The beginning of what would turn out to be probably the most amazing trip I have taken so far was honestly more stress than excitement. I had wanted to go to Greece for years (let’s be real, since I saw the movie the Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants where one of the characters goes to a Greek island and it’s the most beautiful thing you’ve ever seen.) Still, as the trip approached and the stress and sadness of the end of my stay in Seville mounted, I was even doubting my decision to go. By my last full day in Seville I was tired and so sad about leaving that I was actually making myself nervous to go home because I didn’t want my study abroad experience to end that badly. I wasn’t sure if I was up for two weeks of bouncing around Greece. And of course having to wake up early to catch a 7:45 train after a late last night in Seville meant that I was exhausted on top of everything else. Still, I said goodbye to Mati and Luiqui early Saturday morning and got on a train to Madrid. The flight from Madrid to Athens was perfectly fine and I met a Cypriot on the plane (cool for me since I wrote a paper about Cyprus in 10th grade) and got to the Athens airport only a little delayed. Weighed down by my huge backpack and still stressed, I decided to take a taxi to the hostel and had to totally overpay. But it was worth it to get to the hostel faster and be greeted on arrival by my travel companion and friend since kindergarten, Maddy! It was great to see her after four months and get to finally relax because I had actually made it. Maddy and I caught up for a little and then headed out into the center of Athens to get a delicious dinner of gyros. My first gyro in Greece and it was so good. Afterwards, we headed back to the hostel and went to sleep pretty soon after because we were both exhausted and had a packed two weeks ahead of us.
The next day we woke up early to get a 7:30 bus to Delphi. The bus station was a bit confusing and the phrase “it’s all Greek to me” is a pretty accurate description of how we felt on the majority of the trip, so we decided to ask for help to make sure we were getting on the right bus. As much fun as it probably would have been to end up in some random part of Greece, we were pretty excited for Delphi. Luckily, the famous Greek hospitality is very much a reality and the teenagers we asked were very happy to direct us to the right bus and even made sure we got off at the right stop later on. During the stop at a rest area along the way, we were treated to some spectacular landscapes and a faint but still colorful rainbow, which I took as a good omen for our trip. The Delphi trip not only introduced us to the famous Greek hospitality that would endure for the rest of our travels, but another theme: the almost non-existent bus stop. It seems that the Greeks don’t care too much about marking their bus stops, so you have to either ask someone where you are or assume you have arrived at the correct destination based on the duration of the ride. Most of the bus stops are little cafes in the middle of town marked by a small sign, easily missed by the non-Greek reader. Still, we got off at the correct stop and found a map of the town and started heading towards the ruins. The views were absolutely incredible, mountains descending into lakes and rays of sunlight illuminating the landscape – I started to see how the ancient Greeks could believe in such powerful gods, everything was so ethereal. We were walking up, up, up (the ancient Greeks were pretty into the whole building a city on a mountainside so it’s more easily defended idea) and getting a little tired, but still saw no sign of the ruins. Well, we were never averse to asking for help so when a little old Greek lady walked by we asked her how to get to the ruins. Even though she spoke little English, she recognized the word “ruins” and started leading us down the path we had just walked up. We weren’t sure if we had gotten the message across correctly and were about to check with her when the ruins came into view. It was a spectacular sight. Imposing marble columns and the remains of a city sitting right on the side of the mountain. It’s incredible to see how advanced society was so long ago. When we got to the archaeological sight, there was a tour going on so we decided to hop on and got some more detailed information about the oracle of Delphi and other parts of the site. We caught the end of the tour so after a little we headed out on our own again to explore the rest of the ruins. Then we went to the museum, but before going inside we decided to eat a little of the bread we had. We sat down outside the museum and a cat came up to us, so we decided to move a little farther down before eating. After the cat went away and we resettled, we took out the bread and suddenly were mobbed by about 10 cats and kittens. The first cat must have signaled the rest of the gang or something because they all immediately descended when we sat down. We decided that sitting and eating wouldn’t work so after standing and eating our apples, we went into the museum. It was a really well put together museum and I really like seeing a museum after seeing the site where the objects came from because it gives me a better sense of the context and makes it easier to picture how everything used to be. It had started raining pretty hard right before we got to the museum so we camped out there until we were kicked out at closing. Luckily, by then it was starting to clear up a little because the surrounding mountains had looked so ominous against the gray sky. We wandered back through the small town of Delphi and got our first baklava, which was also incredibly delicious. Then we sat outside for a while and admired the view while waiting for the bus to arrive. The bus ride home provided some more spectacular views, especially since the tops of the mountains were covered by fingers of fog that yet again added to the mystical and otherworldly feel that permeated the incredible landscapes of Greece. Back in Athens, we went to dinner and got some delicious warm feta on toast and moussaka, well deserved after a day of hiking through Greek mountains.
