L'amor che move il sole e l'altre stelle: Spring Break Part Two: Athens

After being blessed with the luck of the Irish, I got off to the Dublin airport at four in the morning without a hitch. I created my own layover and flew back into Milano in order to cut the price of getting to Athens in half. Before getting on the plane in Milano, I stood in line and very closely observed the other passengers. Spying a dude's gym bag, a woman's hoodie, and a few other types of luggage, the only thought going through my non-caffeinated brain was, "huh, thats a bizarrely named fraternity...Wait, I am going to actual Greece." The birthplace of democracy, and the source of a majority of the EU's political/economic tensions, Athens is a sprawling city of about 800,000 people, and thousands more stray dogs and cats.

I arrived to the Athens airport only half an hour before Fay's flight, so I waited by a luggage carousel for her flight from Paris to come flooding in. We had an excited reunion, then got on the metro (semi-ilegally) to head towards our air b'n'b, where our other friends were waiting. I immediately noticed the differences about Greece from the rest of the European Union. About ten beggar children approached us on the tram alone, which dustily rattled over old tracks and through graffiti-covered walls. The streets were littered with homeless dogs and stray cats, and were made of half cobblestone and half broken-up concrete, if they weren't just made of gravel. The country wasn't dangerous-looking, per say, but it was clearly in some distress.

Our flat was on the third-floor of a decently new building, with two bedrooms, a bathroom, and two king-size futons to share between the six of us. Fay (Faylafel) and I met up with Juhi (Mama Ju), Mads (Maddie-san), Kim (Kimbo), and Jasmine (Jazz-hands), and had a joyous reunion that involved tea and nespresso from the flat's kitchen, beer and chocolate from Belgium, TimTams from France, music from Ireland, and Turkish Delight from Germany. Small trinkets and postcards were also exchanged, and we settled right back into each other like we never left.

After freshening up, and wandering about a teeny-tiny Greek grocery store, we settled in to cook dinner. Faylafel was more than happy to cook for everyone, and whipped up pesto pasta, and baked a pre-made spanikofika. I was happy as a clam to be back with all my friends again. It still blows my mind that every single one of these incredible humans didn't exist to me four short months before.

Jazz-hands, Me, Faylafel, Maddisan, Mama Ju, Kimbo

Inside the Acropolis Museum - Original roof!

I slept well in the most comfortable bed in all of Europe, and awoke the next morning to much rain, a TimTamSlam, and life-changing scrambled eggs. We all filed out only a few blocks away to the Acropolis. Yes, I said A FEW BLOCKS AWAY FROM THE ACROPOLIS. Upon getting there, though, we discovered it was closed. Which was okay, it was raining too much anyway. But because of a mysterious national holiday, we got into the Acropolis Museum for free! This modern and sleek museum houses most of the original pieces found in the Acropolis, including pillars, facades, statues, and the statues of the Muses that hold up the Temple of Athena.

After we all reconvened, we set out for lunch. We wandered through the "Famous Flea Market" in hopes for something good, but we were met with lots of tourist traps. On the other side of it, though, we happened upon a gastro-grub style gyro and soulaki restaurant, where each wrap was only two euros, and included free water! We ate our fill, and decided what to do next. Using a recommendation map for guidance, we set out to a handful of fun places.

Evzones doing their thing

Unfortunately, we were met with closed doors on every turn. As we wound through the streets, though, we discovered treasures of the city. My favorite was the Parliament Building, where elite Greek soldiers guarded the nation's tomb of the unknown soldier. These soldiers are called Evzones, and are predominantly ceremonial, although their concentration is astounding, and I bet their reflexes are like lightning. They wear tradition costume-like uniforms, with a kilt, berets with long tassels, knee-high socks, and wooden shoes with big balls on the end. The most modern piece of their costume was a semi-automatic weapon, though, so I wouldn't make fun of them if I were you.

We also got to see the changing of the guards! It was an intricate, precise dance between the two leaving and the two replacing them. They would extend one arm and one leg into the air at exactly the same time, let them hang frozen there, and then put them down at the same time. It was interesting, but certainly not solemn. I felt a little bad about trying to suppress giggles. In the end though, I knew that I certainly couldn't do that, and these men were elite indeed, albeit in their own special way.

Pretty good spot for Temple of Posieden

The next day was another rainy one, worse than before. We decided to get out of the city and go to the small town of Sounion. Luckily, city buses ran all the way down there. Unluckily, it was an old, dusty bus for two hours. It was fine though, I fell asleep both ways. The bus to the Temple of Poseidon groaned up the steep hill and careened around corners. The road was definitely a one-way, and its quality was questionable at best. The scrub landscape was beautiful though, and there was not a soul in sight. The ocean flashed bright blue with a smudge of white fog on top like icing on a cake. Excitement rose in my throat. I was going to the edge once again.

The Temple of Poseidon had opened for the season just the day before, and we one of perhaps four groups of people who went up there. The ruins were well-preserved, but not well guarded. We were the only ones up there, on the edge of Greece, where the land meets the sea. The water was deep blue and foaming, but at the same time perfectly clear. It was easy to see the enormous rock formations that the waves were breaking against. I imagine it is what the coast of California might look like.

The torrential rain got worse and worse as we headed home on the sneeze-inducing ancient bus. What would any normal group of college girls do on a night in Athens? Watch Disney's Hercules, of course. When we finished it, we lied on each other on the double wide king size Ikea futons and became slap-happy tired. We sat around a laptop and watch the voice of our generation, Taylor Swift, speak to us through music videos, interviews, and lyrics. We watched parody videos. We talked about home, food, boys, and how much we missed it. We also talked about where we wanted to go next; not just tomorrow, but the next day, the next week, the next ten years. No one talked about their serious futures and no one wanted to go to sleep. If we went to sleep, it would be tomorrow; we would be a day older. We wouldn't be in Athens, on a futon, watching Taylor Swift videos. With youth and wildness and absolute freedom coursing through our veins like the lifeblood that every Jew, Christian, Hindu, Greek, Indian, Japanese, and American human being has within them. We all knew this was where we were meant to be. We were all following our calling, and we were doing it together.

The next day, we went to the Acropolis. And then were very tired. So we got sugary donuts. After eating the sticky loukomades, I had to pack up and head off to the airport! Faylafel say me off to the correct metro, and I was eagerly off to France!