A Return to Athens

It has been about 4 years since I last visited the great city of Athens with my parents in the summer of 2007. I remember being a complete tourist only wanting to see the ruins and had little to no interest in the actual modern city. Now returning to Athens I was introduced to a city I'd never truely seen before. While on the ride from the airport to the Sina apartment i was taken aback by the smount of graffiti that coated the city. The next shock was the level of poverty i had never expected. It seems all to easy for us as Americans to simply ignore other country's problems and stay within our own bubble but once out of that bubble life is very different. However after these initial shocks I have really begun to enjoy Athens and see past its rough exterior and focus on the day to day beauty of the city.