This is SPARTA

So because I turned on the waterworks on Saturday, we were able to go to Sparta on Tuesday! :) The bus trip was about four hours! Sheesh!! We tried to fit in while we were there, but Brandon was wearing a shirt that kind of made us look like tourists..... :) [His shirt says, "This is SPARTA"]

Plaka

Monday we went shopping.... We got random Greek things and some food.... :) We also went to the Aereopogus..... Because it was a national holiday (I'm unsure which one) people were flying kites on the hill.. It was fun.... and packed!!! The view from above the city was amazing!

Sheesh

I said our hotel was cheap but let me explain.. We had four people staying in our room... Our booking was for TWO PEOPLE! We didn't think it would be too much of an issue.. But we forgot that we kind of stand out.. :) The front desk obviously knew something was up and they were being pretty shady to us, so we decided to clear things up.. Rachel and I went down to the lobby (her with her blonde hair and Damsil in Distress look and I with my waterworks ready to go). We explained that we didn't see anything wrong with the situation and let them know that we were okay with the four people in the room with two twin beds if they were. They were totally cool with it and even offered us some chocolate... We went upstairs with candy in our mouths and jumped on our twin beds with excitement.. Until we went to leave that next morning and the front desk gave Brandon some trouble.. We just figured it was because of shift change and there was a miscommunication somewhere... Long story short, this process of mixed signals continued and in the end we each ended up paying 20 euros extra (30 USD) for the two extra people for the five nights.... not too shabby... But on the last day we did make some of those 'breakfast' ham and cheese sandwiches to take with us for lunch... :) we deserved it... haha*

Rat a Tat Tat....

So our hotel was cheap... But it was in a crazy part of town....I'm not sure if all parts were this scary, or if just got lucky... You saw the trash video, but you didn't get to see the 'hourly' hotel that we were lucky enough to be next to.. Yeah, a classy joint.. Anyways, one night I'm pretty sure I heard gunshots.. We woke up the next morning and talked about it... We tried to play it off since the Festival was going on... We were just being paranoid.. Until that night... I woke up to FIVE SHOTS IN A ROW...followed by complete silence.....followed by moaning and crying.....followed by sirens.... Needless to say, we didn't do much partying in Athens.. We decided to czech out the sites and stay in at night.....

But Seriously......

But seriously, Athens is the dirtiest place I've ever been.... You think this is bad? Wait until the next post.... Gangsta Gangsta!!

Another Random Lesson

Not sure if I told this story from Spain, but I have to add it! When we flew in to Barcelona last Monday, we had to fill out a form to tell why we were arriving in the country. The form asked for our nationality. I put USA. ((Sometimes I am guilty of this next step...)). Someone else in my group put 'American.' The guard laughed and laughed. He said he was from Spain but when he went somewhere he didn't put that he was from Europe! Why would we put American? Did we really think there was only one type of American? What type of American were we? South American, Latin American, etc.. He listed off a lot before we changed it... :) Things that make you say hmmmmm.....

No Rush

Speaking of eating dinner.. I have a whole new perspective on dining out! In Europe, the czech doesn't come to you, you come to the czech. The waiters are very patient and have no problem with you talking for an hour or two after your meal. You are there to enjoy it.. That is TOTALLY DIFFERENT from America! We are an in and out type of society! haha* Take it slow! :)

Hamish

Hamish was a really cool cat... He was kind enough to show us around while we were in Athens! He made me try Ouzo, which apparently is worse than Absinth. It was terrible... It tasted like licorice and sewer.....I missed my Czech beer... He also informed us that Princess Diana was not a Princess at all! That is something dumb Americans say! She was Lady Diana! Bahahhaahaha* Another reason I'm an idiot.... ;)

Food equals amazing

I had Greek salad A LOT in Greece. My body was totally craving veggies! We tried a lot of other stuff too! They use honey a lot! We had some amazing dessert that had honey! We came back later in the week for another round! :)

Great city view

Hamish, the guy we met in Athens, had been in Greece for a month. He said some times it was hard for him not to take the place he was at for granted. "Those old buildilngs on top of the hill" syndrome. THAT SUCKS!!! I couldn't imagine taking that for granted. No matter what I was doing, when I looked up and saw those structures, I would stop. It was amazing!

Mouth Wide Open

I have to let everyone know how emotional I was in Athens. I couldn't believe what I was seeing! I kept crying! My roommate, Rachel, put it the best: "You know how you have a list of things to do in your life? Being there was insane. Looking at the Parthenon and thinking you can cross off one of your things to do. Like one of the top ten.....top three...." Well put.. :) I can't describe the rush of emotions I got seeing those buildings. I couldn't stop thinking how lucky I was that I was actually able to see them! Rumor has it that

(because of the acid rain) they won't last much longer. What are my children going to see when we come back? What are my grandchildren going to see? Czech out the pic of me and the Parthenon! I promise that I am in it! It is probably one of my favorites because the picture shows truly how huge these structures are! And they are s0o0o0oo old! It seriously makes me emotional even posting them... Greece was such an amazing experience... One that I will never forget.....

