Finale: Beach, Gardens and the Movies

Today was our final day In Greece. We slept in a little bit, then hatched a plan. First, we went to the market for provisions.  I got partially scolded for not stopping at the end of the produce aisle without weighing our bananas. Whoops! They do that here. We walked to the Temple of Zeus ruins and did a lap. Then, we found the tram. The city public transportation system consists of buses, subways and trams. We took the coastal tram south (and managed to pay properly!) outside of the city limits where it proceeded to rain.  We stopped for lunch at Goody's, a American style burger place that isn't particularly fast.  Then, we walked to the beach. I insisted on putting my feet in, even though I didn't take off my hoodie.  

It was nice to relax on the beach and the sun even peeked out. We knew the weather was iffy but figured the train ride would be nice. It isn't exactly beach season here yet, there were still some die hards around, fishing and swimming.  

We found our way home and wove our way through the gardens near the Parliament. They were lush and green, but there was an absence of other colors.  After a gelato break in Plaka, we arrived home to change for the movies.

I did some research on an ex-pat site online to find a movie theater that would be showing The Great Gatsby in English.  Using google maps, we found subway directions. Unfortunately, google gives Subway stop names in all capital letters and in Greek. Greeks give subway stop names in Greek with a mix of capital and lowercase letters.  Between the linguist and the mechanical engineer, we had been able to identify enough Greek letters to find our way to the Athens Metro Mall.  

The mall was typical and we found our way to the movie theater which was dead.  We reserved our seats and wandered through the mall a little before the show started. There was a wellness fair going on so before the movie, a woman was performing a stripper pole workout routine on a stage, and after the movie, there was a giant Zumba class.  The movie was good. Very Baz Luhrman. 

We are mostly packed and drinking beer in our room while watching tv. Tomorrow morning we are heading to the airport and I am heading home, while Jenny is off to Amsterdam.  

This trip was so awesome, but I'm excited to go home. I am ready for laundry and my TiVo. I think this will be my last post, so thank you for reading!! 

Photos:

Temple of Zeus

The Beach

Cheers!

Athens Exploration

Today was our first day without our group. A few people were still in Athens today between planned extensions and the nonsense with the air traffic controllers.  After breakfast and a lobby meeting (we can only really communicate via wi-fi and prearranged meetings here), we headed to the Acropolis Museum. We had heard that it was essentially everything they uncovered at the Parthenon would be there.  Even though we have been living down the street from the museum all week, I hadn't really noticed how beautiful and thoughtful the building was until we approached it on foot. The museum was recently ranked 3rd in the world. It is built over ongoing excavations and has glass floors built over it.  We weren't allowed to take photos inside, but it was really cool. I liked how the floor plan mimicked that of the original Parthenon. 

After the museum visit, the 5 of us went to lunch in the neighborhood to plan our next move.  Emma and Zach headed off to check into their hostel, while Richard, Jenny and I set out to climb Lycrabettus hill to see St. George's Church.  Thus began the adventure of navigating Athens and not speaking Greek. Google advised us to take the number 230 bus, then pick up a tram to the top of the mountain.  We figured out the bus without much incident, but couldn't figure out how to pay for our fares.  We people watched intently and didn't see many people paying, so we didn't. We still haven't stopped talking about how we got a free bus ride. Being in a city that is in financial crisis, makes free public transportation rides seem so unethical.  Upon our arrival in Ika (neighborhood), we began to search for this tram. The benefit of planning to go to a place on the top of a mountain is that you can see where you are headed, but when you can't find the tram and figure you'll just start walking in the right direction.....

We ended up "urban hiking" on the carved paths and paved roads all the way to the top. Near the church and cafe, we met a lovely retired couple from New City, NY.  They were hilarious, and also had trouble finding the tram.  When we finally climbed the last stair to the cafe, Richard grabbed a Coke Light (he is in talks for an endorsement deal) and we took pictures and visited the chapel. I can't imagine who would have ever worshipped there.  What was unclear to us before we reached the top is that we were significantly higher in elevation than the acropolis. The views were amazing and I'm glad we went even if it meant walking uphill. When we went to the WC (bathroom) we found the elusive tram and bought tickets for a ride down (€3.50 per person). 

