Thursday was our first full free day in Athens since we have been here. Even though we could have slept in, it was nice being able to get up early and not feel rushed. Kylie, Jacquelyn, and I ate breakfast at Dioskouros and then decided to head out and walk around Athens to explore on our own. There were actually some really tough but cool trails around the Acropolis so we walked for a couple of hours and then decided to sit and enjoy a Greek Salad at a cafe in Monasteraki. Let it be known that Kylie and Jacquelyn believe they could live on bread and Greek Salad, if need be, for the rest of their lives...well until we walk by a gelato stand (which exists on about every street corner in Athens). As we enjoyed our gelato and walked through the Monasteraki stores, we met up with Cori, Alaina, and Lo. A helpful tip in Greece: even when a store-keeper says "hi" to you it is better not to answer or just smile because any verbal response usually erupts some long offer to buy something. However, today I broke my own rule and responded to one show owner that we were from the States when he asked where we were from. Well, long story short, this guy lived in Glenview and areas around Chicago and just thought we were the greatest, pinching our cheeks, gurgling at us like babies-it was just so ridiculous that we had to laugh about it. Then he gave us all 1 cent leptas for good luck, asked Kylie to move to Santorini and marry his son; which was our cue to leave.
We returned home, showered, and then Kylie and I headed out for the hospital again for my blood test (looks like this is going to be a weekly event-I am overjoyed as you can all imagine). We made it to the hospital and spent a solid half hour trying to explain to the receptionist why I was there (even though I gave her my receipt from last time to avoid this) and then another 20 minutes (after the fastest blood draw I have ever had) to request my results that day. She insisted I would get it in 2 days-but I think I annoyed her enough to say that I needed it now. I just love how many Greek people know enough English to ask a question but don't know any English responses (Greece Wins Again-GWA). It makes life interesting and it inspired me to just buy a phrase book and learn some more basic Greek for the sake of knowledge-and that I want to make it home to Indiana by Christmas.
As a treat for spending more time in that hospital than I do sleeping, Kylie and I stopped at a local bakery and experienced some fantastic treats and candies. Greek food has yet to disappoint me and I hope it never does. We returned to the hotel, picked up our laundry, hauled it across town, enjoyed some cocktails while waiting, and came back and chilled around the hotel with the gang.
Friday morning I woke up super early to study for my test (note: I never mention this in any previous posts because I hate studying). We also needed to pack up for Crete and be out of our rooms before we went to the CIG for our test. So after breakfast, we made our way on the metro to the CIG, took the test (not horrible...but who likes tests anyway?), and had the rest of the late morning/early afternoon to chill. So we walked around a bit-I bought my phrase book at this time-and came back to eat lunch at the hotel. Around 5pm we got on the metro to Piraeus (the port of Athens) and I met some pretty cute Navy guys on the metro. Apparently, the U.S.S. Enterprise was in Athens for a few days and over 5,000 Navy personnel were in town (we did notice a lot more American men during these few days in Athens). Anyway, one was from Illinois and went to U of I and the other was from Alabama-they were really sweet and it was nice to have a conversation with Americans that didn't act like tourists (because, clearly, we are European travelers, right Kylie?). So we got off at Piraeus, ate the best gyro I have yet (and ordered it in Greek!!), and boarded our ferry to Crete.
Our ferry to Crete (9 hour overnight trip)
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