Thursday, April 18, 2019

Athens: Travel Guide


The ferry from Santorini to Athens was interesting. Our seats weren’t together, even though we bought them together, and our big packs had to be left on the lower levels with the cars. Like literally we were instructed to just leave them lying on the ground in a pile. I read some terrible reviews online stating that stolen luggage was common. We were anxious the entire way to Athens praying our bags would still be there. And they were! Yay for small travel mercies!

Our Airbnb in Athens set up a taxi to pick us up at the port. Something worth investing in when traveling is arranging rides/taxis/shuttles ahead of time. It might cost a little more (a lot of times it doesn’t), but it saves so much time and stress.

We met my brother, Connor, in Athens, and his flight arrived that night from Kyrgyzstan. We hadn’t seen him since our wedding and his travels lined up so that he was heading west as we headed east to Greece! It was great to see him and spend a couple of days together!

Unlike Santorini, we did EVERYTHING in Athens. I purchased the Rick Steve’s Athens Pocket Guide and I used it every day we were there, hitting all the main sites it outlined. Our Airbnb was affordable, updated, and a 5 minute walk from the Acropolis, which put us in prime location to tour the city!

Day 1:

The Acropolis

·         We hit the big one bright and early. We purchased tickets online, there is only one site to purchase these tickets from. But even if you purchase online, you would still have to wait in the same line as everyone else to pick up your tickets.
·         If you buy the 30 euro ticket (which allows you into other sites) at a different location, you can skip the line at the Acropolis and just swipe in with your ticket.
·         We purchased the 20 euro ticket that was just a ticket for the Acropolis and got there right when they opened. There was no line and we walked right into the site!
·         The Rick Steve’s pocket guide has a self-guided tour through the Acropolis, which is what I used to educate Cam & Con on all things Parthenon
·         I DIED, like literally died when we walked up through the entrance onto the top of the Acropolis. All my years of dreaming of Greece and visiting the Parthenon and I was finally there, walking through the crumbled marble and visualizing how it would’ve looked in its hay day.
·         It took us about an hour and a half total to tour the Acropolis, by the time we left the place was swarming and the entrance up to the top was packed with tourists.

Mars Hill

  • This spot is right next to the Acropolis and was a quick easy spot to hit once we came down off the top of the Acropolis.
  • It was so cool to visit this spot, see the huge Acropolis looming over you, and know that this is where Paul told the Greeks the true identity of their “unnamed god”. And he did it in the shadow of the Acropolis!! If this doesn’t get you fired up…
  • The Acropolis is basically a huge shrine of temples dedicated to the goddess Athena, the namesake of the city. There are other gods that get their respects as well, like Dionysus, the god of food and wine.
  • Paul told the theologians that God is the true god and that He rules over all, and he did it with the Acropolis as a backdrop. Talk about BOLD.
The New Acropolis Museum

  • This site is not included in the 30 euro ticket and we had to purchase separate entrance into the museum.
  • I am a fan of this museum. Greece built it as a nudge to get the Parthenon Marbles (aka the Elgin Marbles) back from the British Museum and I am here for it! The controversy over the majority of the British Museum’s collection is a complicated one, it’s called controversial for a reason! I am not even going to skim the surface in this post, so that soap box is ending here
  • I’ve seen the REAL marbles at the British Museum many a time, but after touring the Acropolis and seeing how few marbles the New Acropolis Museum has, it is very sad that so many call London home.
  • The architecture of this museum is perfection. While building, they found the ruins of a neighborhood on the site. You can view these ruins outside and through the floor of the museum during your visit.
  • The top floor of the museum has panoramic windows and looks right onto the Acropolis, with Parthenon in full view. The layout of the top floor is an exact size replica of the Parthenon, complete with interior space, and columns, so you get a great feel for how large the Parthenon was in its true glory.
  • We took the pocket guide self-guided tour through the museum as well, which highlights main pieces throughout the collection.
  • The New Acropolis Museum has great AC so it was nice to tour it AFTER being in the morning heat.
Hadrian’s Arch, Temple of Zeus, and the Olympic Stadium

