Athens

This past week I took a little solo trip to Athens, Greece. I was a little nervous going by myself but it worked out great because I was able to do what I wanted when I wanted to do it. A little selfish but I enjoyed my time there. The first thing I did when I got to Athens was to find my hostel, Athens Backpackers. Jackie recommended I stay there and it was really nice. The first night I was there, I was the only one in my room with six bunks to choose from. After I checked in, I decided to check out the Acropolis, the Parthenon, and a lot of other ancient things. While touring the sites, I found that taking pictures with me in them was a bit of a challenge. I asked people a few times and tried to take them myself. One time I wanted to climb some ancient building so I was trying to set up my timer and run over and climb. I was having some trouble getting my camera to stay so this man offered to help. As soon as I was climbing, some starting whistling at me and yelling at me to get off the ancient structure. The man with the camera was friendly and said, hang on, gotta get the picture, so it worked out. I was surprised to get yelled at because in Cyprus they let you climb on anything. Oh well I gotta good picture out of it. After checking out some of the ancient ruins, I went to see the Olympic Stadium from the first modern Olympics in 1896. It was cool to see where the first Olympics originated. I wish I could have gone on the track but they didn't allow that. After the Olympic Stadium, I went to Syntagma square and found all of the shops. It was neat to see all of the little streets with shops and see the Acropolis at night. Overall, it was a successful first day in Athens.

Day 2 of Athens featured me going to the Olympic site from the 2004 Olympics. I hopped on the Metro and found my way to the Olympic stadium. I was expecting to see a couple more people there but it was basically just me checking out the stadiums. It seemed like all of the buildings were abandoned and I wondered if there were any events that still happen there. The swimming pool is still used but it seemed like it was mainly used for recreation. It was really cool to see all of the stadiums but kind of sad at the same time. After the stadiums, I went to a mall that was near there. I didn't realize this at the time but I had to stay at the Mall for a very long time. When I was sick of being at the mall I went to find the metro which was conveniently right outside of the mall. I couldn't figure out how to get on, it looked like it was closed but I was like it can't be closed, not at 3 in the afternoon. I saw another metro that was running so I decided to just hop on and figure out from there. Not the best idea I ever had as I just went on for 2 stops and it turned back around back to the mall. After getting off on that stop, I decided to walk back to the Olympic stadium metro because I knew that worked since I got on it. Walked over there to find out, that was also closed. I asked someone nearby and they told me that the metro was on strike till 5. So I walked back to the mall and read my book for the next couple of hours and waited for the strike to be over. While waiting for the metro to arrive, more and more people started to come. The first train was packed and there was no way I could get on the train. I waited for the second train which was a little less packed, but packed nonetheless. After a hot uncomfortable ride back, I made it unharmed and wallet still with me. I got off the stop at Syntagma square and walked around there. I finally made it back to my hostel where I was welcomed by two guys that were staying with me. One guy was from Canada and the other guy was from South Africa. It was nice to actually talk to someone and hang out with them while in Athens. All three of us decided to head down to the Sports bar and Karaoke. While there we met some more Canadians and had a great time hanging out.

The next day I decided to head to Pireaus (Port) to try to catch a ferry and check out a Greek Island. When I bought the ticket I wasn't quite sure where I was but thought I would figure it out. I ended up taking the ferry for 40 minutes to an island called Aegina. I walked around the downtown area for a while and decided to rent a moped to check out more of the island. It was really fun, I think I was riding around for 2 hours. I went up to the mountains, took some videos while I was driving, saw more of what I thought Greece was like, and had fun. After riding on the moped for while, I decided to head back to Athens. When I got back to Athens, I took a nap and then headed to dinner with all of my roommates from the hostel. There were six of us that went to dinner and we had a good time trying Greek food and visiting. After dinner, I went back with one of my roommates, Ryan from Reno, because we both had flights at 7 in the morning. It was nice to have someone to go with to the airport to make sure I made it here. All in all it was a really nice trip. I was able to see a lot of cool things and have some fun getting to know other people. Here are some pictures from my trip.

