The Hefty One.

*stretches* I guess that was a pretty good sleep, bed was hard but I slept right through.

After we went to the Acropolis Museum we went back to the hotel for about an hour and then about 17 of us went to The Hill of the Muses for sunset/night shots of Athens. It was totally spectacular there was this winding path leading up the hill and then on the top this monument which was like half a wall with a statue (I’m guessing of a muse) and a straight on view of the whole Acropolis site it lit up after dark was so great! Then after (by this point there were only a few of us left) we headed back to the hotel to go to Strophies. The view from the restaurant was amazing! All Acropolis, all the time. The food, despite Geoffrey’s ravings, wasn’t fantastic but good enough to fill me up. After there was just lots of sleeping! Untill 8 the next day -.- Ugg earliness.


The next morning we visited the South Slope of the Acropolis which is like the entertainment district of the ancients. Theater of Dionysus was pretty sweet, we could only walk on a certain row of seats, but you could see the back of the stage with all the carvings and the “high class” chairs were still mostly intact. After we headed to the Roman Agora, or city center of Athens, which had a “House of Simon” and we made him (the real Simon) pose, also museum full of angsty guards and of course the HUGE, most intact temple in Athens *drumroll* the Temple of Athens and Hephaestus. Which was spectacular, no statues which I really love, but still an almost perfect condition temple is rare. Also Socrates walked there, seriously awesome.Next was the National Museum which I wish we had more time in, but I got a lot of pictures. Most exciting was the first part where we got to see the Mask of Agamemnon! :D Soooooo cooool. Tru Dat. We had to rush through the classical statues *sigh* but it was still worth it. Bought lots of souvenirs in the gift shop though since they were not 3,300 euroes, but only 33. Haha. Took us (me, Leesa and Amanda) forever to decide what to buy but eventually settled on stuff for 100 or below (that’s me!) I wouldn't reveal what we bought in case they are for presents ;)
From the National Museum we took the metro to....this hill (see below) I can’t remember the name i’m sorry. On the way though Geoffrey got pick pocketed! We were getting on the metro train being pushed in by al these other people, so me and Leesa went in the other door. But, as the next stop came we heard Shannon yell to us to get off, so a little confused we did and then saw Geoffrey yell something in Greek and push this dude, almost in the throat, with his arm and then got off the train. Oh, he was so upset and repressing it. I mean he was really good about it but this happened even after he lost his camera bag (which he found, thank goodness it had his passport in it to). What an unlucky day eh? So when that was all over with, we parted ways; me, Shannon, Katie and Rebecca to the top of the hugest hill in Athens (about a 30 min walk, including the massive set of stairs to get to the base of the mountain) which was nice but it was cloudy and not as breathtaking as the Hill of the Muses night. I think there was some alter of some Saint man, with a big bell, and a cafe! Which looked very pricey so we didn’t go.
The next day we headed to Poros! It was a looooong looong drive from Athens to Killini (I think) the port for our ferry, which according to Geoffrey was “very similar to the ferries in Vancouver”, only it about 100 times nicer. Arriving at about 7ish we settled into our apartments and prepared for our welcome dinner at Pantelis, where we get discounts! XD

For the next three days we all spent our time mostly on the beach, shopping for food supplies and pretty much doing nothing.
The week didn’t start to get interesting until wednesday, our first day of digging! It’s about a 30 minute drive from our hotel to the site, through windy roads and very precarious corners of cliff edges! I mean, seriously steep, like nothing in the rockies you could ever imagine. Simply amazing. Once we all arrived, trying not to fall off the edges of the road Geoffrey gave us a tour of the site, basic this is here, and this is this old kinda logistic stuff. Then there was much sitting while he, Yuria, and Odysseus (and yes, I’m dead serious his name is Odysseus, it’s freaking awesome. He’s the representative to the Archaeology society in Athens watching us. Coincidence, I think not!) made plans for the day. We didn’t end up doing anything exciting, just clearing the site and preparing it for excavating the next day! Which we didn’t do. Because it rained, a lot. So as a group we decided to go to Argastoli to go North American shopping! We didn’t get a huge chunk of time IN the city to shop (I wanted a dress, everyone else does and I feel lonely being like the only one) in fact I think we had more time at the “super market” (not) than in the city. The museum wasn’t anything to jump up for joy about either. I am glad we went on friday because we were supposed to do both Fiscardo and Argastoli in one day, but that would have been going around the entire island in one day which would have been mostly bus and just ridiculous.
I’m almost caught up, and I promise the posts will get shorter. So on friday the 18th, we went to Fiscardo and Assos. It’s about an hour and half through windy roads and little towns to Assos, a the cute not overly touristy town attached to this land growth which housed a Medieval castle used to protect certain cities from the pirates which used attack Kefalonia on a regular basis. Me, Leesa, Amanda and few others didn’t walk to the top which I am kinda glad about because the city was cute and the castle wasn’t as spectacular as Geoffrey and Heti (the Greece side organizer of our trip) convinced us it was. Equally disappointing was Fiscardo, the Northern most town of Kefalonia. It was supposedly the only town which survived the 1953 earthquake (8.9 Richter, holy crapola right?) and was supposed to have all this cool old architecture, and a Roman Odeon. Ha! a likely story to reel in suckers like us. It was really touristy, and there was almost no old architecture and the Odeon was like one seat. So I think most of us were pretty disappointed especially because the weather was perfect for fabulous pictures! Gah! You know what I dislike very much? People taking pictures of me while I sleep! You know who you are! *leery eyes and pointy fingers* This was the story of the bus ride back, it was only one picture, but certainly not a glamourous one. I think I will only fake sleep on the bus from now on, and keep the element of surprise in reserve for a special occasion...

This is the last part which I have not wrote about, and guess what? It only happened yesterday which means…I'm all caught up! Huzah! *dances like at the end of zelda*

Yesterday (whoo!) at about 4pm we got to take/drive a glass bottom boat to this little beach only accessible by boat to have a grand Greek Barbecue with cucumber girl to boy passing and all! And yes, it really is the dirty thing your thinking. Remember that orange game we played in elementary school? Like that...but lower. So after swiming, and finding cool rocks, and stuffing our faces full of free food we headed back to the harbor in Poros, having a dancing party on the boat. When we arrived me and Shannon received a kiss on the cheek from a very friendly Finnish tourist on our trip and we decided to go to the bar in Poros. I was back and forth for the longest time deciding to go or not go. Luckly when they all were making their way down past the common room, upset that I didn’t want to go, Brayden dragged me over the balcony and carried me part of the way down the hill, so I went. And I had a ton of fun! Dancing at a bar, which we rearranged to be able to dance. I don’t usually drink a ton but I did have a few Smirnoffs and a cinnamon shot, which was very very tasty. Leesa gained a creepy stalker Greek man (who was definitely not 27 O.o) who wasn’t really harmless, just buzzed up a bit. I didn’t really like it, and would have left if that happened to me. We left at about 2ish and I hit the hay at about 2:30am; the latest I’ve stayed up in Poros so far. I think that’s it!

And today, I wrote this, and slept in and now I’m going to go make my peroges (maybe) and potatoes with oregano, basil, olive oil and le lemon. Nummy!

Oh by the way, we have a Harry Potter House Sorting Hat count!

Gryffindor: Myself, Amanda, Mike, Rebecca.
Hufflepuff: Leesa, Cassandra, Shannon.
Ravenclaw: Nela.
Slytherin: Simon.

There is more, I just can't remember now.