So I'm way behind on the blog. I am on day 16 of the trip and have pretty much left out blogging about the Stockholm part of the trip which was last week. I'm realizing I'm being too ambitious with the blog and need to keep it shorter and more frequent. Therefore, I'm going to blog about today. Tomorrow, I will write a catch up piece on Stockholm and Athens (which is where I am now).
Today marks my fourth day in Athens. I got here on Saturday and am leaving tomorrow morning to go to the island of Santorini for a couple days. Since I've been on the go, go, go, I decided to take a couple extra days in Athens to just chill and just relax. I'm also hoping my next two stops of Santorini and Mykonos will provide the same relaxation.
When I woke up today, my intent was to do some final sightseeing in Athens. I was going to see some archaeological "stuff" that I had missed. Unfortunately, the day ended up quite differently. With the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, being in town, most of Athens was out to protest. With all the Greek crisis stuff going on, I quickly found out that many Greeks blame Germany (who knew!?). Needless to say, her visit was not very welcome. With all the protests going on, all the historical sites were closed as the workers were out protesting...ugh!
After having a delightful breakfast, I made my way to some sights to first discover that everything was closed. As I decided to just take a walk around instead, I quickly ran into the heart of the protests. They were mostly peaceful and people were pretty much just standing around talking. However, as I was working my way through the crowds, I could see that some folks were throwing things at the police. Next thing I knew, the police were firing tear gas and people started running. Fortunately, I was close enough to the side of it that I knew I wasn't going to get trampled. I also thought I was far enough away to avoid any effects of the tear gas. However, I was wrong. I quickly started to tear up and my nose started to run. My lungs started to burn a little. I had had my first tear gas experience. I wasn't that bad. I could see people much worse with stuff all over their faces. I now realized that the smart ones had medical masks, some even gas masks on, to protect them. I was able to escape and the tear gas effects lasted only about 15-20 minutes.
I then proceeded to head back to the apartment where I was staying only to have to go along side a protest march that had now started. After that, the rest of the day was pretty uneventful with me just working out, grabbing some dinner and planning for my upcoming days.
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| Finding out that the historical sites were closed |
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| Greek protests |
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| Yeah...they really don't like Angela Merkel here |
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| Just before some idiots started throwing stuff and tear gas being used |
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| People covering their mouths to protect themselves from the tear gas |
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| More protest pictures |
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| ...and the march begins throughout the city |
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