The Athens airport is 17 miles East of downtown, about 45 minutes by metro. First, we had to find the ticket guy. Then, we had to figure out which metro line to get on. Athens' metro system is a lot more complicated than the one in Rome. This one has three different lines which seem to be running all over the place. Although it's probably not too complicated for someone who is used to it, I am totally new to this metro thing. Luckily, Meghan is not only awesome with directions, but also has loads of experience with the NY subway system.
As if that wasn't confusing enough, all the words are in Greek.
Greek Alphabet |
Somehow (I'm really not sure; I was so tired at this point and I really just followed Meghan who had the map and directions), we made it to our hotel. I told the woman at the front desk my name. "Oh," she said, "Yes. But you are not in this hotel. We moved you to another one. It's just down the street on the other side. Hotel Aristoteles."
Umm. . . okay!
We got to our new hotel and checked in. I don't really know why we got upgraded, but the room rate posted in our room was €70 per night for two people. We each paid €12 per night. Plus, it said the "breakfast rate" was €10, and breakfast was included for us. Each day we got: a hard boiled egg, corn flakes and milk, peaches, a lot of fresh bread with butter and jam, coffee, juice, meat, cheese, and some kind of citrus-y sweet bread. Each morning, we were stuffed and ready to go for the day. The rooms were clean and we had our own bathroom (finally!). And it happened to be the cheapest place we stayed during the whole trip!
So, our hotel rocked.
Anyway, we took a nap as soon as we got there. Then we went out to explore the town before it got dark. We saw the Parliament building and the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We saw a bunch of Greek Orthodox churches. Then we got into all the mythology stuff, which makes me wish I had paid more attention to Ancient History class in high school. But anyway, we saw the Arch of Hadrian and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Then we headed towards the Acropolis. It was getting dark, and we were starving. I hadn't eaten since my donut and cappuccino at the airport at 5am, and I had started getting hungry about 5 minutes after I had eaten that.
Enter Geros Tou Moria Tavern.
We sat down and looked at the menu. It didn't take me long to pick out my meal. Spinach pie, and Meatballs.
I had no idea what spinach pie would be like. And I don't even really like meatballs (at least not in spaghetti, which is the only way I've ever had them, I think), but these were calling my name. Really. I heard them say it to me from the menu. Creepy? No. It was just meant to be.
At last, the food came. I was so lucky. I had 4 spinach pies! (Except I don't really think of them as pies; they were cooked spinach folded up in phyllo dough triangles; and I think they were fried, because they were crispy.) And. . . SURPRISE! My meatballs came with fries! Seasoned fries!
Spinach Pies and Meatballs with Fries. I ordered it because it rhymes, maybe. |
Moving on. . .
Our bellies were full and it was dark out, so we headed back to the hotel, seeing the Roman Forum and some other things on our way.
The next morning, we went to the Archaeological Museum. It was full of artifacts from different Greek civilizations dating from 7000 BC to AD 500. Minoans, Mycenaeans, Archaic Greece, Classical age, Alexander the Great, and finally, the Romans. All kinds of sculptures and artifacts. Lots of pots and vases, jewelry, and statues. It was really cool!
Next, we headed to the ancient Agora, the heart of ancient Athens. It's mostly a field full of ruins, but we walked around with my guide book and read about what the different buildings used to be. At the end of our Agora tour, we walked up to the Acropolis. Before going in to see the Acropolis, we paused to climb up some giant rocks and sit on top of Mars Hill, a historic spot. It's where the Apostle Paul preached to the Athenians! From there, we had a great view of Athens.
Finally, the Acropolis!
The Propylaea; The Entrance to the Acropolis |
1. The Parthenon!
There it is! |
2. Kate!
Reunion! |
After the Acropolis, it was lunch time. We went to Smile Cafe, a place I had heard of on Trip Advisor. For €7.50 we got bread, Greek salad, moussaka, and a glass of wine.
Greek Salad |
Did you know feta cheese looked like this? I've only ever seen it in crumbles. Yucky, dry crumbles. I thought I didn't like feta cheese. But it turns out, I LOVE feta cheese! Delicious and creamy and perfect in every way. This salad goes in my top 4 favorite Greek foods I tried on the trip (along with those meatballs).
