Thursday June 1

 Marathon and Beach

    Today we were given the opportunity to sleep in a little bit, we did not have to be ready to go until 9am. I got some more Greek yogurt with honey and granola which was delicious. Then it was time to start the day. We took a bus to the old Athens Olympic 2004 complex which was very cool to see. We started off on the basketball court, it was cool but it was nothing like what we have in the US. Afterwards, we saw where they hosted the swimming events. I don’t think I have ever seen an Olympic sized swimming pool so this was cool. Apparently the complex has 13 pools, 4 of them being Olympic sized, which is crazy. There were a lot of people swimming and hanging around. I know the IOC is trying to help past host cities reuse their facilities and get rid of white elephants. Professor Kim said when she was here a few years ago it was like a ghost town but now it is pretty lively. The last stop of this tour was the track and soccer stadium. The stadium itself was very cool but the track was awful.  It really needs resurfacing but I assume it is not being used very often. I also think it is a little odd to put a 9 lane track around a soccer field because then every seat is far away. Overall this site was not nearly as kept up as London 2012. Then it was time to head to Marathon

    We drove some of the route that the original marathon was run, which was pretty cool. We made a brief stop at the battle site and then headed to a beach resort. This was amazing, the group all grabbed some lunch. Then we spread out on some beach chairs. I went into the water for a little bit but for the most part I was on that chair. I read some of my book, which is my favorite beach activity. Before leaving I decided to take a nap in the sun. I completely fell asleep and had to be woken up by Professor Kim. I had a great nap but then it was time to get back on the bus and head back to the hotel. Once we got back to the hotel we showered and met back in the lobby for the wrap up. We went through the scavenger list and I am proud to say Ryan, Brendan, and I won. Professor Kim gave us honeycomb and a Paris 2024 mug plus some extra credit! She also gave everyone some baklava and soap. We then headed to our last group dinner. We ordered so much food, multiple appetizers, lamb, and dessert. My favorite part was dessert. I have been craving restaurant baklava this whole trip and I finally got some with vanilla ice cream. It was so yummy. As a group we reminisced about the trip and said our goodbyes. This trip was amazing, I am so fortunate to have been a part of it.