Athens, Greece - July 21-26, 2013

July 21, 2013 - our flight left Rome at 12:40 and 2 hours later we were in Athens.  Another hour or so by taxi to our hotel, Athens Cypria, and we were set.  The hotel is near Syntagma (Constitution) Square and within walking distance of all major sights.  The hotel is older but the rooms are renovated nicely with necessary air conditioning and a king bed.  Quite funny, but we are so used to sleeping in small beds (even twin beds in Rome) that we didn't even use most of the bed the first night.  We got on our walking shoes and explored the area a little bit going from Syntagma Square to Cathedral Square.  Wea had a bite to eat at a forgettable touristy restaurant - I had gyros (donair) and Jan had a Greek salad.  Our first impression of Athens was one of graffiti everywhere and not very clean although we were warned of this.  This impression is certainly changed later - read on ...

July 22, 2013 - we started our day with included breakfast at the hotel and then off on a walking tour following Rick Steves around Athens.  He has a great app for the iphone which gives walking tours of various sites.  We started out with a city walk. We started at Cathedral Square and then walked up Agia Filotheis Street which is full of shops catering to the Orthodox clerics selling religious artifacts.  We then ended up on Adrianou Street which is in the centre of the Plaka neighborhood.  Mostly souvenir shops and a few restaurants.  At Lysikratous Street, we turn left and head towards the Arch of Hadrian and the Temple of Zeus.  Hadrian (or Adrianou) was a major benefactor to the city.  The temple of Zeus took almost 700 years to complete and had 104 columns (each 56 feet high) - only 15 stand today.  We then backtracked up Lysikratous Street and headed into the Anafiotika neighborhood in the shadow of the Acropolis.  This area feels like a small town with its narrow and winding walkways. We then descended from this area to the Roman Forum and the Tower of the Winds - remember Rome ruled this area for a length of time.  We walked through the Agora Square (the tourist centre of the Plaka) and the Library of Hadrian.  We ended up the Monastiraki Square - the other main square and entry to the old town.  We had lunch at Thanasis, one of three main "souvlaki" restaurants on "Souvlaki Row".  I had pork souvlaki, Jan had chicken souvlaki and we shared some tzatziki and pita.  Delicious!

Temple of Zeus and Hadrian's Arch

Hadrian's Arch

Anafiotika Neighbourhood

Souvlaki Row

Then off to the Agora.  The Agora was the real heart of ancient Athens below the Acropolis.  It was the hub of all commercial, political and social life in Athens for 800 years until it was destroyed by the barbarians in 267 AD.  It even had 2 shopping malls (Stoa of Attalos and Middle Stoa) and theatre.  We wandered around for a couple of hours looking at the ruins and museum.  We then headed up Panathenaic Way (main street) to the Acropolis.

Agora - Stoa - Shopping Mall

Agora - Temple of Hephaistos

The Acropolis is the crown jewel of Athens.  Another Wow spot.  From the pictures, you can see that it is quite a hike straight up to the Acropolis.  Not sure of the wisdom of finishing our day hiking up, but oh well.  The Acropolis has been the heart of Athens since the beginning of recorded time.  There are four major monuments - Parthenon, Erechtheion, Propylaea and Temple of Athena Nike and all were built together as a coherent ensemble from 450-400 BC.  As you walk up the steps, all you can think is WOWWWWWWWWWWW!  Definitely one of the highlights of our trip.  The history here is unbelievable!  Socrates, Plato, Aristotle and Bob and Jan Zechel all walked on these streets.  The Parthenon is the crown jewel of the Acropolis but the Erechtheion is very interesting in that it has 6 ladies holding up the south entrance - these are all replicas with 5 of the originals in the Acropolis Museum and 1 original in the British Museum - having been stolen (according to the Greeks) many years ago.  Amazing view of Athens from here.

Acropolis

Parthenon

Propylaea (Entrance) and Temple of Athena Nike

Erechtheon

View from Acropolis

We then descended down the south side of the Acropolis and back to Lysikratous Street where we decided to take a different route to try and find Monastiraki Square.  After about one half hour, Jan kept saying that certain shops looked familiar and we found ourselves back on Lysikratous Street at the exact same spot we started.  Really?  Of course this was at the end of our day and we were a bit weary. We followed Adrianou Street back up to Monastiraki Square for a beer and gyros.  Delicious.  Back to our hotel for a nap and then off to dinner at a small authentic Greek restaurant on a back street.  It was delicious and I know how Kate felt when she was in Crete last year.  Way too much great food.  Rolled into bed.

