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i've been in Greece for a week now, and have finally accumulated some worthy pictures. beware, this entry will be long! i'm living and going to school in central Athens, conveniently located within walking distance to Plaka, Syntagma Square, and the Acropolis. our apartments are spread out between the districts of Kolonaki and Pangrati, and i happen to be living in Pangrati, only five minutes away from the academic building. perhaps the most amazing thing about our school location is that the academic building is right next to the Panathinaiko Stadium.






it's a beautiful marble stadium, but unfortunately we cannot run on the track inside. i have yet to find a good jogging route, especially because the streets around my neighborhood are small, slippery and hilly. nevertheless, i'm certain that i will have plenty of exercise from my (anticipated) weekend excursions to archaeological sites.







i spent saturday afternoon hunting for the rumored chinatown blossoming in the middle of Athens. after walking all the way to Omonoia, i ended up asking some Chinese street vendors for directions, and stumbled upon the Chinese market. it's a very small market, with only packaged foods and some frozen poultry and fish. i ended up buying a small bottle of sesame oil and a regular bottle of soy sauce for about 2 euros each, which was reasonable, considering the long distance these products had traveled. that evening, my roommates and i went to see a live production of Euripedes' Iphigenia at the Odeon. it felt amazing to be there, watching a classic tragedy in the great ancient theatre of Athens, right below the Acropolis. while we didn't understand a word of the play, the chorus was amazing, incorporating some Modern Greek dancing with their choreography. the play was surprisingly short though, less than 2 hours, but at least it didn't drag on. throughout the show, i kept seeing fireflies flickering in the air above the audience. the weather was nice, and for 10 euros, the experience was definitely a wonderful treat.


yesterday, we went to Aegina for a day. we took a bus to Piraeus, but ended up much further from the ferry docks than we had expected. for 21.50 euro, we rode on a flying dolphin, which is this extremely fast ferry that even looks like a dolphin! while we arrived at Aegina in about 40 minutes, the ride wasn't as smooth as i had hoped. imagine riding a highspeed train with the Mediterranean rocking the vessel sideways. first we hiked up to the Temple of Apollo, which consists of one broke standing column, and a maze of ancient town fortifications. the view was breathtaking, especially because the sea was the most vibrant, pristine, bluegreen that i have ever seen.







while there wasn't much of the temple left at all, the site was amazing to look at, especially because there are still so many things to buried in the ground. we even stumbled upon some archaeological evidence of our own, a very well preserved handle, which we of course, placed back in the dirt.








we then caught a bus to Agia Marina, the town closest to the famous Temple of Aphaia. i was awestruck by its immense size and grandeur. the most impressive part was how well-preserved the temple was, and how it appeared even more intact than the Parthenon. the front facade has been broken down a lot more than the back, but it is still amazing to see the inside of the temple.


however, unlike the Temple of Apollo, the view of the sea was visible, but not the local town, Agia Marina. after our explorations, we hiked down to Agia Marina in search of food, and ended up dining at a taverna overlooking the sea. it was very picturesque, and the octopus was delicious. we took the bus back to Aegina town where we wandered about for another couple of hours before our ferry docked.


Aegina is famous for its pistachios, because the nuts are a vibrant crimson color. naturally, we picked up a bag, a kilo in fact, and took them back with us to Piraeus where we boarded the Metro instead of trekking back to the bus stop. talk about an amazing weekend!