Italy: Day One

A misnomer, perhaps, since today we are in... Athens!

A one-day stopover in Athens. Airport / immigration is nothing. No questions asked, even. Just a stamp and I'm on my way. Metro's closed for renovations, so bussed it downtown. Stopped in at Backpacker's Hostel, an aptly-if-obviously named hostel in the center of the city which is apparently one of the top-ranked hostels in the world.

It certainly lived up to the hype.

The Aussie who was on duty was more than friendly and helpful, and I was soon on my way to see the sights. About a block away (seriously) stood the Acropolis, and I made my way through the ruins. Spent a good half hour just sitting at the theatre of Dionysus, which, for you non-theatre types, is where (roughly) drama as we know it was born. (Of course, the roots of drama go back to the first time one caveman turned to another and told them a story, but let's not split hairs.)

Exploring all the ruins Athens had to offer took... surprisingly less time than I'd imagined. I might've stayed longer if they were accessible -- Here in Israel/Palestine, I've gotten used to ruins just being open for the exploring -- but alas, the Greeks have some sense of preservationism (the horror!), so I was quickly on my way. Had lunch in the medieval part of town, which was so delicious that I've forgotten what it was. I had some sort of Greek beer to go with, which was also forgettable. I really should've been taking notes.

Back at the hostel, my guru told me to grab a bottle or two and head up to Philopapos Hill to watch the sunset. I did, and had a nice short hike through a park to arrive at what's left of the monument there. Had a great view of Athens by night, and the sunset, while hazy, was gorgeous.

Rounded off the night by enjoying a few local Greek microbrews back at the hostel with the random assortment of travelers who were staying there. Myself and a fellow traveler, a Thai-Australian who'd just quit her job and set off to see the world in six months, managed to not get lost in the older part of town when we went to find a decent gyro shop for dinner. Apparently if you order take out, the gyro is about 90% cheaper than dining in. Go figure. Interesting people: the two Australian stewardesses who work for Royal Jordanian, and their tales of life in the air. Amusing people: The three chaps from Iowa, who I'm sure were the life of the party well into the next day. And a girl from New Hampshire, about ten minutes from where my family is based in the state, who left early for a flight to Barcelona.

Decided against going on the pub crawl at 11pm, as my flight to Italy was due out in the morning and I didn't feel like being hung over when I saw Beth. Had a transit scare, as there were strikes looming for the next day, so myself and Mitri, a Greek-Canadian decided we were making a break for the airport around 3am. I caught a bit of a nap, and then we went out and grabbed the bus. Spent some time at the airport trying to keep each other awake before finding a food court, where I treated myself to a delicious dinner/midnight/early breakfast of pizza and Murphy's. In the correct glass. At a self-service food court. Europe is weird.

Mitri and I had to part ways after checking in, as we were in different terminals. I spent the remaining three hours napping in a TV lounge, before boarding an Aegean flight to Milan.

Recap:
SIGHTS: The Acropolis, Parthenon, Theatre of Dionysus (I could've stayed for a day just there), a whole lot of rocks, drunken Iowans (go figure).

FOOD: I forget lunch. Dinner, which was a whole lot cheaper, was amazingly good. I passed on the gyro (shwarma here is the same thing) and went for the non-shaved meat. Delicious.

DRINK: Mythos (standard lager). Alfa, much the same. Zeos, a smaller brewery, with a blue bottle holding a pilsner with little hop bite. And Athenian Brewing's hefeweizen, which was...passable? In all, Greece should probably stick with the Ouzo (from which I refrained entirely).