It's been another 3 days since our last post. The wi-fi in our new hostel is just a tad bit better than the hostel in Athens. Sorry! We're trying.
We left off at the cafe with the tasty milkshakes. Did we mention that the waiter saw us and immediately knew out order? Yep. Didn't even give us a menu. Just confirmed one chocolate and one vanilla milkshake and brought them out. After we'd finished the post, we made our way to the Roman Agora. On the way, we ran into our hostelmate, Steph, and her Icelandic friend, AK. We exchanged touristy tips and made plans to meet for dinner.
When we arrived, the Roman Agora was closed so we went on the Hadrian's Library. This was also closed. We settled for hanging out at a cafe with a glass of wine and booking our Roman accommodations. We met for dinner at 20:00 and went in search of a reasonably priced restaurant. Kaylea suggested that we explore a staircase that led to a back entrance of the Acropolis. There we found a restaurant with outdoor seating. We all agreed on a mixed appetizer. It was mostly various cheeses and spinach, but it was gooood. Again, firearms dominated a good part of the conversation. We also decided to share a 4 person meal that wasn't too pricey. The amount of food was horrendous. It turns out that none of us particularly cared for pork, but agreed because the rest of the small group agreed. The waiter brought out a free dessert that no one ordered, accompanied with 4 shots of a clear liquid. We toasted and threw them back. It was a mild, piney spirit; not too bad. When the waiter came to check on us, he exclaimed that we were supposed to wait until after we finished the dessert before taking the shots. We apologized and joked that we'd be willing to try again, and the waiter said he'd be back with more. We finished the dessert and drank the sweet drink, correctly this time.
It was a good night. Kaylea made friends with one of the collared street dogs. It was old and sad. Aaron had to pull Kaylea away.
The beginning of day six was spent in and out of coffee shops and internet cafes. We had many chores to get done, including printing our boarding tickets for our Ryanair flight. We decided to add another destination to our Italy tour. We'll be doing something mildly risky. You can read about it next week, if we survive. The rest of the day was spent exploring Hadrain's Library and the Ancient Agora. The Agora is home to a museum and the best-preserved Grecian temple in Athens. Also, its has great views of the Acropolis.
In the museum, Kaylea found a bust that was an exact prediction of Old Aaron. There were also impressive statues and artifacts from thousands of years ago. On our walk between attractions, we came upon a beggar who was missing both hands and covered in severe burn scars. Taking pity on him, Aaron gave him all of our change. Before we could walk away, a woman peddling skinny roses began shoving roses in Aaron's pockets. We sternly said "no" and tried to hand the flowers back, but the woman was persistent. She began to speak sweetly and gestured to the begging man. She kept saying "You take, You take" while reaching to touch our faces, even though we explained that we had given all our money to the man on the street. She was so persistent that we thought she was just thanking us for helping her friend by giving us flowers. Naive us. We turned away with the roses she put her hand out and demanded "MONEY". We immediately handed her back the flowers and walked away. Later we saw a family being similarly persuaded by a young woman on the Plaka.
We had a late lunch at a cafe with a direct view of the Agora and the Acropolis. The cafe served the best Club Sandwich that Aaron had ever experienced. Kayea's crepe was pretty good too. The milkshakes were mediocre. We decided to turn in since we had and early train to catch to the airport.
We were rudely awoken by our new roommate (Steph had left for the islands with AK), whom we had told earlier that we were waking up early and needed sleep. This new companion was screaming out the window "shut the f**k up!" and "I can hear every "f**king word!". She also turned off the A/C and argued that she couldn't sleep with it on, even though it was blazing hot. She then opened the window next to her bed to give herself some circulation, making the voices in the garden easier to hear.
About thirty minutes later, another new roommate came in and turned on the lights. Its 1:30 in the morning at this point, and we were baffled by the lack of hostel etiquette. As we were attempting to fall back asleep, we heard a loud roar. This would be our crazy German roommate snoring like a dragon. Kaylea immediately got up, went down to the desk, and requested a private room. After explaining the situation, we were granted a free upgrade. Woot! We got four hours of peaceful sleep.
