The Road to Athens

Spring Break 2012: Florence Edition is well underway. I'm currently in Athens with Bethany, Lydia, Caitlin, Jess, and Kate and this is already THE GREATEST SPRING BREAK EVER. Life itself may never get better than this, and I'm kind of okay with that.

Bethany, Lydia, Jess, and I left the Firenze Airport yesterday morning on a 9:20 flight to Frankfurt. Unlike on our flight to Madrid, we had no problem getting through security and to Frankfurt. We had an hour at the Frankfurt airport to get to our gate (MUCH easier than when we went through Frankfurt in January to get to Florence), and let me just say, if you ever need to fly in Europe, fly with Lufthansa. Not only was our flight easy, but it was enjoyable. The two flight attendants were so kind and obviously loving their job. When you asked for a drink, they said "Absolutely!" with genuine delight, as if they could imagine no greater joy than serving food on an airplane. They asked several times if we were enjoying our flight and if there was anything they could do to improve our trip. We got a meal (beef stew, a roll and a chocolate bar) and it was all tasty, quality food.

As if this wasn't already far more than we could have hoped, Bethany and I sat next to the sweetest little old Athenian woman. She was on her way home from a business trip in Germany and we passed a lot of time on the plane getting suggestions on where to go and what to do in Athens and Santorini from this woman. She was also very interested in hearing about our study abroad experience. When we got off the plane in Athens, Mrs. G (no matter how many times she said her name, Bethany and I still couldn't get it) shook both mine and Bethany's hands and wished us a lovely stay in Greece.

From the airport, we had a half hour metro ride to the stop closest to our apartment in Athens Studios(we rented a cheap apartment for the weekend, figuring it would be safer with all of the riots that we have yet to see). The apartment is literally three minutes past the metro stop, so it was easy to find.

By the time we got to the apartment (where we met Caitlin and Kate who flew from Rome), it was just past 6 p.m. Greek time (they're an hour ahead of Florence) and we were all exhausted from getting up earlier and travelling. We checked out the apartment (it's bigger and more modern than mine in Firenze) and caught up with Cait and Kate, who arrived in Athens about three hours before the rest of us.

Once we were all rested up, the six of us went downstairs for dinner at Fish Cafe, the restaurant owned by our apartment complex. It was DELICIOUS. I got fish and chips with Greek yogurt and strawberries for dessert. We were all really happy with our meals.

We went to bed early in order to be rested for breakfast and a walking tour today. Fish Cafe offers free breakfast for residents and this breakfast was better than most of the breakfasts I've paid for in Europe so far. We got two fresh-baked rolls with butter and jam and a hardboiled egg. The rolls were so warm and tasty, and very filling, which was great since we had a long day of walking ahead of us.

The walking tour left from Athens Backpackers, a tour company owned by Athens Studios and located about a five minute walk from our apartment. It was only 6 Euros for a nearly five hour tour. And the tour couldn't have been any better.

Our guide (once again, I couldn't understand his name, which I felt really bad about, but Greek is ridiculous) was really awesome and the people in our group were good as well. The guide made us all go around in a circle and say our names and where we were from. There was a good mix, with people from France, Argentina, South Africa, and James from England. James immediately jumped in with the six of us as the only as native English speakers. I'll get to him in a bit.

We saw everything on this tour. We went to the Temple of Olympian Zeus and Hadrian's Arch, the Acropolis, the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, an Islamic temple, the Olympic Stadium and Olympic training center, the House of Parliament, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a flea market, and several look-out points. The six of us and James even ate some of the "oranges" growing in trees lining the streets.

"And don't eat the oranges, because they aren't oranges," our guide said as everyone turned to watch the seven of us stuffing our faces with the sour/grapefruit-like fruits. Oh well. At least we weren't all dumb Americans for once.

Everywhere we went, our guide gave us an entertaining and thorough explanation. He was very funny and seemed to know everything about everything. We quickly compared him to a Greek Fabrizio/Rocky; incredibly friendly and a walking encyclopedia. In between locations, he suggested other places to visit in Athens and Santorini and asked us questions about study abroad. He also teased James a lot about being British, since there's apparently a large rivalry between England and Greece. The Greeks feel like the English have stolen a lot of historical artifacts from them, but it seems to be a good-natured rivalry.

