argue with) I had no idea what train I was getting on since it didn't actually say Utrecht Central, only the ending destination, which was not where I wanted to go. I finally asked someone as I boarded the train and he said yes it was going there, I didn't really stop stressing though until I was actually off the train and hugging Steve, thankful to be with a friendly face. Speaking of friendly faces, you have no idea how good it felt to finally be with someone who knew me from home, that I hadn't just met, and had a real history with. It was wonderful being able to talk about our friends at home and not have to explain who they were to people! The rest of the weekend was just as amazing.
We did a little pub craw the first night and I was introduced to the back of Steve's bike. It's called dinking, and my butt never really got used to it :) I sat on the back of Steve's bike while he balanced and peddled, needless to say he got the workout and I got a lesson in trust. On Friday morning Steve went to class and I walked into the main part of town where the canal flow, there was a small market and a really old church called De Dom. It was beautiful and I toured the inside and then continued to tour the town before Steve called and we met up. He decided to take me to the culture boat. Which is a coffeehouse on a boat. We got cultured and then went on a little bike ride through Utrecht that stopped at a cafe where we got coffee, and then took us back to his apartment where we got Turkish food, so good. We decided to nap, take showers, watch the Badger's game and then get ready for the night.
We also made an epic meal, for which I am proud to say I ate a ton of veggies I never thought I would touch. After the lovely dinner we drank the 50 cent energy drinks we had picked up from the grocery store, and shared a bottle of wine with some of his friends, before heading out to a club called EKKO. And it turned out to be Balkan Beats night(russian techno!) and we danced a lot. It was really fun, but we tried to leave early to get some sleep.
And that was because we went to Amsterdam on Saturday! We were up and out the door by 10 and got into Amsterdam around 11:30, just in time to grab some Fritz und Fritzsause, (no idea if i'm spelling that correctly) a Dutch speciality, which is basically fries and mayo.
We explored the city and met up with some of the guys from my London program at the Heineken tour, after which we got some amazing Dutch pancakes, and decided to head towards the Van Gogh museum. Little did we know we'd get down poured on on our trek there. And I mean it poured. We were both soaked to the bone and i literally could decide if I wanted to laugh or cry about it. In the end I laughed and then went into the museum where I was a tad bit uncomfortable the whole time, thus not enjoying it as I wish I would have. Anyways, afterward we explored a little more, I actually got more Fritz und Fritzsausse for dinner and then we went in search of the Red Light district. It blew my mind. I don't know what I was expecting, as I had heard a lot about it, but it still surpassed what I had imagined. The only thing I could think of was, How does one end up in one of these windows? Where in this women's life did something go wrong? Did something go wrong, or do people grow up thinking this could be fun? It was something that put things into perspective for me and I'm glad Steve talked me into seeing it.
We went backed, skyped with some of my favorite people and then I went to bed because I had to get up early Sunday morning.
All in all it was one of the best weekends I've had in Europe, I really really loved Utrecht; it reminded me a bit of Madison and gave me time away from tourists everywhere, I also got to spend some much needed time away with a very good friend from home.
Well, I went to The Netherlands this past weekend, a term which confused me greatly because everyone calls it the Netherlands, but it's in Holland. I may or may not have been under the impression they were two different countries...oops. Anyways I started my journey a little late and stressed myself out the entire tube ride worrying about if I was going to get through security on time so that when I finally did get through security I had to buy myself a chocolate bar to claim my nerves :) The start of the weekend of junk food...I arrived in Amsterdam to meet a very unfriendly Dutch man at the train station counter, who didn't seem to really want to sell me a ticket to Utrecht. After I finally obtained the ticket I went to the platform he named and waited. Since the signs were in Dutch(and whoever says Dutch and German are similar I would like to argue with) I had no idea what train I was getting on since it didn't actually say Utrecht Central, only the ending destination, which was not where I wanted to go. I finally asked someone as I boarded the train and he said yes it was going there, I didn't really stop stressing though until I was actually off the train and hugging Steve, thankful to be with a friendly face. Speaking of friendly faces, you have no idea how good it felt to finally be with someone who knew me from home, that I hadn't just met, and had a real history with. It was wonderful being able to talk about our friends at home and not have to explain who they were to people! The rest of the weekend was just as amazing.
