Athens August 6th-8th

Athens August 6th-8th

Day 1: The Acropolis

We arrived in Athens late Wednesday night and took the metro into town to the stop Sygrou-fix, then started walking through the dark Atheanean streets to find our hotel: Hotel Iliasos. We got there quite quickly and were thankfull that Maddie went right to sleep even though it was about 11:00pm. We slept in the next morning then went out to explore Athens. Starting with a Greek cheese pie for breakfast. These are sold everywhere and are a pastry filled with feta cheese, ham, or spinach. They are delicious! Then onto a Rick Steves walking tour of Athens starting at Syntagma Square. This is the modern town square located right in front of the Greek Parliament. A short walk down the main shopping street in Athens made us hungry for one of the huge sugar coated doughnuts that street vendors sell all over. This may be my 3rd one in about 4 days!

We headed on to see a famous Greek Orthodox Church. 

The walls and ceilings of the Greek Orthodox churches are fully painted with religious scenes and people. And they have these pictures at the entrance that worshipers kiss.

Rick then lead us to Hadrian's Arch. Hadrian was a Roman emperor at the time when Greece was ruled by Rome. He loved Greece and financed multiple construction projects in Athens. This arch divided the old Athens city from a new neighborhood which he named after himself.

Right next to the arch is the ruins of the Temple of Apollo, also built by Hadrian.

Check out the acropolis in the background!! We the went to the Acropolis Museum. It was only 5 euros and well worth it. It talked all about the building of the Partenon and the other temples that were built on the acropolis. My favorite thing I learned was that the statues that were all over the Partenon were painted with bright color, which have faded away over the thousands of years. In pictures the Partenon is just white marble but can you imagine it full of color! The museum has original statues from the Parthenon and a great view of the acropolis.

By this time it was the middle of a very hot Atenean day. So we headed back to the hotel for a little siesta. After relaxing for a little while we headed to see the Acropolis. Something both of us have always been excited to see!

It is impossible to make the climb with a stroller so we strapped Maddie on and headed up the South hill. Our first was Dionysus Theater. It is still in use today! And I think it was be amazing to see a play or show here!

Then to the entrance of the acropolis.

And on to the Pantheon. 

The view of Athens from the top of the Acropolis were stunning and the nice breeze made it so we did not overheat! Maddie was tired of being held so we let her play of the ground even though a lot of people were staring at us with a "I don't think that is such a good idea look!"

After the climb down we were starving and had a traditional Greek dinner at Herimion in the Plaka neighborhood. I had mousaka, which is like lasagna but with layers of mashed potatoes, egg plant, minced meat, and cheese. It's delicious and I would recommend it to anyone visiting Greece! Kellen had Diablo fish and veggies!

Day 2: Our Last Day in Greece

We only had a few hours before we had to go to the airport and the agenda for the day was more Greek ruins! Isn't that what you see in Athens! Hadrian's Library and The Ancient Agora. 

It was pretty cool walking along the Panathenaic Way, which is the main road of the ancient agora, thinking about how Aristotle, Plato and, Socrates had all waked down this same street thousands of years ago!!

After the Antient Agora we headed to the airport to fly home to Brussels. It is always sad when a great vacation comes to a close. But we feel lucky to have been able to come explore these amazing places and will always have great memories from the trip.