Road to Thessaloniki

Thursday night we decided we would go out for dinner. Everyone ordered what they wanted, and I told the lady I wanted carbonara under the spaghetti. So far no problem. We arrived at the restaurant at a regular American dinner time although it was not dinner time for the Greeks so we knew it would take even longer than usual. They of course like to take their time, so I was very hungry by the time we got our food. They first brought souvlaki for Tony and Graham then Zach's steak.  I continued to wait until I got my food, which when I did finally get it looked much like a burger and a large plate of fries. Knowing this was not my order, I tried to flag a waiter down to no prevail. And after picking at some of the fries and looking at my "not carbonara" I got up and sought out the woman who took my order. I told her exactly what she gave me and what I ordered. She replied with, "yes, you say hamburger, I give you hamburger." I then had to say no carbonara three times to get her to understand. I did finally get a huge plate of pasta after being incredibly hungry for so long, which I destroyed. After I finished, a manager came over to us and asked where we were from and everything then said he would have a little drink sent out for us. Of the few times we've gone out for dinner, it seems somewhat customary to offer something to us for being Americans or tourists or something. I'm not sure why they do it but its very nice none guy brought us a shot of Rokomolo I think it's called. It tasted like spiked hot cider with honey, hot and delicious. 

Sunday morning came and we began our journey to Thessaloniki on a Flying Dolphin which was quite fascinating yet also freaky. It is a long capsule shaped transport that rises up as it gains speed allowing for a quick yet bumpy ride. As we got into the seating area, my first thought was of an aircraft because the interior looked just like inside an airplane. The joke was that they just chunked an unflyable airplane into the Mediterranean, popped propellers on it, and said "go".  The idea of the Flying Dolphin is that it's fast, and it sure was. It started by backing out of the port which was an odd feeling. Then as we reached open water, the dolphin rose up and switched hyperdrive on. Water is something I would much rather avoid, so I was already a little offset by its presence, but the intense rocking freaked me out even more. Many of the things we do are new experiences for me of course and of these experiences many make this tender suburb boy a little nervous, but in the long run it is good that I am facing the little fears a city boy might have. 

From the Flying Dolphin we walked to a bus which was already waiting for us. Surprisingly we enjoyed a Mercedes-Benz charter bus all the way to Thessaloniki. Athens was as expected crazy and full of traffic but as we got our out town everything opened up with solid hills and mountains. Driving through valleys we could see numerous wind mills and solar farms. Beyond Athens, Greece seems to have the "green" approach. 

Something I noticed and do really appreciate is how the main highway to Thessaloniki travels through valleys. Unlike the US, Greece seems to have transferred their relaxed lifestyle to how they build their roads. In America, the mentality is to get you places the fastest way possible which is fine until they feel the need to build roads that go on, through, and below mountains. I dislike driving through mountains and especially on a bus, so I greatly enjoyed driving through the valleys. We made to our first rest stop where we found a bunch of rocks and proceeded to skip rocks and throw out our shoulders. After leaving our first rest stop, the road followed the coast which provided a view of the ocean to the right and mountains on the left. It was like this the rest of the way Thessaloniki.

After lunch we headed to the Meteora, which is what used to be 24 monasteries on top of super tall mountains/rocks.  I was under the impression we would just walk to the top and not be bussed to the top.  So it was time once again for my nerves to act up.  Some of the cliffs were astonishing, they were just sooo high and my every fear was being imagined.  We did end up making it to the top where it was very cold and rainy but we still took a billion pictures of the amazing monasteries and sights.  Again coming down was an issue for me but not nearly as bad as going up.  At this point we seemed well out of the way for how long it took to finally get to Thessaloniki because we had to go through even more mountains for at least another hour to get to the highway.  It was on these mountains that dense fog rolled in and we could not see anything.  Me and I am sure many others were feeling a little freaked out by the fog and the fact that the bus driver was still trucking through with only two feet of viability   But thankfully we made it out of that and found ourselves driving through mountains.  Some of the tunnels went on for over a mile, which was quite fascinating.  We did finally make it to Thessaloniki over twelve hours after we left Aegina.  I am excited for the week of adventures here and even more excited to get to go to Berlin Friday!

