Daily Updates
Week Two: March 26
26 March: Kari and Anais reporting:Today has been our first free day of the trip, and we chose to spend it in different ways… 6:30 am: Sarah Murray, Mike and Chris head off to what they think will be a day at Thebes, where they plan to see some fortifications. When first they conceive of this journey, they imagine themselves hiking through the rugged underbrush of Attica, and over the hills that surround the plain of Athens, but end up catching a bus. 10:30 am: The less masochistic of us get up after fading in and out of sleep for an hour or two. It sounds as if most of us ended up wandering around Athens, with a variety of intentions. Rebecca found herself in some sketchy neighborhood and consequently wandered back toward the safe streets surrounding Syntagma Square. Evan found Athens’ central meat market and proceeded, according to his report, to take pictures of meat, and lots of dead animals with (and I quote) their eyes bulging out (it should be noted that this account was accompanied by hand gestures and corresponding faces). Kari, Sarah Jones and Melissa went to the internet café (conveniently located right around the corner) presumably to communicate with all of you that are reading this, then headed to the “Hardware District” (yeah…I don’t really know what that means either), and apparently also found the meat market, although they seem to have been less impressed than Evan. Ani, Leslie, Liz and I (Anais) also headed to the internet café, but then stayed relatively near our hotel and went shopping. Three of the four of us bought matching messenger bags. Meanwhile, Randy and Katie were both lazing around their respective rooms. In Randy’s words: “chilling like I would have had I had a spring break.” Katie got out of bed at 7 pm. By this time, Sarah Murray, Mike and Chris had figured out that their bus went only to the middle of Boeotia (about halfway between Athens and Thebes), and were forced to get off there and to start walking back to Athens. As they rounded the peak of the first mountain, and saw a whole range spread out before them, they realized the magnanimous task ahead of them. Rising to this challenge, they begged a ride off a Greek guy and found their way back to Athens. Apparently the most rewarding aspect of their day were the gyros that they “smacked and gobbled” upon their return. Liz, Leslie and I left Ani to Arthur Evans and the Minoans (the topic of her Independent Study Project research), and took the very crowded metro to Piraeus, where we finally found the pretty part and walked along the beach before heading home. As our day drew to a close, Kari and I collected stories from everyone, and ended up laughing and talking (like the obnoxious Americans we are) in the marble hallway of our hotel for over an hour. Everyone seemed satisfied with their use of the free time.
26 March: Leaders of the free day: Kari and Anais.
26 March: Chris Enjoying His Free day.