I've spent the last week in Athens, Greece, and it's been wonderful.
First of all, my class schedule is erratic and irregular. It's bizarre. It turned out that I had a full week available for travel if I ditched one class--and seeing as the one class was a Corporate Finance lecture, I had no reservations booking my flight to Athens.
One of my closest friends is studying with College Year in Athens, an American study abroad program in, uh, Athens, so lodging was never an issue. In theory, he's not allowed to host overnight guests; I've actually been staying at the Student and Traveller's Inn in (haha) the Plaka if anyone's curious. It's a great place, though it's remarkably similar to my friend's apartment.
My flight was at 9:45 out of Stockholm, so naturally I left my apartment shortly after midnight in order to catch the right buses to make it on time. The longest leg of the trip turned out to be from Jonkoping to Stockholm--from 1:45 to 7:30--and that's all AM times. But yeah, it was three hours to Zurich, Germany, and after an astonishingly short 20 minute layover, two more hours into ATH. From there I grabbed a taxi into town.
I must have lucked into one of Athens' nicest cab drivers--my friend had warned me repeatedly of the local drivers' penchant for ripping off tourists. Mine, however, quoted a (quite reasonable) flat fee, then offered to take me into town via the scenic coastal route. Along the way, he offered the kind of advice only a longtime resident could give, including gems such as, "Oh, I'd say definitely 80% of the street food is safe to eat. The other 20% is, yeah, don't eat that," and "I wouldn't go into the strip clubs if I were you, you'll pay the girls and nothing will happen."
Upon my arrival, I found my Swedish phone only worked sporadically, apparently deciding to connect calls and send texts on a whim. However, the resultant communication mishaps let me explore the surrounding area in great detail during my quest to locate the CYA student center. Tl;dr: I got a little lost.
The next day was devoted to exploring Athens on foot during the daylight hours. My friend's apartment is located approximately 20 meters from the gigantic Panathinaiko Stadium, which is built entirely out of white marble and seats about 45,000 people. Oh, and it hosted the first modern Olympic games in 1896. It's what we walked past to get to anywhere.
Over the past week, I've walked the ruins of the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Poseidon. Wandering around the Plaka and Monastiraki, I'd be strolling down the street and catch a glimpse of the Acropolis out of the corner of my eye.
Athens is a strange city. There are incredible ruins scattered everywhere--it's hard not to run across one even when walking to a grocery store. Yet the city as a whole is filled with pedestrian apartment blocks in tan, the ground floors covered in graffiti, the streets potholed and uneven. It's difficult to appreciate that the Athens area has been continuously settled for seven millenia.
To wit: A great trip. I could talk about the weather (20 C warmer than Jonkoping), or the food (Two delicious gyros for 3.80E! Three pizzas for 16E!) or a whole host of other things, but it's largely unnecessary. I am, however, grateful I had the whole week--it was infinitely less stressful when I knew I could come back the next day.
I highly recommend a visit.
Cheers,
Daniel
First of all, my class schedule is erratic and irregular. It's bizarre. It turned out that I had a full week available for travel if I ditched one class--and seeing as the one class was a Corporate Finance lecture, I had no reservations booking my flight to Athens.
One of my closest friends is studying with College Year in Athens, an American study abroad program in, uh, Athens, so lodging was never an issue. In theory, he's not allowed to host overnight guests; I've actually been staying at the Student and Traveller's Inn in (haha) the Plaka if anyone's curious. It's a great place, though it's remarkably similar to my friend's apartment.
My flight was at 9:45 out of Stockholm, so naturally I left my apartment shortly after midnight in order to catch the right buses to make it on time. The longest leg of the trip turned out to be from Jonkoping to Stockholm--from 1:45 to 7:30--and that's all AM times. But yeah, it was three hours to Zurich, Germany, and after an astonishingly short 20 minute layover, two more hours into ATH. From there I grabbed a taxi into town.
I must have lucked into one of Athens' nicest cab drivers--my friend had warned me repeatedly of the local drivers' penchant for ripping off tourists. Mine, however, quoted a (quite reasonable) flat fee, then offered to take me into town via the scenic coastal route. Along the way, he offered the kind of advice only a longtime resident could give, including gems such as, "Oh, I'd say definitely 80% of the street food is safe to eat. The other 20% is, yeah, don't eat that," and "I wouldn't go into the strip clubs if I were you, you'll pay the girls and nothing will happen."
Upon my arrival, I found my Swedish phone only worked sporadically, apparently deciding to connect calls and send texts on a whim. However, the resultant communication mishaps let me explore the surrounding area in great detail during my quest to locate the CYA student center. Tl;dr: I got a little lost.
 |
| The Temple of Poseidon at sunset. Yeah. |
Over the past week, I've walked the ruins of the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Poseidon. Wandering around the Plaka and Monastiraki, I'd be strolling down the street and catch a glimpse of the Acropolis out of the corner of my eye.
Athens is a strange city. There are incredible ruins scattered everywhere--it's hard not to run across one even when walking to a grocery store. Yet the city as a whole is filled with pedestrian apartment blocks in tan, the ground floors covered in graffiti, the streets potholed and uneven. It's difficult to appreciate that the Athens area has been continuously settled for seven millenia.
To wit: A great trip. I could talk about the weather (20 C warmer than Jonkoping), or the food (Two delicious gyros for 3.80E! Three pizzas for 16E!) or a whole host of other things, but it's largely unnecessary. I am, however, grateful I had the whole week--it was infinitely less stressful when I knew I could come back the next day.
I highly recommend a visit.
Cheers,
Daniel
SO RIDICULOUSLY JEALOUS. UGARHGHRGHHH. >:U
ReplyDeleteI'm glad you had fun, though. Maybe someday you and I can go together and you can show me around. :D
looooooove you
laina