We did a little pub craw the first night and I was introduced to the back of Steve's bike. It's called dinking, and my butt never really got used to it :) I sat on the back of Steve's bike while he balanced and peddled, needless to say he got the workout and I got a lesson in trust. On Friday morning Steve went to class and I walked into the main part of town where the canal flow, there was a small market and a really old church called De Dom. It was beautiful and I toured the inside and then continued to tour the town before Steve called and we met up. He decided to take me to the culture boat. Which is a coffeehouse on a boat. We got cultured and then went on a little bike ride through Utrecht that stopped at a cafe where we got coffee, and then took us back to his apartment where we got Turkish food, so good. We decided to nap, take showers, watch the Badger's game and then get ready for the night.
We also made an epic meal, for which I am proud to say I ate a ton of veggies I never thought I would touch. After the lovely dinner we drank the 50 cent energy drinks we had picked up from the grocery store, and shared a bottle of wine with some of his friends, before heading out to a club called EKKO. And it turned out to be Balkan Beats night(russian techno!) and we danced a lot. It was really fun, but we tried to leave early to get some sleep.And that was because we went to Amsterdam on Saturday! We were up and out the door by 10 and got into Amsterdam around 11:30, just in time to grab some Fritz und Fritzsause, (no idea if i'm spelling that correctly) a Dutch speciality, which is basically fries and mayo.
We explored the city and met up with some of the guys from my London program at the Heineken tour, after which we got some amazing Dutch pancakes, and decided to head towards the Van Gogh museum. Little did we know we'd get down poured on on our trek there. And I mean it poured. We were both soaked to the bone and i literally could decide if I wanted to laugh or cry about it. In the end I laughed and then went into the museum where I was a tad bit uncomfortable the whole time, thus not enjoying it as I wish I would have. Anyways, afterward we explored a little more, I actually got more Fritz und Fritzsausse for dinner and then we went in search of the Red Light district. It blew my mind. I don't know what I was expecting, as I had heard a lot about it, but it still surpassed what I had imagined. The only thing I could think of was, How does one end up in one of these windows? Where in this women's life did something go wrong? Did something go wrong, or do people grow up thinking this could be fun? It was something that put things into perspective for me and I'm glad Steve talked me into seeing it.
We went backed, skyped with some of my favorite people and then I went to bed because I had to get up early Sunday morning.
All in all it was one of the best weekends I've had in Europe, I really really loved Utrecht; it reminded me a bit of Madison and gave me time away from tourists everywhere, I also got to spend some much needed time away with a very good friend from home.
Monday, March 15, 2010
top ten?
well I've done A LOT of blogging tonight and I'm still a week behind... so this is going to be the "top ten" things I've done in the last week...hopefully I'll find ten things to tell you about :)
10.) I went to another football game! QPR was not as good as Fulham, but still a fun experience all around.
9.) Weather. It hit 55 degrees today. It was lovely. I cannot wait for the 60's and strolling around London without so many layers on!
8.) Flowers. The flowers are starting to bloom in Kensington Gardens and Hyde park. I love running outside now because the colors are just popping up; I can't imagine how happy I'll be with ALL the flowers in full bloom!
7.) Stonehenge. Something I needed to check off my list of things to do in my lifetime, and it is checked. Interesting to contemplate how they got there, but once you've got your pictures there's really no need to go back. Our group did organize a five person base pyramid while walking around Stonehenge and it was sight to see. I was the person in the back pushing people up to their respective spots and we almost finished it! We got to level four before the collapse occurred :)
6.) Salisbury. A super cute town in which we explored the market, and I ate my first Pasty. We also explored the Cathedral and saw one of the four remaining Magna Carta's. I bought a bottle of Mead (honey) Wine, which was drank in the middle ages by newly weds on their wedding nights until the moon went down; giving rise to the name "honeymoon." I loved the story so much I had to have a bottle..
5.) Saturday Night. We had a very fun night in the flat with a few people's friends in town; it felt good to go out in London again!
