Our flight from Rome was uneventful meaning that we didn't almost miss it like virtually every other flight we've had. But it was pretty cool because sitting on our flight was another young couple from New York we had met in Venice the week prior!! Traveling like this really does make the world seem small...we met them in Venice, then ended up staying in the same campsite as them outside of Venice that night and found out that they we're leaving for Florence the next day just like us. Apparently the whole rest of their trip had the same agenda as ours taking them through Italy and then to Greece. Even after seeing them on the plane we ran into them the next day roaming around Athens! Could Athens really be that small?? Or should we have taken it as a hint that we were supposed to be couple-best-friends with them and maybe move into a duplex together half way between California and new York? I guess now we will never know....unless we run into them in Turkey in which case I will buy friendship bracelets for all of us right then and there!
Anyway...Athens...was awesome. My expectations were low due to many people telling me it was dirty, boring, not worth much time. Maybe I loved it because it best my expectations but I thought it was really clean (at least the parts that I saw which may not have been much) definjrelt the nicest metro system i have ever seen- they even had artifacts and museum type stuff in the metro station! The while city that i saw was cute with lots of cool shops, restaurants, etc. and had some awesome history that I think is underrated! How come everyone raves on Italy but you don't hear much about the Acropolis or the Agora in greece? Italy is soo cool and there's probably a lot more visible history there, but the ancient parts of Greece date so far back! We saw a temple in the Agora looking extremely well in tact that dated back to 450 BC! It blew my mind. So I'll just get right to Day 2 in Athens when we explored the Acropolis and the Agora because day #1 was only a half day and consisted of us trying to figure out how to get to our hotel using maps only in Greek, and then upon finding our cute hotel figuring out where the nearest Gyro shop was. Mission accomplished and we found the most amazing gyro stop around the corner from our hotel which we nicknamed fondly "Old Faithful" because we never were able to go anywhere else once we found this spot, it kept reeling us in!
Old faithful gyros. This is becoming more of a food blog isn't it
This entire trip we've had incredibly lucky weather. It's supposed to be rainy season but it hadn't really rained at all allowing us to enjoy some discounted hostel rates without having to be drenched for it. But Day 2 in Athens it poured!! But don't worry our luck quickly returned because while we hung out at the gyro place to stay out of the rain (a great excuse to go In and eat more gyros) the sun came out and we were able to do The Acropolis! In my own words, which are probably extremely elementary to what should really be used to explain this place - the Acropolis is this area on a hill where ancient Greeks built temples to worship their gods back in the BC times. It was also a place where a lot of political actions and decisions were made.
On top of the acropolis
The Parthenon - so old - built in 450 BC!!! and still (partially) standing!
They also have a couple outdoor theaters, one that has been renovated and is still used for plays and performances, and another theater that is much older and looks it. The older one is the actual theater where ancient Greeks would go watch the comedies and tragedies on stage that were conceived there! How cool is that - "The Odyssey" for the first time ever in stage?! I couldn't get over it. Being able to sit and walk where I know that people gathered over 2,000 years ago is so cool to me. I loved seeing the old temples, but maybe it's the social person in me, but I loooove knowing that this was where people came to be entertained, everyone- not just political leaders or kings or the extremely wealthy, but people like me came to hang out. So cool. You could still see the stones that were chiseled to be chairs and you could tell where the highly esteemed people would sit by the bigger, nicer chairs versus the benches.
In the acropolis - another old important building. They think some of them had giant statues of the gods in them for people to come and worship. Luckily that rain cloud was going, not coming
The Agora is below the Acropolis. Agora means "gathering place" or "downtown" which is exactly what it was thousands of years ago. It was "downtown" Ancient Greece where the markets and hustle and bustle was. Not a ton remains in tact but there is a very well preserved temple, some columns, and other pieces of rocks and statues that are sort of the skeletal remains of the place. It was crazy to see it and think that this is where Socrates hung out philosophizing. I wish for two seconds I could see a snapshot of what had been going on exactly 2,500 years ago in the very place I stood! We also climbed on these nearby rocks where Paul taught the Corinthians!
This is the rock where Paul was...it's pretty huge but you can't see it all. Behind us s the acropolis!
Unfortunately most everything closed by 5 so we didn't have as much time to explore as we wanted. After that We went to one of the main shopping and entertainment areas called Syntagma Square and discovered some rad clothing stores that we wished we had in the US. Either that or I wish my bag was a lot bigger so I could've bought an entire new wardrobe! Good thing it wasn't ;)
The next morning-probably the earliest morning we've seen on this trip-we made our way to the ferry port to take a ferry to the island of Santarini. The island famous for their beautiful sunsets!! We were sad to leave Athens so soon and our beloved "Old Faithful."
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