Day 9- Athens and Match #3 vs MARKOPOULO

THIS MORNING I WOKE UP LATE AT 930 AND WENT DOWN TO BREAKFAST AT 10, WHERE I ATE A MINI CROISSANT, EGGS, TOMATOES, CUCUMBER, OLIVES, GREEK YOGURT + NUTS, AND A COFFEE.

WE THEN HEADED OUT TO THE ACROPOLIS BY WALKING THROUGH THE CENTER MARKET, THE WALK WAS KIND OF LONG BUT REALLY NICE, WITH A BEAUTIFUL BREEZE UP TO THE ACROPOLIS. WE GOT TO THE TOP OF THE ACROPOLIS WHERE WE WERE ABLE TO SEE ALL THE TEMPLE RUINS. WE SAW THE PARTHENON, THE ERECHTHEION, AND WENT TO THE MAIN LOOKOUT SPOT THAT OVERLOOKED ALL OF ATHENS, WHERE YOU COULD SEE THE ANCIENT OLYMPIC RUINS AND THE MODERN OLYMPIC STADIUM, AND A VIEW OF THE MEDITERRANEAN. WE ALSO SAW A PROPOSAL IN FRONT OF THE ERECHTHEION TEMPLE!

After spending an hour or two up on the top of the hill, we made our way back down through the streets to find something for lunch. There were a lot of street merchants/vendors selling mostly jewelry, paintings, and antiques, which we stopped to look at. We got lunch at a café called Great Bageion, which included a salad and baklava. We took it to go and walked back to eat it in the hotel lounge area. Then we got some down time before we left for our game! 

We arrived at the gym (which was thankfully cooler and less humid than the gyms in italy) and started with some serve and pass before warmups. We played against Markopoulo revoil and won in 3 sets! We had great serving and passing, with Boon serving ace after ace in the third set. 

After the game we exchanged jerseys & shirts with our opponents, and found out that one of the girls is coming to the US to play at Dartmouth! We took a group picture, and then did a much needed team cool down stretch session. We then took our bus to a really cool restaurant that was under a roof with grape vines growing around it. We started dinner with many appetizers, including greek salad, tiropitakia, cooked spinach and beets, tzatziki sauce, spicy hummus, fried zucchini, and fried potatoes (just french fries). Then we had the choice of having delicious souvlaki chicken, pork, or hamburger. We finished with watermelon for dessert! During dinner we were lucky to see fireworks down the hill, as well as a cat that was hanging around our table. 
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We drove back to our hotel, where I ended the day with a call to my Dad to wish him a happy Father’s day. It was a very eventful day, but I was grateful for our downtime and the beautiful weather!

- Mimi Dunda, Senior