4.) A Sunday morning stroll. Andrea, Alex and I walked from Hyde Park Gate around Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square where there was a huge St. Patty's Day Celebration going on. There were thousands of people dressed in green and drinking Guinness while listening to the live Irish music.
3.) Brick lane. After Trafalgar we ventured down to Brick Lane Market, where I had some amazing Chinese food, and walked through my new favorite market. I will be going back as soon as possible.
2.) Really Old, like 45. Tonight we went to a play at the National Theater. It was okay, parts were funny and I guess interesting to consider, but it dealt with Alzheimer's, and since my grandpa passed away a few years back after fighting it, I had a hard time finding many parts laughable.
1.) One month. One month from today we have our farewell dinner. It's crazy how time flies and how quickly my time in London has flown. I am already sad thinking about leaving the program, but excited to have a wonderful summer in Madison and see friends and family!
10.) I went to another football game! QPR was not as good as Fulham, but still a fun experience all around.
9.) Weather. It hit 55 degrees today. It was lovely. I cannot wait for the 60's and strolling around London without so many layers on!
8.) Flowers. The flowers are starting to bloom in Kensington Gardens and Hyde park. I love running outside now because the colors are just popping up; I can't imagine how happy I'll be with ALL the flowers in full bloom!
7.) Stonehenge. Something I needed to check off my list of things to do in my lifetime, and it is checked. Interesting to contemplate how they got there, but once you've got your pictures there's really no need to go back. Our group did organize a five person base pyramid while walking around Stonehenge and it was sight to see. I was the person in the back pushing people up to their respective spots and we almost finished it! We got to level four before the collapse occurred :)
6.) Salisbury. A super cute town in which we explored the market, and I ate my first Pasty. We also explored the Cathedral and saw one of the four remaining Magna Carta's. I bought a bottle of Mead (honey) Wine, which was drank in the middle ages by newly weds on their wedding nights until the moon went down; giving rise to the name "honeymoon." I loved the story so much I had to have a bottle..
5.) Saturday Night. We had a very fun night in the flat with a few people's friends in town; it felt good to go out in London again!
4.) A Sunday morning stroll. Andrea, Alex and I walked from Hyde Park Gate around Buckingham Palace to Trafalgar Square where there was a huge St. Patty's Day Celebration going on. There were thousands of people dressed in green and drinking Guinness while listening to the live Irish music.
3.) Brick lane. After Trafalgar we ventured down to Brick Lane Market, where I had some amazing Chinese food, and walked through my new favorite market. I will be going back as soon as possible.
2.) Really Old, like 45. Tonight we went to a play at the National Theater. It was okay, parts were funny and I guess interesting to consider, but it dealt with Alzheimer's, and since my grandpa passed away a few years back after fighting it, I had a hard time finding many parts laughable.
1.) One month. One month from today we have our farewell dinner. It's crazy how time flies and how quickly my time in London has flown. I am already sad thinking about leaving the program, but excited to have a wonderful summer in Madison and see friends and family!
Part III: Rome
Ahh Rome. My favorite part of the trip. There was so much in Rome I wanted to see and I am happy to say I got to see it all. The first night we got there we went to sleep after another full day of travel so we'd be able to get up and go the next morning. I also finished my 3rd book of the trip. We got up and had breakfast at the hostel and then set out to find the Rome(ing) Tour that had been recommended to us. We got their early and ended up sitting at a cafe for an hour waiting, we decided it was very Italian of us. The tour was great. It was given by Tad, a friendly man from Iowa. He was incredibly knowledgeable and I asked him quite a few questions. We ended up having the tour all to ourselves as well as we were the only ones who showed up. It was a 4 hour walking tour that took us all over ancient Rome. Seeing the Colosseum, Pantheon, Jewish ghetto, Mouth of Truth, Circus Maximus, Piazza Venezia, and the Roman Forum.
It wiped us out and after trying the restaurant Tad recommended to us, and disliking it, we turned in.
