Greece, Day One!

Greece is great! We started out a little early and headed out to Piraeus, which is like the harbor part of Athens way on the outskirts. It’s a little nuts here. There’s hardly anything in English, and the Greek letters are strange, not Cyrillic, or Latin like ours. I’m pretty sure that the Greeks are the only ones who use them (except for the Sororities), and that it’s the strangest language ever. Interesting though. There are not a lot of English speakers in Piraeus, but there are a lot in Athens. After we walked around a bit and discovered that there’s absolutely nothing in Piraeus (except for a LOT of bare breasts and a dirty theater, not joking. Gross), we headed off with our tour to the city center of Athens. We saw some of the sights of Athens on the bus ride over, but eventually we made it to the Acropolis.
The Acropolis is basically a holy hill to the Ancient Greeks. There were once temples to different gods and the Parthenon, which was dedicated to Athena, much like the other temples on the hill. From the Acropolis, you can see the whole of Athens. There are great views and it’s strange to think that the Parthenon was where people like Socrates and Aristotle studied and spoke. Plato was once in the same place. Rome was exciting because it was the home of one of the most advanced civilizations ever, but so was Greece. The ancient Greeks were just as advanced. I loved Rome for that reason, Athens is still setting in I think. After we explored it and sweated out most of our bodily fluids (it is SOOOOOOOOOO hot), we headed down and met up with two other couples to explore some more of Athens. On the way we headed to the Acropolis museum, and saw some of the original artwork that they have removed in order to keep it preserved. The marble was intense.
Garret and Lauren go to Oregon State, and Garrett is in my marketing class. Shelby and James are from California, and Shelby works with James (my James) in the student bookstore. They were great to hang out with. We made it out of the museum and headed to a square/road called Plaka. This place is awesome. There are stores everywhere and people milling around. There are restaurants and shops. You can buy clothes and watches and purses. Fur coats are everywhere. There is jewelry. It’s like a shoppers paradise. I tried on a few things looking for outfits for Turkey. You have to be pretty covered there. The next three ports are all Muslim countries, so in order to not spur on too much attention, you have to be pretty covered up. I’m on the lookout for linen clothes.
When we got to the center of Plaka, we found this nice little restaurant. We ended up doing a shared dinner. We got a mixed appetizer and a mixed grill dinner. It was huge! Every Greek dish, I’m pretty sure that we had it. The Tsaziki is soo good! It’s basically like a yogurt with spices and olive oil and cucumbers. It’s supposed to be the goat cheese type thing at Papoulis. It’s like 50 times better. After dinner, we walked the rest of the street looking at different things. We got some souvenirs and James got the most HIDEOUS pair of shoes I’ve ever seen. Ever. Ever….They’re wretched. Lol. Him and Garret got a pair. I think Lauren is as horrified as me. Lol. They’re traditional style slippers that men use to wear. I hope that it goes out of style forever soon. Lol.
We eventually made it to the subway and then back to the ship. It was a wonderful day. It was hot, beyond hot, but it was nice too. Hanging out with everyone was super nice and the day was a good one. After we got home we watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding, which was more hilarious than I remember. Good day.