After an amazing time with friends in Porto, we woke up early to catch our flight to Athens. My parents would be meeting us in Athens, and we would be travelling through Greece and Turkey with them! Once we checked in, the security process was quick, and our flight was on time. We boarded our first flight to Dusseldorf.
During our layover in Dusseldorf, we went to the lounge which had delicious German beers, pretzel buns, tomato soup, and even Haribo gummies (yes, we did steal a big bag of gummies to take with us)!
Our next flight was a bit of an unpleasant experience due to the extremely smelly family sitting behind us. We landed in Athens around 7:30 pm. Instead of taking a 50 euro Uber, we bought bus tickets for 6 euros each and rode to the central part of Athens called Syntagma Square. From there, it was only about a 15 minute walk to our accomodation. We have been pleasantly surprised by how much easier it’s gotten to lug our big bags around. When we first left Taiwan in January, even walking 2 minutes with our bags would wear us out!
We checked into our accomodation, dropped our bags, and went out in search of food. Initially, we planned to dine at a Greek restaurant but found it to be super expensive, so we opted for instant noodles, turkey, and a turkey wrap from a minimart. We showered, ate dinner, and watched “Percy Jackson and the Olympians,” as you do when you’re in Greece!
The next morning, we decided to purchase the 3 day Athens CityPass to visit all the ruins and historical sites. Our first stop was was Hadrian’s Arch and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Although they were under construction, it was still incredible to see such iconic ruins still standing after thousands of years.
For lunch, we found a really cute looking Greek restaurant called Ionos, where we had our first taste of authentic Greek food. I ordered a chicken gyro, and Saz had chicken souvlaki. The food was INCREDIBLE! Saz was frothing at the mouth just looking at the big bowl of tzatziki they brought over.
We then left to explore the Chapel of St. George, taking our time to capture photos along the way. The hike up was easy, with a beautiful panoramic view of the massive, sprawling city. I was able to fly the drone and capture some cool shots.
At the top of the hill, we enjoyed the 360 panoramic view and an amazing vantage point of the mighty Acropolis standing tall in the distance.
On the way back towards our accom, we walked past the original modern Olympic stadium, the only white marble stadium in the world. It was shimmering in the bright light – stunning!
We picked up some more souvlaki and gyros for dinner, and settled in for the night.
The next morning, we woke up packed our stuff, preparing for my parents arrival in the afternoon. We needed to check out of our current accom and move into our new Airbnb. Luckily our new Airbnb host allowed us to drop our bags early before check in. We walked over to the new place with our bags (about 20 minutes) to meet our host and drop our bags.
We went out for the day, starting with a visit to a camera store for my camera sensor cleaning. The camera store lady was absolutely terrifying, and scolded me saying if I had dust on my sensor it was because my camera body was dusty and I wasn’t cleaning it enough.
After dropping off my camera for the cleaning, we went to Hadrian’s Library ruins, which were fascinating but scorching hot with minimal shade.
We then proceeded to the Acropolis Museum, to hide out in the AC until my parents arrived. The museum was huge with great views of the Acropolis, and lots of cool sculptures and statues preserved from the Ancient Greeks.
My parents finally arrived in the early afternoon, and we settled into our Airbnb. We took some downtime, did laundry, and rested since they had a long travel day, and we had been walking around all morning.
In the late afternoon, we took my parents out for a walk around the neighbourhood. They got their first peek of the Acropolis. We strolled through the streets near the Acropolis, finding a charming restaurant/bar with outdoor seating on a staircase hill for some Aperol Spritz’s.
We then returned to the camera store to pick up my camera from the scary lady, who was marginally nicer this time.
We decided to return with my parents to the same restaurant we had eaten at the day before, Ionos. The host and servers recognised us and were delighted to see we had returned with my parents.
We ordered the meat platter, which included gyro, souvlaki, porkchop, sausages, fries, and pita. It was all incredibly delicious. The restaurant even treated us to baklava and ice cream on the house!
After dinner, we took my parents on the walk up the hill to the Chapel of St. George, enjoying the nicer temperature and beautiful sunset from the top. Unfortunately, my dad and Saz both got prickled by cactus during the descent. The area at the top was much busier for sunset compared to the previous afternoon, but we still managed to get some nice photos and enjoyed our panoramic view of the city.
The next morning, we woke up bright and early and got ready to explore the Acropolis! We stopped at a bakery on the way, where we sat and enjoyed croissants and bagels.
We arrived at the Acropolis around 10 am, and it was already packed. The Acropolis architecture was so beautiful, with impressive amphitheaters and grand buildings still standing after thousands of years. The site was really busy and crowded, partially due to poor crowd control measures. Nonetheless, we took our time viewing the ancient columns, taking photos, and listening to the audio guide.
After visiting the Acropolis, my parents visted the Acropolis Museum, but since we had gone the day before our tickets wouldn’t scan. Instead, we explored the Roman Agora and the Ancient Agora, both included in our Athens CityPass. The Roman Agora was tiny, but Ancient Agora was amazing. It blew our minds how all of this was still standing. We were even able to enter the museum at the Temple of Hephaestus, which had additional ancient statues and busts.
We reunited with my parents for late afternoon lunch at a nearby Greek restaurant, where I ordered chicken and pork skewers presented on a metal rod. It was delicious!
After lunch, feeling hot and tired, we walked back to the apartment to pack. My parents ventured out for a walk to explore some shops while we finished organising our bags. We were leaving early the next day to head to our first Greek Island, Corfu, so we decided to have an early night and we were fast asleep by 8:30 pm!