The next day we packed just as much in. Starting with the Vatican. We did a little shopping on the way to St. Peter's Basilica. Once there we decided we should get inline to go in...not really realizing what we were getting ourselves into. By mistake we got into line for the capela, where a friendly Canadian told us we were going to the top of the dome. It cost 5 euros to take all 541 stairs or you could pay 7 and take the elevator half way and only walk 300.. Alyssa and I decided to save two euros and burn some extra calories. It was definitely a climb, but we made it, and it actually ended up being one of my favorite things we did. We could see all of Rome from the top and had a great deal of arms that wrap around St. Peter's.
Afterward we got galeto on our way to the Vatican Museum, where the Sistine Chapel is located; something I couldn't leave Rome without seeing.
After our Vatican adventure we headed towards the Trevi fountain. It started raining... (the only bad weather we had on our whole trip) but it really didn't phase us, the fountain was spectacular.
The next morning we got up early to make our way to Piazza Navona to look for paintings. I bought two small water colors that I think will look great in Jen and I's bathroom :) We also got pizza and gatelo for the last time in Italy before we ran back to the hostel to catch our taxi to the airport.
Our trip really went without any hitches and it is truly something I will never forget.
It wiped us out and after trying the restaurant Tad recommended to us, and disliking it, we turned in.The next day we packed just as much in. Starting with the Vatican. We did a little shopping on the way to St. Peter's Basilica. Once there we decided we should get inline to go in...not really realizing what we were getting ourselves into. By mistake we got into line for the capela, where a friendly Canadian told us we were going to the top of the dome. It cost 5 euros to take all 541 stairs or you could pay 7 and take the elevator half way and only walk 300.. Alyssa and I decided to save two euros and burn some extra calories. It was definitely a climb, but we made it, and it actually ended up being one of my favorite things we did. We could see all of Rome from the top and had a great deal of arms that wrap around St. Peter's.
Afterward we got galeto on our way to the Vatican Museum, where the Sistine Chapel is located; something I couldn't leave Rome without seeing.
After our Vatican adventure we headed towards the Trevi fountain. It started raining... (the only bad weather we had on our whole trip) but it really didn't phase us, the fountain was spectacular.
The next morning we got up early to make our way to Piazza Navona to look for paintings. I bought two small water colors that I think will look great in Jen and I's bathroom :) We also got pizza and gatelo for the last time in Italy before we ran back to the hostel to catch our taxi to the airport.
Our trip really went without any hitches and it is truly something I will never forget.
Part II: Santorini
So as you can tell I've waited a long time to make this post. I got back from spring break ten days ago, and just haven't been in the mood to relay our trip in writing because I've told so many people about it verbally. But, for my memory, I'm going to jot some stuff down so I can blog about life now, which I really want to do :)
Santorini. It turns out Santorini is a 7 1/2 hour ferry ride away from Athens... who knew? Not us. But we had our hearts set on going and a hotel booked, so we boarded the ferry at 7:30am on Sat, after a crazy public transport trip that would not have been possible if not for the crazy nice bus driver who picked us up at vacant bus stop, the second bus driver who didn't leave the stop we were supposed to get off at until we were off, and the random Greek women who heard us talk about where we were going and told us we need to get on the metro on the other side of the track. The ferry ride went fast and I finished my second book of the trip. We arrived in Santorini after having witnessed the beauty of the island from the ship; an array of white houses on top of a huge mountain in the middle of the bluest water I have ever seen.
The hotel we were staying at offered free pick up from the port, and it was wonderful to not have to worry about some random taxi taking us for an unwanted ride around town. We drove up and up and up and finally reached the cutest little villa, Villa Manos, where we stayed. They welcomed us with Santorini wine and we were taken to our room. We freshened up and then set out to find food. We went to a place called Nikh's, which was recommended to us by the owner of the villa and I had the best cheesy potato dish I've ever eaten. It was like my mom's party potatoes times 10! We were stuffed and tired so we went back to the room and slept. On the second day we went and explored the town of Fira, which is located on upper part of the island of Santorini.(I didn't know there were separate towns on the island until we got there either) We walked and walked and walked. But we found the spot where all the picture are taken from, and rightly so. I could have sat on top of these roofs all day just to look at the water, the mountains, and tops of the white houses all around me.