rainbow!
ruins in Delphi
The next day we headed to Corinth for another day trip, this time catching a bus at a more reasonable hour. The bus ride was yet again gorgeous filled with the bluest water I had ever seen – until later in the trip of course. Again there was some confusion over the bus stop but we got off in the right place and had time to do a quick stroll through new Corinth before catching the bus to the ancient site, where a Greek literature teacher was nice enough to tell us exactly where to get off and how to get to the site from the bus stop. Corinth was our first experience in how solitary Greece can be for winter tourists – we were the only tourists at the site. I personally dislike having lots of other tourists around (they’re always ruining my pictures haha) so it was really great being there in the off-season. In addition to being able to appreciate the incredible ruins in peace, we also enjoyed the benefit of being able to take silly pictures without being judged. My genius mother (who got the idea from my friend’s genius mother) had bought me a mini tripod before I left on my trip so Maddy and I decided we would jump through Greece and started the tradition of taking a jumping picture at every site we visited. But seriously, more importantly the lack of tourists gave me time to think and appreciate the how impressive it is that these complex buildings and cities were built way before modern technology and were able to endure the test of time. For lunch we ate apples and honey sesame sticks in an ancient theater. Pretty surreal. Another tradition that started in Corinth, this one less of a choice and more of an imposition, was picking up a stray dog that followed us around for the rest of the day. This pup followed us out of the archaeological site, across the street to the theater where we ate lunch and then to the bus stop where he stayed until we left. When we got back to Athens we were of course craving gyros again so we got off at a random bus stop and tried to find some (should be easy, right?) Well we didn’t find any at the first stop so we got back on the bus and got off a few stops later and found a delicious and cheap gyro – exactly what we wanted – and ate by a nearby fountain.
ruins in Corinth
our first jumping picture!
more ruins
The next day we packed up our stuff and got on the bus to Nafplion, a seaside town three hours away from Athens. We get to our hotel and are greeted with an enthusiastic “yassas” by the woman at reception. We trek up the tiny staircase to our room and it is beautiful – it has a balcony with perfect views of the picturesque town and a mini kitchen and a big comfy bed. We were so excited we ran around taking pictures of everything including the shampoo bottles. After calming down we headed out to the Acronafplia, one of the two fortresses on top of a cliff in the town. Our guidebook told us to take an elevator at the end of a tunnel to get up the fortress so we headed to the area where it looked like the elevator was on the map and looked around. We found a tunnel with an elevator at the end but it was unmarked and deserted and looked kind of scary so we hesitated to enter. We tried to find someone to ask for directions but, of course, no one was around so we decided to just go for it. We slowly walked down the poorly lit, graffiti-covered tunnel and pressed the button for the elevator. After what felt like an eternity, the door opened and we got in. As the elevator slowly ascended, I was seriously worrying about whether the doors would ever reopen, but they did and when we emerged we were high up on the cliff outside a hotel called the Nafplia Palace. After finding out directions to the fortress we started wandering down the road (my heart still pounding faster than normal from the tunnel/elevator experience). We found a path up to the fortress wall and were treated to a spectacular view of the beach below with the most turquoise water I have seen in my life. It was so beautiful we spent an hour up there just talking and taking it in. Finally we headed down to the water and put our feet in – it wasn’t as cold as I thought it would be in December and there were even some brave Greeks swimming. Since we didn’t have bathing suits or towels at the moment we decided not to swim. After a half hour of sitting there, an old man in a purple and pink jumpsuit came up to us and introduced himself – he told us about his coffee shop with the best coffee in town and that we should visit the next day. Then he walked away but came back a minute later and asked us if we wanted to come over to his house to meet his daughter who speaks English and try some of his homemade wine. Of course, we were very hesitant and being cynical Americans were inclined to say no, but the Greeks are known for their hospitality and the guidebook said to go if you were invited to someone’s house, so we agreed to go. We decided that he was small and old enough that we could probably take him if it came to that. After driving 5 minutes to his house, we got out and he first showed us the gym that was underneath his building. Then we got to his apartment and it turned out that his daughter had gone for a bike ride but his son was home. Of course the son was pretty surprised when he came out of his room and two random