A weekend trip to Athens is in the books, and time is winding down. The highs and lows.
Not much went on throughout the week, besides the fact that "winter" has finally hit Thessaloniki. As soon as December began, Mother Nature decided she wanted to change things up and hit us with colder temperatures. We were comfortably sitting at high 50s for a while, yet this past week we had to bundle up a little bit with the 10-degree drop. There was talk of snow earlier in the week, but we all told them they were crazy and way too worried. If only they could see what a real winter looked and felt like.
Holiday cheer is starting to spread, though it's still not officially hitting me yet. Christmas to me means cold weather, snow, plenty of decorations, and baking. I've knocked one thing off the list, as we partook in residence hall decorating Wednesday evening, helping to hang garland, ornaments, and window clings. One of the students dressed up as Santa, and we dubbed him "Stasa Claus" according to his name. He should probably eat a few more cookies to gain the true aesthetic.
On the hunt for an adrenaline rush, I finally did something thrilling the evening of my birthday. One of my greek friends has a Suzuki bike, and we've been harping on him to give us a ride. As a birthday present, he finally took me for a spin! We drove about 15 minutes from school to the Thermi Dam and just walked the trail and enjoyed the sunset. Don't worry; I had a helmet.
Now to the exciting part! As part of the program plans and expenses, our study abroad group ventured to Athens for the weekend. We woke up at 5:30 on Friday morning to catch our flight out of Thessaloniki, which is the earliest I've been up in a while. Arriving in Athens, I had the mentality that I was just in another city, and it was no big deal. Boy, was I wrong. I could go on forever about the fabulous qualities of Athens!
Helen and Eleni, our study abroad coordinators, stayed back for the weekend and sent us on our own, but with some help. In came Mara, our tour guide and friend for the three-day weekend. She greeted us at the Athens airport and led us to the metro for a ride to the hotel. (Geek, the metro!) Astor Hotel was in the heart of the city, just a couple minutes from the metro, parliament, food, and shopping. After an early check-in, our group of ten headed out with Mara to begin our exploration of the world's oldest capital. First stop: the Acropolis Museum.
The museum is about ten minutes from our hotel via foot and sits at the base of the actual Acropolis. There, we learned plenty of ancient Greek history with an emphasis on the gods and goddesses. The museum houses every artifact found on the rock and surrounding slopes of the Acropolis, with artifacts dating back to hundreds of years BC. The museum also had plenty of glass floors so visitors can see below to ancient ruins and mosaics. It was pretty cool. Then, we climbed up to the Acropolis to check out the world-famous Parthenon. The city is in the process of fixing the structure to ensure it continues to last centuries longer. I also think they want to get it back to the original version, which would be sensational. Did you know the Parthenon is actually in the shape of a (slight) pyramid? The Greeks were so smart back then that they took into consideration the way our eyes make parallel lines meet, so they build it in a pyramid to fix that issue. However, you would never know since it still looks rectangular. Physics. The Parthenon was built to please the gods and the people, and I'm still trying to figure out if the gods were actually real. I thought they were just part of Greek Mythology? I'll let you know.
After the Parthenon, Mara took us to the best gyro and souvlaki place, in her opinion. Most of us got falafel, though, in which I realized I'm not a huge fan. Oh, well. Stomachs full, we all headed back to the hotel to rest. Unexpectedly, most of us took four-hour naps! The beds in the hotel are easily the comfiest I have ever slept on, and I felt like I was in Heaven. The rest of the night was spent eating McDonald's and watching Tik Toks. What a rowdy bunch.
Saturday turned into a long day, starting at the Roman Forum and other ancient ruins. We also browsed through the outdoor market, walking through aisles of fresh fruits and vegetables, as well as meat and fish. We saw some pretty sketchy stuff, including a basket full of sheep heads. I am afraid I am going to have nightmares from it. We also got to partake in some meat and cheese sampling. Along our route, our group passed a dessert café and begged Mara to go in. Each of us ordered different decadent desserts, filling up quick on sugar from chocolate cakes or lemon tarts. Satisfied, Mara completed her portion of the day with us, sending us out into the city to do whatever we wanted. Our activity of choice? Optical illusions.
The Museum of Illusions is a spot that is entertaining for people of all ages, which we found to be true. After paying our entrance fee, we entered a new world, using our creative senses and humor to entertain ourselves for the next hour and a half. I'm just going to let the pictures below speak for themselves.
Before leaving, Eleni told us about a fabulous new Chinese restaurant in Athens at which her friend works. Craving Chinese for three months now, we made a reservation immediately. Saturday evening, we spent two hours at Ceci Hong Kong Chinese Restaurant, splurging on beef dumplings, shrimp wontons, sweet and sour chicken, sizzling beef and peppers, and so much more. I am so happy. We all agreed the food was delicious, and the service was fantastic. Eleni's friend is also a huge fan of Mamma Mia and gave us a few pointers for our last few weeks in Thessaloniki. Safe to say, we're friends now. Later in the evening, most of us decided to check out The Speakeasy Athens. It was a real speakeasy with a buzzer, dark hall, funky door, and everything! I felt so cool, and definitely like I could have been living in the prohibition.
We ran through Sunday on very minimal sleep, but still had the energy to watch the changing of the guards and check out the Temple of Zeus, along with THEE Panathenaic Stadium (also known as the first modern Olympic stadium). Holy buckets, was I geeking. If y'all know me, you know I was a track enthusiast in high school. We learned the history of the stadium, then gathered most of the crew to do a quick relay around the track. We tried to use my phone as a baton and take a video simultaneously, but someone accidentally pressed the lock button so the video is short. It was still a lot of fun. Andrea and I also jogged an entire lap, realizing we were a little more out of shape than we thought. After our victory lap, we all split up to find food. Erika and I decided on KFC because of the quickness, and possibly because we're missing American food quite a bit at this point. We also grabbed one last gelato before leaving, and of course, I had to get the sprinkles.
With an exciting final trip behind me, I have two final weeks ahead. There's still so much to do around Thessaloniki, so we have all vowed to do something fun every night. Catch us at karaoke, Casper, the 7 Towers, and anything else we can think of checking off the list.
Amanda