Pictures: [1-Temple of Olympian Zeus ] [2- Hadrian's Arch. Erected by Hadrian to mark the division between the ancient Greek city and the modern Roman one, this imposing arch rises to a height of 18 metres. ] [3-Theatre of Dionysos. It witnessed the first productions of the masterpieces of Classical Drama by Aeschylus, Sophocles, Euripides, and Aristophanes ] [4-The Parthenon ] [5-Odeion of Herodes Atticus. The partly restructed theatre at the foot of the Acropolis is today a stunning setting for events at the annual Hellenic festival. ] [6-The Erechtheion, the most sacred of thea ncient temples and a great example of Ionic architecture, the structure is supported by the larger-than-life maidens, the Caryatids ] [7- The temple of Hephaistos, the Hephaisteion, (the God of Fire) is among the best preserved of all the ancient temples in Athens ] [8-View from Lykavitos Hill ]

Trouble in Athens

Apparently there is no having fun at the sites in Athens... We were so excited we were dancing around...Completely innappropriate...When you go to Athens, don't smile.... It's not right...

Free Stuff Sunday

Because it was winter, we were able to see everything in Athens for free (Sunday only). So we made the most of our Sunday! :)
There was an underground city area that was really neat. It just made me wonder how much of that stuff was laying around the rest of the city..... There was also the Temple of Olympian Zeus that I loved!It was great to see!

The Archeological Museum/ Museum of Old Stuff

We got to go to a museum while we were in Athens.. The most impressive thing I saw was the statue of Poseidon... It is s0o0oo0 old! It was found intact which was really cool to me! The bronze statue is from the mid-fifth century BC!

Uncalled for......

One thing we got to see while we were in Athens was the changing of the guard at the Parliament building... It was quite an experience... I'm glad we went.. The first thing we were wondering is what they were protecting.. The second thing we were wondering was why they were wearing DRESSES?!?!?!? Seriously, if you were a soldier and you were at war with Greece (Heaven forbid) but seriously?!?! Wouldn't you think you were on candid camera if these crazy lookin' fellas came up to you!?!?! They were wearing dresses, tassles, and pom poms, but they had guns so I took them seriously.... ;)

First Modern Olympic Stadium

So one of the places we saw was the first modern Olympic stadium! It was really neat!
While there, I was able to talk smack to my little sis, who I miss OH SO MUCH!! Love you and miss you, sister!!!

Festival.....

So we came to Greece at the exact right time... March is the end of the country's 'winter...' haha* it was 60's/70's the whole time! :) Beautiful! Also, this week is "festival" or "Carnival" for the Greeks! It was a crazy party in the streets! After Aegena we all went to Haagan Daaz for ice cream and we got to watch all the funny people dressed up walk down the streets... At one point we thought we saw my dad.. we were wrong.. :) It was a fun (and cheap) time to be there!

Aegena.... Greek Island

After the waterworks show (That story was for you, Grandma Crowley!!) we decided to take a short (one hour) cruise to Aegena... an island off of Athens.... I layed out on the ride over... It was pretty awesome.. :) We saw the Temple of Apollo on the way into Aegena.... We wanted to see it up close, but realized the entry fee was three euros for twenty minutes (it was closing soon) so we just walked around the fence and took pics... Whatever we could do to save a buck.. haha*

We still got some great pics.. After the Temple.. ((or what was left of it)) we went to a beach... YES, I SAID IT..... a beach!!!! Woohooo!!! It was Paradise!!! Exactly what you would imagine..... Czech out the pics! After frollicking (?SP?) on the beach for a while, we started looking for pottery shards from 3,000 years ago.. I picked some up.. I'm guessing they are actually from pottery from IKEA that someone came to the beach and smashed thinking someone would dig for one day and take home thinking they got something classic.. I was that tourist... haha* Then we went to a little cafe on the beach.... I had an AMAZING Greek salad... I pretty much ate that the whole time I was there! After being in Czechy, my body was craving veggies! :) While eating, we saw a doggie.. There were dogs ALL OVER Greece! They apparently run around Athens at night to protect the Parthenon and other ancient things... They were everywhere! Which was great for me because I love animals! :) Guess what else we saw while we were eating??? A KID PEEING IN THE WATER!! Okay, this seems okay, right? Wrong! The kid's dad was holding her over the water on a ledge so she could pee... This public urination is totally growing on me... :)

Saturday Scandals...