P.S. We're halfway through our trip. Here's another list of things we've learned
We left off at the cafe with the tasty milkshakes. Did we mention that the waiter saw us and immediately knew out order? Yep. Didn't even give us a menu. Just confirmed one chocolate and one vanilla milkshake and brought them out. After we'd finished the post, we made our way to the Roman Agora. On the way, we ran into our hostelmate, Steph, and her Icelandic friend, AK. We exchanged touristy tips and made plans to meet for dinner.
When we arrived, the Roman Agora was closed so we went on the Hadrian's Library. This was also closed. We settled for hanging out at a cafe with a glass of wine and booking our Roman accommodations. We met for dinner at 20:00 and went in search of a reasonably priced restaurant. Kaylea suggested that we explore a staircase that led to a back entrance of the Acropolis. There we found a restaurant with outdoor seating. We all agreed on a mixed appetizer. It was mostly various cheeses and spinach, but it was gooood. Again, firearms dominated a good part of the conversation. We also decided to share a 4 person meal that wasn't too pricey. The amount of food was horrendous. It turns out that none of us particularly cared for pork, but agreed because the rest of the small group agreed. The waiter brought out a free dessert that no one ordered, accompanied with 4 shots of a clear liquid. We toasted and threw them back. It was a mild, piney spirit; not too bad. When the waiter came to check on us, he exclaimed that we were supposed to wait until after we finished the dessert before taking the shots. We apologized and joked that we'd be willing to try again, and the waiter said he'd be back with more. We finished the dessert and drank the sweet drink, correctly this time.
(Photobomb credit: AK from Iceland)
The beginning of day six was spent in and out of coffee shops and internet cafes. We had many chores to get done, including printing our boarding tickets for our Ryanair flight. We decided to add another destination to our Italy tour. We'll be doing something mildly risky. You can read about it next week, if we survive. The rest of the day was spent exploring Hadrain's Library and the Ancient Agora. The Agora is home to a museum and the best-preserved Grecian temple in Athens. Also, its has great views of the Acropolis.
In the museum, Kaylea found a bust that was an exact prediction of Old Aaron. There were also impressive statues and artifacts from thousands of years ago. On our walk between attractions, we came upon a beggar who was missing both hands and covered in severe burn scars. Taking pity on him, Aaron gave him all of our change. Before we could walk away, a woman peddling skinny roses began shoving roses in Aaron's pockets. We sternly said "no" and tried to hand the flowers back, but the woman was persistent. She began to speak sweetly and gestured to the begging man. She kept saying "You take, You take" while reaching to touch our faces, even though we explained that we had given all our money to the man on the street. She was so persistent that we thought she was just thanking us for helping her friend by giving us flowers. Naive us. We turned away with the roses she put her hand out and demanded "MONEY". We immediately handed her back the flowers and walked away. Later we saw a family being similarly persuaded by a young woman on the Plaka.
We had a late lunch at a cafe with a direct view of the Agora and the Acropolis. The cafe served the best Club Sandwich that Aaron had ever experienced. Kayea's crepe was pretty good too. The milkshakes were mediocre. We decided to turn in since we had and early train to catch to the airport.
We were rudely awoken by our new roommate (Steph had left for the islands with AK), whom we had told earlier that we were waking up early and needed sleep. This new companion was screaming out the window "shut the f**k up!" and "I can hear every "f**king word!". She also turned off the A/C and argued that she couldn't sleep with it on, even though it was blazing hot. She then opened the window next to her bed to give herself some circulation, making the voices in the garden easier to hear.
About thirty minutes later, another new roommate came in and turned on the lights. Its 1:30 in the morning at this point, and we were baffled by the lack of hostel etiquette. As we were attempting to fall back asleep, we heard a loud roar. This would be our crazy German roommate snoring like a dragon. Kaylea immediately got up, went down to the desk, and requested a private room. After explaining the situation, we were granted a free upgrade. Woot! We got four hours of peaceful sleep.
P.S. We're halfway through our trip. Here's another list of things we've learned
- Koalas don' get high off eucalyptus leaves (thanks Steph, my perception of Australia is completely shattered.)
- Beggars are sneaky
- Despite his minimalism, Aaron can't live out of a backpack
- The ancient Greeks painted everything. (It wasn't all white!?! Eww. (haha, we all idealize Grecian white marble but it was painted with primary colors!))
- The British Museaum is kind of a dick
- Everyone thinks all Texans own a gun.
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