Day 3- Wed. May 13

Day 3 (Wednesday, May 13): Athens

In the morning I go out on my own at 8:00 am to check out what Athens has to offer. No one else is awake because most of the group got in at about 2 am or are getting in this morning, so I'm on my own. As I walk around, its very quite because, as I came to learn, no one seems to get up early in Greece! While there is some activity, most people seem to begin moving around 10am. So I thoroughly enjoy the quiet and the warmth of the sun as I wander and explore. I went past the Agora, but it was still locked up, so I kept walking up to the Acropolis. I thought it would be a lot farther to walk, but it was surprisingly close. The main problem was just that there were practically no signs at all. I mean, on the one hand, its hard to miss the Acropolis; I mean, its huge, white, and on top of a giant hill. On the other hand, the streets are a literal maze, and its so easy to get confused and lost. But I meet a nice Israeli couple on my wandering, and we chatted for a minute, and managed to get both lost together, then find our way to the base of the “Acropoli”. I bought my ticket, and was amazed by the throngs of people there. Its amazing how difficult it can be to do simple things like buy a ticket when you don't speak the language and there are no signs. I attempted to ask several people how to buy a tickets but they each pointed a different buildings! (All of which were, of course, the incorrect building). After 10 to 15 minutes I finally located the ticket office and purchased my fare. As you walk up the stone walkway you are surrounded by olive trees. The first thing you come to is actually not Greek – its a Roman theater. Then you come around a bend and are just bombarded. Its overwhelming the initial view of the great marble steps, and the giant columns. Everything is just so impressive. As I walked around all the buildings. After the entryway, there is the Acropolis, the temple to Athena, and the temple to Poseidon. Off to the side there is an ancient Greek hospital, and a theater. (I'm too tired to typing to describe more, will do later!)

After that I walked through the Agora, the stoas, and the temple of the fire god. After a brief stop at the hotel to eat the sandwich I made at breakfast, in the afternoon I head off to Monastiraki Square. The square is a bustle of activity. Small shops line every side, and the entrance to the flea market is off the main square There are a million SMALL alleyways leading in every-which-way direction. They are filled with all kinds of shops. T-shirts shops, jewelery, butchers, clothes, furniture, sunglasses, food and tons of cafes. And all the cafe workers stand at the entrance to their restaurants and yell/ talk/ entice you to enter. Its funny because they all have menus outside their shops so you can see what food they have and how much it costs. But you don't dare go near because you will never escape!