When I booked our trip, I opted to take advantage of a layover in Athens to explore the ancient city a little bit. I booked a full day and a half in Athens and reserved an Airbnb apartment right smack dab in the middle of the city. I'd read that the metro system was pretty easy to navigate from the airport and that everything was within a good walking distance, so I was excited to check it out.
Our host gave us really clear directions for the metro, and we were on the 8 am train headed into the city. We had to jump from the red line to the blue line and I'd noticed a shady looking character kind of restlessly hovering near us. I had my money, phone, credit cards, and passport zipped in the inside pocket of my fanny pack, which was strung through the belt loops on my jeans, so I pulled the strap a little extra tight against me, and kept my eyes on him. I discreetly whispered to Brian to make sure everything was secure because I had a bad feeling about the guy. The train pulled up and everybody jammed through the doors to get off and we all crammed to get on and somehow, the two of us got separated and Brian just barely made it on the train with a small mob of people. I kept my eye on the creepy guy the entire time, and we hopped off at our stop and climbed up the stairs to the street level to meet our host. It was then that Brian realized that his wallet and external charger were gone...thank god that his passport and international driver's licence was still there. He immediately cancelled his cards and transferred the money in his checking account to mine, but they still got away with his ID and about 100 euros in cash. They are pros, let me tell ya.
Our host, Nicoli was lovely and showed us around the neighborhood on our way to the apartment, pointing out the best spots to eat along the way. We settled into the apartment and then hit the streets in search of Kebab. We found an amazing restaurant with a rooftop bar with views of the Acropolis and then made our way to the old part of town to buy passes for all of the big sites.
I didn't really do any research on what to see while we were there...we just kind of played it by ear. On our way to the Acropolis, we passed a huge archaeological site and decided that was a good place to start. They don't really offer maps or anything (I personally would have liked some sort of "yellow brick road" situation that you could follow to each of the major sites because I had NO idea where we were going or what we were doing), but we kind of just followed the crowds and found it to be a relatively successful game plan. The first site ended up being Roman Ruins from their time ruling Greece and eventually the Greco-Roman Empire. It's amazing to me that these structures are still standing after thousands of years. One building in particular, the Tower of the Winds, was in pretty amazing condition. It's a clock, sundial, compass, and weather vane all in one.
From there, we wound up the tiny narrow streets of Plaka up to the Acropolis. It was pretty spectacular.
There were plenty of people around, but I'd imagine that there are times when you are just packed in there like cattle, so I was pretty happy with what we had to work with. The site is pretty huge and consists of several structures that are being renovated. Apparently, in the early 1900's, the government attempted a renovation, but ended up pretty much ruining many of the sites when the cement and re bar that they used expanded and contracted, so now they are redoing it all with marble. I can't imagine that they will complete them within my lifetime, but it's pretty remarkable. One of the most interesting things about the site, for me, was the thousands upon thousands of pieces stacked up and inventoried. There were just piles of columns laying off to the left with numbers and piles of ceiling tiles stacked up to the right. I realize that I'm not very educated on Greek History, but I was always under the impression that the structures up there had just collapsed over time between earthquakes and wars and that it would be simple enough to put back together, but, in fact, there was a huge explosion in the 17th century when the Venetians blew up the storage of gunpowder that the Turks held up there (they were certain that they would not blow up the Parthenon due to it's historical significance but were clearly mistaken), so it literally exploded, sending bits and pieces of stone everywhere. It's also been burned (not sure how that works, but whatever), looted, and had opposing armies go in an purposefully destroy carvings and statues. It's certainly a construction zone and it just seemed odd that they'd have all of these priceless finds just stacked up in the open. I'd imagine that, as they're going, they find a chunk of a corbel missing and just send an intern to the corbel pile to find one that fits. I've never seen anything like it. I loved walking among the towering walls and columns, imagining what life back then was like walking around in robes with it illuminated with flaming torches (I have a pretty active imagination based on a few movies I've watched, so I'm sure my visions aren't terribly accurate, but it works for me).
After a couple of hours in the blazing hot sun, we opted to head back to the apartment for a short nap and, once the sun had gone down, ventured back to Plaka for dinner on the rooftop terrace of a gorgeous restaurant looking out on the illuminated Parthenon. It was pretty darn romantic and we actually stayed out pretty late. The streets are filled with cafe tables and live music and locals enjoying a glass of wine at the end of the day...it's actually a really fun, lively, beautiful city. We walked through the old town and then back to the apartment for the night.
The next morning, we slept in a bit and then explored the city a little more, this time at the Acropolis Museum where all of the original statues and pieces of art excavated from the site are housed, and the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. We walked through the National Garden and drank iced tea, taking in the energy of the city and crazy architecture. There's quite a bit of vandalism, but some of the street art is actually pretty incredible. The museum was massive and really well done. It's also built right over the top of an archaeological site that's currently being excavated, so as you walk through, the floor is all glass and you can look down into the ruins. I'm kind of surprised that the government would let them get away with that, but it was pretty cool.
Between the 2 days, we walked a total of 27 miles just around Athens and didn't really cover the same thing twice. Friday morning, we got up early and had to take a cab to the airport for the next 19 hours of travel :( We waiting on the apartment's stoop at 3:45 am and saw tons of people walking around, dancing, playing music, and still drinking from the night before...it was definitely different from anything I'm used to.
I was actually a bit surprised at how much I loved Athens. I usually avoid big cities but I'm glad that we spent some time there and wouldn't mind going back and spending more time...and maybe checking out some different islands.