My friends and I decided that once it started to warm up we would head to the beach to catch some sun. Our first really nice day happened to land on a weekend which was perfect. We did practically no research and just headed towards the water to see what we could find. We jumped on the metro and took the green line to Piraeus.
The train came to the end of the line at the port so we got off and searched for directions to the closest beach. We didn’t anticipate having to hike up a hill so that was a fun little surprise. After about an hour and a half of travelling we finally made it to the beach.
Like most European beaches, the sand isn’t very soft and has quite a few rocks. Besides that it was a really pretty view. We laid down to tan a little (don’t worry Mum, I had sunscreen on) and relaxed. This was until a black puppy wandered over to us so we started playing with her and giving her plenty of love. She had a collar so we assumed she was there with her owners. A young British girl then came to talk to us about the dog, named Julie, and explained they lived on the beach but were taken care of. We chatted with the girl for a while and she actually had quite a sad story. She was 13 but didn’t have a home or school and just hung around the beach all day with her mum. She showed us her drawings, which were honestly really impressive and asked if we could be friends with her.
It was hard to just sit there knowing we were about to pack our things up and leave this young girl who so desperately wanted friends. We told her we’d come back some day but we didn’t know when and if we saw her we would come and say hello. After this we all left feeling a strange but we still wanted to enjoy the rest of our day.
We headed to a seafood restaurant on the water for lunch and then grabbed dessert on the way to the rocks. We hung out on these huge rocks for a couple hours to watch the sunset. It was honestly such a beautiful experience and made me appreciate where I was.
It is interesting that it always seems to be when you stray from the beaten path that some of the best encounters happen while abroad. I would be interested to hear if you meta and talked with the girl at a later time, since these unexpected connections are sometimes the ones that we remember the longest. I hope you can continue to enjoy your time abroad and seek out new adventures.
Oh wow the views look amazing. So does the food. Speaking of food, quick question, I heard that Greece is very special for its food. If you already have, what is the one food you have tried or if not, you are looking forward too. I really enjoyed reading through your blog. Please keep us posted with more experiences.