Day 10 - Return to Athens & Kimball's 18th Birthday!

We said our goodbye's to the M/v Cristal thing this morning and were taken by bus to our last hotel in Athens, the Hotel Austria. It's location was a short walking distance from the Acropolis & Agora.


Our room had a fantastic view of the Acropolis from its balcony.

After we got settled in, Iris took us on a walking tour down by the Acropolis (10 minute walk) to an area where there were lots of outdoor cafe's & coffee shops. Next, we walked over to the Plaka where she turned us loose for the next couple of hours to eat & shop.

The Plaka is the oldest section of Athens. Most of the streets have been closed to traffic, and it is now an area of restaurants, jewelry stores tourist shops, and cafes. Debbie, Rebecca, Kimball and I all decided to go to the same little outdoor cafe to get some lunch.

My lunch was very yummy, I had a sampler plate of sorts. It came on an oblong plate and was full of greek salad, potato salad, cheese pie, stuffed grape leaves, and came with a basket sliced French bread. I also ordered lemon sorbet and it came in a huge tall glass. It was tart & refreshing. The others had to help me eat it, because I was so full.


Kimball, Debbie & Rebecca - waiting for lunch in Athens.

After lunch we wandered up & down some of the streets with shops. Rebecca & Kimball found some of the others in our group & left with them. Debbie was tired & walking, and I was tired of shopping so we went back to the central area where we were to meet up with the rest of the group. On the way we passed a gelato shop. Debbie wanted to get some. I was still full from lunch, but had some euro's that needed to be spent, so I decided to get a cone also. I am SO glad I did. It was amazing! I picked the black forest flavor.



I'd never seen gelato displayed like this before. It was so beautifully decorated.
They would scoop the gelato from the back of the mound, so as to not ruin it's artistic beauty.

This guy was playing some sort of instrument. I put some coins in his hat as I walked by and snapped a photo of him.



At 3:30 we re-grouped and walked over to the Agora, ancient Athens' political, economic and commercial center. This is also where the remains of the Temple of Hephaistos (greek god of metalworking) is located.


Kimball at the Agora, with the Temple of Hephaistos in the back ground.


Looking up at the Temple of Hephaistos. The best preserved ancient Greek temple. It is the only Greek temple that still has the roof on it.


The 'Utah' students. Front (L-R): Valerie & Marlyse. Back (L-R): Rebecca, Cameron, Marin, Thomas, Kimball, Megan & Jonathan.

Iris gave us all a bus ticket, so we didn't have to walk back to the hotel. We walked up a hill to the bus stop. Across the street, was the Parliament building where the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is located. Iris asked if we wanted to go across and watch the changing of the guard since it was nearing the top of the hour.


That night at the motel, we were served a simple meal of chicken, cole slaw , rice & corn, rolls & orange slices. After the meal, Jonathan Crampton stood and made an announcement that it was Kimball's birthday. We all sang to him and presented him with a gift (journal w/evil eye on front & an evil eye key chain) that we had all chipped in to buy for him.


After dinner we went out on a roof top terrace and enjoyed the view of Athens. At 8:45 p.m. a group of us walked back down by the Acropolis where all the cafe's are located to see the Acropolis lit up at night. We had 45 minutes to walk around. Some of the group went to get ice cream, but since there were some that didn't have any money left, we just found a place to sit & watched the locals as they wandered around. The place was a-buzz with all the thousands of conversations going on. It was a fun end to a great trip.