The Other Athens

Life in 3 Words: Beauty, Adventure, Learning

I chose to use this picture of the statue of the goddess Athena to represent life in 3 words. Athena was the daughter of Zeus. She was the goddess of which the city of Athens was named and the Parthenon was built in her honor. I feel that Athens is representative of Greece and the beauty, adventure, and learning that I will experience during my time here.

Today was such an exciting day in Greece. After an early breakfast we headed out on a city tour of downtown Athens. We had a great tour guide who showed us many historic buildings and landmarks in the city center. After being in Athens for a few days, I still can’t get over the way that everyone drives here. People park all kinds of crazy ways and I have yet to see a speed limit sign yet. I have just learned to be careful when crossing the street. Our tour guide explained to us that people in Athens love their cars and drive everywhere despite the fact that there is very limited parking everywhere. This was surprising to me because I had always heard that Europeans tend to walk a lot more.

After the city tour we got the chance to go up to the Acropolis. It was so neat how we were in the middle of such a modern city and all of a sudden these ancient ruins from 500 B.C. appear. We got to hear an enthusiastic talk from our professor Craig. It was basically the history of ancient Greece in a nutshell. It was good to hear the history before we saw everything that way we could appreciate it more. There was a long steep hike up to the top of the Acropolis, but it was so worth it once we got up there. The view was incredible and you could get a sense of how sprawling the city of Athens is. At the top of the Acropolis there is the Parthenon and a few other temples. The thing that struck me the most was just how old everything. It is just amazing to think that after thousands of years so much of the ruins are still intact.

Towards the end of the day we got to visit the Acropolis museum. There were a lot of the ruins that had been recovered from the temples. All of the statues had been preserved so well and you could really get a sense of how advanced the Greeks were in their art and society.

After the museum, we headed into the Plaka for lunch. By this time everyone was exhausted and hungry. The plaka was very touristy and crowded, but I’m glad I got to experience it. It was obvious to me how bad the Greek economy must be because every restaurant owner tried so hard to get us to eat at their place. We were almost bargaining with the locals to find a cheap, yet yummy place to have lunch. We finally decided on a smaller outdoor café and had chicken gyros and French fries. The server obviously figured we were American because he brought us ketchup before we even had to ask.

Greece is such an amazing country and after learning more about its ancient history, I feel that I am able to appreciate it even more.

Kelsey Foster