Oh, you know, just seein' the world

Ciao everyone,

Or should I say, Yiasas.

So basically I'm chilling in Kirsten's apartment in Athens. It's 1:45 pm here, or 3:45am back home, and she's in class where I am not. This gives me quite the opportunity to give an update for everyone back home.

I guess the best place to start would be at the beginning of this trip, which would be my journey over. It in its own right deserves a post just to itself, but I'll condense here and maybe write about airports next time around. But I left on Friday afternoon for the Fiumicino Airport in Rome around 4pm and took the metro to Stazione Termini Centrale and then went on Metro line B to Tiburtina Stazione, a smaller yet accessible station, and then took an Amtrak style train to the Airport with about 7 girls from my program who were also heading to Athens, although for different reasons.

We made it Fiumicino with zero problems, and we made it through security, etc, with little hassle. I know my Italian is getting better since it is getting infinitly more useful by the day. We made it to the gate about 30 minutes before boarding, and then delays hit. I guess we just had to pick the day to travel on that huge thunderstorms rolled in off the Mediterranean, and I should've known: visability on the way was drastically reduced, and it was more humid than any other day I can ever remember.

We eventually got on the plane about half an hour late: not too bad all things considered. The worst out of the way?

Far from it.

We sat on the runway for about half an hour after leaving the gate, watching HUGE bolts of lightning strike all around, and lighting up the city to our West. It absolutely poured buckets, and we were just all in awe over its omnipotent crashing thunder and radiant strikes. But we eventually got in the air, and all seemed well for about 5 minutes or so.

Then turbulance. I can pretty safely say that none of you have ever felt it like this in a jetliner, and I say that since even the pilot himself said he'd never felt any like that, which says something. The girls from my program (we were all seated together by the attendant, how nice) all looked absolutely ghastly. It was like being in the spin cycle or in a high-impact dryer. I mean, overhead compartments opened, people were crying and vomiting, it was gnarly. Amber, who was sitting next to me, turned white as a sheet and started absolutely shaking. For some reason, and I don't know why for the life of me, I just wasn't nervous at all and I kept trying to calm everyone down, and after about 5 minutes, it all subsided and we were in the clear again. WOOHOO. I was universally thanked and I felt proud of myself for keeping a cool head. It took about half the flight for everyone's color to return, and when they brought the drinks around, they offered wine and beer for free.

And they ran out. Because they were treated like shots, not beverages.

But we landed about an hour late, and I ran off to catch a cab, which I promptly hopped in and told my driver where to go. It's 11pm at this point, and he nods that he knows where we're going, and then pulls over to get gas, lights up a cigarette, and puffs it down before we leave.

I was not amused, but still in great spirits.

I was in Athens, Greece, about to see my girfriend, and nothing was dampering that.

I got in and Kirsten met me and it was very happy. Yay. We then promptly went to bed and got up the next morning, and we decided to check out Lykavittos Hill, or a HUGE hill that juts up right into the middle of the city. We got ready and headed out into Greece.

Now Greece is beautiful, no doubt about it. It's fantastic, amazing, and wonderous beyond description. Is it very clean? Not really. Is it very organized? Not in the least. Is it hot? Beyond belief. I mean, 95, full humidity, and smoggy as all get out during the peak part of the day, which is only when we decided to go out, of course. But we brought water and stayed hydrated, seeing awesome sights such as the Olympic Stadium, seen left. It was really cool and you can tell it's important, since it's kept clean. We walked by and I took obligatory pictures, although you can't go in it, so it makes it difficult.

From there, we headed past the National Gardens towards the Lykavittos Hill, going through the shopping district, where it was a bit more clean and organized. We kept walking and kept getting sweaty, but that's to be expected, I suppose. We kept going up stairs, hills, and old streets, moving towards pretty much the highest point in the city, other than the Acropolis. But we eventually got to the hill and headed on up through the very much like Central-Oregon style park and both of us started to get a littleeeee overheated, but Kirsten especially. It was ridiculously hot and muggy, but we took appropriate breaks and kept on trekking.

