Going to Athens and seeing the Acropolis and Parthenon was a dream come true. Unfortunately, I never really thought about what the rest of Athens would be like. Nor did I bother to think about the fact that Greek Orthodox Easter is a week after Easter for everyone else, so while I did a good job planning ahead for normal Easter, Greek Easter messed up my plans for Greece. Worse things can happen than experiencing Good Friday two weeks in row.
The Acropolis and Parthenon turned out to be the only things I was really interested in in Athens. From the top of the Acropolis, I could see all of the other sights, and there was really no need to walk all around them when I already had such an awesome view. Luckily I stumbled upon a guided tour group and jumped in (at the rather steep price of 15 euro), but the tour guide explained what everything was.
I was hoping to go to a Greek island for two nights, but because of Easter and the mass exodus the Athenians particpate in there were no tickets left on the ferries to Mykonos or Sandorini that worked for me to go. I did go to Aegina, a closer island, for one day. By the fast ferry, it only took 40 minutes to get there.
What made Athens so awesome though was the hostel I stayed at. There was this intensely social atmosphere that other hostels haven't had. All the hostels have been decently social, but I think this one socially overdrive because Athens was so dead because everything in Athens goes Easter crazy and either closes or does something special (or just becuase the city is so boring). I met so many people that were really awesome. After being alone for so long it was weird to be with so many people. While I was there, I never ate a meal alone. People would just come into the common area before going to eat or do anything really and ask if anyone wanted to join.
There were tons of Americans at the hostel too. It was nice to not be overrun by Canadians. Many Americans studying abroad are on spring break right now, so they are traveling through Europe. These are mostly the people I hung out with. I hung out with 3 of the same people all 3 nights in Athens, but many other were coming and going. It is so weird to become friends with someone for such a short period of time. You do things with them like you do normal friends, but you only know for like 72 hours. Facebook friend requests were flying like crazy in that place.
The island I went to was not the greatest of Greek Islands, but was probbaly so cool becuase I went with someone from the hostel. We ran into eachother on the subway on the way out there, and decided to go together. (Before we went we actually poured some banana juice all over the entrance to the bar where he was scammed 90 euro the night before.) On the island we rented a fourwheeler and rode around. Motorbikes are more common, but I don't think they are nearly as safe. The day before a girl staying at our hostel was in an accident and got all scraped up. We rode the fourwheeler all over part of the island and found a beech. Nick went swimming, and I slept. My last night in Vienna and my nights in in Athens have been catching up to me, and sleeping during the day has become common. I guess not sleeping at night will do that.
Right after I checked into my hostel in Rome today, I asked for the information to use the WIFI, and the guy explained to me that it wasn't free. However, the website I used to book the hostel made it sound like it was, so I told him that. He was really mean to me in response. I went to another hostel nearby. It looked cooler and has free WIFI. I checked in there, and went back to the other place to tell the guy offf. Surprisinly, I was nice to him though. He was still pretty mean. He is going to be really pissed when my credit card company stops the payment on the transactions.
I have had two awesome Italian meals already and am looking forward to more to come. But I what I'm really looking forward to is my mom's arrival in Rome on Monday morning.
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