My parents have left, and now it's just Aspen and I (soon to be joined by Cristina!). Greece was the first place we decided to go (partially due to proximity) and there were a couple super cheap flights on RyanAir. We selected the one that left at 6:15 in the morning. Yay. This meant that we got to the airport around 10PM the night before our flight and spent the night on the floor of the airport with about 60 other people leaving early the next morning. My thought: Great minds think alike. Aspen's thought: I'd rather sleep on a bed of nails than on the floor of the airport again. Direct quote. Luckily, we shouldn't have to do that again for the rest of the trip.
I want to preface this post with two things. 1. Everything is pretty cheap in Greece (see food section) 2. I understand 0 Greek, actually I think negative Greek is where I'm at.
Site Highlights:
Acropolis (and Museum): the Acropolis is basically a giant hill in the middle of Athens that the ancient Greeks built their temples on. The main temple is the Parthenon (which is currently undergoing restoration). It is HUGE! It measures 8•17 pillars and there actually is a life size model of it on the third floor of the Acropolis museum. There are additional temples on the Acropolis that pay tribute to other gods, however the main Goddess of Athens is Athena. You cannot take photos in the museum, so you'll just have to trust me when I say it was the best museum I've ever gotten in to for three euro.
Parthenon
Temple of Zeus/Agora: Basically just another temple that's been pretty well preserved and the gathering place of the Ancients. They are on opposite sides of the Acropolis but I'm putting them in the same site because once you walk to them there really isn't that much more to see.
Mount Lycabettus: A lengthy and completely uphill walk but totally worth the incredible view of the entire city. At the top there is a church and a cafe where we stopped. I had a Greek version of proseco (I'm now a wine connoisseur) and Aspen had a beer (his goal: a beer in every country he visits).
Food Highlights:
So much good food! I'm a little shocked at how much I've enjoyed the Greek cuisine, but lucky for me I have a couple more days to enjoy it.
Gyros: Traditional Greek gyros have lettuce, tomato, French fry like potatoes, meat, and some sort of sauce. Here are some pics of us enjoying our first gyros in Athens at Souvlaki!
MahnMahn: Recomended by the lady who owned the apartment we stayed at, it was a little fancier but cost us only 42 euros for two main meals, bread, water, dessert, and two glasses of wine. Would definitely go here again!
Toni: We found this place after scouring TripAdvisor for food recommendations near our housing. This was the closest top rated choice, so we decided to give it a try! It was amazing, and cost us 22 euros for 5 small plates, bread, water, a glass of wine, and a beer. Definitely make a reservation because we got stuck on the smoking side.
Coffee Joint: Recomended by the lady who showed us our apartment as a place to get a good breakfast, little did I know how good it would be. The fruit and yogurt parfait was INCREDIBLE. Never have I had such delicious Greek yogurt, strawberries, and pears.
From here on out I'm going to end each post with my rating of the city on a scale of 1-10, and my likelihood of returning.
Athens:
Rating: 7.5/10 (Katie), 8/10 (Aspen)
Likelihood of Returning: 60% (K), 50% (A)
Thoughts behind: I really liked how clean and walkable Athens was, however I don't know if I could spend more time there since there are a limited number of sights and they all give off the same kind of vibe. I would like to see the 2004 Olympic stadium if I ever return to the city.
mommy and daddy!!!!
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