It has been a few years since I have had interesting international things to write on this blog, but here we go again! I am currently in Athens with Cheryl, and will be in Greece until the 25th. Tomorrow is our last full day in Athens (for now), and then we will be taking a boat over to Santorini and staying in Firostefani. We come back to Athens late Thursday night and will be here again for the rest of the trip!
Yesterday was a VERY long travel day. We left LAX Friday at 12 p.m., and did not arrive in Athens until about 6:00 p.m. on Saturday! We had a layover in Paris which was short, but I was pretty exhausted by that point. We flew on AirFrance which I loved, and they gave us two very nice meals! I even got a baby bottle of wine, ha ha!
Driving into Athens from the airport was interesting as they do not have the most *spectacular* apartments as you drive in. We are staying in an apartment in a neighborhood called "Kolonaki", which I read online is like staying in Chelsea in New York. The taxi driver was arranged by the lady who is renting the apartment, and he was very nice and answered the many, many questions I asked him! He will also be picking us up at the buttcrack of dawn to take us to the port for Santorini (we leave at 6:00 a.m.).
After we got settled in the apartment, we walked around for a bit and I managed to channel Bryce's excellent direction skills (he's a human MapQuest you know), and I got us back to our apartment just on gut feeling! Since it was Saturday night, there were lots of people out and there are plenty of bars and restaurants in this area. We got yelled at by two very unfriendly Greek men at separate times for walking too slowly on the sidewalk, but we're hoping those were isolated incidents! There were LOTS of shoe stores around, and I read that there are more shoe stores per square mile in Kolonaki than anywhere else in Athens. There are also lots of fancy stores here, like Armani, Guess, and a few others I haven't heard of. There is a Zara and a United Colors of Benetton down the street which I can't wait to go in!
After walking around for about an hour, we stopped at a market right outside our apartment and got some munchies to hold us over for the night (including some Coke Light, which is Europe's equivalent of Diet Coke and definitely not as good!)
Today we woke up early, had a nice breakfast at the apartment, and made our way to the Acropolis. Today was International Museum Day, so we got in for free! However, today is also the mayoral elections for Athens, so the sites were only open until 4:00 p.m. The Acropolis was breathtaking, and imagining that I was apart of the Panathenaic Procession as we hiked up to the top of the hill only added to the experience! I had downloaded a Rick Steves audio tour for us to listen to, and it was incredibly informative. Rick Steves offers many (free) audio tours, primarily for Europe, and I highly recommend him!
After spending a few hours at the Acropolis, we had a light lunch and walked around the touristy streets that surround the Acropolis. There were several gypsy children playing accordions and begging, and it broke my heart. The youngest was probably six, while the oldest couldn't have been older than twelve. There are also many large (think German Shepherd size) dogs that were laying around sleeping in various areas today, yet they all had collars on. I checked online afterwards, and apparently there is a stray dog population in Athens, but the government vaccinates them and they are fed and played with by many of the locals. I didn't take any pictures of them today because they made me a little sad, but now that I know they are at least partially taken care of, I will snap a few of them tomorrow.
After walking around and looking at all the fun touristy stuff, Cheryl and I decided to go back to the apartment and take a nap (is there a Greek word for siesta?). We ended up sleeping pretty late, and so we just ate at a yummy Italian restaurant that is literally right next door to our apartment. Hint: the water and bread at restaurants here is not free! ;)
Tomorrow we will be headed to Monastiraki to see the famous giant flea market and Anafiotika, which is a small area that still looks ancient and looks like the homes on the islands. At 5:30 pm, we will be taking George's Taxi on a 5 hour tour to Cape Sounion, which goes on a coastal road. We're taking a sunset tour, which was highly recommended!
Unfortunately, the SD card with the majority of my pictures from today won't load onto my computer, so the ones here are just a few I took with my phone. I'll definitely make sure to use another SD card tomorrow!
Until next time!
Inside the Paris airport
Street photography, just for Ans ;)
I was trying to figure out how they still ride this thing!
The sign and doorbell outside our apartment
In front of Syntagma Square
Display of artifacts found while digging for the Acropolis metro stop
Theatre of Dionysus (looking down from top of Acropolis)
Funny street performer!
Our first Greek meal, haha!
Greek boy scouts
Soldiers doing a changing of the guard ceremony for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier outside the Greek Parliament building
I thought this flyer was silly, and it had a cat! I think it means something like either "Vote for the Kittens!" or "Vote with the cats, vote for (somebody)!)" The title at the top says something like "Athenian Mayoral Elections"
Tiramisu from dinner
I know this is a serious thing for them, but honestly, it just looks so ridiculous!
Very cool! Looks like your having a great time
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