girls were standing in the living room, but he told us later that his father brings people back all the time. We talked with the son for a while about how he never gets tired of the incredible views around him and how beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Then the man’s wife came out of her room, where she had been napping, and was so surprised to see us she turned right back around. Later she came out again and said hello and brought us salami and Parmesan cheese, which was delicious. We tried some of the homemade wine and saw where it was stored and saw the roof with the incredible views of the mountains in the distance. There was never a time in this whole situation where I felt completely comfortable, even though the man kept saying, “you’re scared? Don’t be scared.” and I didn’t think anything truly terrible would happen. Still, I was happy to go when we did, but also happy that we went and got to spend time with some locals and see a real Greek house and everything. It was one of the crazy experiences that we had to do while spending two weeks in Greece. After that, we decided to go hang out in the hotel until our friend Lauren, who had also been studying abroad, arrived. We had planned to meet in Nafplion and knew she should be getting in at some point in the evening but because transportation never goes according to plan, we weren’t sure exactly when she would arrive. Eventually we called her and found out she was minutes away, so we left to go meet her at the bus stop. She was already there when we arrived and it was so great to see her! It always seems a little iffy trying to meet up with someone in a place you’ve never been before and a foreign country on top of that, but it went smoothly. After dropping off Lauren’s stuff at the hotel we decided to go get some food. We chose a restaurant and sat down and immediately the owner comes up to us and says in heavily accented English “I will bring you food. Pork, lamb, meatballs. The best meatballs you have ever tasted.” Apparently there was no menu that night, so we had no choice but to trust him. And what a good decision that was. We had vine leaves, lamb and pasta, and meatballs with potatoes and it was all delicious. Even the orange he gave us for dessert was incredible. As we left the man sitting at a table outside (who I think was a waiter) asked us where we were from. When we said Boston he told us how his idol died there and people tell him he will go live there. It was such a random comment about Boston, but after the day we had, it seemed to fit perfectly.
Nafplion beach
The next day after an amazing breakfast (amazing by our standards because there was hot food involved!) we got on a bus to Mycenae. The ruins of ancient Mycenae are fairly well preserved, especially the graves. It is a really big site, so you can almost picture how it was in ancient times as an important center of a powerful empire. As with every other ancient Greek ruins it is amongst the mountains, so the views are impressive from every angle. There was an underground cistern that dated back thousands of years so we walked in a little bit to check it out but at a certain point, everything is pitch black and we felt it was time to turn around. We then headed to Agamemnon’s tomb (not actually where Agamemnon is buried but it definitely sounds cooler that way). It is this huge tomb in the shape of a cone that is built into a hill, so naturally we decided to take a picture at the top of it. This involved timing Maddy to see how long it took to get up the hill and then me setting the self timer and having to run up the hill to get in the picture in time. We looked ridiculous, but luckily there were no other tourists around! Maddy and Lauren thoroughly enjoyed watching me huff and puff up the hill, and although I’m not sure the picture was worth the effort, it was kind of fun to set it up. Inside the tomb was really cool because there was a really loud echo and every time you stepped, you could feel the reverberations. Then we headed to the museum, where there randomly was a tour group of Spaniards, so I hopped on the tour to get a little more information and met up with Maddy and Lauren at the exit of the museum. We spent some more time wandering the other tombs and ruins we hadn’t yet seen before getting back on the bus and heading to the other fortress in Nafplion. When we got to the bottom of the stairs, we found out that the fortress had closed an hour before but we decided to climb up anyway. After 900 steps that reminded just how out of shape I am, we reached the top. It was a nice accomplishment and the views were yet again spectacular. On the way down we saw some European girls climbing up who were also breathing heavily, so we felt better about ourselves. Once we got back to the town center we decided to get a celebratory pastry and then go to the grocery store. Because we had a stove in our room, we had decided to make dinner for ourselves that night. At the store we bought tomatoes, feta, pasta, tzatziki, and a bottle of wine. We then found a bakery to get some bread (not pita but still delicious.) We went to the beach for the end of sunset and then back to the hotel to make dinner. It was a delicious feast of pasta with tomatoes and feta and bread with tzatziki. Simple but tasty.
