Rick Riordan’s Brainchild

As always, I’ll give you a recap of the week. So before I get to Athens, here‘s a few things I did early on in the week. I visited Cable Street in class to view a mural depicting the Battle of Cable Street, a symbolic victory for the Jewish community over British fascists in the 30s. In my next class, Ed Scott-Clarke, former CNN producer who has a documentary on Netflix, came in as a guest speaker. His focus is on sustainability and nature and, considering that he did not pick up a camera until after he obtained his masters, his work is quite incredible. The following day, I walked along the canal as the sun shone bright to prepare myself for the essays and projects that would follow as soon as I stepped back into my room. I believe they call this “the calm before the storm.” Then, on Wednesday, I visited Spitalfields Market in class, enjoying some wonderful Sri Lankan cuisine. Afterwards, I went on a bookstore tour of the area with my teacher in a program-hosted event. There was one I was attracted to most; I may have to make the trip over once more before I leave in a month. To finish the first half of the week, Riley, Adam and I went to Emirates Stadium, the home of Arsenal, to watch a women’s Champions League quarterfinal leg between Arsenal and Wolfsburg. Arsenal won on a goal in the 89th minute, assisted by American Tobin Heath. After the game, Beth Mead, star English international, took a selfie with the three of us.

Then Thursday came along. Though the day was mostly boring (first came anticipation, second came travel), I eventually found myself in Athens, Greece at 9 pm. The destination that I’ve been looking forward to since I first read the name Percy Jackson in elementary school. And oh, did it live up to my expectations. At around 2:30 am, I got my first view of the Parthenon from a hill across the city. Lit up in all its glory, it was a fitting end to the first night, which was preceded by an amazing gyro dinner consisting of some of the best chicken I’ve ever had. Adam and I were joined by an Italian we befriended in the hostel for a drink and the view following our meal. The beauty of the city was clear then, but the daylight would make it much clearer.

Friday was Greek Independence Day, which is a pretty fun coincidence if you ask me. After finding out upon arrival that the free walking tour our new friend, Roberto, had brought us to was not operating, we walked to the Acropolis to discover it was closed as well. However, the nearby Acropolis Museum was free for the day because of the national holiday. Therefore, we decided to explore in there; the highlight is the Caryatids (6 korai, or female statues) who were used as columns for the Erechtheion, a temple on the Acropolis dedicated to Athena (yes, the Parthenon isn’t the only one). In addition to thousands of other preserved artefacts, the museum is also built over ruins, which you can view both through glass from above and on walkways through them. We were also fortunate enough to take a break on their terrace as fighter jets, helicopters and other air crafts flew through the air for their Independence Day parade. This, combined with an astounding view of the Acropolis, made for a pretty wonderful start to the day.

Afterwards, we headed to Filopappou Hill, which included a monument called The Hill of the Muses and a jail cell that was once home to Socrates. The hill also gave us an incredible view of the city, which seemed to be a common theme, the craggy city it is. All the walking we had done made us hungry, so we headed off to lunch at a place Roberto’s friend had recommended, where we tried a variety of different foods. Roberto emphasized his appreciation for food on holiday (aka vacation), and ordered probably 10 plates to share. Somewhat of a food connoisseur myself, I would describe the food as “quite tasty.” The atmosphere of the restaurant was quite nice as well, with green everywhere you looked.

After lunch we headed over to the Ancient Olympic Stadium, the Panathenaic Stadium. As a lover of all things sport, this was one of the unexpected highlights of my trip. Although the stadium has largely been renovated since its original construction in 330 BC, both in 144 AD and then in 1896 for the first modern Olympics, it is still amazing to see and walk along a place of such history. It also has the altar where the High Priestess lights the Olympic flame for its journey to the host city. After marveling at the sheer size of the stadium and taking in the importance of where we were standing, we headed back to the hostel to relax.

At the hostel, we met many different people; most were Americans, with a few Germans, Dutch and Canadians trickled in. Roberto and I had our lunch leftovers for dinner and we sat there talking to people. My friend Alex arrived during this time as well. After he got settled, Alex, Adam and I went out and soon met up with some of the people we met at the hostel. I was most excited about the gelato I got- I had been craving it all night. After gelato, the group we were with decided to go to a nightclub called Luhan, supposedly the largest one in Athens. It was absolutely packed in there, with cool lights, great music and even a live singer at one point. It was a very cool experience, but at 3 am it was time to go home. Alex and I left together, and, after an unsuccessful attempt by 3 men to mug us in the street, we made it home. That’s a story for another time though- I’ll just say, it was honestly pretty poor execution on their part if you ask me.

I woke up after a nice, resting 4 hours of sleep. Alex, Adam, Roberto and I headed to the Acropolis to see what we had all come here for. The walk up the Acropolis is beautiful in itself, with narrow streets and stray cats all over the place. However, it dims in comparison to the Parthenon once you finally make your way up. Minus the scaffolding, the Parthenon was one of the most beautiful structures I have ever laid eyes on; a large temple with remnants of the artistic carvings along the top dedicated to one of the goddesses I studied religiously as a youngster. I was a bit disappointed because for some reason I thought you could walk through the temple; instead, I was forced to be content with simply beholding the nearly 2,500 year-old piece of history. Close to the Parthenon was the Erechtheion, which had replacement Caryatids holding up the building. After taking this in, looking at the city below me, and taking hundreds of pictures, we headed down the hill, saw what remains of the Theatre of Dionysus from 700-650 BC, and went to lunch. I got a gyro platter once again, although this time I got the pork instead of the chicken (they were equally delicious). Also, I got my coke bottle from here (for those of you who don’t know, I try to get a coke bottle from each place I go, though I forgot to in Wales and Scotland).

After lunch, we stumbled upon the Monument to the Unknown Soldier and the Athens Academy on our walk back to the hostel. After a bit of rest, Alex and I went to the beach Atki Vouliagmenis, though it was too cold at this point to swim. We sat and admired the view for a bit before getting dinner (a kebab pita and eggplant salad) and heading back. Once I got back, I crashed.

The next morning, I woke up early to go to the Archaeology Museum before my flight back. As I was rushed, I only spent about an hour and 15 minutes there but, in my eyes, it was probably the best museum I’ve ever been to. Essentially everything in there was from BC, and many of the statues depicted Greek Gods and Goddesses. It was amazing, so I suppose I’ll just have to return one day. Then, after that, it was time to leave. Although it went by quickly, I was very pleased with how much I had gotten done and my overall experience. To be able to say I’ve crossed both London and Athens off my list, and soon to be Paris, is truly wonderful. You could say I have already crossed off Paris, but I’m not sure a vacation you don’t remember counts.

Until next time.

Cheers