OPAH!

Sunday- March 18

This morning I was able to sleep in a little more. I didn't set an alarm the previous night and decided to let my body be my alarm. I woke up wide awake at 10:00 ready to go. 

Lydia, Amy, Bethany and I went downstairs to meet James and Claud. We were all going to go visit different monuments for the day because they were all free on Sundays. James was originally going to go to the beach, but he decided to join us. 

We made our way up to the Acropolis and went to walk in, but the man working told us we had to go and get a ticket even though it was free. I saw that there was a food stand and since I didn't eat breakfast I went and got a doughnut. It did the deed with satisfying my tummy, but it wasn't worth €3.50. Claud and James got our tickets and we headed back up to the gates. 

It was a little bit of a hike, but once we made it to the top the view was to die for. I thought the view from the rocks I had yesterday was amazing, but this was even higher and even better. We walked around the Parthenon and other ruins of buildings that were still standing. 

We went over to a ledge we spotted and all sat around hanging our feet over the edge observing our view. I am not afraid of heights, but when I looked down at the drop, my stomach did jumps and I quickly swung my legs back over to land. 

When we were standing on a lookout area we found Kate and Jess. The two of them were running late this morning, so they decided they would meet up with us later. Once we were all together we descended back down the hill and went to look at a structure that is still preserved in one piece. I found it amazing that something that was built hundreds upon hundreds of years ago can still stand today. 

By the time we finished up walking around it was 2:30 and a few people still wanted to go look at the other free things. At this point I was hungry and just wanted food, but I sucked it up and we started walking in the direction of the old Olympic stadium. It was about 20 minutes away and it closed at 3:00. I knew we weren't going to make it, but I let them lead the way. About ten minutes into the walk reality of time sunk in and everyone decided we should just give up and go find food. Of course I was more than enthusiastic on this brilliant idea. 

We went back to the plaza where we ate yesterday with the tour guide. I decided to try something new and I got a chicken gyro. Chicken is the farthest I will go for trying something new. I'm not much of a meat person and lamb is not yummy at all. 

The chicken with the cucumber sauce and tomatoes were excellent. Kate had bought fresh strawberries and bananas from a stand and after trying the strawberries, I decided I needed some for myself. Jess and I split a bag for €3. The amount of strawberries we received was ridiculous...there were so many! They were the freshest strawberries and were quite refreshing on a hot spring day. 

We walked in to a few nick-nack shops for about a half hour and then headed on home. I was dead to the world by this point because I had been walking around constantly for the past three days, so I decided to stay home and relax. 

James was leaving on a night train, so we all said our goodbyes to him. It was a bummer making a friend and then having to say goodbye so soon! The rest of my group went out to do a little shopping, so it was nice to have the place to myself for a while. I tried to catch up on my blog for a bit and then watched some TV.

Kate came home earlier than the rest and then we decided to go print out our boarding passes for our flight for the next day. After we successfully did that I went with Kate to the sports bar and hung out with her and Claud for a bit. I met two people who were with them who were from Scotland. I was only there for maybe five minutes when I saw Lydia and Amy on their way back and then Amy and Jess followed a few minutes after. 

We all decided we would go out for dinner instead of staying in to cook. On our way to dinner we dropped off Ouzo that James had accidentally left at our apartment off at his place. Along the way a dog started following us and Kate got very attached to it and called it baby. It was really funny to watch her chase it and play with it. When we had to depart, she was bummed. 

At the entrance of a restaurant a man started talking to us about the food at this place and how there was a live band. We decided to prices were reasonable from the menu we looked at so we went inside. We were the only table in there when we first got there. I said, "We have live music all for us!"

While we were looking at the menu, two men started playing music and singing. I really felt like I was in Greece. I ordered Moussaka again and it was good, but not as good as the first one I had. While we were there another big table came in and filled up the restaurant with chatter. They were Americans too and were from Oklahoma. 

After dinner Jess was talking about how she wanted to dance like the do at Greek weddings. Our waiter, an older Greek man, must have heard her because around the same time, he came up and pulled her onto the dance floor. They started doing the two-step and then kick Greek dance that I've seen in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. He then told all of us to join them and we all got in a big line/circle with our arms around each other doing the dance. I was laughing so hard and couldn't believe we were doing it in front of other people. 

This happened about three times throughout the night and eventually they got some of the other table to get up and dance. Twice throughout the night the waiters and singers pulled Jess up to sing with the other man. She had a really good voice! I never knew she could sing. 

In between the dancing our waiter brought us out fresh orange and apple slices. We knew that they all liked us there because we were the table who were clapping and saying "OPAH" constantly throughout the night. We were just having a good old time and enjoying our last night in Athens. 

Later, we were the only ones in the restaurant again and we decided we wanted to dance one more time. The waiter danced with us and we laughed the entire time. Before I knew it he pulled out a chair and somehow I was put on it and everyone danced around me while I danced on the chair. It was hilarious and I was having the time of my life. 

We got out pictures with the band and our waiter and said our goodbyes and thank yous. It was a perfect ending to a perfect day in Athens. I felt like I was in the movie My Big Fat Greek Wedding and I thought to myself, "I hope I have that much energy when I'm that man's age," talking about our waiter. 

When I got back to the hostel I got everything organized so I wouldn't have to do it in the morning and relaxed for the rest of the night by skyping with my Mama and Kory until I was ready to fall asleep.