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Meteora

First Week's Oddities

I have been on Aegina a week now and finally seemed to be settled in, and by settled in I only mean used to the conditions.  The conditions are quite different from America, as I expected, although I had no idea what to expect originally.  There are so many things that I will probably forget to discuss but as I remember them I will include them in blog posts.

First of all our living conditions are quite lacking probably because we are stuck thinking about the brand new University Suites we were in last semester.  Of course we still have everything we need it's just different.  For example, our stove top consists of one big and one small hot plate and our sink's highest point is the drain (-_-). This makes some things difficult such as cooking.  It has been hard to find a lot of meat that is easy to cook because we either do not know what kind of meat it is, it is too expensive, or we do not know how to prepare it.  I have been itching to find canned chicken and/or tuna, although the cheapest canned tuna I have found is like 3-4 euros a can.  With most meats out of the question for now at least, we have been reduced to lunch meat and some sausage besides all the gyros we have been eating.  When you put our kitchen conditions and lack of real meat together, you get a wonderful new series called Cooking with Retards: International Edition.  We have managed to put together to a billion sandwiches and some spaghetti together a couple times at least.

This entire week it has been raining and there has not been much going on on the island.  Most nights people have not been out because of the rain and cold.  Saturday night Tony, Graham, Zach, and I went to a bar very close to us called "International Corner".  I don't know if the owner's idea was to attract us international kids but of course it did.  It seems to be in a prime location for business, but every time we would look in, there would just be this old man behind the counter. We have come to the conclusion that he must be a bookie to keep his bar open.

We were actually there a while Saturday night.  He is a very talkative person as he should be to keep his customers there when he gets them.  He first talked all about the people on the island and how the number going out to spend money are down.  He said something like what used to be 20% of the people having their own drinks on boats and 80% at restaurants spending money has turned into 80% of people on their boats and only 20% at restaurants.  He said something else about how he knows a doctor in Athens who makes only 850 euros a month, and he had us guess how many euros a month we thought the doctor would make.  We all said numbers into the thousands and he comes back with 850.  Apparently times are harder here than I thought.

As we stayed there longer, he began to show us his vast collection of CDs.  He has shelves of them all with mixes and everything.  The old guy would play one song after another and we were all looking at what he had while asking him to play it for us.  Then if it could not get any better, he whips out a microphone and we all go to town singing, just the four of us in this bar with an old bartender.  I took center stage for most of "Complicated" by Avril Lavigne.  Even though there was not much going on we managed to have a lot of fun with the old guy and I am sure we will go back there a lot.

Current Living Quarters

International Corner Bar

Water during a rain

Dark alley we had to walk down

Apollo's Cats

The extent of today included a walk to what is left of the Temple of Apollo here on Aegina.  All that is left is a single column among numerous rocks that used to be surrounding structures.  There was again another great view of the ocean and outlying islands.  As we left the temple Tony, Zach, and I noticed a cat.  This cat was all dirty and had what looked like a raccoon tail.  It was the weirdest kitty I have ever seen.  And of course, much like her remarks to the dogs, our teacher had to tell the cat the it was very very dirty and that it needed to be cleaned.  As we walked back, there were so many cats and we noticed an entire family of them finishing the remains of people's lunch from a table outside of a cafe.  There have been a lot different kitties I've seen that I haven't seen in America, and I can definitely tell people's mentality towards all strays in general is much different than in America.  People allow for them to roam around and do not care what they do.  Also the strays never seem to be in the way of things going on.  For example, I have never seen or heard of a stray being hit by a car.

I start class Monday, so as things arise, events occur, or I have another plethora of pictures to share, I will have more posts.

 

To the Island and Beyond

We began Friday by packing up then taking the metro to an archaeological museum.  There were sooo many pots and vases and of course way too many statues.  Everything was very interesting nonetheless.  Probably one of the most interesting things I saw at the museum was a series of gears.  What it is is a form of a clock, calendar, and seasons tracker.  By turning a supposed knob, the gears would twist displaying times and placement of planets.  But what the best part about this contraption is that it has was dated well before any gears or things like that where ever made or recorded.  Being the geek I am I immediately related this to a computer because it essentially performs like one.  And if there was currently no proof of aliens there is now!

