Athens

I hate paying for internet, so this isn't going to be long.

I'm in Greece!! I got in to Athens yesterday morning, and spent the day walking around the part of the city where my hostel is. I was pretty nervous before, because although I am traveling with two friends, one didn't get here until today, and the other one doesn't get here until tomorrow, so I was alone all day yesterday and last night. But everything went smoothly, the flight, finding my way to the hostel on the metro, wandering around Athens and seeing the Acropolis. I realized that I would be completely fine traveling on my own, even for an extended period of time. Still, it's nice to have Chen here with me now.

My hostel is in a great location, around the corner from the metro; around a different corner from the Acropolis; really close to the restaurant district and all the shops. There is a bar on the roof, and from there you can see the Acropolis. It's amazing to see those ruins and to think how old they are. And today Chen and I went to the National Archaeological Museum, which is huge, and we saw things like pottery and figurines from the 13th millenium BCE!!

Tomorrow our friend Tyler gets here, and at 4PM we're taking the 6-hour ferry to Crete.

It's wonderful to be on the move, to be traveling, away from the stagnant life on the kibbutz. Athens, at least the part where I am, is so touristy that sometimes it feels like there aren't any Greeks in the whole city, but I've met so many people from all over the world. Last night I talked to an older, very intelligent British man for half an hour.

Oh, and sometimes I don't like history very much, but standing under the Parthenon, it just sort of comes alive...