Friday, March 31, 2006

I'm going to attempt to blog about my holiday is Greece but I know this will be an episodic thing...

We left for Athens on Friday. The five boys we were reluctantly meeting up with in Crete were on our flight. Jess and I arrived in Athens after 2am and decided to spend the ridiculous amount of money (well, she paid) to take a taxi to our hostel. When we started on the highway, I recognized the resemblance of Athens at night to Los Angeles at night. I think I might have fell in love with Athens because I miss Los Angeles so much. Anyway, all the signs and billboards were in Greek and English. Jess pointed out one billboard to me that said "Nescafe--The Coffee of Greece." She said that she doubt that Nescafe was the coffee of Greece and we both laughed about it for a moment. Then the cab driver chimed in: "Actually, Nescafe is the coffee of Greece." He grabbed his empty plastic liquid container and continued, "You can get lattes cold and with ice cream. You cannot get that in the States." We both looked at each other and thought, "Well, you can..." but neither of us said it aloud. He continued to ask us questions about our stay in Athens and we told him we were on vacation. I corrected myself, because in Europe they call it "holiday," but the cab driver snapped at me. "Don't judge me because I am a cab driver in Athens! I was born in the States and studied in Boston!" Jess and I were taken aback by his outburst, which was completely unexpected. But we continued to be nice and answer his questions like, "Aren't you afraid to travel with just two women?" He decided to drive us around downtown for free (apparently) and then we finally arrived at our hostel, Hotel Zorba. He took our suitcases out of the trunk and then clasped his hands behind his back. He leaned towards Jess and said with a crooked smile, "Can I be a very bad boy?" Jess and I looked at each other with no idea what to do but we finally said, "Sure," after we realized he was up to no harm. "What are you doing tomorrow night?" We answered that we did not know so he asked to get drinks with Jess. He gave her his number (his name is Terry) and then we ran into the hostel. Needless to say, Jess never called Terry.

In the hostel, we met up with Dyani and Abby. After getting a late start on Saturday (again, we got to Athens very late), we got lunch and went to the Acropolis. After perusing the many vendors of the street, we made our way up to the actual place. The view of Athens was breathtaking. And the weather could not have been nicer. I was wearing flip flops! But by the time we reached the Acropolis, it had closed at 3 and we had to go back the next day. So we continued to walk down the touristy streets. Jess got her tongue re-pierced, we all got henna tatoos (for 5 EUROS, so they didn't last at all), we bought some souveniers, and had margueritas at an overpriced restaurant. We had many a conversation with locals, all of whom spoke very good English and were just so gosh-darn friendly. The Greeks make the Czechs look like the meanest people on Earth. When it cooled off considerably, we went back to out hostel and relaxed. Mary and Allie finally made it to Athens and we all got dressed up to go eat and hit the bars. After a huge Greek dinner, where we got free shots and dessert, we made our way to the club district. But it was only 10pm. We found a bar that played great techno and projected The Incredibles on the wall, but we were the only people there. We all got tired before anyone else showed up so we just went home. Bars in EU countries are too expensive anyway.

The next day we got up early to check out of the hostel and had breakfast. Allie and Mary left for the port to buy ferry tickets and the rest of us went back to the vendors. We went back to the piercing place (Wildcat, rarrr), and after much contemplation I got my nose pierced. Yay me for finally doing it. And in Athens! We then met up with Allie and Mary and we all went to the Acropolis, before it closed. Kind of. They kicked us out. Mary went and got her nose pierced too (but took it out a few days later) and then we all went to get out luggage and dinner. Mary and Allie took a different ferry than the rest of us so we parted. We got on our ferry to Crete and that was an adventure in itself, which will be told at a later date because I am tired.

Tomorrow I'm off to Moravia to see Trebec, Brno and caves! Until next time...