From the museum we had to go get our luggage and take multiple trains to the port to then catch a ferry (a huge Tinkerbell).  The ride was pretty nice and the views throughout where amazing.  I was surprised how windy and cold it was but I could have guess it would be.  After over an hour of riding, we arrived at the port in Aegina.  It was really cool and there will tons of pictures to see.  As Tony and I got into our apartment and began unpacking we instantly began thinking about all of the cultural and living things that are different from America.  To this moment I am still getting fully adjusted.  The apartment we are in seems to be like the kind of place you would stay a few days or a week, certainly not 3 months, but I will soon be used to the fact.  Probably to craziest thing I can't do here besides have internet in my room :( is to flush toilet paper.  Each house in Aegina and I believe Athens has their own septic tank, therefore, flushing toilet paper will back it up.  This is just a weird thing to have to remember to do and have to deal with, but again, I will get used to it.  After a nice dinner out paid for by Drury, most of us went to bed at a reasonable hours seeing as we had still been traveling up to this point.

Saturday morning we met up and had a little history lesson about Aegina and how important it was in ancient times.  From there we took a bus to the Temple of Athena on one of the hills/mountains in Aegina.  The views from there were again amazing because we were able to see all of Athens.  What was especially awesome was that we could see the Acropolis and the Parthenon from across the sea.  It was so quiet, peaceful, and tranquil there that I it was so easy to relax in the hot sun and cool wind.  In a way I am a little tired of seeing all the temples that seem to all look the same but they are very interesting regardless.  Tomorrow we are headed to the Temple of Apollo on Aegina.

Athens Archaeological Museum

Leaving Athens

View of Athens from Aegina

Entering Aegina

Temple of Athena on Aegina

Top of the City

Out of all the first few days we are in Athens, today was the day I was most looking forward to, the day we would go to the Acropolis.  In Greek, akron or akros means edge or extremity and polis means city.  The Acropolis is on the edge or extremity of the city but not horizontally, vertically.  An acropolis is generally a citadel built on elevated ground for defense purposes.  The Acropolis in Athens was built there for that reason.

What was so cool about finally getting to go to the Acropolis is that all week we have just been around it but never close enough or on it until today.  The Parthenon is so much bigger in person than you would expect and the Temple of Athena Nike was definitely interesting as well.  Besides the fact that there were numerous ancient buildings, from the Acropolis we could see nearly all of Athens.  I can't tell you how many awesome panoramas I got from the Acropolis.  I even had to make a video to try to portray how great the structures and views were from the Acropolis.  And on a separate note, I found it hilarious that our Travel Journal teacher told all the fat stray dogs we came across to stop eating so much.

Tomorrow is again another day I am looking forward to because we will finally be headed to Aegina.  After an archaeological museum in the morning we will take the metro to the port and a ferry to the island for a welcome dinner.  Of course I'm also looking forward to the welcome dinner because it's free food.  I imagine the picture I will have tomorrow will be awesome!

Parthenon

Temple of Athena Nike

To the Hills

We began today by climbing a hill with an amazing view of the entire city and the Mediterranean.  This hill is called Philopappos - Hill of the Muses and is one of three iconic hills in Athens.  The hill was great because of the specific view of the Acropolis it provided.  We were told that we should actually be able to see Aegina, although we could not today and this was because when winds come from the south, sand from the Sahara is picked up and blown into Athens.  People close their windows for south winds because the sand creates a small layer of red dust when it lands.

As we walked through the city yesterday and today, we've notice how many stray dogs and cats there are.  I know Niki would love all the cats I've seen.  There are so many and they are actually vaccinated and spade/neutered.  Throughout our entire day of climbing the hill and walking around the city, a lovely chow followed us.  There was even a point where the chow defended our group against what looked like a rabid dog foaming at the mouth.  This chow somehow ran the dog off like we where in trouble or owned him.  After this chow saved us from imminent death, I noticed the earring our European Travels teacher had in her right ear.  The earring was a hand ax and coming from an older lady like her I found this to be weird, funny, and awesome at the same time.

Since I've been in Athens, something I have noticed is the lack of use of steel and metal.  It might be the way buildings are built here, but I am used to seeing a lot of steel in large buildings and metal structure.  It could also be this way because there are no super tall buildings.  The only building I noticed steel and large structure was in the Acropolis museum we visited next.  This museum housed every piece of the Parthenon that is not currently still intact.  A very famous part of the Parthenon are columns carved into the forms of women that are located on the Temple of Athena Nike.  The originals are in the museum and there was a man restoring them while we were there.  To touch up and restore sections of these columns a high powered laser technology is used on the surface after applying  a liquid coating.  This would remove undesired sections of the column and leave behind a layer that looks brand new.  This was quite fascinating as it looked like Photoshop in real life!