After our first full day in Athens, our impression changed.  We love it here.  It is full of life.  The Greeks are very animated even if we are not sure what they are saying.  It appears that they are arguing all the time and then - pow - a smile and a kiss and goodbye.  It's All Greek to Me ...

July 23, 2013 - This was our museum day.  We took a taxi to Alkyon Travel slightly north to book our bus and ferry to Alonissos - the Greek island where we will be ending our trip.  We then walked to the National Archeological Museum which has artifacts from the beginning of time or almost.  It was very interesting!  We then were going to take a taxi to Monastiraki Square and the taxi driver said about 15 Euros (it was 5 Euros to get to the museum) - we said nope and started to walk.  Next thing you know we were at the Central Market - a smorgasbord of fresh fruit, vegetables fish and meat.  We walked through the never ending hall of butchers and saw various animals in various states of butchering.  Interesting and disturbing all at the same time.  We then walked from there to Monastiraki Square for a souvlaki at Savas (one of the other Souvlaki Row vendors).  We liked Thanasis better.   Then off to the Acropolis Museum where they have many artifacts but most impressive is the indoor life size replica of the top of the Parthenon with original pieces intermixed.  Again, very interesting.  Back to our hotel for a nap and then to a backstreet cafe for a light dinner and drink.  Another Full day.  Maybe tomorrow will be more relaxing.

July 24, 2013 - Very late start this morning.  We saw the changing of the guard at the Parliament building and then went for a short walk through the National Garden.  They had the street closed off near the Parliament buildings for some reason.  They had red tape strung across the street with one police officer standing guard and a car parked sideways across the street but it was a 4 lane street.  It was like something from the movies - the police officer would be looking one way and a guy on a motorcycle would go under the tape and up the street.  He would be yelling at that guy and someone behind his back would do the same thing.  Cars were even doing this.  Only in Greece!  Back to our hotel for some sunscreen and then off to see the Theatre of Dionysis - an outdoor theatre below the Acropolis - it was included in our ticket price to the Acropolis so we thought why not.  On our way back we stopped at a backstreet Ouzerie called Scholarhio in the Plaka district and had our best Greek meal yet - dolmades, meatballs, greek salad, moussaka and tzatziki with wine and beer.  Too much to eat again.  We waddled back to our hotel for a nap. We had to organize ourselves for the next day - taking a cruise to see 3 Greek islands - Hydra, Poros and Aegina.

Changing of the Guard

July 25, 2013 - Up early to catch the tour bus at 7:30 am.  About an hour ride to some little port and then on a boat to visit Hydra, Poros and Aegina.  The scenery is amazing.  Our first stop after about 2 hours was Hydra, our favourite of te 3 islands we visited probably because it was the smallest and had a real homey feel.  We had about an hour to wander around.  It would be a great little place to return and stay.  Had an ice cream and back on the boat.  They served us a pretty good lunch on board.  Next stop was Poros and it was the next largest island and within a stone's throw of the mainland.  We only had about 30 minutes here, so we walked around and had an ice cream.  Our last stop was Aegina.  It was obviously quite a bit larger and they offered optional tours (a tour within a tour) which you could pay extra for.  We opted to walk around.  They had a nice swimming beach.  We had dinner of souvlaki and gyros and tzatziki and beer and wine (no ice cream).  Back on the boat they had a Greek dance show for us and Jan participated (dragged up really) - I avoided being dragged up by telling them I needed to take pictures.  Jan was a natural.  We arrived back at our hotel about 9 pm.  Long day.  Dropped into bed again.

Hydra

Hydra Donkey

Poros

Greek Dancing Jan Style

July 26, 2013 - This is our transition day.  Really busy day yesterday.  Long day tomorrow with a 3 hours bus ride and 5 hour ferry ride to get to Alonissos - a greek island in the Sporades where we will finish our trip with some relaxation.  Anyway, we had a late start today - about noon.  We walked and shopped and explored new territory in Athens - the Psiri area north of Monastiraki and the area northeast as well.  Had lunch at Thanasis - our favourite of the Souvlaki Row restaurants - and then walked and shopped our way back to our hotel for a nap.  Had a late dinner at a little restaurant on Romvis street and back to our hotel to pack and get ready for the voyage tomorrow to Alonissos - Can't wait!  Did I mention that we went to high school with the owner of the hotel we will be staying at on Alonissos and that Dean and Mary Michailides know her well from their Greek dancing days in Edmonton and put us in touch with her ...