  • We grabbed a quick bite for lunch and were off to see some more sites.
  • Hadrian’s Arch is not a far walk from the Acropolis. It is situated right next to the Temple of Zeus, as Hadrian, the Roman Emperor had a fascination with the Greeks (who wouldn’t?!) and attempted to rebuild this area of the city to create his own “New” Athens.
  • The Temple of Zeus is included on the 30 euro ticket, so if this excites you, buy the more expensive ticket and you can get in! We just walked around it and that was plenty for us.
  • Not far from the Arch and Temple is the Olympic Stadium, where the first modern Olympics was held. This site is also included on the 30 euro ticket and we again opted out of wanting to go in and tour it. You can see pretty much everything from outside.
The rest of the day was spent napping at the Airbnb and then we went out to find dinner.

Day 2

The Ancient Agora

  • We slept in (I do have a heart), and then headed for the Ancient Agora.
  • Once again, this is included in the pocket guide, and we took the self-guided tour through the site, the majority of the pictures of me in Athens, I have Rick Steve’s in tow!
  • This site is not part of the 30 euro ticket, and we paid a separate entry fee.
  • The Agora was the center of the city. It was the main central market place, political center, and hangout spot.
  • It is easy to imagine day to day happenings of Ancient Athens here, especially because there is one market place reconstructed, and the Temple of Hephaestus (a very well preserved temple) overlooks the grounds.
National Archaeological Museum

  • Surprise, surprise, this site has a self-guided tour in the pocket guide! Similar to the New Acropolis Museum, it highlights some of the best pieces of the collection.
  • Again, we had to buy separate entrance for this museum and it is not included if you buy the 30 euro ticket.
  • It is somewhat of a walk from the Agora, so we actually took the metro to the museum, which was a few blocks from the metro stop.
  • This is the largest museum in Greece, and after visiting the New Acropolis Museum, this one seems outdated and unkempt, even though it has an amazing collection of Greek art and artefacts. This made me think of another side of the controversial topic with the British Museum:  if the pieces are given back to their respective countries, they could be housed in bad conditions and be ruined and lost forever.
  • We ended up walking back from the museum to the Plaka area instead of riding the metro. It was a nice walk, not too far and doable after two full days on our feet.
The Plaka

  • The Plaka is a term you have probably heard a lot if you have looked into visiting Athens. It is the name of the neighborhood directly below the Acropolis.
  • The majority of places we ate were in the Plaka area and we did quite a bit of walking throughout the narrow streets.
  • The pocket guide has a city walking tour that we did not end up walking (can you believe it?!), although we hit most of the points on the tour just by walking to each site we visited! I wish we would have done the walking tour, but we slept in instead, which was very much needed!
  • All that to say, the Plaka is super cute, hard to miss it when you visit Athens. The streets are narrow and wind all around and are most similar to that of Ancient Athens streets.
Athens Tips

  • We were only in Athens for 2 full days, which was PLENTY of time to see what we saw and not feel rushed. I also don’t feel like we missed anything big or didn’t have time to see something I really wanted to.
  • I wish we had stayed longer just for the day trips. You can day trip from Athens to so many different places, like Delphi, Mycenae, Meteora, etc.
  • The city of Athens is huge and sprawling, but the city center and touristy area is all very small and close together.
  • Everyone spoke English in Athens as well, we had no problems communicating while we were there.
  • We ate at places recommended in the Rick Steve’s Pocket Guide, as well as Trip Advisor, or anything we passed on the street that had a Trip Advisor sign.
  • We heard in Santorini that the Athens heat was terrible. We found it quite nice. There were trees and shade and the sun was not as harsh as it was on the islands. Maybe they were there on hotter days than us, but we thought Santorini was significantly more hot and uncomfortable.
Athens was top of my bucket list and I still can’t believe we actually went! It was such a fun trip and a bonus that we got to hang with Connor too! I can’t wait for our next big adventure, we just need to decide when and where!

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