Athens

Athens: After getting into Athens late due to a delayed flight from London which was allegedly the fault of the French airport workers at Charles de Gaulle (I believe this allegation), we stepped right out of the train station into the famous Monastiraki Square. Athenstyle, our hostel, was just steps away! It took us awhile to find our hostel because the online instructions said to look for an Applebee's. There certainly was no Applebee's. This was to be the first of many mistaken directions, tips and instructions from ever-screaming Athenians. But don't tell anyone that; they're Greek so they of course know best. Just re-watch the film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding" to know what I'm talking about (WINDEX lol).
After settling in, eating a late dinner and enjoying some delicious Greek beer, we headed to the rooftop of the hostel where we had stunning views of the illuminated Acropolis. Magnificent.
The next day we were off to explore the Acropolis up close. What a hike! And it's not like they have safe roads or maps or anything along the way! It's amazing to compare these places to our museums in the US; ancient artifacts lie to and fro here! It was so cool to walk the roads of Sophocles and the like. I can't even imagine the glory of these structures when they were new as they are so overwhelming in their beauty and grandeur even now.
The highlight for me was seeing the ancient theater of the Acropolis where Aeschylus, Euripides, Sophocles, etc all had their plays first performed in the great Dionysian theater festivals of the ancient eras. To see where drama as we know it all started! To see the foundations (both figurative and literal) of Western theater made me realize and reaffirm my passion for the theater. I was sitting on the steps where audiences watched Aggamemnon take the stage! Where "dues ex machina" came to be! Where The Furies and Orestes and Oedipus came to life for the first of many many many times! How could I not have been floored?! Other sites house more ancient life and history, sure, but for me, THIS is where life began and begins.
Even though we practically passed out from the heat, after the Acropolis, Mom and I headed out for some shopping. They have a lot of little tourist shops around Monastiraki Square and the Acropolis and they all sell the same souvenirs for the same prices but they have some cool stuff. We also headed to the Athens mall which had department stores, H&M, Zara, all that good stuff. After all these excursions, we were exhausted! We ate some dinner, made plans for the rest of the trip and hit the hay. Our hostel has bunk beds so it's pretty silly and small but we like it.
Today, June 3 (I think?) we went to the Athens flea market which looks exactly like any antique or swap meet in the US (read: a whole lotta junk). Then we took the 3 hour bus ride from Athens to Delphi. Delphi was small and deserted. The salespeople at the shops seemed desperate. Is tourism down? We'll see when we get to the destination spots: Mykonos, Santorini, etc. We walked along more unpaved and unmarked roads to the Sanctuary of Athena. She's my favorite goddess (and my cat!) so this was obviously awesome! We couldn't exactly find the site of the Temple of Apollo or it's famous Oedipal oracle, but it was hot, we were tired, and we weren't even sure if much of the temple was still standing so we hiked down to the one street that is Delphi and got calamari and iced tea instead We also hit the Delphi Archealogical Museum where we saw amazing ancient ruins discovered at the site. This was enough and I can say I've been to what was once considered the center of all things.
The best part of Delphi was all the cats! They roamed everywhere, scruffy and begging for treats! I take that as a sign the goddess... Er, I mean CAT Athena, was present on our visit to her sanctuary.
Now, we're on the long bus ride back to Athens. I'm sitting next to a large Greek woman and these loud Spanish (I think) teens are, like, screeching behind me. Sounds like Greece. Can I get a gyro and a cold, tall Mythos over here, or what?!