Thursday, May 21
The driver met us right outside our apartment and he was really nice! It was Rusty's first taxi ride, and my second because I took one in New York but it was really quick. The taxi was definitely easier than the train, but much more expensive. It was a fun final way to see the city because it was sleepy and the sun was just starting to shine and we didn't have to worry about following directions or making it somewhere. Rome was a beautiful city and we are sad to leave! There is so much to see here, and just being in Rome is romantic and exciting. On our drive we saw a lot of funny ads for concerts by Billie Idol and Avenge Sevenfold.We got to the airport and for in the really long line to check in for our flight, but people kept cutting in line! Or was crazy. They would just bypass everyone and walk right up to the counter. I don't know if it's Italians or tourists in Italy but I was about ready to scream. They even cut in the bathroom too! Dang people. As it turned out we were early even with all of the mean cutters so we had a little bit of down time which was relaxing because we didn't have to worry. As we walked around the airport to our terminal we saw lots of fancy stores like Gucci, Ferrari, and upscale suit stores-all in the airport! It was crazy! They said that the flight was very full so we might have to check our baggage, but we really didn't want to so we hours that we would get away with keeping it. When we got on the plane they told us that we didn't have to check it! That's a win! The flight was good, pretty uneventful but we were really excited to be going to Greece. As we for over the Aegean Sea and saw all of the islands it was so beautiful and I couldn't help but think of The Odyssey and all of the Greek myths. This is where those were born! It is such an incredible place rich in history.
GREECE! Finally!
We landed and got on a bus because the airport is actually about 60 minutes from Athens itself. While on the bus we started reading a little bit about Athens and some of it really freaked me out. Like they have gangs that get on these airport buses to mug the travelers, there are a lot of riots because they believe that as the birthplace of democracy it is part of being a good citizen, and Greece is generally unstable right now. Some other things were just interesting though, like that they believe that smoking is a birthright and almost everyone smokes. Although I was pretty freaked out about being here we kept going, because what else could we do? We got off at what we thought was our stop (we just kept asking the poor bus driver) and then started walking to the apartment. We were hungry and saw a little restaurant and stopped in. We couldn't read a thing on the menu so we just pointed and ended up with two souvlakis and they were divine. Like seriously so good. We loved the food in all of the countries, but Greece was our favorite! And this little hole in the wall was our favorite in Greece.
pure heaven
We walked to our apartment and went through some lower areas, but our place is in a really nice area! It's disconcerting because lots of things are covered with bars, and to me that means high crime but here it's because these Greeks riot often about political matters because they believe that shows their involvement and democracy as born here. So, still kind of scary haha. I just hope there won't be any riots while we're here. I understand now the phrase, "It's all Greek to me." No idea at all what is going on here. They're not even my letters! It's cool because it definitely geeks like
we are in a different place, but it's hard because street names might as well be non-existent for how helpful there are. It's like trying to match pictures and patterns. Crazy.
Walking to our place!
... What?
And this is their English... hahaha.
We got to the apartment and met some friends of our hosts who let us in. The mom didn't speak very much English at all, but her nine year old daughter did. They were awesome! They walked us across the town to buy some tickets to ride the bus the next morning to get to the cruise terminal and it was fun to get to talk to them and see some of the town. The little girl was adorable and complimented our English, thinking we were Italian. They left us at the apartment but we couldn't figure out the internet and didn't know how to get anywhere. It took us a while to finally get things figured out and we realized that the Acropolis was closed by then, so we could just do that when we came back on Monday. But the museum would be closed on Monday and it was supposed to be really great. So we figured out the metro so we could go into the city. We walked to the Metro we both got a little freaked out. It was definitely a different place and the first time that we really fell out of our comfort zone on this trip. We walked past a man puking on the side of the road and the whole metro station was covered in graffiti. As we got closer to the tourist center of the city it became a lot nicer and the area at the Acropolis was completely different. When we got to our stop at the metro station close to the Acropolis we got out and saw that they have artifacts from some digs at the Acropolis! WHAT?! How cool is that?
Down in the subway station
We walked from the station to the museum, which, was really cool! And by now we have been to a lot of museums so that is saying something. But we really did enjoy our time there! It's brand new and was really well done. When you first are walking in you walk across glass floors. Underneath you can see pottery and old foundations that they are uncovering, and one day you'll get to walk around those too. And the location is unreal, right at the base of the Acropolis. On the third story they have a deck that you can go out and get great views.
The Museum!
