Last week was my reading week, which is basically like Fall Break. I think that technicallyyyyy it’s supposed to be a week where you catch up on reading and studying but everyone just uses it as an excuse for a quick vacay. I had previously booked an excursion through Arcadia to go to Athens for Sunday through Wednesday, and the price was unbeatable: $370 for round trip flight, hostel with breakfast, entrance into multiple sites and activities in Athens. I thought that was really quite the bargain, and I feel like Athens is always some place that you hear about because of its rich history, but you wouldn’t necessarily plan an entire vacation around it so this was the perfect opportunity to hop over and see it. We left Sunday around noon but didn’t get into Athens until pretty late – the flight itself was 2-2.5 hours long there, but Greece is also 2 hours ahead of London. Luckily, I knew 4 other girls that were on the trip because we had met during the first week of Arcadia orientation, so after we checked into the hotel we all agreed that we were starving and went to a restaurant across the street. It featured a rooftop bar and dining area (as many places in Athens do) that had an amazing view of the Acropolis. We were definitely wowed! I ordered “souvlaki” per recommendation from my friend Christina who had studied in Greece over the summer and it was super yummy!
 |
 |
| View from our hostel’s rooftop breakfast – the Greek yogurt was AMAZING, and the view was alright too |
The next morning, we had what was called a “food stroll.” Arcadia has a center in Athens, so their staff were pretty much the ones leading the trip. We were going to have a little bit of a walking tour, but at the beginning and the end, they bought us all little snacks so that we could have a small taste of some traditional Greek foods. At the beginning, we tried a little bread roll with a light cream cheese “sun” in the middle, and a sesame seed/honey bar. The roll was pretty good, but the sesame seeds were pretty powerful!! Next we walked to an old church that used to be a temple. Greece, like so many old places, is cool because there are these ruins and old buildings nestled right in the middle of modern streets. The church itself was interesting too; I have obviously never been inside a Greek Orthodox church and even though it was a small little thing, it was jam packed with beautiful paintings and metalworking; it was very lavish and there was a lot of silver and gold. I wish I had a good picture, but they weren’t allowed inside the building.
Our next stop was to continue walking up the road to the Parliament building. We made our way around the back to the Palace of the Presidential Guard where we watched a guard change and then went inside for a quick presentation on the history of the guard and their clothing! The pom-poms on the clogs are one of the most noticeable bits; apparently they don’t have any significant meaning but in previous wars, Greek soldiers would have pom-poms on their shoes to hide blades in so that they could attach with their feet!! The long tassels that they wear symbolize the individuality of the Greek people but also the unity of the democratic state, and the kicking and stomping movements that they do are actually to let their ancestors buried beneath to know that Greece is still “alive and kicking!” as I’ll put it. I took a video, but I can’t insert it in the blog, so you should definitely look Greek changing of the guard up on Youtube! Once we watched the changing of the guard, we had our second helping of snacks; this time it was a baked feta pastry and a small packaged baklava. I think different savory pastries are pretty common in little cafes and takeaway places, with any range of different meats and cheeses in them. As for the baklava, it was good, but we decided that we were going to need to get some real, fresh-out-of-the-oven-baked-today baklava sometime later.
 |
 |
After this, we had free time until the evening, so we decided to grab a bite to eat at a cafe. I actually wasn’t that hungry because food stroll so I just ordered a drink. I ordered a “freddo cappuccino;” basically a cold cappuccino. Apparently this is a Greek classic. I’m not really a coffee person, and I normally have to have some sort of flavoring in it with milk. However. This was so good. They did put a tiny bit of sugar and milk in it, and it was also topped with frothed milk, but it was so creamy and rich and flavorful!! Definitely better than normal brewed coffee that tastes really watered down. We sat at that cafe for a pretty long time just enjoying our lunch and the beautiful weather. I joked that outdoor cafes like that are my love language; but seriously it’s so nice to enjoy a laid back meal in the fresh air with friends or family and just enjoy the day and the company!
After we finished, we had a game plan. We were going to walk through the National Gardens right next to the Parliament building, then make our way to the Temple of Zeus and Hadrian’s Arch, and finally it the Panathenaic Stadium, home to the first Olympic Games! It was still nice and sunny, so walking through the gardens was really enjoyable. You definitely get that Mediterranean coastal vibe from all of the vegetation around.
 |
| We think these were clementine trees – the fruit was still green or I would have picked one |
Next stop was actually right next door, Temple of Zeus and. I think this was one of my favorites. Just the magnitude of the size of the place, even though it is pretty much destroyed. When we first got there, the sun was shining right on the columns and it was really an impressive view. I wish we could have seen what it looked like at its peak!
Also, pro tip, students get discounted tickets to pretty much every site, and when we showed them our ID’s, we found that international students got into this one for free!!
Hadrian’s Arch is actually right next to the temple, so we hopped over for a quick picture. It gets its name from the Roman emperor Hadrian, and was supposed to symbolize the separation between the old and new cities of Athens.
