We have arrived in Athens. It is quite hot and decidely humid. The metro trip from the airport was enough to soak our backs in sweat. Bobby's condition was worsened by what I have dubbed his "backpack sandwich" which consists of his daypack on his front and his luggage backpack on his back.
Our hotel is in a great location, and is clean, safe, and quite pleasant. Our room overlooks the courtyard garden which we can reach by using the backdoor on our third story room and climbing down a spiral, metal staircase(see picture). Others can also pass by our door - our first visitor included a foreign girl who handed us one of the house kittens, said nothing and walked away. There are two of the hotel kittens, quite cute, that roam about the place but it has left certain areas smelling a bit like cat pee. Another note about our hotel is that our room is conveniently located right next to the bathroom. But the walls are incredibly thin so we not only hear everyone going about their business but are also woken up by the shower doors opening and slamming all the time. In other news, our european adapter does not reach into the recessed wall outlet and therefore I cannot dry my hair in Greece. Luckily, it is so hot that my standby will be the ponytail anyway. I say this, however, so that you will all forgive how dreadful I will look in those pictures!
Upon arrival in Athens, we took a nap after our day of lengthy travel and then roamed the city at night. Athens is so completely confused. There are these ancient stone ruins up on hills that are beautifully lit up at night but then there are even more of them scattered across the city, hidden between metro stations, nightclubs, and stores. There is a sense of classic Greece, (which I equate to the Disney movie Hercules - which incidentally I saw some pots that have the same painted ladies who sing in the movie) but also all the modern restaurants, clubs, graffitti, pollution and trash.
We walked through the tourist markets and bought a gyro and a souvlaki pita from a tiny, hole in the wall stand. It was without a doubt the best pita I ever had. It wasn't really greasy like the American ones. We then finished it off with Orange Contreau gelato, which apparently contains enough liquor that the man behind the counter asked my age. I really like the city. It definitely has a party atmosphere as in the summer all of the activities take place outside - al fresco. Bobby and I literally walked through restaurants that had moved all of their tables outside on the sidewalk. Another thing I really like is how late everyone and everything stays up. I'm such a night person and I love that European city-dwellers are too.
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