A Day in the Life of a Student in Athens
To help you understand a little more of my time in Athens, I decided to run through a typical school day. These were my busiest days of the week, but by far the most fulfilling. I would have at least one, at most four field trips every day. These trips would range from locations like the Acropolis, to the Agora, to the Byzantine Art Museum, to a street corner in Kypseli. There wasn’t much time left in between classes for me to get place to place, so sometimes I would need to taxi from class to class. This helped me learn every inch of the city and talk to a number of locals. It was even a task in one of my classes to take an older woman to get coffee and ask her about her experience living in Athens her entire life. My classes weren’t so typical, as you could imagine.
To get started, I begin at my apartment in the Pagrati neighborhood of Athens.
10:00 AM: Wake up, shower, get dressed for the day. Grab a quick breakfast on the way out.
10:45 AM: If I don’t leave by now, I am going to be very late. Walk (maybe run) to the south slope of the Acropolis for my architecture class. This was usually a 15–20 minute walk through the national gardens and other pedestrian streets.
11:00 AM: Meet other classmates at the Acropolis, walk around and take in the sights. We had special privileges at the Acropolis because my professor is the lead architect for the restoration of the Propylaea. This usually led to angry glares from people who were jealous that I got to go behind the rope. Yep. Be jealous.
12:30 PM: Time to grab lunch. I would have to hurry back because I had class at 1:15. I usually took the same route back to campus.
1:15 PM: After a quick lunch, I would head upstairs to my Contemporary Urbanism class. Sometimes, we had field trips, and these field trips would entail us exploring the city as a local. We wouldn’t necessarily have a special destination, but we explored various streets, neoclassical houses, and random historical monuments throughout the city. This class gave me the most insight to Athens as a whole.
3:30 PM: This was the same ending time for one class and starting time for another, which was a bit tricky on field trip days. Now it was time for Byzantine Art and Architecture, which was normally a lecture in a different building from my previous class. I really enjoyed this class and the professor.
4:50 PM: After class, I would normally run over to a little coffee shop to grab something to eat. I had 25 minutes until my next class, so I use this time to chill, socialize, and recharge.
5:15 PM: I now head to Urban Sustainability on campus. This was probably my most boring class, but only because I compared it to my other classes which would always take field trips. I learned lots of good information and is one of the main reasons why I want to keep studying the city of Athens.
7:00 PM: I’m finally finished with classes for the day. I would normally head down the street to grab some souvlaki with other friends. This was my favorite part of the day. Who doesn’t love souvlaki?
11:00 PM: After finishing up some homework, I am now exhausted from the day and head to bed.
As you can see, my days were packed, but in the best way. On non-school days, I would usually be exploring more parts of the city, travelling to the Greek Islands, or stuffing my face with more Souvlaki. Did I tell you I love Souvlaki?