The clear floor to see the dig underneath
Partial statues of the pediment
Basically this museum housed many of the incredible artifacts that were excavated from the hill of the Acropolis. There was pottery, tools, dishes, and lots of things used in their everyday life. We saw four of the five remaining maidens from the porch of caryatids from the Erectheion (we saw the fifth one in London), the frieze of the Pantheon, and lots of statues.
5 of the original Caryatids of the Erechtehion
The parthenon frieze
Pieces of the pantheon sides
A miniature portrayal of what the pediment looked like
Cool view, cool guy
These cookies were so tasty!
Friday, May 22
We woke up bright and early to get the ferry! Yay for going to Santorini! Before we left we had one more bowl of cereal, packed up and then went out to the bus stop at 6:10. Earlier we had checked the bus schedule the it was supposed to come every 10 minutes, with the first one coming at 6 a.m. But the 6:10 bus never came... We didn't know if we had missed it or if the bus was on strike (we had heard that it happens regularly). If it was on strike how on earth are we going to get down to the port? We waited for the next one and luckily it came! The next problem was that we didn't know where to get off, that Greek was really killing us! We guessed at where we should get off and I think we did pretty good... maybe just one stop too early. Not bad! Then we found the port, got our reservation exchanged for two tickets! So long Athens, for now!
I didn't know this, but there are a ton of cool places to see on the way to the Parthenon. Like the Theater of Dionysius. It was fascinating to see something that was so old and it was used for something that we still use today. Greece was the birthplace for a lot if things, one of which was theatre, and they would have plays and concerts here. It was fascinating to walk around and see the stage and the benches. Just nuts! Then we continued up the hike and saw another theater, and it was huge! There were big arches towering as the backdrop, and the best part is that it is still in use today! It would be really cool to go and see a play there if we ever find ourselves back in Athens.
Byzantine Church
Mars Hill
One of the places that we visited was the Stoa of Atalos which has been redone. This is where people would lounge, talk, and hang out because they had slaves doing all of the hard labor for them. This is where it is believed that the philosophers (Aristotle, Socrates, Plato) would have spoken. So cool! The columns were not fluted for the bottom half in order to encourage people to lean against them and relax. There was a tiny museum inside with some cool things like voting/impeachment tools, a baby toilet, a BBQ, a water timer for speakers, and coins with an owl on it that is still on the Euro!
Temple of Hephastus. It is in the best condition of anything in the Agora.
Roman Forum
We went back to the apartment to gather our things and then we walked to the bus stop, rode the bus back to the airport, and then caught a flight to London where we would stay for the night before heading back to Seattle. While we were walking Rusty found some orange trees and he got so excited! He picked one and was so proud of himself haha. One of my favorite things was that we were dying of heat on the bus on the way to the airport fanning ourselves and taking off any layers that we could when we look over and see a little Greek family putting on cardigans because the bus was too cold haha. Athens was a great place to end this incredible journey!
We woke up bright and early to get the ferry! Yay for going to Santorini! Before we left we had one more bowl of cereal, packed up and then went out to the bus stop at 6:10. Earlier we had checked the bus schedule the it was supposed to come every 10 minutes, with the first one coming at 6 a.m. But the 6:10 bus never came... We didn't know if we had missed it or if the bus was on strike (we had heard that it happens regularly). If it was on strike how on earth are we going to get down to the port? We waited for the next one and luckily it came! The next problem was that we didn't know where to get off, that Greek was really killing us! We guessed at where we should get off and I think we did pretty good... maybe just one stop too early. Not bad! Then we found the port, got our reservation exchanged for two tickets! So long Athens, for now!
Driving to the port at sunrise!
Monday, May 25
Today we got up very early and were really tired from getting in so late last night on the ferry. But it was our last day in Athens (and our last day on our incredible trip) so we were ready to party! We got up and walked from the apartment to the metro station to take it down to downtown Athens. Although our first day in Athens was a little scary, today it felt very different. The city felt totally fine and we were excited to be there and explore! What an incredible city! We did learn that the people are kind of rude and serious and are definitely pushy in lines haha.
We got to the Akropoli Station and started making our way to the Acropolis. There is a fun area called the plaka with lots of restaurants and shops. We walked around here for a little while and then grabbed some breakfast from a cafe. We got a cheese and ham pie, something I've seen in almost every place in Greece, and we also got an apple pie pastry. They were both delicious, but especially the ham and cheese one! Like a hot pocket but better. Way better! Rusty was in heaven. We found the entrance to the Acropolis and got tickets and some cheap (and much needed) water before we started our hike to the top.
The Plaka!
Ready to hike to the top!