sunrise in Nafplion
jumping in Mycenae
The next day we left Nafplion on a bus back to Athens. We had to take a city bus from the bus station to the metro, the metro to the port and then a ferry to the island of Aegina where we were staying. If that doesn’t sound tiring to you, it should. When we got to Aegina there were no buses running since it was the day before Christmas so we took a taxi to our hostel. No one was there when we arrived so we rang the bell. No answer. We rang it again. Still no answer. Finally after another ring, an older woman comes out to the desk in a bathrobe and red dye in her hair and on her face and robe. It took some effort not to burst out laughing but instead explain that we had a reservation. We put our stuff down and then walked up to the Temple of Aphaia, a really well preserved temple. Even though it was closed when we got there, it was incredible to see from the outside because it was almost whole. We walked back down and came upon a party in the town square that Maria, the woman from the hostel had mentioned earlier. The town square was the tiniest thing but it was a great party – kind of like a block party because everyone seemed to know each other and there were homemade cookies and bottles of soda spread out on tables. After a while of standing around and observing, this guy comes up and says something to us in Greek, which we don’t understand of course. Then he asks us, “have you gotten your presents yet?” We say no and he tells us he will be back in a minute. He returns with three bags each of which has a Christmas mug and a lollipop. It was so sweet and made me feel a little bit a part of this small town Christmas tradition. After, we got dinner of pizza and tzatziki and tried ouzo, which I didn’t like because it was way too licorice-y. We went to the beach but this stray dog with crazy eyes was following us so we decided to go back to the hostel after a very special Christmas eve.
On Christmas we woke up and had a simple breakfast on our balcony. Then we went for a walk along the beach. The scary eyed dog met us along the way and we couldn’t shake her. We went to a dock and looked out on the endless ocean with pristine blue water crashing onto large rocks. The salty ocean smell was in the air and I felt very happy to be at the beach. When we got back to the hostel, Maria took a broom and started shooing the stray dog that was still following us. It was quite the sight – a very wrinkly old lady with bright red hair taking a big broom and screaming at a stray dog. The technique worked and we were finally free of scary eyes. At the port we got the most fresh, sweet orange juice to drink while waiting for the ferry. Then we took the many forms of transportation back to the hostel in Athens, which was our lovely home base. It was nice to have something familiar even if it’s just a simple hostel. We walked to the National Cemetery, which was closing so we could only go in for ten minutes but I enjoyed it. I really like Greek cemeteries since they are very white and every tomb, even the small ones are mini memorials to the deceased. It is not as somber as American cemeteries, which I like. For dinner we got gyros from a street cart and watched people wandering around Athens on Christmas. There were a lot more people out than I expected for Christmas. We wandered for a while, trying to get a good view of the Acropolis and stopped at a nice restaurant for dessert. They had a delicious trio of Greek desserts with pistachio ice cream and the space heater we sat next to kept us toasty while we ate.