So at breakfast on Saturday, the Rachels informed me they were pretty sure I took my shirt off in the middle of the night.... This turned out to be false and they were both just dreaming, but it was quite a scandal on Saturday.... We also decided at breakfast that we would go to Sparta on Tuesday morning. This meant we had to buy a bus ticket. That seemed pretty easy... Please keep in mind that NOTHING IS EASY when you don't speak the language... You know the saying, "It's all Greek to me?" Yeah....Welcome to my life this past week.... Anyway, Hamish lent us 100 euros to buy the bus tickets (HOW NICE!!!!) and I went to pay for them.. We got change, when I didn't think we should have so I immediately thought something was wrong.. We czeched the tickets...turns out, I only got one-way tickets! Opps! I went back to the counter and explained the situation, and that she forgot an extra FIFTY EUROS that I had given her. The chick didn't recall me giving her 100 euros...just fifty... and it was cash so there was no way for me to prove anything...and I only spoke English so her cursing at me in Greek was useless....but strangely effective.... :) .... Me and the Rachels were all trying to explain the situation... we also got the help of a Greek guy to translate/yell back at her.... Finally, I turned to Rachel Wolfe and said, "I'm just going to have to turn on the waterworks...." I immediatley started crying and looking helpless.... Let me add that this is certainly not the first time this tactic has been used.. It is only brought out in desparate situations and has yet to fail me.... It was amazing... She spoke ENGLISH and said "Don't cry" and gave us the round trip tickets to Sparta for Tuesday... The Rachels were quite impressed... :) I just brushed off my shoulders, waited until I was out of eye and ear-shot, and started laughing....ahhh.....all in a days work.... :) Let's go to Sparta!

Economy Hotel

We have a lot of stories about the hotel, but one thing is for sure... They had a great breakfast for us every morning! I still can't get over the ham and cheese sandwiches for breakfast, but they are certainly growing on me! There was also hard boiled eggs, hot cocoa, cereal, toast, and yogurt...mmmmmmm....lots of stuff I haven't had since I've been in Czechy!

Friday night

We dropped our stuff off at the hotel (Hotel Economy) and went for dinner and a walk around the city with our new friend, Hamish, from South Korea... He was with us throughout the whole trip. He was vacationing in Greece for five weeks... We were there his fifth...So he showed us around... :)

I'm an idiot

Once we were in the airport, I realized that I forgot to turn in my second Exam for my BUS 401 class.. It's one of the classes I need to graduate...And this exam was 16% of my grade... I immediately freaked out and emailed everyone I know to try to help me turn in the assignments required for the Exam... turns out my teacher allowed me to turn it in late...Under the circumstances...those being that I was STUCK in Athens... ((poor thing...)) :) Thanks, Dr. He!!

Plane Ride to Athens

There was a high school gropu on the plane ride from Vienna to Athens. Wow... They were really loud and annoying, which made me feel really old.. haha* There was a couple behind Rachel and I that made out the entire two and a half hours. Didn't even come up for air.. That is impressive... Rachel and I finally asked the girls behind us if we should help them, thinking the couple was permenantly attached... They didn't think anything was wrong. In America, that couple would have totally gotten punched in the face and yelled at... Anyways, Rachel and I ended up talking to the girls and getting some vital information about Athens such as clubs and certain foods to try, etc... All in all, it was a good two and a half hours.. and I was STOKED when we finally saw Greece!! ((And found out the couple were able to stop long enough to get off the plane...))

I do think it needs to be said

We had to leave Barcelona at 4:00 in the morning. Remember how I said we were partying with Scots? Yeah, I sat next to one and he was BOOZIN!! Definitely cracked open a beer when the bus started... I thought for sure I was going to be covered in Scotish vomit.... Luckily, that wasn't the case... :)

Two Gratitude Journals from Spain

One is the ability to be Spontaneous... Obvi I've kinda gone over this one.... The second is the high-school-long Spanish classes that the five other people who were with me in Spain were required to take. They were able to remember a lot of their vocab and that came in very handy... haha* Guess that is why I took Latin... It's a DEAD LANGUAGE! USELESS!! WooHoo for being smart in high school!

Let's Finish up Spain first

Didn't mention that as soon as we got to Barcelona, we took the subway from the main station to our hostel. Barcelona is a LARGE city that is well known for it's pickpocketers, among other things. Turns out, Derrick SAW a chick unzip the front part of mine and Becky's backpacks! I didn't feel it at all! It was a very smooth operation.... Even though she didn't speak English, I made SURE she understood why I was taking a picture of her when we got on the same subway train right after the incident..... Her she is....((Green shirt on left))... If you see her in the streets, feel free to punch her right in the ovaries....

Let the Posting Begin....

I am 'home' safe and sound from Athens... and boy do I have some stories!!! Let the posting begin.....

GREECE

I AM IN GREECE RIGHT NOW! THE WEATHER, FOOD, AND COMPANY ARE ALL AMAZING!!! I CANNOT WAIT TO WRITE ALL ABOUT IT!!!! XOXO FROM ATHENS!! -TIFF