You Don't Eat Meat, That's Okay I Make Lamb

A couple of weekends ago, I along with some of my friends headed to Greece for the weekend. I had been late jumping on the Greece bandwagon, but I did not take much convincing since I wanted to meet the Poet Sandal maker. He is a famous sandal-maker that makes shoes custom to people's feet. I was obsessed with meeting him. We arrived early evening in Greece and arrived at our hostel.
When we pulled up to our hostel, I was grateful that I had packed my sleep sack... We put our bags down and headed to the downtown city center for dinner, since there was fourteen of us we quickly got roped into eating at a tourist trap. We tried to go to a couple of bars for after dinner drinks, but with a group so large it was difficult. I, along with two other friends, headed back to the hotel since we wanted to get up early in the morning and see sights.
We woke up early to a rainy day, we walked to the end of our street, and found a little place to get some breakfast. Let me say, I was appalled by the prices. A fresh squeezed orange juice was .50 euros and a water .30 euros, a bargain compared to anything in Rome. I wanted to wake up early so that we would be the first in line at the Poet Sandal maker. We arrived 5 minutes before 10 AM (the opening time) to see a sign that said they would be closed for the weekend. I think the only time I have felt disappointment that compares to this is when I dreamed of swimming with dolphins and they proceeded to attack me.
My spirits could only be lifted by a trip to the Acropolis and the Parthenon. We bought a pass that allows you into 6 sites for 30 euros, which I highly recommend for a weekend trip. Walking around the Acropolis was a humbling experience. It is mind-numbing to think about how long these buildings have been around and what it must have taken to build them. As we were leaving, I was walking down and I started to slip down some stairs (no one should be surprised by hearing this.) A very very kind man saw me and asked me if I was okay then we begin talking about Greece and the ecomy and society there in general. He told us that the very touristy part of town is the part of town with all the lights. In the main square (where we had been the night before) one can follow all the lights or there is an area that is not as well lit, he said that tourists are afraid to go to the part that is not as well lit, but that is where all the locals go. He also told us that locals do not eat out very often so that when they do they choose to eat at taverns. A tavern is a Greek restaurant where the server brings over a surplus of dishes and after describing them all people are able to pick which ones they want to eat. After spending a couple of hours walking around we headed down for lunch, we went to a great restaurant called Yard that a friend of mine from school had recommended. I had a delicious gyro (which is actually pronounced like "euro").

One of the cats that wanders around the ruins, I'm convinced they live the life being able to get so close to all these ancient buildings. 

Mariana and the cat! 

The view from the Acropolis 

This was on the drink menu for lunch... Mom let's try to make it this summer 

At this point the weather had really taken a turn for the worse and almost all the sights close at 3PM so we walked down one of the main shopping streets. I had a field day with all of the evil eyes. As the rain really begin to fall, we saw a spa that had the fish that eat the dead skin off your feet. We thought to ourselves get a spa treatment, while escaping the rain...that is right up my alley. After that, we headed back to the hotel for a nap before dinner.
At around eight thirty, we headed back to town to one of the restaurants that the man earlier had recommended. When we arrived there was a long wait so the hostess another tavern for us to try. We walked a bit farther down and we were not disappointed. We arrived and there was a live band singing and playing the guitar. We ordered the most delicious grilled feta (Mom, let's try to make this in Newport this summer). Everything we ate was amazing. From there, we went back to the original restaurant for dancing and it was amazing. Everyone got up whenever the band played a song they liked and did a conga line. It felt so authentic and cool.
We got up in the morning and headed to the National Museum of Archaeology, there was an interesting exhibit on Ulysses, but besides that I did not love the museum. From there, we went to Hadrian's library, and the Temple of Hephaestus, which was beautiful I would equate it to the Greek version of the Borghese Gardens, and the Temple of Olympics. We saw a couple more ruins before heading to the hotel.
While Athens is not the prettiest city, the people could not be kinder and more helpful. I cannot wait to go back and visit.

 Amazing the difference a day makes.