Moussaka |
The Smile Cafe lady was really nice. She told us that the next day was a holiday, and everything would be closed except restaurants. (We didn't know about that.) She said it was Greek Independence Day, and there would be a parade at 11 at Syntagma Square. She also told us of a really awesome trip we could take! She recommended going to Poseidon's Temple, an hour and a half ride by bus. She told us which bus stop, which bus, how to pay for the ticket, how much it would cost, and what times the bus came. So, we made plans for the next day. :)
The rest of the afternoon we spent shopping. Athens has some great shopping. There's tons of jewlery, which was mainly what I bought. But they also sell really cool olive oil soaps, and all kinds of junky touristy Greek items, some of which aren't really that bad.
The highlight of the afternoon, though, was Melissinos Art, the famous sandal maker of Athens! There are plenty of shops along the main shopping drag that sell sandals. But this place is the real thing. The shop was opened in 1927 by the current owner's dad. They make leather sandals in different styles and you pay based on the amount of leather they use. They adjust the sandals to your feet. I've never had customized shoes before! This place is sort of a big deal. The Beatles came to Melissinos in 1968, and Jackie O bought sandals there, and the Queen of Greece also used to shop there! Here are the ones I picked out:
My Beloved Leather Sandals |
After a full afternoon of shopping, it was dark, and dinner time. First, we had baklava: phyllo dough layered with nuts and honey.
Baklava! |
The rest of our meal consisted of us picking up some gummy bears and chips (We each got our own bags, and finished them.) and a bottle of wine, and we had a fun little sleepover-y snack-and-stay-up-talking-about-boys night in our hotel room. Another end to another fabulous day.
Next morning, it was Greek Independence Day, and we were going to celebrate. We hit up a streetside flag-selling man, and then took our spots on the street along the parade route.
My Favorite Picture of the Three of Us |
Then we stopped by a stand that sells fresh coconut, coconut "juice," and these awesome coconut sticks!
Coconut Sticks from the Coconut Dudes |
Then we took the bus to Poseidon's Temple. It's located on the southernmost tip of mainland Greece. It was a scenic bus ride, right along the coast almost the whole way there! We got to the site just in time. They closed 30 minutes later! We had time to walk up to the temple and take pictures.
Poseidon's Temple |
Me! |
Meghan and I ordered fried shrimp and fries (I hardly ever eat fries, but it seems like I've had them a lot on this trip!) to share. Which was good, because here's the massive amount of shrimp we got:
Fried Shrimp |
After waiting LITERALLY 30 minutes to get the check after we had asked for it, it was getting dark out. We watched the sun set before we headed back to the bus, for our two hour + (somehow it took way longer coming back) ride home.
Sunset |
I'm getting hungry again. |
They were all INCREDIBLE. And yes. You've gotta have the tzatziki with the soulvaki. SO GOOD.
Our last day of Spring Break (Sunday didn't count, because it was a travel day), we began at the Acropolis Museum. It didn't take us too long there, and then we shopped the entire rest of the day, stopping for gyros for lunch. (My first gyros! And I had it in Greece!) At about 5pm we sat down and said, "Well, what should we do now?" It was weird not having somewhere to be. And it was getting a little cold, because we didn't have our jackets.
We headed back to the hotel to pack (sadly) and take a nap before going out for dinner. I had lamb soulvaki! I had never had lamb. . . that I know of, unless it was in a kebab or that gyros, but I've never had just straight-up lamb until then. The picture of it looks a lot like the other soulvaki picture, so I won't post it. But here's a picture of Hannah's stuffed grape leaves!
Stuffed with Rice |
The next day we flew back to Rome and took the slow train to Florence. We got home around 7pm, totally exhausted but totally in awe of how PERFECT our entire break had been.
It's amazing how perfect (I keep using this word, but I can't think of a better -more perfect- word; sorry!) this entire semester has been. I am living with 5 other girls I didn't know till I got here. We're all from different places and different backgrounds. And we all get along so well. I'm blessed to have found Meghan and Hannah to travel with. We share the same interests (getting up early to go to museums, instead of staying out late to go to clubs during our vacation) and we all agreed on wanting to do the same things on our trip. There wasn't any drama or arguing. Just a lot of talking and taking pictures and having a genuinely good time together. I don't know what I would have done without them to take this trip with. It was THE best week. EVER.
AHHH! Your post makes me miss Greece so much! Totally agree the food is UH-MAZING. Glad you are having a great time! :D
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