An American In Dublin: Milan & Greece

On Friday, November 4th, our 'reading week vacation' began. Early on the 4th we flew into Milan Italy, where we spent one night. When we arrived at the Bergamo airport, we took a bust into Central Milan where we found a hotel to stay for the night. Despite rainy weather, we were still able to walk around a bit, have some good italian food, and delicious gelato for dinner. We saw the Milan Cathedral which was absolutely beautiful.

The Milan Cathedral

Inside the Cathedral

On Saturday is when the real vacation began. We flew from the Malpensa Airport to Athens, Greece. We arrived in Greece and with a combination of the metro and tram lines made it to the Acropolis center which is near where our apartment was. After a little bit of searching and deciphering of Greek street signs we made it to our apartment located on Dimitrikatrapolou Street...yeah, just try to say that. The apartment was really nice, I found it through Vacation Rentals By Owners and got a really good deal on it. The First night in Athens, we just explored through the town and had a delicious dinner at a restaurant called Plakotissia. For our first Greek meal we all split a appetizer that consisted of spinach pies, cheese pies, tzatiki, eggplant salad, fried feta, tomatoes, cucumbers, meatballs and a few other things. For dinner we all had Moussaka accompanied by Ouzo.

Our appetizer variety

On Sunday, we first visited the Acropolis museum located in the center of town. The museum was quite modern and new. To be honest, museums aren't exactly my thing...I'd rather get out there and see the actual monument, be able to touch it, climb on it, and really get the experience of it. However the Museum was nice, and free for EU students so I didn't mind it. After the museum, we walked to the top of the actual Acropolis, it was spectacular. The structure itself is so intricate and unique. The views from the top were also amazing.

All of us at the top of the museum

Restaurant inside of the museum

Almost to the top of the Acropolis

View through the columns from the top

The Acropolis!

After the Acropolis we visited the Temple of Olympian of Zeus. It was about a 10 Minute walk from the apartment which was very convenient for us.

On Monday, we did some more exploring, and headed to the Ancient Agora of Athens. The Agora used to be government buildings as well as private housing and offices. After the Agora, we walked through town and got coffee in a little cafe near the Acropolis. After dinner that night, we watched the sunset from a viewing point near the Acropolis.

Cathedral in The Agora

The Agora

At the Cafe

Meg & I

Partially hidden sunset

On Wednesday we took the metro to the Piraeus Port. Piraeus is the largest port in Greece, where you can take many ferries to the Greek Islands. From Piraeus, we took a ferry to the Island of Aegina. Aegina was absolutely beautiful. Upon our arrival, the very first thing I did was take my shoes off and put my feet in the Aegean Sea. It felt incredible. After this we walked around the island for a while and did some exploring. We had dinner at a small Greek Cafe where we watched the sunset over the harbor. We got back back into Athens around 8 and then headed back to our apartment for the night.

Piraeus Port

From the back of the Ferry to Aegina

Toes in the water!

The Aegina Harbor

Lucky Girls!

Sunset over the harbor

On Thursday we took a bus to Cape Sounio to watch the sunset over the Temple of Poseidon. We walked through the grounds for a while and then thought it would be a good idea to climb down the mountain on which it stood so we could go in the water....it was a great idea. Meg and I may or may not have taken our pants of just so we could wade around a little deeper in the water. After this, we climbed back up the 'mountain' just in time to watch another beautiful sunset.

On the way to Cape Sounio

The Temple of Poseidon

Meg & I just hanging out on a cliff..

Where we climbed down to so we could get in the water.

The sailboat had perfect timing

Sunset

On Friday we took the tram to Lake Vouliagmeni which was about 15 km south of Athens. Lake Vouliagmeni is a sunken lake that is fed by underground currents. It also functions as a 'spa' due to the fish that nibble at your feet while you swim. Sounds really weird, feels pretty unusual, but it is considered a 'fish pedicure'. The fish nibble the dead skin on your feet and legs, exfoliating them.

Lake Vouliagmeni

Don't mind my horrendous feet...

The girls at the Lake

Walking down to the lake

....The real surprise came on Friday afternoon after we went to the lake while we were back at the apartment. Knock, knock, knock.....that would be the cleaning lady for the apartment at our door. Um...WHAT? Yes, we had to check out in 25 minutes!! This is something I took complete blame for. Seems there was a small mixup in check out dates. We were under the impression we were checking out on the 12th...turns out the it was the11th. Just small panic at the disco occurred after this. While I tried to converse with our Greek landlord who spoke minimal English, Meg was able to get us a room just a cab ride away with the help of her brother-in-law Steve. This just made our trip a little more interesting...

On Saturday we flew back to Milan, where we stayed in Bergamo for the night. On Sunday (today) we flew home and are definitely happy to be back in Dublin.

In this past week, I have seen, heard, tasted and felt some of the most amazing things in the world. Ever since I was a little girl, I had always dreamed of going to Greece. Greece, is honestly a beautiful country filled with lovely people and amazing sights and history. We were extremely fortunate to not experience any of the hardship they have been experiencing (though it would have been bad ass to say that I've been tear-gassed in a riot before...), and were truly able to enjoy the country for it's natural beauty. Overall, I am sure this is an experience I will never forget and I truly look forward to going back some day!!

Below are some other pictures I took this week, I hope you enjoy :)

All the best!

Lea