When we got to the top, you could tell it was worth it. I'll try and post as much as I can from here, but the internet is a bit slow, so I'll get up what I can. Know this, however:

It was, for a lack of better words, pretty badass.

I mean, you can see if you enlarge this picture (which I highly suggest), the span of the view, it was just incredible. Athens is a HUGE city, which has existed for millenia, about twice as many as Rome, to be exact. And Rome is old! But man, it was insanely breathtaking (not that we had much breath to begin with after the hike). Still, it ranks in the top five views of my life without question. I took a video and it's not amazing, but it shows a bit more of how this all looked. So I hope I can upload it, fingers are crossed.



There is a little church at the top of the hill, which we only looked in since both of us were so hot and underdressed we didn't think it appropriate, but it was cool to see. I'll put up more pictures later, I promise. In addition to this church, there was a cafe at the top, which was insanely cool to see, but also, as expected when one has a corner on the market, very expensive. But we had some water and sandwiches for pretty respectable prices, cooled down in their air conditioning, and very narrowly avoided ordering one of the 13 euro Mojitos. But just barely.

We continued to take in the view, but then headed back towards home, checking out the President's House by the National Gardens and oohing and ahhing over the Acropolis, which really does loom over everything else in the city. But that was for the next day, and we were sweaty and nasty, so much so that I was soaked through two shirts and neither of us showed signs of stopping, so we decided to clean up and siesta to go out to dinner later at a Taberna, or Greek Tavern.

I am very glad we did. It was great, awesome, and so cool. The one we checked out online didn't open until 8, which saddened us after we walked over there at 6 because we were hungry, but we went to the one next door and ate outside in the much more pleasant evening-time garden of the Taberna. It was really cool, there were only Greek people there and limited English was spoken, so we just worked around a much steeper language barrier than exists in Italy. It's more Eastern Europe in Greece, and the language problems are more numerous, but everyone is polite and you just do your best. Which we did. Admirably, if I could say so myself.

We had some really awesome food here. We got some bread and water, and then had some delicious Tzatziki, which I'd never had but was delicious. If you are like me and haven't ever heard of it, it's yogurt, cucumber, and garlic dip-type substance, and we liberally applied it to all our food, and it was delicious. I ordered some Village Sausage, which was excellent, along with an Amstel. Kirsten had a beer too, and we both remarked over how weird it is to be drinking over here and not have anyone question it in the least, actually encouraging it.

On a hot day, there really is nay better drink than an ice cold beer. And sausage? Cold Tzatziki? Or Kebab (like Kirsten had . . . it was very good also). But whew, eating good in the neighborhood, no joke. We ate for about 2 hours, which is really the minimum you can take to eat a meal here, no joke. We got our bill and an absolutely delicious lemon-sorbet-shot thing that was the perfect digestif for an excellent meal.

That wrapped up Saturday.

Sunday was Acropolis and Temple of the Olympiad Zeus day, which cannot be accurately described, only shown. I hope my pictures will load a bit quicker so I can show a few off, but know that I have already taken 100 and I plan on taking a few more before I leave, but I have taken many that capture the essence of what it's like to be here. Only an essence, however. Some things just have to been felt. I say it's amazing, and I show you what I see, what I feel, what I smell, and it makes a composite picture, but when it's a reality, staring you in the face, it's a feeling that can only be recreated by those who've shared in such experiences with you. I'm so glad to be seeing this with someone I care so much about, and all of you who are reading this, know that I truly wish you were here.

My connection is very poor, which I can't get too discouraged with since it is being pirated at the moment, but know that I am really looking forward to updating you all with pictures and excitement when I have the chance . I think my stories about the Acropolis must wait, but I can leave you with a picture (hopefully) that can give you a glimpse.

Until later (probably tomorrow), know that I am here and thinking of you all, but enjoying my visit while I can. It's a hell of a place to see, and I can't wait to share all my stories with you in the future.

Until next time,

Ciao.