Athens, Greece Part 1

We arrived in Greece after a relatively short flight and long day. Our plan left Bahrain at 0350 which meant we left Las Dunas at 2400. We got to Athens at 1320 to a slow airport and helpful people. The metro was surprisingly clean and self explanatory. Our host meet us at the metro stop and walked us through what seemed like a seedy neighborhood to a building down an alley covered in graffiti. Maddy kept saying the whole walk, "this place is SO nasty, why is it SO nasty." I started thinking where did I put our family?? But talking to people and wondering around we found that this neighborhood is exactly like the rest of Athens, rough around the edges but wonderful. That night we walked to a local restaurant with a menu completely in Greek and ordered some "specials", I experienced my first greek "salad" which had no lettuce but instead tomatoes, cucumbers and onions.

Our next morning started early with a "short" (European 10min, slow Americans with a 3 yr old ~20mins) uphill walk. We were supposed to go on a tour but with the weather it was postponed. We went to Parliament and watched the changing of the guards at the base of Parliament, the tomb of the unknown solider. The guards wear traditional uniforms and every hour perform the changing of the guard ceremony. We walked around the National Garden, enjoying beautiful orange tree lined streets with guards all around the Parliament building. We ventured to Panathenaic Stadium which hosted the first Olympic games in 1896. They had a great audio tour and surprise collection of all the Olympic torches and posters from all the games inside. We even got to climb to the top and view Acropolis from there. As a replacement for our cancelled bout tour we did an afternoon tour to Cape Sounion. It was about an 1 1/2 bus ride to the ruins of a temple to Athena and the mostly intact temple of Poseidon overlooking the Aegean Sea. The site was beautiful but very cold! We got back just in time to grab gyros from a walkup stand and head back to the apartment.

This morning was another early morning but in place of enduring the "short" uphill walk we decided to take the metro. We meet our group for the Athen's city tour and headed to the Stadium for some history we didn't get yesterday, including the history of the Marathon. Then we headed up the Acropolis which sits high above the town and we soon found out that the bus stops at a parking lot and you walk the majority of the way up! It was a good tour and the history of the Acropolis is amazing. In it's life it has been a temple to ancient gods, a church, a mosque and a storage room for weapons. Trying to explain ancient ruins to Maddy was a bit of a challenge but she enjoyed playing in the rocks and following around the stray cats and dogs. Next stop, after making it ALL the way down the stairs, was the Acropolis museum which houses all the ruins discovered relating to the Acropolis. Our guided tour ended at the museum and we decided to wander around to find a place for lunch. After our recommended place being closed for the winter and everywhere else being super pricey we decided to just head back toward Syntagma square and head to the apartment. On the way we stopped at bought a local round pastry covered with sesame seeds to snack on and some fresh coconut sticks (delicious!). Then we enjoyed the lively Saturday afternoon in the square prior to getting on the Metro. We made it back to our apartment after grabbing some more gyros and greek salads from the walk up window, can't beat a 2euro lunch! Feeling exhausted, it's an afternoon of relaxing before heading out for more adventures! Trying our hardest to become temporary residences and enjoying every second!