Hello all,
Today was a very busy day for everyone! The Nanas and Jen started off much earlier than the rest of us. Because of the previous night’s exploration by Connor and Dad, we found that the best way to get from our Airbnb to the area nearby the Acropolis was by metro. So Jen and the Nanas departed around 8:41 (requires specificity by request of the nanas) and headed to that area of town. Once there, they started the Rick Steve’s audio guided walking tour of a VERY small portion of the city. The rest of us decided to take the morning to sleep in after a long and late travel day yesterday. So we decided we would meet them where the walking tour finishes (conveniently, the end point of the tour is the metro station).
After meeting up around 12:15 we all went to lunch at a well know and highly rated restaurant nearby the same metro stop. According to some signage on the exterior of the restaurant, it is rated #42 on “150 The Most Legendary Restaurants In The World”.
Group Pic at the Restaurant
It was very good and definitely some of the best food I’ve ever had. I don’t know if it would be #42 worldwide in my book but it was still really really good! (Parent note: essentially guros and Greek salads, with French fries and loads of tzatziki - what we have been eating and loving for days!)
After lunch we split into 2 groups once again. Groups consisting of Jen, the Nanas, and Gage in one group. The other group was Connor, Kayla, Dad, and Griffin. The group with the nanas headed home for some rest before an evening excursion but decided it was worth it to stop for ice cream before heading home. In doing so ran into Connor and Kayla who were part way through the same Rick Steve’s walking tour the morning group had done earlier (Kayla also got some ice cream). Turns out that Dad and Griffin also had the same idea and got some ice cream for themselves too.
Here are some photos from our walking tour of Athens:
Tomb of The Unknown Soldier outside the House of Parliament
One of many small orthodox churches found across the city
Arch of Hadrian
Remains of The Temple of The Olympian Zeus
The later tour group eventually saw all of the same things as the morning crew (except Gage who went back home and skipped the walking tour). And after Kayla and Connor, who were ahead of Dad and Griffin, did some exploring of the archeological site passes and Dad got in touch with Jen to figure out where we all should meet up before entering the Acropolis.
Once we all met up for the Acropolis tour we headed to the ticket booth and then into the Acropolis itself. The Acropolis of Athens has served MANY different roles (Citadel, Mythical home for Gods, Religious Center, Tourist attraction, and others) for the people of Athens (and those who’ve conquered them). The Acropolis is the area atop a hill that was built up initially built to be the home of the Goddess Athena, the Patron Saint of the city. As such, several of the remaining ruins in the Acropolis are dedicated to Athena. However, the most well known and famous of the ruins inside the Acropolis is the Parthenon.
Acropolis photo dump:
Theatre of Dionysus (built during Roman rule)
Entrance to the Acropolis known as Propylea (view from inside)
Temple of Athena
Sunset view outside main acropolis entrance
Sunset view of Parthenon (plus a bonus stray cat)
Once we were done at the Acropolis, we split up into the same groups as in the morning. Jen went back home with the Nanas and had some prosecco and pasta for dinner. The rest of us went and walked around a while longer before deciding on an Albanian restaurant to eat at for dinner. Everyone who went to that thought the food was fantastic, but found it a little strange just how many people had a hookah to share at the table.
Dad and Gage went and took the metro back home after dinner while Kayla, Connor, and Griffin all walked around a while longer before walking back home themselves. The most notable thing that they ran into was a small area/restaurant called 'Little Kook' in downtown Athens that is known for going ALL OUT on a specific theme for a couple months at a time before switching it once again to something completely different. We happened to see it with a Disney 'Snow White' theme.
This was the last notable thing we saw before walking 30 minutes back to the Airbnb for the night.
Signing off one last time!
- Connor
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