The Greek Odyssey: part six.

Our last day in Greece! The trip had been fun, but we were ready to stop moving and start settling down. We got up early to visit the Acropolis, the Citadel of Athens.


The Acropolis from below.
There are a few different structures on the Acropolis, including the Erechtheum, and the most awesome one, the Parthenon. The Parthenon is a beautiful temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, the namesake and protector of ancient Athens. So cool.


The Erechtheum, dedicated to Athena and Poseidon.

These five figures are the Caryatids. Somewhat upsetting is the fact that the sixth "sister" is missing - and is in a British museum. It is said that the remaining five sisters mourn the loss of the sixth every night.

The Parthenon. :]

It had drizzled a little that morning, but we were rewarded with a full rainbow. I wish I could have captured both halves!
After lunch, we walked a bajillion miles to the other side of town to visit the National Archaeological Museum – a lovely and classy establishment in an otherwise seedy area. We didn’t spend much time there, though, and the real story is what happened after we left. Our professor was leading us back to the hotel so that we could enjoy some free time – which had been elusive all trip – before dinner. He then proceeded to get us all lost. Very lost. So we all lamented our tragic circumstances as we watched our free time slip away from us as we wove through some rather questionable parts of town. We did, in fact, pass by a myriad of police cars and cops dressed in their riot gear, brandishing shields and leading vicious dogs. By the end of it all, we were sweaty, dirty, tired, and pretty pissed off. That’s when we decided we’d probably be okay not setting foot in Athens again for a long time.

Things improved that night, however. We had fun dressing up for a group dinner. It was good times spent with good people, which is always great.


Jackie, Alyssa and me.

What?

With our bus driver and his wife!

Zoe, Marin, Claire and me.

Yikes. ;]
Over dinner, we did the reminiscing you would expect after an experience such as this one. Let me preface this by saying the Greek Odyssey was a lot of ups and downs – so much traveling, so much time together, and whatnot – and we sometimes wondered whether we were in Greece or in a hellhole. We realized that although the trip was difficult to endure at times, we did not regret going. We did things some people will never even have the chance to think about dong. More significant to current circumstances, though, we met wonderful people on whom we could lean on during our experience abroad in Florence. Turns out hellholes can really aid in the bonding process.


Just a little something we found on the way to the restaurant, apparently created by a local homeless man named Tom. He actually has pop culture art like this all up and down this street. Pretty clever. :]