My Life in Pictures: Casual Greek Getaway

While the weather in Madrid was hovering around freezing I was off enjoying some much needed sunshine in Athens with Jake (my friend from studying abroad who was in town). Going to Greece I had no idea what to expect, rioting in the streets? homeless people on every street corner? every other shop shut down? hostility toward foreigners? What we found was evidence of past riots, an average amount of homeless people for a large city, some shop closures, and no hostility toward us. What we were most surprised about was the amount of abandoned and dilapidated buildings which ranged from homes to warehouses. Another surprise to us was the amount of children begging on the street. This is something you almost never see in Madrid. Above all the most surprising part of Athens to me was how nice and friendly the people were. I was not expecting people to take the time to walk lost tourists to where they were trying to go, or take them into restaurants where they take their guests when they are in town (which had the best mussel dish I've ever had).