This week our program director arranged for a private tour of the parliament building for our group and it was great! It’s a building we walk by quite often so it was really cool to get to go inside and hear the history of the building from a guide. We only walked through one metal detector and our names/identity were never verified….casual. Just a little different than getting into The Capitol! I also included a couple other pictures of the building I’ve taken from either roof top dinners or just walking around
I also have a confession to make. I have fallen in love….with the stray animals of Greece. We all saw this coming, it was only a matter of time. There are little kittens everywhere and all of them playing together is the cutest thing I’ve seen. The dogs are an entirely different story. I did a little bit of research on the stray dogs of athens out of concern and discovered there are multiple well-funded organizations to care for these animals. They provide almost all of them with vaccines and food and tag them so they can be accounted for. Any of the strays that have collars on are all safe and disease-free which is a good thing because I want to cuddle with all of them. I still have to remind myself to approach cautiously even though not a single one has shown even the slightest indication of aggression. Normally they run up and start kissing me faster than Ellie does. I’ve always known dogs can sense when someone is a dog person and this proves it. A few pictures show this one guy who was having the time of his life splashing and rolling around in a park fountain (ellie-style of course) and then walked over to hang out with us. My favorite so far though has been the black mix that immediately laid down and rolled over onto his back asking for belly rubs. It is so evident that these animals are healthy and well-loved, it just warms my heart. Most of the research I’ve done explains how many people live in such small apartments that they’re not able to accomodate larger pets so instead the entire city shares a few dozen dogs. Essentially instead of 1-3 loving owners each stray has hundreds. Which explains why they’re all so well-fed and loving towards people.
Dogs of athens, you get me.
Studying Abroad in Greece 
Let me start off by saying âmiss you bunches!â It certainly looks like you are having the time of your life. Your pictures makes me think this is what Utopia would look like if such a place existed. Iâm also happy to know that airlines donât allow pets else Elle would have lots of playmates. In looking at the dogs and cats Iâm amazed at how good they look for being on their own. We finally got some rain here for a couple of days which was really needed. Not much else going on so thatâs all for now, look forward to your call on Sunday!
Love Dad
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