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Two weekends ago, I took my final trip in Europe to Athens, Greece.

 

To be honest, I didn’t know what to expect for this trip. I had booked my flight with a friend from Penn State in the very beginning of the semester, before the economy took a turn for the worse. I was slightly afraid of a riot starting and me being caught in the middle of it. However, I kept my eye on the news and when the weekend came along, it looked like it was going to be fine in the country.

 

I didn’t get to my hostel until late in the evening, and my friend Juliana had arrived before me. We decided to get dinner and do a night walk through the main part of the city. I didn’t realize how much I had missed feta cheese until I started eating my Greek salad. I eat it all the time at home, but since coming to Spain I haven’t had any at all. So, we happily ate our dinner and then walked through the city planning what we wanted to do the next day.

 

On Saturday, we woke up early so that we could get as much packed into the day as possible. The first thing that we did was take a bus to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon. Although the ride took over an hour and a half each way, the few hours that we sacrificed in travel were definitely worth it. The view from the top of the mountain was absolutely stunning, and I was able to see for miles in every direction. Juliana and I were alone on this mountain for awhile, and it blew our minds to think about how we were the only people at that point in time who were standing on a piece of serious ancient history.

After we got back to Athens, we took the journey up to the top of the Acropolis to see the legendary ancient remains of the Parthenon and Temple of Athena. Although the ruins were seemingly just a bunch of giant rocks, I find it incredible that what remains from the original buildings is actually still there. These buildings are thousands of years old, and (though with the help of modern supports) parts of them are still standing! It is just amazing to me.

Not only were the buildings cool to see, but also the view of the city beneath us was spectacular. We were able to see the whole city, all the way out to the Mediterranean Sea. We could also see other sites around the city from so high up, such as the Temple of Zeus and the Olympic Stadium.

The next day Juliana had an early flight back to Paris, so I was on my own to explore the city until my flight later in the afternoon. Because Juliana had done it before I arrived on Friday, I decided to visit the Ancient Agora and the Temple of Zeus. The huge area of the Ancient Agora had been the center of the Athenian government thousands of years ago. Unfortunately, it is not quite as intact as the temples at the top of the Acropolis, but it was still fascinating to see the ruins and read the information cards telling what every single building was used for. There wasn’t much to see at the Temple of Olympian Zeus except for the few columns that are still standing and the Arch of Hadrian, but just like the Acropolis, it was interesting to see the ruins while knowing how important the areas once were way in the past.

I have mixed feelings about Athens. I loved seeing all of the ancient ruins because I am really interested in the Greek Empire portion of history. I always find it fascinating what they were able to do with so little technology, such as building all of these monstrous temples. However, I did not like the city itself. It felt very dirty and lifeless to me. The buildings all looked the same, and that look was a very dull, grey sight. I know there are beautiful parts of Greece, such as the island Santorini, and some day I hope to travel there so that I can get a better view of the Greece that I was hoping to see.

Location: Athens, Greece