our presents
Lauren left to go home the next day while Maddy and I woke up really early to catch the 9 hour ferry to Santorini. Even though ferries are nice because you can walk around and aren’t confined to one seat the whole time, I still got stir crazy after 9 hours and was really excited to disembark. The view was great upon arrival because we were surrounded by cliffs. Still, Santorini was actually disappointing at first. We had heard it was the most beautiful island and built our expectations up way too high, so that we had basically guaranteed ourselves disappointment. Our hostel was far away from things, the closest town to us, Fira, was not that pretty, most stores and restaurants were closed and we found out there were no volcano tours during the winter nor rent a car because we were under 25 – so overall the first evening was a bit of a bust. We got ice cream and later spanakopita to cheer ourselves up but the next day we couldn’t shake the disappointment right away. We had taken a 9 hour ferry to this place and we wanted it to be perfect but that day it was cloudy and we started off in the same town that looked a little too much like a strip mall to be the picturesque place we had imagined. We knew we were being ridiculous because even if Santorini wasn’t as perfect as we had thought it was still beautiful and there was no reason to be upset, but still we felt a little deceived. We stopped by a few museums in the morning with interesting exhibits about ancient times on the island. Then we headed to a little village called Pyrgos and this is when things started to turn around. Pyrgos was what Santorini should look like – blue and white buildings, little cobblestone streets, adorable old Greek men and women, even donkeys! After wandering for a while, we decided to hike up to a monastery on top of a hill/mountain. It turned out to be a pretty serious hike but somehow we made I to the top without too many stops. There we met two couples from Minnesota who were in their early 30s and the six of us tried to find the monastery together. It ended up being closed and near the entrance was a sign that read “uncontrollable cancerigenic radiation” which we took seriously despite the made-up word and decided to get out of there. The Minnesotan couples were really nice and gave us a ride down back to Pyrgos despite their tiny car. It was really lucky that we did get a ride because we got back to town just in time to catch the bus to Perissa, a town with some of Santorini’s famous black sand beaches. We sat at the beach for two hours, eventually putting our feet in and I even made a sandcastle (or at least a sand version of some ruins.) The sand was soft and a beautiful black/gray color and the sun started to peek through the clouds, so my appreciation for the island was steadily increasing. When the bus back to Fira arrived, we got on and decided to get ice cream at the same place as before. Then we went over to Oia, a town known for its beautiful sunsets. Oia was exactly what we had pictured of Santorini – it was the cutest town ever despite the apparent lack of actual residents. It was completely white so that when the sun turned the sky orange the buildings actually glowed. We found a great spot to watch the sunset, which also had a beautiful view of the town and just sat for a while taking in the view before heading back to Fira where a few things were actually open. Earlier when walking around, we had noticed a restaurant that looked pretty good so we decided to go there. It was an amazing dinner. First of all, the waiter was incredibly nice and as we ordered he said our choices were “lovely.” I’m guessing he was the owner too because he called the house wine his and was the only waiter in the place. He walked through the tables humming and happily greeting every customer. The food also was incredible – we had the most delicious and garlicky eggplant dip, fried cheese, and lamb in lemon sauce with yummy veggies. The wine was also really good and the waiter gave us (as well as everyone in the restaurant) free dessert, which was really good. We were so happy from dinner that when we got back we weren’t even bothered by the fact that we couldn’t find the woman who worked at the hotel so we had to call to find out what to do with our bags after check-out the next day.
Santorini
The next day Santorini just kept improving. It was sunny and blue skies and we slept in, so we woke up refreshed. Then we headed to the red beach of Akrotiri. I had never seen a red beach before and the color was pretty spectacular plus – the huge red cliffs and rocks contrasted beautifully with the water that was about 5 different shades of blue. Santorini was so tiny and there were so few tourists that we kept running into the same people which was a funny experience because normally you don’t distinguish one tourist from another in a sea of people and don’t greet other tourists because there are too many. On the island, however, we said hi to everyone (I guess the Greek hospitality was rubbing off). It was really windy out though so we could only stay on that beach for so long without getting attacked by sand. We headed back towards the bus stop to a beach that was a little less windy and hung out there until the bus arrived. Back in Fira we got ice cream once again and went to sit on the coast so we would have a view of the volcano and other islands while we ate. We found these beautiful apartments for rent and kind of trespassed for a while until people showed up who were staying there and we decided it was time to go. We then took the bus to Oia again and got there in time for an incredible sunset