drinks and late nights

On the last day at Santorini (Monday) we woke up, packed our things, said goodbye to Stavros and walked in to Firá with our bags. We found yet another nice restaurant with a view where we sat down while waiting for the bus to take us to the port. We were snacking on our fruit salad and Mia taught me how to count to 10 in Greek. So now I know a few phrases: 

Hello = Geiá sas / Geiá sou

Hello (day) = Kalí méra
Good night = Kaliníhta

Thank you = Efharistó  
Please / You’re welcome = Parakaló

Sorry / Excuse me = Syngnómi

The bill, please = To logariasmó parakaló

Cheers = Yia mas!

Yes = Ne

No = óhi

1-10 = Midén, éna, dýo, tría, téssera, pénte, éxi, eptá, októ, ennéa, déka

On the ferry home I finally finished my school assignment, and at midnight we got back to Athens. Since we live in different directions - Mia took a beat home while I took the metro, and to be honest I was quite proud that I dared to go by myself. The day after, on Tuesday, I had invited Mia, my friend Wenli as well as his friend Benjamin for a Greek salad, some wine, hummus, tzatziki, bread and chicken. We sat and talked for hours and around midnight they left. 

Wednesday arrived and so did the sun and the summer heat. All of a sudden it was more than 25 degrees and I enjoyed the sun from my balcony while studying between my classes. I also went to the farmers market and bought some vegetables and fruits and was once again amazed of how much I can get for just a few euros and cents. 

Then it was Thursday, and after our classes we kicked off the weekend in advance with our weekly tradition: the Greek dinner at the restaurant "Barstation". We ate, drank wine and stayed until midnight.

On Friday I had invited some friends for pre-drinks at my place after our classes, and later on we went to my absolute favorite bar in Athens: six d.o.g.s where we sat down and talked for the rest of the night and the weather was unbelievable good. 

We got up early on Saturday and took the bus to the well-known "Lake Vouliagmeni" (meaning; Sunken Lake) which is a small brackish-water lake fed by underground currents. The lake is famous for it's unique environmental conditions: it is supplied with warm seawater via an underground channel so its temperature never drops below 18 °C (it's usually around 21-24 °C). 

 

But the entry was €18, so we just saw the place and took some photos before going to the ocean and the beach that was just across the street where we where we spent the rest of the day. The area around Vouliagmeni is totally different from the center of Athens and I really want to go there again to explore more. Everything looked so beautiful and they had a lot of green parks, trees and nice restaurants. 

The idea and the plan was to go clubbing at Lohan that evening, but we were all too tired after the beach and decided to meet up at the restaurant "La pasteria" instead. The restaurant is located near Kolonaki and I ate the best pasta I've ever had. After that we just went to a nice and cozy bar where we sat down for drinks and talked for the rest of the night. 

And I now realize in retrospect that it's not so strange that I felt tired this week, considering how much we did last week. But it was a really fun week, and I'm so grateful for all of my friends here. Can't imagine a life without them after this... 

With love, Elsa ♡