Today was our guided tour of the Acropolis! It was the only thing we had scheduled to do in the morning, and the rest of the day we were allowed to have lunch and discover Athens for ourselves until it was time for dinner.
I will preface this entry by saying that I have absolutely fallen in love with Athens and I want to live there. It actually reminds me a lot of Melbourne, and is so easy to get around, with incredible restaurants and shops, with the added bonus of beautiful views of the Acropolis. We could see very clearly the Acropolis from the 7th floor terrace of our hotel, and at night it was lit up with bright yellow lights. There was also an amazing flea market in Monastiraki where we were staying that I could have explored for hours. Basically I adored it and could have stayed for a week more, or even longer. Our suburb was only 10 minutes walk away from the beautiful suburb of Plaka which sits at the foothills of the Acropolis.
So we went very early in the morning, and made our way through the horrendous tourist bus traffic that heads to the Acropolis early in the morning to evade the heat. It was so busy with so many people that we actually noticed a lot of freaks out and about. We saw a man wearing shiny black lycra leggings and Peter Pan-style boots. We saw lots of women wearing heels and slipping about on the marble and gravel. And finally, we saw a woman carrying a cat around in a backpack.
Anyway, we got a ticket for entry to the Acropolis and to the other sites such as the Parthenon and Hadrian's Library. However, we only had time to see the Parthenon so the others will have to wait for the next time I visit Greece (which is likely to be soon judging by how much I loved it).
We walked up so many marble steps, through old gates and marble columns strewn across the ground to see the giant Parthenon, and I pretty much fell in love. I couldn't stop staring at it and got a bit emotional, but I had warned some of my tourmates that I would have that reaction, so it wasn't embarrassing. I don't know what else to say about it other than that I felt so small and insignificant. It was so beautiful. We took so many photos, one of which is my current Facebook picture. I want to go again so I can spend more time there and visit the other sites as well. We had been warned that it would be swelteringly hot but it was actually perfect weather: sunny but not hot, breezy but not cold. So all in all it was an experience I'll never forget. I feel really lucky to be able to see these things while they're still around.
After the Acropolis, we went on a bus tour of the city, showing the site of the first modern Olympics and some of the parliamentary buildings. We also passed by Syntagma Square, where the tour guide mentioned nothing of the recent protests and everyone was walking around seemingly without a care in the world.
After the bus tour, we all went back to our hotels and decided to wander the city. Myself and a friend went to get a giant feast lunch of moussaka, grilled haloumi cheese, tzatziki and potato chunks. So good. Greek food has been my favourite out of all the foods I've eaten so far. Everything tastes so fresh compared to the Greek food in Melbourne and I find myself actually enjoying eating tomatoes for the first time ever. Later on we went to buy some presents for people and found the aforementioned flea market where I scored some really interesting things.
For dinner, we went to a delicious dinner in Plaka, where during our breaks between appetisers and mains, men and women came out to perform traditional dances and invite us to dance as well. I had the best time.
That night was the last night our big crew would be together, as some people opted to do the 3-day cruise, and some people the 7-day cruise, so our group would be on different boats visiting different islands. So that night was going to be a big one. We went to a little bar not too far from the hotel and drank and sang and danced and had the best time. Obviously I'm writing this in the past tense because I'm about two days late, and I can say that at this point in time I miss them all so much! If any of them are reading, you have the stalker sheet, you know where to find me. I'd love to keep in touch with all of you.
The next day was our travel day from Athens to Istanbul, Turkey!
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