Wandering Athens for a Week

Over a week since the last post and I’m feeling completely unapologetic. We were wandering Athens for a week and the first five days were with Brendan and Kristin. There just wasn’t any computer time. The laptop stayed in the bag. Now we’re in Santorini for a week of chilling out. On top of that it is raining today, so let me tell you about our week in Athens.

Athens: Day 1

I’m not sure day one is entirely, more like day zero. We disembarked from the ship in Cyprus. After a shuttle bus to the airport we flew to Athens, Greece. The only thing of note was the Cyprus airport security confiscating my brand new 266Wh solar battery pack from GoSun. Somehow I was able to cross the Atlantic with it, but apparently the standard size restriction for air travel is no lithium ion batteries larger than 100Wh. They literally threw it in the garbage! I cry…

We arrived in Athens and found our driver waiting for us to take us to our flat in the city center. To make the day even weirder it turned out to be the 50th anniversary of the Polytechnic University uprising in Athens, resulting in the closure of roads and metro stations around our flat due to a massive planned protest. Our cabby dropped us 1.5k from our apartment. Unable to get another cab or train to get closer we dragged our 75+ lb. bags across the crowded cobble stone streets of Athens, eventually making it to our flat. After dumping our stuff we went in search of refreshments, finding Street Souvlaki nearby. Kebabs and wine in plastic cups was the perfect remedy to a wacky travel day!

Athens: Day 2

Waking up in Athens we were refreshed and ready for Brendan and Kristin to arrive. Athenz Studio was in the heart of the old city, with easy walking access to everything we needed. Our first stop was a grocery for Greek charcuterie. We met up and enjoyed a wine and cheese spread on the patio. Tiffany and I went exploring the city while they took jet lag induced nap. Once everyone was somewhat refreshed we explored the old city together. We sampled the marvel of Greek ouzo and we capped off the night with a family style seafood feast.

Athens: Day 3

On our third day we decided to hit the major ancient sites the city is known for. We bought the Athens multipass at the entrance to the ancient Agora. The Agora was such a cool site to start at. Among the many statues, ruins, and buildings at the Agora a couple of favorites were the Stoa of Attalos and the Temple of Hephaestus, both incredible. While the Stoa was reconstructed in the 1950s the Temple of Hephaestus remains mostly intact from the 5th century BC. Its mind boggling.

After spending a couple of hours at the Agora we made our way to the Acropolis. The Acropolis was all it is made out to be. It is a massive, stunning hill in the center of Athens for starters. Between the incredible walls all the way around and the utterly fantastic temples sitting on top it is simply awe inspiring. How can I even try to tell you how amazing it is? It is so epic that there are no words I can offer to do it justice. On the Acropolis we were able to enjoy the Parthenon, the Erechtheion, the Temple of Athena Nike, and the Propylaea.

Athens: Day 4

A visit to the Acropolis Museum seemed like the logical next step to follow up visiting the Agora and the Acropolis. We took our time and spent several hours traversing the modern, multi-story museum taking in all the history. The museum takes you through the ancient history of Athens all the way up through more modern times. Did you know the Parthenon was blown up during a war between the Venetians and Ottomans in 1687? Underneath the museum is an excavation site of an ancient Athenian neighborhood. After the museum we wandered the old city some more, did some shopping, enjoyed some more snacks on the patio, and finished the day off sampling some Greek beers at Barley Cargo.

Athens: Day 5

I have forgotten to mention that across the street from our flat was a killer bakery called Overoll Croissanterie. Dude! We basically started every day with croissants: ham & cheese, spinach & feta, mincemeat, hazelnut, almond. Day 5 started the same, croissants and cappuccino.

Loaded up on buttery baked goods we headed off to another location on our multipass, Kerameikos. Kerameikos is a much less visited site, but has incredible history, statuary, and artifacts. Items have been recovered in tombs there from as far back as 2700 BC. In addition to the cemetery there are portions of the Dipylon Gate as well as a section of the Themistoclean Wall built after the Persians invaded Athens in the 5th century BC. Kerameikos is definitely worth the visit.

Since Brendan and Kristin were leaving before his birthday we decided to celebrate of Brendan’s birthday. We took the cable car to Edem where we dipped our toes in the Mediterranean, enjoyed an excellent seafood dinner at Edem Restaurant, and took in the sunset.

Athens: Day 6

Day 6 in Athens was departure day for Brendan and Kristin who were headed to Oslo next. After seeing them off to the train station we headed out to find a few more sights we’d all hoped to get to earlier, but didn’t quite make it. We first walked to the Panathenaic stadium, but discovered it was not the Olympeion noted on our tickets. We snapped a couple of pictures and headed for the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which turned out to be the Olympeion and was also home to Hadrian’s Arch. It started raining somewhere along the way, so we took a brief hiatus back at our flat to change into our rain gear. We finished off the day with a delicious pasta dinner at School Pizza Bar.

Athens: Day 7

Our last full day in Athens was another perfect sunny day so we headed to the last couple of places available on our pass. Hadrian’s Library and the Roman Agora were only a couple of blocks from each other. You may think after several days of seeing ancient marble structures we’d get sick of it, but I can’t say either of us got sick of experiencing all these incredible ancient sites. Like all the previous places we’d visited, these two sites were just incredible.

It being actual Thanksgiving we decided to have some fun with our dining so far from the United States. We had a little Asian lunch at Sticky Rice n’friends, enjoyed a cocktail with the Acropolis sunset at the MS Roof Garden, and finished off the day with a Spanish paella at Los Gatos Cocina Latina. It was a great way to cap off an amazing week in Athens. We are truly thankful for our ability to enjoy this amazing adventure and love that we can share it all with you.