Greece.....my personal favorite! Athens, the city of Ancient Greece. The birthplace of economy, astrology, democracy..........the list goes on. This city is like no other! From the moment we stepped out of the plane, we could feel the energy, the history, the memories. We arrived in Athens and took the public bus from the airport to Syntagma Square (central square) and then walked to our hotel from there. We arrived and checked in to our lovely couple room with a balcony and headed up to the rooftop garden..........WOW! Best view in the city.....there it was, The Acropolis! We could see the site lit up and enjoyed cheese, crackers, olives, and wine! The night couldn't have been better!
The next day we went on a suggested walking path around the city with Gramma. After spending all morning figuring out that our bank placed a temporary hold on our debit and guess what....we couldn't get money out! Big problem when you are in a foreign country for 2 months. You would expect this to happen exept that both Adam and I called our bank to check each card and clear it for all the countries we were going to and they confirmed that it was all noted and ready to go....well-----> a malfunction occurred. So, we ended up having to call at probably $1.50/minute from Greece.....oh, and we were on hold for at least 5 minutes! AWESOME! GREAT start to the day :(
The walking tour took us all around the Plaka, Acroplis perimeter, and many other great places. We sat for a wonderful long lunch where we had our first Greek salad! Yum! We then enjoyed a wonderful dinner with the whole crew (all 8 of us) at a local place. We shared their traditional appetizer platter and dinner platter between us and wine, of course! It was a great way to experience the cuisine!
Estella's Birthday!!!!!
Day 2 was our day to hit up the Acropolis. Adam and I hiked up looking at every bit of the Acropolis site including the Theatre of Dionysis, Propylaia, Temple of Athena Nike, Herodes Atticus Theatre, the Erechtheion, and of course the Parthenon. It was as magical as I remember it being. Dedicated to the Goddess Athena, this building would have been immaculate in its time and you can feel the history of this place, it is indescribable.
The rest of the day we toured the Ancient Agora (market place) with the Temple of Hephaestus, the Stoa of Attalos, and the museum inside. We also visited and spent hours in the new Acropolis a Museum, which is amazing with a life size exhibit of the Parthenon! I can say this museum was well worth the wait! I wish my dad could have been here this time to see it.......next time daddy!
Our next few days we toured the Roman Agora, Hardrian's Library, Tower of the Winds, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and a variety of churches in the area. We spent time walking and running around the National Gardens, watching the guards change at the Parliament Palace, window shopping in the Plaka, and walked up the Lykavittos Hill where we enjoyed an awesome meal and a Greek lesson from our waiter! This hill is the highest point in Athens and the view was incredible!
Our stay in Athens has been as amazing as I remember Athens to be. It feels great to finally be in Greece. I love the food.....I love the people........I love the culture and the music........I love the clothing......I love the history! I love it all!
A big HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my momma Whiteman....we love you:) Let's celebrate when we return!!!!
We are on our way to the Greek island of Santorini and stay 4 nights there before we head to Paros.
Andio (goodbye) from Greece!
A&K
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