Nighttime at the Acropolis

After the first half of orientation yesterday, I went to my first Athenian food market. There is a store near my neighborhood that only sells produce, it is amazing. I got huge plums, peaches, and an assortment of berries. Afterwards, we took an hour long break then we met up a professor in our neighborhood, Kolonaki, to show us where the markets, banks, pharmacies, etc. near our apartment. We live in such a nice area. Then we walked back to the academic center for the President of the program's welcoming talk. The best part was afterwards they had a sampling of Greek food. There was this amazing sandwich (I sadly can't tell you about it, but it was some medley of Greekness). I ate like four of them. I am in LOVE with Greek food.

....so as we finished our food, someone came up with the brilliant idea that we should go to the Acropolis. We knew that the actual part would be closed for the night, but we could at least walk right up to it and explore the area around it. The walk was about 20 minutes, and then all of a sudden we were in this amazing part of the city. We walked by the new museum here (the one that is having the Elgin marble controversy with Berlin). The museum is stunning. We then walked right up to the entrance of the Acropolis. I have never been so overwhelmed by anything like that before. After walking around in a daze by the base, we climbed up a large rocky hill, which took some time in rainbows and a dress, but the view at the top was breathtaking. We could see every inch of the acropolis, and I could see the far reaches of Athens (which is huge by the way, super huge, the suburbs keep expanding, to get from one end to the other takes over an hour at least). It was honestly one of the most beautiful views I have ever seen. We then explored the area around the Acropolis which is filled with little stores and restaurants. We walked by a nice restaurant playing Greek music and I thought I had died and gone to heaven. Afterwards, we walked back to our apartment, unpacked some more, and passed out cold.