We also got dinner before the dance class at little local restaurant; I wasn’t super hungry so I just wanted to order hummus. On the menu however, there was no hummus. There were however under the appetizers listings of “garlic” and “olives.” We had no idea what this was, surely they were just flavorings? Like you wouldn’t actually order just garlic cloves for your appetizer. When the waiter came, I asked him if those were just flavors of hummus to which I was then surprised by his response “What is hummus?” I thought for sure that hummus was a Greek food, but turns out it’s more Arabic (another place actually had it listed as Lebanese hummus). So moral of the story do not go to Greece looking for good hummus because while you can find it, it’s not actually authentically Greek. But back to the food. I had even pulled up a picture to show him and he acted like they looked the same so I ordered “Garlic” and awaited what I thought was going to be garlicky hummus. When they brought it out and I had a taste of it, I was overwhelmed by a heavy heavy taste of garlic. I think at the time because it was still creamy, I thought I was eating heavily garlicked mashed potatoes but now I’m realizing I literally just ate pureed garlic! And before you think it was a dip, they did not bring out any pita bread to accompany it, only a spoon!! I’m still kind of in disbelief that I ate it all!! So heads up, if you see “garlic” on a menu as an appetizer, it really is just garlic!!
The next morning, our group was headed to the Acropolis. It’s supposed to be the most sacred center in Athens, and is built up for everyone to see. Famously on top, sits the Parthenon, temple to Athena, the patron goddess of Athens. When we got there, our London director was nowhere to be found, and we had to wait for him to come back because we needed him for our student group entrance. It turned out that he had to take a student back to the hostel due to a minor injury, but we lucked out in having to wait because unbeknownst to us, there was an Olympic Torch procession planned to go down the street right next to us!! Apparently, before every Olympics, the torch starts in Olympia, and is processed across Greece and around the world before getting to the Olympic destination. They had already started the torch for the upcoming Winter Olympics in February and we were lucky enough to be in the exact right place at the right time! Very cool, and once in a lifetime, and when they light the final torch in Pyong Chang this winter, I’ll be able to say I saw it in person!!
We finally gained entrance to the Acropolis and almost immediately stopped at the Theater of Dionysus, also the birthplace of theater. Theater for the ancient Greeks was a lot about teaching and freedom of speech, and where a lot of their democratic ideals not only stem from, but are demonstrated as well.
After that we made our way up the mountain to that main attraction, the Parthenon. Unfortunately, it had quite a bit of scaffolding on it, but I also think that’s pretty common because archaeologists are constantly at work there. It’s always so cool to see things that you only ever see in textbooks but are very famous, and get a real sense for what the place is actually like. Personally, I thought the temple was impressive, but the views out across Athens from the top of the Acropolis were even more impressive. I’m willing to bet that those views and the beauty from being up so high played a large part in making the place such a sacred space.
 |
Next we headed down to the Ancient Agora. This would have been like the town center, where all the businesses and markets were. To me, it was just a big open space largely devoid of any ruins that would help you picture what it would have been like, but it’s still cool to think about all the important people that probably walked that same ground thousands of years ago.
 |
I had previously been looking up what to do in Athens, and many people recommend hiking up to the top of Mount Lycabbetus, the highest point in Athens. Apparently it is extra special at sunset, and you’re looking down on the Acropolis as well as the city, and all the way out to sea. Now I’m always down for any sort of hike but sometimes it can be hard to convince other people to take on things like that, especially when you don’t actually know how hard it’s going to be (This is when I really miss Team Gerth!!). However, based on what others were saying, it wouldn’t take more than 20 minutes to get to the top so I convinced a couple of the girls to go with me. Athens is already a really hilly town so a large part of our time spent walking to the actually location of the hill was just walking slowly upwards through the city. When we actually got to the base of the hill, it only took us about 15 minutes to climb up, and while it had a decent grade to it, it definitely wasn’t challenging at all. But it was so rewarding!! I’m a sucker for some good views, and these views were incredible!! I thought the sun was going to come out a little bit, but it pretty much stayed behind the clouds, however, there were a few rays shining right through the clouds onto the Acropolis.
Our final morning was just spent wandering through the touristy shops. I actually really enjoy this because you really never know what kind of stuff you’ll find and it’s also just fun to look at everything! From the typical touristy items like tshirts and magnets and statues, to jewelry and leather and olive oil items, it basically consumed our whole morning. The only thing I actually got was a pin (I decided that I was going to get a pin every place I went as just a small memento) because I was saving all my money for my next big trip (next post)
For my final reflection on Greece, I am including a memorial to all the cats we saw. Greece was cat heaven. Seriously there were everywhere. And as a proud cat owner who misses her own cat very much, I had no shame in taking pictures of almost every single one I saw. So if you were on the edge about Greece before, now you’ll definitely be all in. Please enjoy. I know you will.
And that was basically my trip! I’m so thankful I had the opportunity to be able to (relatively cheaply!) hop over to another country for a few days, experience another culture, and see some really awesome sites of huge historical importance. And the cats.
Stay tuned for the update on pt 2 of my reading week adventures!
-Katie
--
Katie, a senior Biology major, is spending the Fall 2017 semester studying Health & Society at King's College in London through Arcadia University.
Read more from Katie at https://katientheuk.wordpress.com/
Don't miss your opportunity to study or intern abroad! Start your search at http://studyabroad.uark.edu/search/
