I was worried the day that Russ was supposed to arrive in Greece. Worried, of course, because number one, I love him terribly and was worried for his safety, but also worried that he would have trouble getting through the airport/finding the hotel/taking the hour long bus ride into Athens, and he was going to hate travelling. I had midterms all that week too, so I definitely did a lot of ab workouts to relax inbetween memorizing my three hundred word vocab list (for the rest of my life, I will never forget the word that I missed... lentillas... contacts!)
Much to my surprise, I received a text at about 8:30 on Thursday morning, saying "I'm here!"... who? Oh yes, Russ's phone not only worked, but he had completely and utterly mastered the bus system, gotten to the hostel, checked in, and made friends with some Greeks, all before he came BACK to the airport to pick me up at one in the morning.
Our weekend started out with his new friend, a matre'd at a restaurant only a few doors down from the hostel. He spoke six languages, and it goes without saying that he was CHATTY. I mean, call me selfish, but I was a little excited to see Russ after 5 weeks, and this guy was taking up my ME time! But he was incredibly nice, his restaurant served great food, and he gave us free shots of ouzo at noon... but I made Russ drink mine :)
We walked around that day, Friday, trying and failing to find an open entrance to the Acropolis. A museum. ANYTHING. But nothing was open. We made almost three complete laps, and from afar saw some amazing four thousand year old buildings and ruins. It was a great day, and even though we didn't actually make it in, we got a lot of walking in... and I bought a pair of Gladiator sandals, so I was happy!
Saturday started out bright and cheery like Friday, so I promptly put on my swimsuit and loaded up on the sunscreen... only to find out when we went outside, that a huge cloud mass was headed our way, following the brisk breeze that was leading it off. So I threw on my jacket for good measure :) We picked a few parks out on our map, after nixing the beach idea. For one, Athens is NOT a tourist friendly city, if you can't speak Greek. Nothing is written in English, and when it comes to finding out directions for the metro, bus system, taxis... you won't find it. Period. No matter what language you speak! But it was all right, because in our search, we found a gorgeous national garden, complete with a animal exhibit (farm animals: goats, donkeys, a horse, chickens, peacocks) and a turtle pond, which naturally was my favorite. But Russ shot down my idea of bringing a turtle back with us...
We decided also to give the Acropolis one more try. And this time it worked, and EVERYTHING was free! It had been a labor day on Friday, and so today they were giving the locals and tourists a day off too. It was amazing. The temple of the Olympic Zeus, where once stood nearly 100 pillars, only 25 remain, but they are completely intact and truly amazing. The gate to Athens, and in the distance, the beautiful Acropolis. We walked through the entire park, and spent a ton of time just WATCHING the history of humanity. Although we were a little late and missed the museums, we definitely decided that this was a city that needed far longer than two days to explore.
And the gyros... let's just say I'm in love. I think I had a gyro for every meal, except when I just had straight lamb. Russ, feeling adventurous, tried the barbequed octopus... EXCELLENT CHOICE.
All in all, and excellent weekend: I was with the man that I love, in a city full of the history of humankind, eating tzatziki... how much better could it get?
Well, I guess another few weeks could have been better... but not by much :)
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