We got pizza for lunch and divided in two groups. Andrea, Alyssa and I decided to go check out the black sand beach and the other girls went back to the room. We laid out on the beach although, like the rest of the town, we were the only ones there. It's not their tourist season so it felt kind of like a ghost town. We found a really cute restaurant on the beach though and enjoyed a drink while taking in the view. They also gave us tap water, which Alyssa didn't remind me we couldn't drink until it was already in my mouth! We ended up going back to the cute restaurant on the beach for dinner, and like every other place we went in Santorini, were given a free dessert with our meal :) The next day we woke up went back to the black sand beach, ate lunch, found a bakery where I picked up Greek Pound Cake, and waited for the time to be taken back to the ferry. They gave us wine again before we left and we prepared for the 7 1/2 hours of traveling ahead of us.
The ferry ride back to Athens, if I had to pick, was the worst part of the trip. I did not want to be on the boat for that long again so soon, and for some reason I got the most homesick I've been on this trip while riding that ferry. I read though and stared out at the wonders of the scenery.
We got into Athens late and got into a really nice taxi to take us to our hostel for the night. The next morning we were up and traveling again. We got brunch at a cafe in the square and headed to the airport.
Santorini. It turns out Santorini is a 7 1/2 hour ferry ride away from Athens... who knew? Not us. But we had our hearts set on going and a hotel booked, so we boarded the ferry at 7:30am on Sat, after a crazy public transport trip that would not have been possible if not for the crazy nice bus driver who picked us up at vacant bus stop, the second bus driver who didn't leave the stop we were supposed to get off at until we were off, and the random Greek women who heard us talk about where we were going and told us we need to get on the metro on the other side of the track. The ferry ride went fast and I finished my second book of the trip. We arrived in Santorini after having witnessed the beauty of the island from the ship; an array of white houses on top of a huge mountain in the middle of the bluest water I have ever seen.
The hotel we were staying at offered free pick up from the port, and it was wonderful to not have to worry about some random taxi taking us for an unwanted ride around town. We drove up and up and up and finally reached the cutest little villa, Villa Manos, where we stayed. They welcomed us with Santorini wine and we were taken to our room. We freshened up and then set out to find food. We went to a place called Nikh's, which was recommended to us by the owner of the villa and I had the best cheesy potato dish I've ever eaten. It was like my mom's party potatoes times 10! We were stuffed and tired so we went back to the room and slept. On the second day we went and explored the town of Fira, which is located on upper part of the island of Santorini.(I didn't know there were separate towns on the island until we got there either) We walked and walked and walked. But we found the spot where all the picture are taken from, and rightly so. I could have sat on top of these roofs all day just to look at the water, the mountains, and tops of the white houses all around me.
We got pizza for lunch and divided in two groups. Andrea, Alyssa and I decided to go check out the black sand beach and the other girls went back to the room. We laid out on the beach although, like the rest of the town, we were the only ones there. It's not their tourist season so it felt kind of like a ghost town. We found a really cute restaurant on the beach though and enjoyed a drink while taking in the view. They also gave us tap water, which Alyssa didn't remind me we couldn't drink until it was already in my mouth! We ended up going back to the cute restaurant on the beach for dinner, and like every other place we went in Santorini, were given a free dessert with our meal :) The next day we woke up went back to the black sand beach, ate lunch, found a bakery where I picked up Greek Pound Cake, and waited for the time to be taken back to the ferry. They gave us wine again before we left and we prepared for the 7 1/2 hours of traveling ahead of us.
The ferry ride back to Athens, if I had to pick, was the worst part of the trip. I did not want to be on the boat for that long again so soon, and for some reason I got the most homesick I've been on this trip while riding that ferry. I read though and stared out at the wonders of the scenery.