that despite a few clouds, still allowed you to see the sun actually drop out of the sky. The afterglow was a radiant shade of neon pink and purple and we sat there even after the sky turned completely dark admiring the clouds and the colors. Then we went back to Fira and decided to go to the same restaurant again. Yes, there is something to be said for trying new places but when there aren’t many restaurants open and you have found a great one, you might as well stick with it. Well, we weren’t the only ones who thought that because there turned out to be lots of repeats from the night before. The waiter was again super friendly, telling us how beautiful it was that we came back and how beautiful we were. This time we got an appetizer of tomato keftedes, which were tomato fritters, and two main courses, moussaka and meatballs with spaghetti. It was a ridiculous amount of food and we were absolutely stuffed even before the waiter brought us free dessert again (which we couldn’t not eat). So when we left we were on the point of bursting and then we had to go get our humongous backpacks and walk twenty minutes back to the bus station. Not sure how we did that without stopping or vomiting for that matter but we made it to the bus station and who is there but the Minnesotan couples. They too had the brilliant idea of taking the overnight ferry back to Athens (although they had paid extra to get a cabin so they might actually be able to sleep). Maddy and I had originally built in two unplanned days to stay on Santorini or visit other islands and although we came to love Santorini, we agreed that the Cyclades were really meant for the summer. After that assessment we decided to take the overnight ferry and do an overnight trip to somewhere on the mainland that would be more open during the winter. Once we got to the ferry and Maddy and I had to run to find comfortable seating in the regular deck area. Well we found two movie theater chairs that for each of us and sprawled out to an uncomfortable on and off five hours of sleep before being awoken by an announcement that we were arriving in Piraeus, the port of Athens. Maddy turned to me and said “Rachel, I think they said we’re arriving in Piraeus” but I was in such disbelief (and a state of semi-consciousness) that I told her they hadn’t said Piraeus but Paros, an island that was supposed to be four hours by ferry so it seemed more plausible to me. Maddy got up, without her glasses or contacts, to ask someone if we were near Piraeus and the woman told her yes with a “how could you ask such a stupid question” look. Maddy relayed the message back to me and we got our stuff together and headed to the exit, where we yet again met up with the Minnesotan couples who had also been surprised by the near-halving of the time of the trip on the way there. Then we got back on the Athens metro and stopped by our home-base hostel in Athens to drop off our big backpacks so we could just have a small bag for our overnight trip and went to the bus station. We bought our tickets and were off to Kalambaka, a city beneath the town of Meteora, a place made up of monasteries on top of cliffs that we had read was worth a visit and incredibly beautiful. When we arrived we walked around trying to find a hotel and stopped by the tourist office before heading back to the first hotel we had found which was reasonably priced and had an incredibly nice staff. Since we had only gotten five hours of sleep at best the night before (which still felt like all the same day because we hadn’t actually slept in a bed or even in darkness) we got into our room and showered and napped until dinner. Then we wandered and found a restaurant where we had some weird eggplant dip (one of the only not satisfying foods I had on the whole trip), delicious warm feta, and tasty stuffed peppers and tomatoes. Then we got some really rich chocolate desserts and went back to the hotel to sleep.
red beach
sunset at Oia
The next morning we were treated to an incredible breakfast by the really nice hotel owner who told us “congratulations – you are wonderful!” He didn’t even mind if we took some of the leftovers for lunch. After storing a bag, we got a taxi to take up to the highest monastery (there are 21 in the cliffs of Meteora but 6 still functioning and open to the public.) I can’t even begin to describe how amazing these monasteries were. They are literally on the tops of cliffs and some of them match the color of the rock so well that they look like they are coming out of the rock. We took our time walking down the mountain visiting the open monasteries and generally enjoying the views. Even without the monasteries the place would be beautiful because of the impressive stone gray cliffs that rise up out of the ground and the snowy mountains in the distance, the adorable red-roofed village at the base of the cliffs and the pinkish and green trees covering the mountainside. But, the monasteries made the town and trip what it was. I really think only pictures do it justice so I’ll stop explaining but I’ll leave you with what I wrote in my notebook “monasteries. in. rocks. ridiculous. incredible. views.” After spending a while at the last monastery just taking in the view that even at the time I realized could not be totally captured in photos, we headed back to Kalambaka, got a chocolate milkshake, and then got on the bus. Apparently buses have assigned seats in Greece, something Maddy and I never followed but after a lot of confusion with people trying to figure out their seats or arguing over seats, the bus finally settled and we headed back to Athens, our final stop on the whirlwind tour.
