I watched the world go by me. Before I left, the waiter/owner insisted that I follow him to his frie

We disembarked the cruise and said goodbye to each other. Me and another girl from the midwest had booked the last tour in Athens so we headed off to catch up with them. It was a short tour, just going to the Panathinaiko Stadium (where airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany the olympics airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany were old), the Acropolis and a bus tour through the city. Half a day.
Panathinaiko stadium is where the 1896 Olympics were held. It was the starting (or ending?) place of Marathon. Who is Marathon? He was ancient Greek man, who after some famous battle airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany was won, ran with 30 kg of weight from his uniform of bronze to tell the folks on the acropolis that they had won the battle. He reached the acropolis, said victory is ours and died. To honor him, we have the Marathon races of today.
Athens is built on 7 hills. The acropolis is the biggest, though airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany not the tallest, of them all. It was also the only one with water. Acra means high and polis means city. People used to live up here but eventually, they needed more space. The mythological goddess Athena is said to have fought for them and won so they gave her name to the city. Then they all moved downhill and abandoned the acropolis. Eventually they decided to build temples for Athena up there. Propillia is the gate to enter.
Sadly, all of the roofs are missing from this buildings. On the 27th of September, 1687, Turkey (the Ottoman empire controlled Athens) was at war against the Venetians. They used explosives during this battles and the roofs collapsed. The Venetians stole many things from the acropolis and they now stand in St Mark s square in Venice. I wish I had known that before when I was in St. Mark s square. I would have looked for these Greek things! The British also stole many things from here for 11 years during the Turkish occupation airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany of Greece. I believe the tour guide saying something like the Ottoman emperor, being Muslim, thought that these pagan things were useless anyway.
After the tour of the Parthenon, our tour was over and I parted ways with everyone. I was back on my own again. I went back to see a famous strip of street our tour guide mentioned, housing the Academy, University, and National Library. They are 3 architecturally beautiful buildings side by side in Athens.
I rather airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany liked the city. I found a travel agency to drop my luggage airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany for 3 euros, a hotel to recommend a good restaurant, airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany and set off to Old Ithaki. They had traditional airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany greek food. I ordered moussaka, which I really wanted to have here, and was convinced by my salesman of a waiter to order a greek salad. He was also maybe the owner and was very nice, asking where I was from and if it was my first time eating Greek cuisine . When I did not order a drink, he even brought me free water without me asking (if these sounds like no big deal to you, you should know that only in America are they so liberal with drinks).
I watched the world go by me. Before I left, the waiter/owner insisted that I follow him to his friend s souvenir shop. lol. I knew it. He was nice enough, so I followed, stayed inside for a respectable amount of time, and left. As I walked, I saw lots of Greek signs and it struck me as funny how these symbols were so normal for them, but for me, they were only instruments of mathematics. For some reason, I thought the Greek symbols I learned in calculus and stuff was ancient, but in fact, those letters are still used today lol. That really made me feel silly that I hadn t connected it to modern day Greeks at all!
Before leaving, I went to a ..park! You know it had to be that or a lake. If you ve been following me along my whole journey, you ll know I m a sucker for parks and bodies of water so it had to be one of those two lol. Technically, it was the national gardens, airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany and it was really nice, complete with a little ruins section lol.
All of the places airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany I went to were within walking distance to Syntagama airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany Square. It was a large open square in the middle of shopping and a bunch of restaurants and hotels. Really airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany in the center of things!
And now, my little afternoon in Athens was at an end. I was wondering if I might see some of the unrest they say is present airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany there, but I didn t. Greece has been one of the hardest hit nations in the EU during the economic crisis. They will soon vote on whether they will keep the EURO currency or not. I read a bit about that in the newspaper while I was there. We shall soon see what they decide.
Goodbye Greece! airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany Goodbye Contiki! The Greece and Turkey Odyssey tour was a really good choice, though a little heavy on the ancient airplane tickets via world cup soccer germany ruins. I would still recommend it to anyone who is interested in history and also likes to go a bit off the beaten track. I liked this part of the world and hope that one day I will make it to some other countries in this area. I KEEP hearing Croatia is the next big thing! Thanks for taking the journey with me
This entry was posted in France Fulbright 2011-2012 and tagged Acropolis Museum , Athena , Athens , Greece , Marathon , Panathinaiko Stadium , Parthenon by worldtravelingirl . Bookmark the permalink .