We had a break around noon to get lunch (I had a really good gyro from a stand near the flea market), then finished the tour around 3:00. At the Odeon, our last stop on the tour, an angry older woman came out of nowhere and started barking things at our tour guide. He answered and she would start again. Finally, she calmed down and walked away. We all looked expectantly at the guide, but he told us he would explain after the tour.

So we waited patiently for him to give the last ten minutes or so of his speech, then - as the group began to split up to go our separate ways - Bethany asked again what the woman had said. Everyone stopped what they were doing and came back to hear the response.

"She was asking if I had a permit to give you a tour," our guide said.

He then explained that he never went to tour-guide school to become a licensed guide, so he told the woman that he was a professor - not a lie since he told us at the began of the tour that he's a was a history teacher up until two years ago when he became a guide - and that we were his students.

We asked if he's ever been asked that before. He told us he has a few times, but the Backpackers company has the capacity to intervene if he ever has a real problem.

"All of these registered tour guides are 60-something women who don't get enough sex, so they're out here to bother everyone else."

We all burst out laughing at this.

"I probably shouldn't say that," he added. "But I know it's true."

We talked more about tour school and about his teaching job. He taught at University of Kent in England, but quit because he said the English students are disrespectful and not very serious about their studies.

James kind of grinned at this and kicked the ground, but did admit that students in England "are a lot more cheeky" than students he's encountered in his travels to other countries. He said he already knew English kids have a very bad reputation.

The six of us, on the other hand, were excited to hear "Kent" and "University" in the same context and announced that we kind of go to Kent University. This rang a bell with our guide and James, who both made comments along the lines of "Oh, yeah, I did know there was another Kent in Amerirker."

When we got back to our starting point, the six of us said good-bye and left to return to our apartment. James - who we knew came to Greece by himself for holiday - seemed very reluctant to part ways and watched us leave with this kind of lost puppy look on his face.

We walked a little bit away and consulted as a group whether to invite him to come with us. Deciding it was okay, I called him over.

He was obviously very excited about us inviting him to hang out, and as the afternoon went on, we realized we made a great decision in inviting him along. We agreed to meet him at Fish Cafe in half an hour to take our own tour of Athens.

Caitlin, Lydia and I were the only three who weren't too tired to walk some more, so we met James at the appointed time and started walking without any particular location in mind. James was about as lost as we were since he only got here Wednesday, but since none of us had anywhere to be, we were content just wandering.

We roamed around for about an hour, looking at various sights and discussing the differences between America, England and Greece. We talked about our semester in Italy and about all of the places James has been in Europe.

Eventually, we stumbled accidentally upon a coffee shop James went to Thursday morning and we stopped for Greek coffee. James said it had an acquired taste since it is very sweet, but Lydia and I loved it immediately. We sat outside on a main road and watched the crowd (the street was so crowded) and talked more about school. James is a journalism major as well, so we had a good long discussion on grammar and differences between British and American English and stories we've written for school newspapers and otherwise.

When the sun began to set, we got up and made our way back to our apartment. James was eager to get back for a rugby match which they are currently showing in the sports bar next door to Athens Studios. So we left him at the bar and went next door to Fish Cafe for burgers. I had a Hawaiian burger and it was by far the best hamburger I've had since leaving the States; although that's not saying much, considering I've only had two other burgers on this trip - one at McDonald's and one completely raw one at the ClubHouse in Florence.

Currently, I'm digesting this excellent meal and waiting for my hair to dry a bit before going out tonight. I just got a much-needed shower since we're supposed to meet James at the bar when his match is over.

Needless to say, it's been an amazing day. I had so much fun and I don't know how it could have been much better. I am SO happy right now; I'm never going to want to go home.

I'm glad all the naysayers who said we'd die in Athens didn't dissuade us from coming here, because the city is gorgeous, the people are the nicest I've met to date in Europe, the weather is perfect, and I am seriously loving life right now. I can't wait to see what's in store for the rest of this week and, of course, to tell you all about it.

Happy St. Patty's Day!