Athens, Greece

Okay, I know...it's been too long since our last post, but we're back and we have lots to catch up on. We'll try to keep it in chronological order, so we start here with Greece.

Alex had some business meetings in November in Turkey and Greece, so I flew out to meet him in Greece and we spent a long weekend in Athens!

Athens is a HUGE city of 7 million people. It feels like a big city with crowded streets and a certain buzz of energy. Since the city hosted the 2004 summer olympics, you could see there were some recent upgrades and overhauls. Their new subway system is awesome. We went everywhere on the train (we even took it back to the airport while toting all our bags!) and it was very easy to navigate.

There is so much to see and do in Athens that 4 days was barely enough to scratch the surface. We managed to see the most famous landmarks, but there is so much more to see in Athens. I'm not sure an entire week would be enough time to get through all of the ruins, museums, temples, and parks.
In one of the parks we walked through, we looked over and saw something straight out of the movies, a group of old men sitting around playing chess! You've got to just love that about this culture!

I will say that climbing up the Acropolis and seeing the Parthenon perched atop the hill was one of the most memorable moments of our travels so far. This structure is depicted in history books, plays, movies, pretty much every aspect of our cultural lives so to see it in person was an absolute thrill. The parthenon was undergoing restoration when we were there. Even with a bunch of scaffolding this was one of the most amazing sites we've ever seen! The detail and technology that went into the structure is unbelievable.

It is lit up at night and this is the view we had of it from our hotel balcony. Since it's dark, you have to click and enlarge the photo to get a better idea!

We also went to the National Archaeological Museum and saw more famous relics from the region, including ornate marble statues, the celebrated mask of Agamemnon, the bronze statue of Zeus or Poseidon, statue of Aphrodite, the famous "horse and young rider," and much more.

We went on a "walking tour" of Athens guided only by our Lonely Planet book. Needless to say, we got lost somewhere after the temple of Zeus (which was supposed to be just the 2nd stop on the tour). After improvising, we still hit all the suggested sites the book mentioned- it just took us 6 hours instead of 3-4! We did stop along the way for some fabulous local greek wine and gyros (come to think of it, this may have been the reason we got a little "off track").

Below are some pics from our walking tour which includes the changing of the guard at Parliament and views of the Acropolis from the city below. Oh, there's also one of Alex at a local cafe waiting for his wine. :)

The temple of Zeus is almost as impressive as the Parthenon. It is in an open field area which enables you to really get a feel for the size and scale of the massive columns.

At the entrance to the temple of Zeus is the Arch of Hadrian.

Photos below are also from the Acropolis--amphitheater and Keratides (the building with the female stautes). Keratides is beautiful!!!

It was amazing to be in Athens and see all of this history in front of our own eyes. This was one of our most memorable trips (I say that about them all, don't I?)!

We hope to be able to get back to Greece during some of the warmer months so we can island hop. We really want to see Santorini!