I don't feel like I have real jet lag, although I am still a little tired earlier.  I think in another day I will be back on the right schedule.  I am very much looking forward to tomorrow as we are going to the Acropolis and exploring the Parthenon up close and in person.

The Acropolis

Philopappos - Hill of the Muses

Endless Travel

Everything seemed to be smooth through the first flight except minor negative lower intestine reactions. During the flight I swear I saw some crop circles. As we began to descend  it was bit unearthing falling through thick snow clouds and boom! you're at 3000 feet and there's suddenly snow everywhere.

After stupid security and finding the next gate, I met up with Tony, Graham, and Zach and as we began to leave on the next plane, it drove on a bridge over the highway before taking off. Tony was crying the whole time, I mean a baby was. The in-flight personal movie screen was so fun that me and graham only watched movies. We started Seven Psychopaths, Here Comes the Boom, Taken 2, and Lincoln at exactly the same time. Eventually my legs became so sore and I had a killer headache.

Landing in the Frankfort airport or parking lot (exiting plane just off the runway) was different than what I would normally expect, although I should have expected it from another country. After finally getting trollied, we literally walked what seemed like miles through long tunnels on multiple floors. At this point I just felt fatigued and I sure needed a shower.  I was just completely dead getting onto the next flight, and when we got into the Athens airport we expected to have to go through a bunch of security and customs, yet after grabbing our bags and heading through another door, we were already outside.

From there we had to get to a hostel we are all supposed to stay at in Athens the first few nights.  To get there we first had to take a bus to Syntagma Square, which is where all the protests occur.   After 45 minutes on a bus, our group of 7 people realized that the Drury instructions to the hostel were actually just to "Athens" or the just the square.  We had no choice but to wonder around the city asking for directions but of course no one knew what the heck Backpacker's Studios was.  We managed to find a phone and make a call to our director who was able to get us on the right path.  So what should have been very easy with directions to find turned into over an hour of walking aimlessly around Athens with all of our luggage.  We finally reached the hostel and ended up walking at least two miles with luggage in rugged downtown Athens.

It was at the hostel where culture shock really hit us.  We were told our room of 7 guys was on the second floor but it is actually on the fourth floor.  We are not sure why that is and even the elevator insists that we are actually on the second floor.  This area of Athens and what seems like most of the city is filled with all types of graffiti  and in America, we would consider these areas to be the ghetto.  There seem to be less traffic laws in the city as drivers are free to go very fast.  Luckily for us our area is on a calmer street filled with little cafes off the street.  I noticed a place for gyros for dinner.  It was delicious and cheap!  We roamed around for a while longer and all crashed at 8.  The original plan was to sleep twelve hours until 8 in the morning and be on the right schedule again, although the guys slept until 4am and came out.  I had no prayer of sleeping with them making noise so my schedule may be off another day.

Today we are trekking around a monument and museums. More posts and pics to come!

Endless tunnel in Frankfort Airport

Goodbye Merica

It's been over three years that I knew I would eventually set off to Greece and in just a few short hours I will be doing just that.  What seemed like a futuristic phenomenon is now my reality.  I am about to sleep or "sleep" my last night in America for three months, and I couldn't be more excited, nervous, and astonished that I will finally be setting off in the morning.

When I travel great distances especially, I play out how the trip should go in my head and end up hoping that is what happens.  For example, flying in itself can be nerve racking at times for everyone but I make sure I know the route to travel beforehand to take note of what to expect.  Traveling over water has always scared me a bit, although I will just have to put that behind me as a large chunk of my flight is just that.  Also, I have a nervous colon so in situations such as these my colon is ready to act up.  I'm hoping that through my travels tomorrow this will no be an issue of course.

Overall I am very much looking forward to the semester and all the adventures that await me in Europe.  I would love to see my girlfriend, Niki, in Berlin because I have certainly missed her this last month, and from what she has told me, Berlin seems like an awesome place to visit.  Since she left a month ago I have been praying that we both stay safe, have lots of fun, and enjoy this experience of a lifetime!