Athens, Greece: Days 1, 2

After three hours of a strenuous search for Internet with my newfound trip compadre, Claire, we finally settled in a surprisingly high-tech Internet Cafe in the Plaka District of Athens, Greece. (We had an interesting time attempting to adjust the language settings on our computers from Greek to English.) However, the efforts were worth the wait; after walking 45 minutes to find this place, and after uploading (very slowly) all of our photos from the trip, we're finally able to share what a great time we've been having with our family and friends.

This trip has been smooth sailing since the start. My flight from St. Louis to Chicago was uneventful, and my three-hour layover in Chicago went by quickly and painlessly. Even more painless was my nine-hour flight from Chicago to Frankfurt, Germany; I was seated next to another girl my age, Alyssa, who attends Indiana University, also studies Arabic, and also had a layover in Frankfurt until her final flight to Austria. We spent the entire flight sharing music, comparing lives, and expressing excitement for our trips ahead. We napped for the last 4 hours of the flight, and felt very rested upon landing in Frankfurt at 9:55 am. Once in the airport, we rushed through Customs, and eagerly sat down at a cafe and ordered beer (got to love the European drinking age). Since we had both not eaten in quite awhile, we left the the cafe rather "buzzed" off of one Radler. (Pathetic).

My flight left soon after hers, and once at my gate, I met up with people from my trip and was comforted to know I wouldn't be a loner trying to find the entire group upon the arrival in Athens. I slept the entirety of the four-hour flight from Frankfurt to Athens, which shocked me greatly, but left me completely free from any sort of jet lag, since we arrive in Athens at 5:30 pm. After all gathering (and freshening up, considerably), we boarded a bus that drove us 30 minutes to our hotel in downtown Athens. Our hotel (the view from its terrace is below) is located right at the foot of the Acropolis.

During our first night, we had a quick logistical meeting and the proceeded to walk as a group into Plaka district, an area with many cute cafes, restaurants, and boutiques. We were all in great spirits, and everyone seemed eager to get along, which was a relief (you never know what's going to happen when you throw 35 virtual strangers together in a foreign country). I quickly made friends, most notably with Jacqueline and Claire, and we walked around for two hours, befriending one of the many local stray dogs that wouldn't stop following us for the entirety of our time walking (we named it "Gyro", after the Greek food Jacqueline accidentally dropped, which initiated the dog's affection with our group).

We were all tired from traveling and walking, so after going back to the hotel, a group of about fifteen of us sat on the hotel's terrace, drinking cheap wine we had landed for 4.50 Euros (split amongst all of us). After about an hour of socializing, I went back to my room, in which I'm rooming with two sisters from Texas named Melissa and Christina (pictured below).

This morning (day 2 in Athens), we were supposed to receive a 7:45am wake-up call; but, alas, this did not occur for any of us, and we all woke up in a rushed panic in order to make our mandatory 8:45 am meeting time. After meeting, we walked to the Acropolis, at which we spent two hours and took many pictures. The views from the Acropolis were absolutely stunning; we also witnessed a man stealing another woman's backpack and wallet (a big reality check for all of us, who then proceeded to carry our backpacks on the front of our bodies, increasing our American tourist image, to the dismay of our Grecian tour guide).

After visiting the Acropolis, we went to the Olympic Stadium (pictures below), as well as The Academy, the Greek University, and the giant library adjacent to both of these (which contains over 2000 original Antiquity manuscripts). We then walked even further downtown, into a nice shopping district, and then through a two-mile long flea market. When it was time to leave, we had already walked around for 6 straight hours; unfortunately, it took a small group of us yet another hour to find our way back to our hotel, and this involved me and another tour-member trying to communicate with the Greek Police, unsuccessfully. When we actually made it back to the hotel, everyone just wanted to sleep. Of course, I didn't want to sleep, so that's how I ended up here, in the Internet Cafe.

That's all for now. I'm having an amazing time, and we leave early in the morning for the island of Corfu, at which we will have two free days to romp about the beach. After that, we are traveling to Italy, and after that, we will be white water rafting in Austria. I feel very blessed to have all of these opportunities, and I am cherishing every moment of them (probably a little too much).

I love and miss all of you.



The Academy in downtown Athens, Greece. The two statues in front are of Socrates and Plato.

Claire, Jacqueline, and me in front of the Olympic Stadium.

Jacqueline and me in front of the Acropolis.

A beautiful view from the front of the Acropolis.

Another view from the Acropolis.

Jacqueline and I being ourselves...at the Acropolis.

Bryan, Jacqueline, Me, and Andi in front of the Acropolis.

A view from a hill next to the Acropolis, properly deemed the "best view of Athens." None of these pictures do it justice, however.

Me, being American, at the Acropolis.

This is our hotel's terrace. Absolutely surreal.

Our whole group on the first night in Plaka.

Claire, Melissa, Jacqueline, Christina, Me, Alana, and Kelsey during the first night in Plaka.