We walked the rest of the way through the neighborhood to the subway station where we got to experience yet another form of public transportation.  Only in Athens are there relics in the subway stations. We paid for our fares on this trip, but it appeared that the turnstiles were invisible and nothing was stopping you from just walking through. Dear Greece, we have some ideas for Revenue sources.  The subway system was built for then Olympics so it is very new and very clean. 

When we got back to the neighborhood, we had a snack and I managed to FaceTime with Mom & Tess who may or may not have been in an art museum in Phillie. Jenny and I are now sitting in a Chinese restaurant (she is the only Asian in sight) and playing on our tablets. We are exhausted. Tomorrow is our last day and we are hoping for some sun! Can't believe this trip is almost over, but I am beginning to miss home.  

Photos: 

Acropolis view from the museum terrace

Coke Light! 

St. George's Church 

 

A tower, a spice bazaar and a bath house.

Our program isn't scheduled to start until tomorrow so we had the day to explore Istanbul.

We started with breakfast in the hotel which was very good. Luckily, I like Greek yogurt. After a quick game plan session and a room reassignment, we were on our way. We decided to walk the city armed with paper maps instead of navigating public transportation. I am starting to experience iPhone and GPS withdrawals, but I feel like this will be a healthy cleanse for me.

We are staying in Taksim square which is on the Asian side of Istanbul. We headed toward the Bosphorus and stopped at the Galata tower. We paid to take the elevator to the top and took several pictures. It was a great way to see the city from up high. After playing in that neighborhood for a bit, we crossed the Galata bridge to head to the Spice Bazaar.

We arrived on the other side of the river around lunch time and found that we were again met with several initiations to eat. Us girls are getting much better at saying no. One guy even tried to block us from walking past, but I didn't have to push him, thankfully. Personal space is definitely different in Turkey. I'm almost getting used to having strangers in my personal bubble. Almost. We ate at what I would describe as a sidewalk cafe. I had an awesome lamb wrap. Jenny and Alyssa both had grilled chicken and Ayran drinks. It's like a yogurt smoothie. After eating, we explored the Spice Bazaar and purchased a few gifts for our families.

In the bazaar, we got to experience the wonder of Turkish public toilets. Each visit costs 1 Turkish Lire, less than 50 cents. We visited several of these "WC" places today. In the women's bathrooms, there are a mix of western toilets and toilets that are really just holes in the floor that flush. As a semi-experienced former Girl Scout and as a former Boston college student, I was pleased with how my squatting skills have come in handy in my adulthood. Most of these restrooms are pretty gross, not going to lie.

After the bazaar, we wandered to a park on the south end of the European side of Istanbul. The park had a lovely tiered cafe overlooking the Bosphorus. where we had tea and got to rest for a few minutes.

After a walk in the park, we trekked through the city to find the bathhouse we had scouted out the evening before online. I'm blanking on the name right now, but its almost 12:30am here. The bathhouse was an experience. For about 85 lire, we got a traditional bath and a clay face mask. The traditional bath involves lying on a large marble platform in a semi-steam room. When it is your turn, a Turkish woman will call you over to the edge for your bath. I should mention, that we are all lying around on small tablecloths wearing disposable bikini bottoms.....and that's it. The bathhouse is segregated by gender so you sort of pretend to not be embarrassed until you've seen so much nipple, that you forget it's unusual. The actual bath was interesting. You get a full body exfoliation, and then a bit of a massage. After, you are led to a sink and your new Turkish grandmother is washing your hair and rinsing you off with a bowl. You finish by soaking in the hot tubs, without supervision. The clay mask came after and it was amazing. My skin feels very soft and clean.

After the Çemerlitas bathhouse, we took a train across the river and ate dinner near the Galata tower. I had some amazing spaghetti bolognese. We cabbed it back to the hotel, and here we are. I got to Skype with Mom and Jeff for a minute, in case anyone is worried I have a ghost writer and have been kidnapped. Nope, I'm alive and well!!

Tomorrow the program starts, I expect less adventure but am excited nonetheless. Good night!!

Photos: Jenny & I at Galata Tower, the bathhouse from the train station, A selfie from the cafe in the park