Athens!!

I had an amazing time in Athens! The sun was shining and the weather held up! It only started raining after we left (the protests also started the day we left but that's another story)



Narges and I woke up bright and early to catch a 5am taxi as our flight was for 6.30 am =( The system in Milan is amazing bc the stoplights turn into 4 way stops in the evening =) The driver just cruised to Linate airport.



If I can make a suggestion, I would not take connecting flights ><" the wait is too long (though necessary) and you're just exhausted. Thankfully I had Narges =P We just shopped and read while we waited for our connecting flight from Rome.

What can I say about Athens......it's amazing how they have so much culture and history in an urban city. As I looked down from Filoppapou Hill, I would see blotches of greens and historic sites admist the houses and buildings. We did a lot of walking, going from the Acropolis to the National Gardens, stopping for lunch near the Ancient Agora at Monastiraki market.....visiting the Olympic Stadiums of 2004......then climbing up Filopappou Hill to watch the sunset.......On Sundays, majority of the attractions are free. We hit most of the attractions on Sunday. Then on Monday, we visited the National Archaelogical Museum (so many scultpures!) and the Temple of Zeus for free bc we were EU students =) So many student perks! lol

Prior to exploring Athens though, we did a little island hopping =) We missed the ferry to Poros island bc there was construction on a metro line so we had to navigate the bus system ><" Anyway, it worked out for the best bc we took another ferry to Aegina instead. What was supposed to be only a quick stop for a map turned into us renting a car! The owner was so chill and didn't even care that Narges was 21. Her manual driving skills came in handy =) we saw half the island, visiting two monastaries, driving by the coastline, seeing a wild peacock..........it was just a lot of fun and a completely different experience =P We ran to catch the ferry to Poros from Aegina. Aegina was just a pretty, though we didn't have a car to wander around the city ><" Nonetheless, we followed randomed paths to reach the town's clock tower; as long as we were going up, we were getting somewhat closer =) We walked along the island's coast, stopping to skip rocks and dip our feet in water (well, it was just me, but that still counts lol).

The city has just been amazing =) Everytime I stopped to ask for help, everyone was willing to give us directions. There were a few weird moments that I'm trying to forget but still =P Exchange in general has been an eye opener as to how evident cultural differences are in the real world.......