The Olympic Swimming Pool.

Outside the Olympic Area.

The Acropolis

The Parthenon.

Theater of Dionysos

Easter in Cyprus

Easter in Cyprus is a huge holiday, much bigger than Christmas. The Cypriots spend almost 5 days celebrating the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus. Jackie and I decided to see what it was all about so we celebrated with our manager's family. On Thursday night, our manager's wife, Theresa, picked us up and we went to church with them at St. Lazarus's Church. We have walked by the church a few times but have not been inside until Thursday. The church was built during the medieval times and was really cool inside. At church we saw Jesus being crucified, he was put up on a cross and the priest showed him around the church. The church was packed, there were no seats in sight, so we stood on top of the stairs and tried to see from afar. We arrived late at the service but apparently that is commonplace as the church service is very long. We got there around 8 and the service was to go until midnight. We didn't stay very long because we couldn't understand anything as they were talking in ancient Greek. Anyways, it was very cool to see and go to a church in a different country.

The next night, Jackie's friend Jess came into town, and we went to check out church again for Good Friday. Theresa picked us up again and we went to St. Lazarus' Church. However, this time there was no chance of getting into the church. There were people just packed outside of the church preparing for Jesus' funeral. We waited outside until the band came out, the "girl scouts" marched by, the priests, mayor, and finally Jesus covered in flowers proceeded throughout the city of Larnaca. The processional goes around the city and stops by other churches who join in and have a ceremony in the middle of the city. After watching the processional at the church, we walked to Theresa's aunt's house to wait for the processional to come by again so we could get a much better look at it. At the house, we had wine, beer, and food and chatted with the family and had a great time. Finally, the processional came by and it was really cool to see. It was somewhat emotional for some because it was like you were seeing a real funeral procession. After the procession went by, the priests gave Theresa's mother holy water so she put it on our hands and we put it on our faces. So now Jackie, Jess, and I are holy I guess. The next day, the church takes down all of the black cloth (that is put up all around the church) and there is a huge celebration. Church service basically runs the full day until 1 in the morning. Throughout the whole night there were pipe bombs and fireworks going off. We decided not to take part in this part of the Easter because we went to the beach instead.

On Saturday, Jackie, Jess, and I went to the beach in Agia Napa. It was a gorgeous day and we were able to get a ton of sun, play some beach volleyball, and jump off of a 2 story boat. There was this party boat that came close to the beach so we decided to swim out to the boat to see if we could jump off of it too. It took about 20 minutes just to get there but all we did was hop on the boat, go to the second story, and then jumped off. After we jumped off, we swam back to shore. After spending a few hours at the beach we headed to a Mexican restaurant where there were sombreros, ponchos, guns, and bulls. Naturally this all means that I need to take a picture wearing a sombrero and poncho, holding a gun, while riding a bull. After going bull riding, we headed back home to prepare for tomorrows lamb roast.

On Easter Sunday, we went to Theresa's mother's house for lots of Cypriot food. There was a full lamb roasting, along with pork kebabs, and other crazy meats. There were also some bird heads and meat that were on a table and our manager, Xenios, just took a head, beak and all, and put it in his mouth and ate it. The bird heads were from those normal little birds that you see flying all the time. It was just crazy and I was not about to try and eat a beak. Aside from little bird heads, there was a ton of food to try including lamb, potatoes, pasta salad, and other meats that I wasn't quite sure of what it was. Some of it was great, some not for me, but it was an experience. After stuffing our faces with Cypriot food, we talked with most everyone, had desserts, and played with the kids. I did learn a new game from Aleksandra and Andreas that they had a blast with. It was called pikachu and it was basically like rock paper scissors, except if you lost, you got slapped in the face. It was a pretty fun game for all three of us involved.

I hope everyone has a great Easter. Wish I was back home to celebrate but have fun. Happy Easter.

Here are some pictures from Easter.

Jesus's Funeral.

Americans plus Estonian at Cypriot Easter.

Putting basil on the lamb.
Poor lamb chop