I didn't know this, but there are a ton of cool places to see on the way to the Parthenon. Like the Theater of Dionysius. It was fascinating to see something that was so old and it was used for something that we still use today. Greece was the birthplace for a lot if things, one of which was theatre, and they would have plays and concerts here. It was fascinating to walk around and see the stage and the benches. Just nuts! Then we continued up the hike and saw another theater, and it was huge! There were big arches towering as the backdrop, and the best part is that it is still in use today! It would be really cool to go and see a play there if we ever find ourselves back in Athens.
Huge theatre still in use!
About halfway up we saw an incredible view of Athens. It really is a beautiful city and we could see the museum and the Temple of Zeus. We got to the entrance to the Acropolis where we were met with steep marble steps. The first thing we saw was the Temple of Athena Nike high up on a pedestal by the entrance. It is square and small with columns. We walked through the covered walkway to see the Acropolis and it was truly breathtaking. It was absolutely surreal to be standing there looking at these buildings, the Erechteion on the right and the Parthenon on the left. There were limestone patches on the ground that were really slippery everywhere. People kept almost falling as we were walking around haha.
Entrance to the Acropolis
Looking back at Mars Hill
Looking at the Temple of Hephastus in the Agora
Temple of Athena Nike
The columns fit together with a point in the center! So cool
When it was time to walk around the Pantheon, I was so glad that like Michelangelo's David, the Parthenon definitely did not disappoint even though we had high expectations. There was a lot of work going on with scaffolding, but it was still incredible. We saw the real frieze in the museum when we visited it earlier. Something that I thought was really interesting is that this building is unique in that it wasn't built by slave labor, but free men working for a wage. That somehow made it more wonderful. It used to be bright white and had lots of bright colors painted on the friezes, but now the colors are gone and it has faded to a yellowish color. As they replace pieces with fresh marble you can see the stark white and how it would shine and gleam in the sun! It lasted until 1687 when a wall was destroyed. We sat down and just took it in for a while.
One of the best parts of being up at the Acropolis is the unbelievable view that you get of Athens. All of the houses are white, the trees are green, and the sky is so blue. It was one of my favorite views from this whole trip.
City of Athens
Temple of Zeus
Mars Hill
The Erectheion with the Porch of Caryatids was awesome. We saw five of them a few days earlier in the museum here in Athens and the other one in the British Museum. We found out that their faces were pretty much intact until the 1950's because of pollution and acid rain. This is the only temple that you can see from the Plaka.
After we left the Acropolis we went and climbed up on Mars Hill, where Paul taught in the Bible. It was really slippery! We climbed around for a while before heading over to the Agora, the ancient city center. It is kind of like Athen's Roman Forum. Everything important happened here and there are some really cool building remains to check out.
Byzantine Church
Mars Hill
One of the places that we visited was the Stoa of Atalos which has been redone. This is where people would lounge, talk, and hang out because they had slaves doing all of the hard labor for them. This is where it is believed that the philosophers (Aristotle, Socrates, Plato) would have spoken. So cool! The columns were not fluted for the bottom half in order to encourage people to lean against them and relax. There was a tiny museum inside with some cool things like voting/impeachment tools, a baby toilet, a BBQ, a water timer for speakers, and coins with an owl on it that is still on the Euro!
A game
A toilet
A voting ballot box
Coins
BBQ grills!
Temple of Hephastus. It is in the best condition of anything in the Agora.
Roman Forum
This is a well with groove marks from the rope being pulled up so many times
An irrigation system to bring water to the city from the well
A trough
The Panathenic Way
It was time for some lunch so we went to the Plaka and walked around looking for a good place. There was a restaurant that tried to lure us in with free drinks and dessert but we couldn't bring ourselves to go there because we figured something was wrong with it. Haha. We found a place and got a kebab plate and a gyros plate, and it was SO GOOD! We were stuffed to the brim. It was time to start walking to the metro station but there were two things we hadn't done yet: 1. I wanted a Magnum Ice Cream bar because when I was in Spain they were delicious, and 2. We hadn't yelled "Opa!" yet and we were in Greece, so we had to. Good news, we did both of those things on the way to the metro! :)
We went back to the apartment to gather our things and then we walked to the bus stop, rode the bus back to the airport, and then caught a flight to London where we would stay for the night before heading back to Seattle. While we were walking Rusty found some orange trees and he got so excited! He picked one and was so proud of himself haha. One of my favorite things was that we were dying of heat on the bus on the way to the airport fanning ourselves and taking off any layers that we could when we look over and see a little Greek family putting on cardigans because the bus was too cold haha. Athens was a great place to end this incredible journey!
Goodbye Greece!
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