We got into Athens late and got into a really nice taxi to take us to our hostel for the night. The next morning we were up and traveling again. We got brunch at a cafe in the square and headed to the airport.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
and away we go...(part I: Athens)
Ever since AP Art History my senior year of high school I've had insanely high hopes for getting to see everything I studied during the entire year... Again, at the time these were hopes, dreams, ambitions. But I can now say it is slowly turning into a reality. On Wed Feb 24th I left for Athens with five darling girls from my program. I turns out almost all European Airlines serve meals and I was thrilled to get salmon on the way there! We landed at about 12:15am and waited in customs for a bit before hoping into a taxi which was supposed to bring us directly to our hostel. Well after a scary ride, on which I turned to Ashley and commented that I felt like we were on a roller coaster, we received a taxi fee that was much steeper than expected and didn't even drop us off at the door to our hostel, only the alleyway leading to it.. but we were out of the taxi alive and happy to be so. When we finally got to our room we discovered it was perfect! We had our own studio style apartment with a separate kitchen, bathroom and living room apart from our bedroom with three sets of bunk beds. We headed straight to bed and decided to sleep in the next morning so we would have energy to explore. 
On our first full day we woke up a little late and thus went in search of lunch as we left the apartment. We discovered old town and ate Gyros! After which we got galeto, and then set our sites on the Acropolis! We climbed the hill leading to it as the sun was shinning and my face was smiling. We stayed on top of the Acropolis not just looking at the ruins but the view it offered us! We saw the Parthenon, Porch of the Maidens, Temple of Athena Nike, and the Theater of Dionysos, to name a few.
After leaving the Acropolis we went to explore the rest of the city. We ended up making our way to Syntagma Square, which is right in front of their main govn't building (like their white house) We got freshly made donuts in the square and then decided to go back and get re-ready before dinner. We tried to find a Greek menu so we could taste a truly Greek meal. We found one relatively close to our studio and i decided I was going to be adventurous and order something I didn't know if I would like. I ordered Moussaka, which consists of eggplant and minced meat and it was my favorite meal of the trip. Absolutely one of the best things i've ever tried. The Greeks loved six American girls everywhere we went and we were constantly given free things at meals. The first night started this fad with free Ouzo, the Greek alcohol of choice. It reminded me of black licorice and I did not like it.
The second morning we woke up a little earlier and got breakfast at this cute little restaurant with a large outdoor seating area. We all ordered their Greek yogurt/fresh fruit waffle and I found it superb.
The rest of the day was devoted to shopping! We walked the streets of Plaka, which contained hundreds of cute little shops and bought a lot of souvenirs for family and friends :) On our way back to the apartment for the night we stopped and made reservations at a resturant in old town where the owner promised us live music and let us pick the table to we wanted for that night. When we came back our table was ready and I order a four course meal to celebrate our last night in Athens.
On our first full day we woke up a little late and thus went in search of lunch as we left the apartment. We discovered old town and ate Gyros! After which we got galeto, and then set our sites on the Acropolis! We climbed the hill leading to it as the sun was shinning and my face was smiling. We stayed on top of the Acropolis not just looking at the ruins but the view it offered us! We saw the Parthenon, Porch of the Maidens, Temple of Athena Nike, and the Theater of Dionysos, to name a few.
After leaving the Acropolis we went to explore the rest of the city. We ended up making our way to Syntagma Square, which is right in front of their main govn't building (like their white house) We got freshly made donuts in the square and then decided to go back and get re-ready before dinner. We tried to find a Greek menu so we could taste a truly Greek meal. We found one relatively close to our studio and i decided I was going to be adventurous and order something I didn't know if I would like. I ordered Moussaka, which consists of eggplant and minced meat and it was my favorite meal of the trip. Absolutely one of the best things i've ever tried. The Greeks loved six American girls everywhere we went and we were constantly given free things at meals. The first night started this fad with free Ouzo, the Greek alcohol of choice. It reminded me of black licorice and I did not like it.
The second morning we woke up a little earlier and got breakfast at this cute little restaurant with a large outdoor seating area. We all ordered their Greek yogurt/fresh fruit waffle and I found it superb.
The rest of the day was devoted to shopping! We walked the streets of Plaka, which contained hundreds of cute little shops and bought a lot of souvenirs for family and friends :) On our way back to the apartment for the night we stopped and made reservations at a resturant in old town where the owner promised us live music and let us pick the table to we wanted for that night. When we came back our table was ready and I order a four course meal to celebrate our last night in Athens.
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