I slept quite late the following day. It was already getting pretty hot by 11 am so I took the metro out the Pireas, the major sea port. There was such a lovely cool breeze out there. I had my first greek coffee, and watched the numerous ferries shuttling people to and from the Greek islands. After a few hours down there I took the metro up to the Larissa train station to purchase a ticket to Kalambaka.
In the afternoon I walked over to the ruins of the Olympeian Zeus and then a few more kilometers to the Panathean Stadium. (the original site of the olympics I believe) Both are phenomenal structures. I got some lunch in the Plaka district. This is the major tourist trap of Athens. All kinds of touts trying to sell their respective crap.
Later in the evening I took a walk to the immigrant section of Athens which just happened to be a few minutes down from my hostel. There were hookers, drug deals, and the best and cheapest greek food made by pakistanis in town. This is where the real life of the city was. I got many kind offers, but only left with a doner kebap and a coke. Around 8 pm I headed back up to the Acropolis to watch the sunset over Athens. There were a good deal of clouds which made for a very colorful show.
I had made plans with Steffi and Janine (my german friends from the night before) to get a few drinks in the evening. We got together in Monastaraki square then went on a search for some food. I was trying to convince the girls to come with me to get some excellent Pakistani kebaps. Along the way we ran into a friend of theirs from the night before. A 50 year old Australian named Ray. We told him what we were up to, and wouldnt you know it he had been to the same kebap place as I was earlier and made the same suggestion to the girls. We all went that way, the girls clasping our arms to try and keep the men at bay. It was about 10 pm then so the place was in full swing. We all left very pleased with the food and the experience.
With our bellies full we decided to join the young locals in one of their daily activities. We bought a couple of cans of cheap beer and headed to the park. The four of us watched the street life go by and drank. Ray called it an early night, so then the girls and I went for a walk. We got several more beers and wandered around finding different spots where people were gathered. They gave me a tango lesson and we broke into a closed part of a park. Steffi had to one up us so she climbed over another fence. Right when she got over, we heard a police siren so she got pretty spooked and nearly jumped all the way back over. We found a dark spot to lay low and finished what drinks we had left. Janine got a bit restless eventually and had to climb a tree. We took a bunch of pictures of all of our antics. We headed back to the hostel with a few more drinks and talked and looked through german magazines that they had brought along. The sun was starting to rise by the time we got to sleep.
Thanks for reading...
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