In Rome, we discovered the Cat Coliseum. In Athens though, there were dogs... Everywhere! Especially in the popular tourist areas. These weren't dogs on leashes or even dogs that had homes. Each one a stray but none of them looked like they lacked food or had diseases. They would just lie on the ground in front of the famous ruins or even inside the exhibits themselves, obviously waiting for some oblivious tourist to give them some food. But being from A&M, our group of Aggies didn't fall for their food begging tricks (mostly because we had no food to begin with). Yet even though we had no food, we still managed to make some new doggy friends. Our group of eight college students were adopted into a pack of five stray dogs.
We first met our furry friends atop the beautiful Acropolis. After seeing the ruins of the Parthenon and the amazing views from the peak of the hill that is in the center of the entire city, we walked alongside two of these dogs while trying to find an entrance to the Ancient Agora. We walked down a hill only to find that it was closed for the day. Our two dog friends had been following some cats and had just finished chasing them into hiding. We both started making our way back up the hill to the Acropolis; the humans because we were lost if we didn't turn back, and the dogs because that was where all the people and excitement was. I believe that it was in that moment that these two dogs figured we were part of their pack. We went down the hill with them, the cats disappeared, and now we were going back up the hill with them. Therefore, we must have also been chasing the cat and therefore, we must be friends.
When we reached the top of the hill, three more "friends" joined our group. The pack was now complete, five dogs, eight humans. All of the dogs seemed friendly enough. They didn't get to close to us or bark at us, their tails were wagging and they seemed happy to be with us. At first the humans had no problem with our new friends. But then the first raid happened.
As we walked down the other side of the Acropolis, a couple came strolling up the hill towards us. The woman was carrying a bag of chips and the man was carrying a sandwich. All five dogs ran up to them and started barking. Not biting or attacking, just barking. The girl instantly drops her chips but the dogs didn't even care. They just kept barking until the people speed walked away and then they fell right back in beside us, leaving the couple and the chips untouched. We continue walking down the hill and a small yellow car comes up behind us. We move out of the way but the dogs apparently hate, and I mean hate, anything with a motor on it. Three of them instantly start chasing and barking at the car. At first the car slows down, confused, but as the dogs do not relent, the car decides to speed away. The three dogs pursue with amazing speed and agility. They went for a good 200 meters before they realized that they were getting to far away from us. They soon came back to us and fell into step beside us.
The next raid was of the victims own doing. One of our companions wandered up to a man on the side of the road and the man begins to clap at the dog. The dog then begins barking at the man, which brings up three more barking dogs. Eventually, he learns that if he stops clapping, they will leave him alone. And so our journey continues.
At this point, we, the humans, were starting to become a little concerned about our own safety with our new found brotherhood. We began to plan on how to get away from the dogs, but every time we turned or even reversed the direction we were walking, the dogs would follow. So, we began to split into groups of two, one boy and one girl each. Our idea was that they would only follow one group and then soon lose interest with so few humans around. We were correct in that they couldn't follow us all but incorrect in them losing interest. They continued to all follow Robert and Allison, both of whom were enjoying the entire situation and might have wanted to adopt some of the dogs themselves. After approximately a mile of walking, we found a stair case that the dogs didn't seem to want to go down. We took refuge at the bottom of the steps and waited. Until we see one that we had lost a while back turn around the corner of the building, see us, and start to come down the stairs. Luckily there was a second way away from the stairs instead of going back up them. We took off that way, closed a gate behind us, and never saw the dogs again.
I felt bad for leaving our new friends after they had been kind enough to accept us into their pack and try to teach us how to get food from humans and chase cars and mopeds. Maybe, when I go back to Athens, I will find my friends again. Or maybe I will just adopt one of their cousins in America when I go back.
Athens was a beautiful city full of ancient ruins that will blow your mind to think about something so big and intricate being made so long ago. The beach and the sea are also a great site to see, but I would go when it is a little bit warmer. Europe as a whole seems to be at a much higher altitude than Texas. A lesson that is quickly learned when you go to the beach in 50 degree weather only wearing a speedo.
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