We visited the Athenian capital of Greece and saw the Acropolis and the Parthenon!
It was time for our final stop in Europe - Athens! Unfortunately our flight out of Kefalonia wasn’t until 10pm at night due to Aegean/Olympic Air only operating one flight a day direct to Athens. The flight was relatively uneventful - although Aegean Airways need to up the maintenance on their aircraft as Sam’s armrest was only just hanging on to the chair!
Getting our bags in Athens was a nightmare! We ended up waiting an hour and a half! In fact, we waited so long they took our flight off the baggage board. The air tags were great cause we could see what the issue was - the bags were still on the damn plane! It was very frustrating but also slightly entertaining - hell hath no fury like a Greek woman separated from her baggage 🤣
After finally getting our bags, we caught the express bus into the city and to our Airbnb. It was a bit daunting trying to find the place at 2am in the morning but it was a relief walking in to find we had made a good choice!
Our first day in Athens was a write off - we were tired after the late arrival and decided it might be a good day to get some work and planning out of the way!
Our Airbnb was about half an hour out of the central city so we headed off early to catch the metro. We decided to buy the 5 day public transport pass as it was a bargain for €8. We are veteran metro travelers now so the Athens system was fairly easy to navigate!
It was still a decent, though interesting, walk from the station to our goal - The Acropolis! I was pretty devastated to see the massive queue! We had pre-purchased our tickets online for a time slot but it appeared, in reality, the time slot system was not enforced. In the line there was no shelter from the burning hot Greek sun and water was being sold at exorbitant prices!
After an hour, we finally stepped onto the Slopes of the Acropolis and made our way to Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a stone Roman theatre near the entrance to the Acropolis. The theatre is still in use today!
We had to shuffle through a stream of tourists to pass through the Propylaea, the ceremonial gateway into the Acropolis proper. It was very busy and frustrating as people would just stop in the middle of the congested walkway to take pictures.
Our first close up views of the Parthenon were impressive! Even more impressive was the view of the city! You could see why the Acropolis was built where it was as it has such a commanding presence over the surrounding area.
As well as the Parthenon, we also checked out the Erechtheion and the copies of the Caryatids (the originals have been moved to the museum). That was all there was really to see so we headed out of the Acropolis and down the slopes to the Theatre of Dionysus before exiting.
I was happy we visited the Acropolis but at the same time, kind of disappointed. Anything of real interest has been removed from the site and taken elsewhere. The Parthenon is also currently undergoing major restoration so quite a large portion is covered in scaffolding for the workman. It would be a place to visit in a few years once the works have been completed but even then, they need to do more at the site to improve the walkways and over-tourism. Since we visited, an article has since come out regarding how bad the over-tourism has been at the site and how people have been fainting in the queue waiting to get in! I felt bad on reflection complaining about our wait as it sounds like we had it pretty easy!
It was sweltering hot by the time we arrived at the entry gate to the Ancient Agora - an Ancient Greek marketplace located below the Acropolis. Only remnants of the ancient marketplace still remain. We wandered through the ruins up to the Temple of Hephaestus, one of the best preserved temples of its type in Greece. From here we had a view out over the Agora back up towards the Acropolis.
Opposite the temple, we wandered through the restored halls of the Stoa of Attalos, an Ancient Greek version of a mall which had 42 shops over two levels and now houses a museum. The Agora itself is mostly a ruin and while it was lovely and peaceful, without a guide it didn’t offer much. I had resorted to hiding under my umbrella from the sun so we decided to call it a day and head out for lunch in the tourist neighbourhood of Monastiraki.
On the way back to the metro, we were sidetracked by Hadrians Library. It was included in the pass we had purchased so we decided to take a look!
Monastiraki is also well-known for its flea market. While it wasn’t market day, many shops were open so we went for a wander. There was really only the usual tourist junk and it was all over-priced. It was unbearably hot at this point in the day (apparently 34 degrees but I swear it was much more!). We ended up wiped out in the accommodation for the rest of the day.
Our goal for the morning was to make the 30 minute climb up to the viewpoint at the top of Mount Lycabettus before it got too hot. Unfortunately we made a wrong turn and ended up at the wrong peak of the mountain so what was supposed to take 30 minutes took nearly an hour!
We finally made it however and were greeted by an awesome view of the Acropolis and of Athens!
After quite a strenuous climb, we decided we deserved brunch so stopped at a cafe on our way back down to enjoy a refreshing breakfast overlooking the Acropolis.
We stopped to admire the balancing skills of the Greek Guard at The Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, a war memorial located in Syntagma Square honouring the Greek soldiers killed during war. It was fascinating watching their slow motion guard sequence around the tomb!
From here we made our way through the gardens to the Roman Baths which were found and excavated during the construction of the metro.
After a quick snap under Hadrians Arch, we made our way to the Temple of Olympian Zeus, an ancient gigantic temple and sanctuary that was once dedicated to the Greek god. There are only a few pillars still standing and unfortunately, again, under the cover of scaffolding so restoration work can be completed.
Our last stop for the day was to the Panathenaic Stadium, a marble stadium dating back to 330 BC that held the Panathenaic Games. It was abandoned and refurbished to hold the first ever Modern Olympic Games hence why it looks so sparkly!
And that was Athens! We had a couple of relaxing days around our neighbourhood and a couple of nice dinners of Mexican and Indian. We looked at going out for a day trip to either Corinth or Delphi but honestly we were so exhausted from all our travel we just didn’t have the energy.
I loved Greece! We will most definitely return to Greece in the future - just never again in June/July as it was too hot! Greek people have such beautiful and kind souls. The food was AMAZING and we had the best time exploring both Kefalonia and Athens.
Greece was out last stop in Europe. From Greece we have one more stop in Asia before finally making our way home. We are both really starting to look forward to getting home and checking on our plant babies that our wonderful friends have been nurturing in our absence.
Next stop, Bali!