American Day in Athens

**Note: Post Date is July 15, 2009**

Kate, Rachel and Becca went to explore the Greek Island of Santorini. While the rest of A.B.A. due to economical reasons decided to kick it back at the Greece mainland. Erika and I, with a disappointing stay decided to kick it American style. Starbucks, Grocery shopping and Haagen-Dazs ice cream (well that’s German but you get the idea) were all included in our adventurous day through Athens. Starbucks was already glistening in Erika’s eyes from the first sight of it on Monday. I too succumbed to the Seattle Washington staple of coffee. It was no different than the United States besides being in Greece. Lame. The grocery store was the first normal grocery store we have encountered in our travels through Europe. It was also the largest. Yet, Erika wasn’t able to find her cherished protein bars that she recently ate through this past week, but I however surprisingly found an item that I’m very fond of in New York. It is called Happy Hippo. These delicious cream-filled biscuit cookies are very pricey in the states but here a package of five was only around three dollars. I grabbed two boxes for the road! Hopefully I won’t eat them all before my return. Another justified reason for our visit to the store was homework. For our European Union class we are to price goods throughout Europe and compare them. Thus far the prices haven’t varied drastically but I think its safe to say that Greece is so far the most expensive.

Our time at the Haagen-Dazs Café wasn’t too expensive but it was extremely delicious. We all (Kevin, Bo, Shannon, Nina, Erika and I) sat on lounge chairs right across from the harbor enjoying our luxurious desserts. I ordered a crepe creation of nutella, banana and caramel crunch ice cream. It was heaven. Kevin was also close to nirvana. On top of two juice boxes that he bought at the grocery store he ordered a  frozen cappuccino drink. His energy level was sky rocketing on many levels. “I would need two weeks to be happy,” Erika whines as she browses through the menu for her choice. She ended up making an unsatisfying choice of a  brownie sundae which she regretted making in the end. I wish she would just relax sometimes. 

And that’s why we went to the beach. The water was of course blue beautiful water as always. The beach not so equal in beauty. It was, in my opinion, crummy. I even found glass in the sand: not cool! And we didn’t find any friends from home as we did in Croatia, only men who couldn’t take their eyes off of Erika. She is a pretty one, but c’mon give it a rest!

Ok so Spain was the country of cats. Greece is the country of dogs. I guess Europe wouldn’t be the same without stray animals. These dogs are weird. They are stray but trained. One tried to follow me home again on my return from Athens. I signaled it to stop with my hand and it did just that. As we walked to our evening activities a dog followed by our side. We lost him midway through but then as me and Erika were eating dinner at Pizza Hut we saw him pass by the window.

Yes! That’s correct! I said Pizza Hut. But this wasn’t any normal Pizza Hut. This was an upscale, fancy and relaxing Pizza Hut, one that just doesn’t exist in the United States. Instead we like our dim jives with worn our carpets and torn booths to serve our pizza in. Erika and I used to enjoy many evenings together at Pizza Hut. Then she started to monitor her calorie intake and those days were gone. I have missed them for years and today those times were revived and even better than before with this new revamped atmosphere. It was the highlight of our American day in Athens.

 We asked our waitress whether we should tip or not. She had zeroed out the tip option on the credit card slip so we were confused. When we asked she said that all tips go to the men. We asked again more slowly because we thought she misunderstood us, but again she explained that any tips that she is given go directly to the man. This was not only a shock to us but a disappointment to think that relations amongst men and women could be so unbalanced. It was actually quite frustrating, but that’s probably why she zeroed out the tip option, she’s smart and we support her.

All the people supported me in the Karaoke bar as I busted out some tunes during the midnight hours. Erika and I were even given martinis on the house. She mooched off of my talent per say. I sang songs such as “I Who Have Nothing,” “Baby Love,” “I Believe I Can Fly,” “I Can’t Help Falling in Love,” “I Wanna Dance With Somebody,” “When A Man Loves A Woman” and that was plenty. With a drink in me and the late hours my voice was pretty angry with me by the time we left, but nevertheless it was a lot of fun and a great conclusion to our night!

Today’s Expenses

………………….........Euros………..Dollars
Starbucks………....7.00.………..10.15
Grocery Store…..7.00.………..10.15
Pizza Hut………....5.00.………..7.25
Haagen-Dazs……...7.00.………..10.15
Drinks…………......7.50.………..10.88

Total……………......33.50.……..48.58


Explore. Dream. Discover.

~Michael-Anthony

P.S. I miss my cell-phone.