Greece - Athens

October 6-7, 2010

We made it to Athens! We got in at night, and it was so pretty to see everything all lit up. This is a hotel at Syntagma Square, which is pretty much in the middle of Athens (a.k.a tourist central).

We stayed at a hostel the first night, which was a little rough but we’re glad we tried it. It was fun to talk to all the young people staying there – there were people from lots of different countries, and it was helpful to get advice and sightseeing ideas from them.

The next morning we set out to sightsee in Athens, and it was a beautiful day to do so! We decided to bypass the busses (we’ve found the language barrier here to be a little rough) and just walk everywhere. We first came across the stadium they used for the 2004 Olympics – it fits right in with the other Grecian architectural style!

Next we spotted the Parthenon (hard to miss) so headed in that direction. On the way we got to see the Temple of Olympian Zeus (not too much left there, unfortunately) and the Arch of Hadrian.

Temple of Zeus remains

You can see the Parthenon in the background of the Arch of Hadrian – it’s small, but cool!

We had lunch in the Plaka quarter, which was a maze of streets lined with cute shops, restaurants, and cafes. We had our first taste of authentic Greek food and it was delicious!!

In the Plaka quarter – this is what I imagine when I think of Greece!

Next, we made it to the Acropolis and the Parthenon! The Acropolis is the base of the Parthenon, which is described as “a natural fortress, which attracted the earliest people to settle the site of modern Athens”. It was pretty impressive in itself, especially the Theater of Herodes Atticus, which is built into the south slope of the Acropolis.

Thomas and I on the way up to the Parthenon – Athens barely in the background on the right

The Parthenon was impressive, even with all the restoration construction materials going on inside and around it. The views of Athens from up there were stunning as well!

We wandered around Athens for a little bit and found the Greek Parliament building and the “Prison of Socrates”. Tradition has it Socrates was imprisoned here, although I’m not sure they actually believe that. 

Greek Parliament building

"Prison of Socrates"

 We then took a scenic tour back to our hostel (meaning we got lost), packed up our stuff, and decided to try and catch a ferry to the Greek island of Cretes that night. We luckily got tickets, caught the metro to the port of Piraeus (which a very dull/trashy place), and got on our ferry! I was picturing a small boat thrashing around on the 8.5-hour trip to Crete, and having a repeat of our seasick honeymoon sunset dinner cruise. However, we got lucky when we found our “ferry” to be this:

It certainly made for a much more enjoyable trip!

Thomas enjoying the ferry trip!

On the ferry boat 

The one drawback to Greece is that they do not allow you to flush toilet paper in the toilet. It’s weird. And gross.

Hopefully Crete isn’t like that, but we’ll find out! J