Athens

Ahhhhh, Athens! We arrived in Athens in the morning and took a bus to our hotel, which is ideally situated on a quaint pedestrian only street lined with taverns, shops and cafes. Our room was definitely on the smaller side, but we didn’t mind because it was cute and clean and had a perfect location right in the heart of Plaka.

We spent our first day wandering around the different neighborhoods in downtown Athens, each of which is unique and full of character. Our neighborhood is the old Turkish quarter and is said to be the most attractive and atmospheric part of Athens. I agree! It is very cute! We had a nice meal at the Plaka Taverna and were pleased with how prices in Greece compare with Israel. At the Plaka Taverna we ate a three course meal including vegetable soup, bread, spaghetti for me and chicken for TJ, dessert, wine, soda and water for the same price two meals at McDonalds cost in Jerusalem. Food and prices are much better in Athens!

We checked out Monastiraki, the market district, which was full of shops and street vendors who all seemed to be selling jewelry and handbags. It seemed that everywhere we looked there were adorable little cafes and taverns with sleek furniture, romantic lighting schemes and good cuisine! We were pretty disappointed with the food in the Middle East so we are in hog heaven in Greece! The Thisio neighborhood, situated at the base of the Acropolis is super swanky and is full of Greeks and tourists lounging and having a drink or a bite to eat.

On our second day in Athens our first stop was the Acropolis to see the famed Parthenon! The Acropolis is a city of temples, with the Parthenon being the most well-known and impressive. It was originally dedicated to the goddess Athena but was later declared to be the province of the gods. The Parthenon was built in 438 BC on the highest part of the Acropolis and “epitomizes the glory of ancient Greece.” The Parthenon is made of marble and is the largest Doric temple built in Greece. It was built to house the gold-plated statue of Athena and to serve as a treasury. Despite being enclosed by scaffolding, the Parthenon was a very impressive site as were the panoramic views it provided over Athens.

We had lunch at the Hard Rock café where we ate familiar food and learned how badly the recent riots in Athens have affected businesses. Apparently, patrons at The Hard Rock have decreased by 80% and the restaurant hosted just 6 tables of guests on New Year’s Eve. The buildings in the area surrounding Syntagma Square (where the riots were concentrated) are charred from fires and have other battle wounds.

We visited Syntagma Square after lunch where we saw Greece’s Parliament, which was formerly the Royal Palace. In front of the Parliament building is the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is guarded by the presidential guards. We enjoyed watching the guards in their attire of shorts kilts, tights and shoes with pom-poms do an interesting changing of the guard routine. TJ wonders what they did to screw up and be assigned to that crappy post.

In the afternoon we visited the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The temple took more than 700 years to build due to insufficient funds. Only 15 of the 104 original columns remain. The temple complex closed 15 minutes before we got there so we admired the temple from its periphery.

TJ was still feeling under the weather so he took an afternoon siesta while I checked out the shops! I didn’t see anything I wanted to buy or even look at in the Middle East, but Greece is a different story! I spent a couple of hours poking my head in different shops until it started raining and everyone shut their doors and went home! We are headed back to Athens for a day before we fly home and I am hoping it isn’t raining so I can purchase a thing or two!