Free admittance to the Acropolis? Ok!

April 2nd

I was awoken today by people talking, even though my ear plugs were deep in my ears.  Then one of the guys opened the blinds and the door right next to my bed.  Why, good morning to me!  I looked at my watch and the time was 8:45am, oh goodness.  I laid in bed for a little longer then finally decided to put my glasses on and sit up.  The guys were getting ready and leaving.  When they had gone I finally got up and got ready for the day.  I got Kelsey up, as breakfast was going to close at 10am.  A couple of the guys got back and asked us if we were going to eat breakfast, I said yes and one of them showed me on a little map how to get there.  I wasn't paying the closest attention to what he was saying so when we actually left we started going the wrong way, but they showed us in the right direction.  We finally found it and had some breakfast.

As I was in Greece, I put some shorts on in the morning, but it was still a little chilly.  After we ate breakfast we headed to the Acropolis.  Our hostel was in a very good location, as far as being by attractions.  We were about a block away from the Acropolis.  When we got up to where the gates were to head up, there was a sign telling us it wasn't going to open until midday and it was also free today!  We found out that it is one of the only days of the year that it is free to the public.  It was only shortly after 10am so Kelsey and walked a bit past it.  We came upon a giant rock we decided to climb, it is the Areopagus Hill.  On top it had a very good view of the city.  We sat there for a while and took some pictures.  We then headed back down the hill.  We headed to the gates that lead up to the Acropolis and we sat outside for a while.  I was surprised by how many dogs were around.  When the gates were open and when the giant crowd shuffled through, a man stepped on a dog, not realizing he was there, and in the midst of trying to not step on it again I think he accidentally hit the dog again.  The dog got up by this point and then proceeded to try and bite this mans calf.  Later on we saw that same dog randomly start barking at someone and then running after them, strange.
After the crowd outside the gates dwindled a little we headed in.  We were able to see more views of Athens, it was spectacular.  We saw Harodians Theatre, which is located at the bottom of the Acropolis and near Dionysus' Theatre.  We headed up, following the crowd and finally made it to the top.  When we got to the top it opened up to the Parthenon and the other buildings that are on top.  One whole side of the Parthenon was covered in scaffolding it; it has been under constant construction since around 1985.  Still very amazing to see.  We walked around the top, looking at the buildings and taking pictures, and weaving in and out of the crowds.  We finally headed back down and found a street just for us tourists, tourist shopping district!  I kid, but to be serious, this street among many others was full of shops just for tourists.  After we walked a couple of those we headed back to the hostel so I could change into pants, it was just a little too chilly for shorts today.  Off we were again.  At the end of the street our hostel is on is a gelato place.  This is where I sound like Morgan.  We didn't get a real lunch, instead we had two scoops of gelato.  It was delicious, though!  We then headed to the big shopping area, it was on a map, to see if I could find a place that had an adapter.  I needed one so I could charge my British phone in an EU country.  On our way we passed by the Greece Parliament building, nothing like the one in London (of course).  It also started to rain on us.  I did have my umbrella, in the hostel.  We found some shelter under roof over hangs.  There were no such stores around where I could purchase an adapter.  They were all name brand stores that were expensive.  We walked a ways, rain seizing at this point, and made our way towards a cell phone store.  I was going to ask them if they knew of a place to purchase and adapter but they were pretty busy. I decided to just leave so Kelsey and I made our way down the road.  I spotted a place the Public, that I had seen people carrying around bags from there.  I wasn't sure exactly what it was but we stopped in.  They had a lot of electronic things so I figured they would have an adapter.  It took a while to find one but we ended up spotting one.  It was not as cheap as I would have liked, but I needed it to charge my phone, so I purchased it anyway.
We started walking some more and decided to stop at a cafe, guess which one we chose?  Starbucks.  We ordered something to drink and then a little snack, we sat by the window and had a nice view of a church.  When we were done we then headed over to the church.  We walked inside an back out in about 30-60 seconds.  Not because we were scared, but because you couldn't walk too far in.  After we got out we headed to a souvenir shop where we both purchased postcards.  I really enjoy postcards in Greece, they're more like a plastic than paper, so cool.  When we were done making our purchases we headed out, we just ended up walking wherever.  We ended up finding the flea market, that Kelsey mentioned she wanted to go to.  Around the flea market, and just most of Athens, are the people who sell bags, wallets, and sunglasses out of sheets.  It's quite a site to see really.  We headed down the flea market street and looked at all the different stores they have.  A lot of sandal, clothing an souvenir stores.  We passed by more of the street vendors and then by an artist, where I saw something that I just had to get Rachel.  It was a bit expensive but I know she will love it!  We then started walking some more, when I realized that we had pretty much walked around to the other side of the Acropolis.  We took a little break and took in the view, beautiful.  We headed back and decided to stop and eat supper at a restaurant.  the service was kind of slow, but eventually someone brought us water and took our order.  I got grilled pork loin with french fries and a salad.  It was all very good.  I didn't finish the pork so I took it with me to eat as a snack later.  We got back to the hostel where we hung out in our room for a bit and then headed down to the ground level where internet is much better.  Our hostel had free wireless, but to use the computer it cost money.  If I had known that I might have brought my computer along.  It was for the best though, my computer weighs a bazillion pounds and I didn't want to haul it everywhere.  Plus, Kelsey had her ipod which got wireless so we used that to check facebook and emails.  As I finished up my pork we watched some YouTube videos, very funny.  It was a great first day in Athens!  Tomorrow is Delphi!  Cheers

 Some flowers an ruins

Greek Orthodox Church

Parthenon at night