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Greece Journal Entry: Day 6

Greece Journal Entry: Day 6

A Venue Change

(Editor's Note: Each day of the Greece Foreign Tour will feature a quick journal entry summarizing each day's activities. For instant updates, follow Boise State Women's Basketball on Facebook, X/Twitter and Instagram. )

Collectively, we cannot believe this was our sixth day in Greece. After our first initial day of getting acclimated, it feels like we’ve been going nonstop with activities, excursions and games for the past five days. Time truly flies when you're having fun. 

By design, the pace of our sixth day was much slower. The departure time was set for 10 a.m., so the team utilized a well-deserved late morning (good PR for slept in extremely late). One staff member however, academic advisor Eric Kile, woke up early and made the 10-minute walk to the base of the Athens Acropolis to view the sunrise from the historic setting. 

The team started their day off by eating its last meal at the hotel’s breakfast buffet (we sincerely apologize for not mentioning how fantastic this buffet was). Then we checked out of our downtown hotel to head to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier to watch the changing of the guard.

The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by two soldiers, who stand extremely still and change out every hour. However at 11 a.m. on Sunday mornings., a much more intricate celebration takes place. Complete with a formal procession, the event is planned out to every last detail in front of hundreds of onlookers. While only 15 minutes long, it was well worth the experience.

Afterwards, we reboarded the bus and took an hour-long bus ride to Vouliagmeni, a town to the southeast of Athens located right on the beach. We checked into our luxury hotel (humble brag: located on the ocean) and relaxed for a couple of hours before dinner. And by relaxed, we mean spend the day either at the pool or at the beach. A couple of random observations from the chill day…

1.) Senior guard Dani Bayes ran into an Australian woman who lived on her street back home in Brisbane. She remembered reading about Dani signing with Boise State years ago in the hometown paper.

2.) We’ve now swam at two different beaches, with both consisting of friendly fish. The fish from yesterday were much smaller than the ones the team swam with today. There were claims that the fish were biting some of our players’ legs, but those claims seem dubious to the resident fact checker here.

3.) Transfer Emily Howard CONTINUES to get stopped about her height. The 6’5 center has been approached nearly every day by a passerby wanting to take a picture of her due to her height.

In the evening, we boarded the bus to head back into Athens for dinner. We were dropped off at Monastiraki Square, and to get to our restaurant wee had to navigate the famous Athens flea market (several players bounced in and out of shops to pick up gifts). We then hiked up the steep Athens staircases, passing through narrow alleyways with lively cafes on either side. We settled at a restaurant called Xenios Zeus, which ended up providing what a majority of the team said was the best dinner of the trip.

As we approach our last full day in Greece (we begin our long travel day home Tuesday morning), we wanted to take a minute to ask each player on the team something they’ve been most surprised to learn on the trip. Enjoy the answers below, and we’ll see you all tomorrow!

What has surprised you the most about Greece so far?

Redshirt senior Josee Steadman: The driving is a lot different here. A lot of the stoplights are on the side of the road and the drivers are extremely aggressive. 

Sophomore Libby Hutton: I’m surprised by how small everything is. The elevators, the bathrooms – it all is much, much smaller than I was expecting.

Senior Dani Bayes: There are so many Australians here – it’s crazy!

Senior Mya Hansen: I’m surprised by how salty the ocean water is. Beach sand is also very soft (I’ve never been to the ocean before).

Freshman Kenna Garza: What surprised me the most about Greece was how much human history it holds. 

Freshman Keirra Thompson: I can’t believe how close the beds are to each other in the hotel.

Freshman Mason Borcherding: The thing that surprised me the most about Greece was how each island has its own distinct features. 

Freshman Izzie Harms: It’s insane how blue the water is here!

Senior Tatum Thompson: I’m surprised by how many different places all of the tourists here come from. 

Freshman Jayda Lewis: What surprised me the most is how clear the water is. It’s such a light shade of blue!

Sophomore Milly Sharp: It’s cool how beautiful and interesting the buildings are. There are also endless amounts of food.

Redshirt junior Emily Howard: What surprised me most about Greece how clear the water is. It’s beautiful!

Senior Natalie Pasco: I was most surprised by the different types of elevators and how small they were.

Redshirt senior Madeline Cooke: There is a coffee shop around every corner and I discovered I actually liked coffee without sugar in it. 

Freshman Morgan Maldonado: The most surprising thing was how close everything was together. There are so many shops and stores.  

Celebrity answer from assistant coach Heather Sower: Before I came here everyone was talking about great the food was here…it didn’t disappoint! It lived up to the hype!