one of the monasteries
Since we knew that basically everything would be closed on New Year’s, we started our day off early on the 31st to ensure we got in everything in Athens that we really wanted to see. We started off at the Acropolis. After seeing the theater of Dionysus, we headed towards the Parthenon, but on the way we saw a couple we had seen on Santorini. Not just a random couple but a couple (specifically the wife) that we had thought looked extremely familiar but when we had decided to approach them in Santorini to ask if they were from Newton, they got off at the bus stop before us and we thought we had lost our chance to ask forever. No, we just happen to run into them on the Acropolis two days later, so of course we run over before they disappear again. It turns out the woman did in fact work at our high school and thought that we had looked familiar as well. We talked for a little while and then parted ways but Maddy and I couldn’t get over how random it was to see them not only in Santorini but then two whole days later in Athens and to actually meet someone who taught at our high school while in Greece! It is a tiny world apparently. Well there was still the Parthenon to see, which was really impressive and then we went to the ancient Agora. The museum at the Agora was really good, it was a perfect size and had just the right amount of information to be informative without overwhelming – I actually learned some things about ancient Greek voting systems and speech-giving that I still remember. We had asked a woman who worked at the Acropolis on our way out what time the Acropolis museum (which we were told we absolutely had to see) closed and she told us it closed at 7:30 so we took our time at our next stop, the National Archaeological Museum. We actually explored it really thoroughly – taking a break halfway through to eat our usual lunch of apples and sesame sticks and lie in the sun. I loved the exhibit about prehistoric Mycenae since there was tons of gorgeous and intricate jewelry, something I always am particularly interested in since I make silver jewelry. After that we went back to the Acropolis museum with perfect timing only to discover that it had closed at 3 because it was the day before New Year’s. We were pretty angry with the woman who had told us it closed at 7:30 since this was kind of her job to know and we definitely could have gotten back in time if we had known it closed at 3. Still, there was nothing we could do about it so we decide to get in some present shopping before heading back to the hostel to get ready for New Year’s Eve celebrations. We got ourselves a bottle of wine and got dressed up, headed out to the main square and got some dinner. (Ok, we ate dinner at McDonald’s because it the gyro place where we had wanted to go was closed.) Then we explored the square, which was weirdly filled with mostly just men and basically no groups of women by themselves, so we decided to sit at a café on the square until midnight. We got up around 11:55 to get a view of the guy (probably someone important but we had no idea) giving a speech and without warning to us because we couldn’t understand what he was saying, the fireworks went off! HAPPY 2010 – quite a way to ring in a new decade!
Our last day of the trip, we relaxed because it had been two weeks of nonstop travel and nothing was open anyway. We ate some delicious gyros and even more delicious Greek desserts and wandered around the National Gardens. It was a good way to end the trip because we had done so much that it was nice to give our minds and bodies a rest. The next day I got up really early to get a plane back to Madrid and then a train back to Sevilla. I got there in the late afternoon and had to get my bags from my host parents’ daughter’s apartment (which was in the same building). I had so much stuff that just walking from the entrance of the building to the street corner took all my effort. I was hoping a taxi would just drive by but one didn’t so as I was about to call one, a car pulled up and a woman asked me if I wanted a ride somewhere because I was so loaded down. I would never do that in the US but she seemed really nice and I was really loaded down so I got in. She and her boyfriend were really nice to me – they used google maps on his Blackberry to get to the exact address of my friend’s apartment where I was staying for the night and the woman even got out of the car to ask a police officer who was redirecting traffic if we could go through (he said yes.) As we pulled up to the building, my friend was coming out of the door, so everything went more smoothly than I had hoped and I wished the incredibly nice couple a happy new year and hugged my friend. It was great to make it and great that there were no stairs in her apartment. After I dropped my stuff off, we went into the city center, which was really crowded because everyone was shopping for gifts (they give gifts on January 6th instead of on Christmas in Spain). There was even a parade and marching band! It was really great to be back in Sevilla for one last night because when I had left for Greece I was so stressed and sad about leaving, it was not a very nice last memory. It was good to be back when I could appreciate the city just like I had all semester and actually enjoy my time there and even a few tapas. Even though it extended my travel time, I was really glad to able to be in Sevilla one last time and see it unclouded by the many goodbyes I had said two weeks before. It was the perfect end to a truly spectacular semester that I still can’t quite believe was my life.
Parthenon
us on New Year's Eve
Happy New Year!
