After riding the subway a couple stops and a brief walk, we found ourselves standing in front of the Archeological Museum of Athens, a large building, lined with large columns in the front, that houses many of the artifacts from about every period of history in Athens. We were met again by our tour guide from yesterday, the one that gave us the tour of the Acropolis. She led us through the museum, pointing out a few of the more important pieces and giving some background and facts on what we were seeing and what was going on in Athens during that time period. Some of the more eye catching items included the famous statue of Poseidon standing taught, ready to launch a spear or trident, some extremely large and intricate pots, and a gear box, its use is still unknown to this day, but it shows an extreme advancement in technology for that period of history.
Following the end of our tour, we were given about an hour and 30 minutes to wander around on our own and grab a bite at the café or shop in the gift shop before boarding our bus to head over to the Athens Stock Exchange.
At the stock exchange we were escorted to a conference room and were greeted by one of the exchange employees who would go on to give us a presentation on the market, and also to point out that they had received a bomb threat just about an hour prior to our arrival, but we had nothing to worry about as the search team did not find anything. (so that makes a protest, with police in riot gear and a bomb threat, all in 24 hours). I think we were all a little disappointed by the information given to us during the presentation as it was more on a very high level and much time seem to revolve around explaining what a stock is, how a dividend works, and how the stock market works in general. As MBA students from the prestigious Arizona State University, we all had a pretty good grasp on these items before this meeting so it was more of old hack to most of us. It was also a little disappointing to learn that no actual trading takes place in the building, as this was a brand new building for the market and almost all transactions were done electronically without the use of a physical trading floor.
Our next stop of the day would be a trip to a different museum, whose exact title slips my brain at the moment, where we would have lunch on the roof with a view of the city and the Acropolis. As we pulled up chairs around the tables at the café on the roof, we were happy to feel the cool breeze pass through and also to see a great view of the city. We enjoyed a pretty good lunch and each others’ company (its great to see that everyone has meshed so well on this trip, I really expected by this point to have some little tiffs and disjointment in the group, but everyone seems to still be getting along very well).
Full from lunch and tired from a long day and a long week and a half of go-go-go, we left the museum and walked down the street to our hotel where we were greeted by the professor from the local university and were engaged in a discussion on the state of the Athens economy, international business influence, and the effects of the energy market on Athens. It was a very interesting discussion and I learned a few things about Athens that I was previously unaware of, i.e. Athens is home to many foreign businesses European headquarters, companies like 3M and Coca-Cola.
With the conclusion of the discussion we were given about 2 hours to clean up and get dressed up for the cocktail reception.
Janice, the previously mentioned friend of the professor’s whose last name also eludes me at the moment – must be the lack of sleep, greeted us at the door of her home which was the top floor of a building directly across the street from the US Embassy. We were ushered up the stairs in her home to the roof of the building and were amazed at patio and view. The patio area was all decked out for the party, including a large selection of traditional Greek appetizers, a Greek band, and a group of traditional Greek dancers. Soon after our arrival several other guests began arriving, including several students from the university, a few important Greek public figures, including the head of UNESCO, as well as Janice’s son and daughter. The party was a success as everyone had a great time socializing, drinking some good wine, enjoying some Greek foods, and even joining in on the Greek dancing. We were all very thankful for all Janice had done for us on our stop in Athens as she helped organize and pull some strings on a few aspects as well as the party.
Following the party, we all headed back towards the hotel and found a bar where we could all have at least one more drink together; tomorrow being a free day and it was likely this would be our last chance to be together as a group. We had a great time drinking and sharing our favorites from the trip.
Soon though we all started to call it a night as some had plans that involved an early morning tomorrow, so with that we headed in, said some goodbyes, and called it a night.
Tomorrow, as I mentioned, will be a free day, and a group of us have decided to visit the Temple of Zeus in the morning and tour the Temple of Poseidon in the afternoon, so stay tuned for what should be my final post of the trip tomorrow, I can’t believe its already time to go home, though I am starting to desire seeing my family, girlfriend, and friends, and my bed.
So for now, goodnight.
Mike
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