By: J² - Jessi and Jackie, Melbourne, FL (Cape Coast VBC)

            The day began once again with a wonderful breakfast of cheerios and pound cake all eaten by kids and adults who are still half asleep and probably don’t know where they are.  After breakfast, we went back to the cabins and put on our sneakers as we prepared to go to Athens as we did on the first day in Greece.  The bus ride was a blur of lip synching to the Backstreet Boys and falling asleep in between songs.  Upon our arrival we separated ourselves into groups, and our group made our way down to the metro.  As we sat puzzled for five minutes in front of the ticket machine and stared at maps of the metro system, we finally took a shot and hopped on the metro from Syntagma to the old market of Athens.  After having a delicious lunch of gyros and french fries while being hassled by countless vendors (and buying fake sunglasses from one of them), we went to the Roman Agora.  Soon we discovered that it was not the Agora we had intended to go to, we whipped out our map and made our way to Hadrien’s Library, which was also not the place we wanted to go. 

On our way to the Ancient Agora, we were stopped in the street outside the Roman Agora by a very persuasive man offering us “the best lunch in Athens”. After strenuous negotiations between “Zorba”, Mr. Daily and CJ, we agreed to come back to his restaurant for lunch. The Roman Agora was beautiful, but we were all ready for some sitting in the shade time and food. Zorba welcomed us back and offered us 3 choices: Moussaka, meatballs, or kabobs, all with salads, bread and all the bottled water we could drink! We all mixed up our meals and all 3 items were chosen. Unfortunately, the moussaka has eggplant in it and some of the girls did not like the slimy texture of the food. However, Zorba was more than willing to trade out for a kabob or the meatballs. Some of our food came with fries that were really good, but then we tried the ketchup and it tasted like tomato paste! Somehow we were able to choke down the meals and get back to siteseeing.

Zorba then pointed us in the right direction for the Ancient Agora and we finally arrived at the (right) Agora.  We meandered through the ruins and snapped some photos, all while attempting to avoid being “whistled” at by the strict employees.  When we became tired of ancient ruins and rocks, we found another street full of all kinds of stores.  In the stores we made many necessary purchases such as gelato, backpacks, and jewelry.  However, we chose not to enter the store which was selling FUBU and ROCAwear, even though the “gangsta” outside was telling us he had good deals.  By the time we arrived back in Syntagma square and met up with the rest of the groups, we were all ready to get off our feet.  Everyone shared their purchases with one another and reminisced on the day.  As soon as we got back to Loutraki, we ate dinner (AND BAKLAVA!), and immediately got dressed for the beach volleyball tournament.  The games were intense and the competition was close.  However, many games were interrupted by the surprise appearance of Jello, the dog.  Afterwards, we showered and many campers proceeded to the making of togas for a toga party.  To no surprise, Claire won the best dressed contest, winning a great prize of beer, which was immediately withdrawn from her possession.  The night winded down and we all went to bed, looking forward to another day.

            Today we spent the whole day in downtown Athens, sightseeing and shopping. Most of us were starving, so the first order of the day was lunch. Three of us and Coach Jen immediately headed for what quickly distinguished itself as the world’s best gyro restaurant, with three different kinds of meat in wonderfully soft, warm pitas. After our amazing lunch, we ran out to shop! We had so much fun running in and out of all the little boutiques, buying and comparing cute clothes. After we managed to exhaust all of the indoor shopping, we headed on into the Plaka, which is more open-air, touristy, and unique.  Some girls bought handmade jewelry, others bought t-shirts and other “tourist” knick knacks, but a great time was had by all. At one point, after about 5 hours of being on our feet, Megan C and Sarah were taking a short break in some canvas chairs outside while waiting for Lauren to finish t-shirt shopping, and they met the world’s nicest man! It’s official! He noticed how hot they were and brought them each a cold water and an ice cream bar! After striking up a conversation (naturally), they headed into his shop, where they were given awesome discounts on some turquoise jewelry. They found out that the man, Nikos, was an impressionist singer! He serenaded them with songs by Frank Sinatra and Elvis, and provided lovely company until the group was ready to move on. After wandering easily back to our meeting spot, we met up with the rest of the girls and exchanged stories and admired the others’ power buys. While waiting on the rest of the group to arrive, our group of girls was jealously guarded by this street dog we affectionately named Horatio. Any man who walked near our group was promptly seen off in a big way, barking and jumping. It was kind of sad saying goodbye to Horatio, but he’ll have many other girls to guard in a city that big! After driving home and having another delicious dinner (complete with baklava bought by some of the parents…. thanks again!), we ran to our rooms and changed for our mini beach volleyball tournament. We played until dark, and while many of us were unsure whether we’d be able to make it through due to exhaustion, we pulled it off and actually had a great time, as the three teams were all scrambled together for the tourney. What an exhausting day! We’re all so glad to be home, clean, and ready for bed!