Leaving Athens :(

On my last full day in Athens, I decided to relax. I watched movies all day and stepped out only to grab a sammy and check out a museum that Apollo, my Greek friend who showed me around the Acropolis, told me to see. I ordered a toasted sandwich with salad, tomato, feta, and french fries- SO GOOD! I ran into one of the employee’s from the hostel there and he was impressed that I found the place- it was a real local spot.

The Acropolis museum was brand new, and not fully finished. There was not much to see, but the architecture was AMAZING! Since Athens is such an old city, whenever there is new construction it is right on top of ruins. There were a lot of glass windows to the ruins beneath. It is so cool to see history in person, and I really loved that they planned for that in the construction- kudos to them!

Back at the hostel it was happy hour and it kicked off with a bang! We decided to use my pink playing cards for a large-scale drinking game. It was a good laugh and when the bar closed up, we headed to Lava Bore, the Serbian club. Again. Amazingly, the place was dead, even though it was a Friday. I sat outside and joined an old Greek guy for conversation.

Turns out, he owned the place and he was very polite and talkative- and interesting! He told me about his travels and how he unknowingly dated a prostitute and about his family and even introduced his wife when she arrived! When the place closed, I went with Nick, one of the bartenders the owner introduced to me, to a smaller, local spot. We had some beers and listened to great music and he told me all about Athens and his life as a footballer. On my trip I have really lucked out when it comes to meeting/adventuring with the locals.

We ended the night at Everest, a sandwich chain, and I told Nick to just get me whatever he was having- I didn’t really understand how to order. He ordered a custom sandwich topped with basically everything they offered! Ham, chicken breast, hard boiled egg, feta, a different kind of cheese, onion, tomato, french fries, lettuce, what looked like a smooth potato salad (?), and tzatziki. It was gluttonously delightful! Oh, and fyi: gluttonously didn’t come up on spell check- I guess it’s actually a word!

Anyway, I went home stuffed and fell right to sleep. Today was all about gearing up for my trip to Milano, which I’m not too excited about. My attitude will improve once I get there, I was just having such a good time in Athens. So I am on the plane now. I’ll tell you all about how it goes later...

-H*

Pics from Athens: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2145376&l=b4c04&id=22001348