Greece Part 1 - Athens

We started off our trip to Greece with a day and a half in Athens. A lot of travel sites I read suggested not spending too much time in Athens. I knew that visiting the Acropolis and other ancient sites would be awesome and an absolute necessity, but other than that I wasn't expecting much from the city. My low expectations did not give Athens its due credit. I loved this city! Obviously we didn't have much time there, but between the day and a half at the beginning and a day at the end of our trip I think we did a pretty good job exploring. Driving from the airport we were awed by the site of 5 million people living in a relatively small area nestled between low, arid mountains. They have no skyscrapers so the city is very low and sprawling. It almost looks like a blanket laid over the countryside. You'll see what I mean from the pictures I took from the top of the acropolis. 

Oh--and a side note before I get to the pictures....the flight from Atlanta to Athens was awful!!! We flew through the night and landed in Athens at 10:30am their time. All I wanted to do was sleep on the flight so that we could start the day refreshed when we got there. Our seats on the plane were "emergency exit" seats, which we thought were great because you got some extra leg room. Big mistake. I guess the "emergency door" is not as well insulated as the rest of the plane. It was FREEZING!!! I had one long sleeves and a jacket knowing that I tend to get cold in planes. I put a bunch of airplane pillows between me and the window as a barrier, but it didn't help. Neither did my sleeping pill or my 4 airplane blankets. My carry on bag was stiff and frozen when we finally landed. Luckily, we were very energized and excited when we got there, so we didn't have much of a problem adjusting to the time change. 

Back to Athens....

We took a taxi to the Attalos Hotel. After dropping our things and a quick change of clothes we hit the ground running. We stopped off for some Souvlaki (grilled meats with pita bread platter) for lunch and then went to visit the ancient Agora. This is the ancient town at the base of the Acropolis. While the Acropolis with the Parthenon and other temples was a center of worship and celebration, the Agora is where everyday life took place. Most the government buildings were housed there as well as the Mint, Treasury, work shops, etc. This is where Socrates and his contemporaries roamed. I read a great text book about the Agora before we left on the trip and I think I drove my husband insane with my comments. I couldn't help it! It was amazing to walk on the ancient streets, see the plumbing that it still in place, etc. Gah! I'm getting too long winded...here are the pics....

The Agora is in the immediate background and beyond that you can see the Acropolis with the Parthenon. The porch like building on the far right is a reconstruction of one of the Stoas. (Buildings with long wide porches) The rest of the Agora is mostly just stone foundations.

The Hephaestion. (One of the best preserved ancient temples. This one managed to make it through without being shot through with cannon balls--unlike the Parthenon.)

After our touring we stopped off on the Streets of Athens for a little refreshment.

That night we went to the Plaka for dinner and drinks we had a great meal of mezes. (tapas style eating) My first of 300 Greek Salads, dolmades, and other Greek specialties.

Later we headed back to the hotel to crash. The next day we had a 7am wake up call. We wanted to get to the Acropolis when it opened to avoid the crowds. We were glad that we did. By the time we left the place was teaming with tour groups. If you want to have a chance to get some pictures without a zillion people in the background you have to get there early. 

One of the ancient theaters at the base of the Acropolis. Hard to believe that I could actually climb around on something built around 500BC.

The Parthenon...It is so hard not to post all of the photos of the different buildings, but I'm trying to be brief. 

That view of the city from the top of the Acropolis that I was talking about...

Afterwards was got lost for a little bit in Athens (somehow we ended up in the middle of a parade....quite a moment.) and ended up having to speed walk/run back to our hotel to get our transfer to the airport for our flight to Santorini.

Coming up....Four days in Santorini!