Touring Athens Day 1

This past weekend was the first weekend ever I have been able to travel with Rusty for a volleyball game! I was pretty excited that George, Rusty's coach who seems nice, but scares me because he is so hard to read, said that I could go with them. The game was down in Athens, so Rusty and I took backpacks and planned to stay overnight since he had the following day off. Other than riding down with the team, we had made no plans...we didn't know where we would stay, how we would get around, or even where the main part of Athens was in comparison to the city the game was in. I like to plan everything out, so being so spontaneous worried me; part of me just assumed we would end up riding back with the team since we didn't have a place to stay. On Saturday morning, Rusty and I walked to his gym to meet up with the team. We got on a little bus and sat in the very back, so we could continue with our Harry Potter movie marathon.

The bus stopped about half way for lunch. We ate pasta at a nice Italian restaurant, which was right next to the sea...so this is what Rusty does while I am at home cleaning the apartment and watching shows on Hulu ;) Not that I can complain! We continued on our way, passing a Starbucks and TGI Friday's right before making it to the gym. Just seeing places I recognized made me so excited. Lamia was playing a team called AEK. As always, there were about 8 police standing outside the gym. AEK's gym was smaller than Lamia's, but apparently they are known for having loyal and crazy fans. As described by Nikitas, the libero, "They could be playing ping pong and lots of fans would be there screaming and crazy."

We had about two hours til the game began, so I walked with Vickie, the stats girl, over to a coffee shop next to the gym. On our way there, she asked one of the players if he wanted any coffee, but he was good with his Red Bull. Yes, some professional athletes here not only smoke, but they begin practice and games by drinking coffee or Red Bull.

The game was about to begin and the stands were filling up. The fans were mostly men. There was one guy would who was the ring leader of the crazy fans. He stood in front of the stands the entire game leading the chants and songs. At one point his shirt came off, which was not a pretty sight. Eventually two more guys joined him in "organizing the craziness" as Rusty likes to call it. Since their cheering consisted of chants that repeated over and over, their cheering began to annoy me. They cheered the entire game, didn't even stop for one minute, which also didn't help. Don't get me wrong, I love cheering, and would actually get annoyed when people sitting near me at BYU games would give me dirty looks for cheering loudly...it's a sporting event, if you don't want to hear fans, watch it at home. But, the fans at AEK were just different than what I am used to.

Lamia won the first two sets. On the final point of the third set, one of the refs made a horrible call and said a ball that Lamia hit inside the court was out. They even admitted later it was in, but AEK ended up winning the third set because of it. I was cheering loudly for Lamia and Vickie told me to be quiet. I was surprised and little bugged by it, but after the game she explained that she was worried about my safety. She said she didn't even wear Lamia's team color because she was scared to, which made me realize just how crazy the fans must be. The next time I go to cheer at an away game, I will definitely reconsider how loudly I yell. Fortunately, we were able to win in the fifth set! The coaches were so excited they ran out onto the court.

After the game we talked to Costas, the guy who picked us up from the airport when we first arrived in Greece and who is basically Rusty's agent. He has a friend who owns a hotel in Athens so he called him, set up a hotel room for that night, and even paid for it! He wanted to go out to dinner with us, but he had to take George, the coach, to the airport and pick up his girlfriend, so while Rusty and I waited for Costas and his girlfriend to get back, we walked up the street and found a bench right in front of the sea. Although it was a little hard to see because it was dark out, I loved hearing the waves gently crash along the shore. There was a large, well-lit dock with lots of little fishermen boats tied up to it. By Fishermen boats, I mean the kind you picture in Greece, or at least I do. The kind that are small and colorful and were in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants. We sat chatting, listening to the waves, while eating the fruit we packed in our backpacks. We got a phone call from Costas letting us know he was back, so we walked back to TGI Fridays. On our way there we stopped at a Starbucks hoping they had anything pumpkin flavored, but nope!

Not a great picture, but this is where we sat waiting for Costas

We arrived to find Costas and his girlfriend sitting at a table. His girlfriend teaches English, so it was nice I could talk with her so easily. I was hesitant to order a cheeseburger, which I have not had since coming to Greece because their meat tastes different, but as soon as I heard the waiter say it was 100% beef, I knew what I was getting. And boy was it a good decision...it actually wasn't the best burger I've ever had, but it tasted so American, and so good. Rusty got a steak and potatoes, which was equally American and good. After finishing up at TGI Fridays, we all headed over to get ice cream at a nearby pier. There were nice shops and restaurants along docks that held huge yachts. We went to Haagen Daas and ate our ice cream on stairs overlooking the water.

The Pier

Costas and his girlfriend took us to our hotel and dropped us off. The hotel room was small and instead of having one queen bed, it had two twin beds pushed together, but it was perfect for one night, plus it was free! I looked online trying to plan out our next day, but just decided we would go straight to the Parthenon and figure it out from there. We set our alarm and went to bed...