Athens Area

The drive from Nafplio to Athens was roughly 2.5 hrs with traffic.  I kept reading how terrible it was to drive a car in the city and seriously considered returning the rental at the airport and taking public transportation into the city center.  Yeah, it was pretty terrible to drive there.  Avoid if you can!!!  The drive to the outskirts of Athens was smooth and then we hit light after light crawling to the city center.  While I'm glad we didn't go all the way out to the airport, it was a headache to return the car downtown.  S dropped me off near the Airbnb with all the luggage while he then went off on an adventure finding gas and dropping the car at Hertz.  I hauled everything about a block and met up with our host.

view from our place

We hit the jackpot with the rental from Konstantinos!  The flat is three stories and each level has a balcony with a view of the Acropolis plus is very central to everything you want to check out in Athens!!

view from Mars Hill

After checking out the flat, we headed out for some sightseeing.  First up was the Acropolis.  We tried out our new wireless earbuds as we listened to the Rick Steves' Europe - Acropolis walking tour together.  They were perfect!  As we entered the Acropolis area, we stopped to see the view from Mars Hill.  Note - the stairs are pretty slippery so watch your step.

Next we climbed up the hill to check out all the Acropolis has to offer.  The Parthenon was amazing in person.  I cannot believe it lasted so well until the Ottoman's used the temple as a weapons store house - which the Venetians bombarded until it blew. They are trying to repair the ancient site.  Replacement marble looks fake next to the original one that has been exposed to the elements for centuries.  They will eventually match.

Odeon of Herodes Atticus - practicing for a play

view from the Acropolis entry area - Mars Hill is the rock

Propylaea (entry area)

Erechtheion with the caryatids

Parthenon!!

good example of where new marble has been added

view towards Lycabettus Hill and the greater Athens area

view of Olympic stadium and Temple of Olympian Zeus

piece of a Parthenon column

After the tour of the Acropolis, we headed over to the Agora area to see if we could start a tour.  Sadly we arrived too late to be admitted.  Instead we had a snack overlooking the Agora with this cute cat.

stoa

chips are my kind of bar snack!

S found a massage studio with extremely reasonable prices - Centro Di Massaggio - so we did a couples massage after all our walking.  After relaxing, we had a delicious dinner at Tazza Espresso Bistro and then enjoyed the view from one of our balconies.

Our last full day in Greece was full of walking (like 10 mi).  I had an adventure trying to find a stamp and exchange our Turkish cash into Euros.  Greek banks are different.  You must go through two sets of doors, but you are stuck in between them for a bit as you wait for the first door to shut and lock and then push a button to move through the second set.  It took me a bit to figure it all out and it did not help that the instructions were speaking Greek to me.  Turns out going to the bank(s) were useless.  I needed a currency exchange shop which I eventually located.  Yes I went to several banks.  It did not help that some had currency exchange signs on them and confused me.....

After my morning adventure, I collected S to set out for a long day of sightseeing.  We started at Syntagma Square and followed the Rick Steves' Athens walking tour.  After that walk we had lunch near the Agora and then we did the Agora walking tour.  Rick Steves podcasts are the most handy FREE travel tools.

Mētrópolis - sort of like St. Peter's in Rome

Parliament building near Syntagma Square

 

Anafiotika neighborhood at the base of the Acropolis

Tower of the Winds with the Acropolis in the background

intricate Corinthian capital at the Agora

view from Ancient Agora

Temple of Hephaestus

Monastiraki Station Ancient Aqueducts

Hadrian's Arch

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Next up we toured the Acropolis Museum (separate ticket from the historical area).  The top floor of the new museum is oriented just like the ancient temple.  I really enjoyed this space and of course, wish we had more time to absorb more knowledge.

original caryatids

marble fresco

what could have adorned the top of the temple

We walked through the National Gardens on our way to take the funicular to the top of Mount Lycabettus for an amazing view of the city.  This is the highest spot around.

view from the hill

We did not get to spend too much time up on the top because we had to get back for one last cheap massage!  This time I tried out a deep tissue massage.  That was perfect for all the walking we did before flying over the pond the next day.  For dinner, S tried Mexican food at Taqueria Maya (and it was legit good) and I had one last moussaka at a restaurant on our street.

We got up early enough to see the sunrise on our last day in Athens before catching a ride to the airport.  We connected through Philly on the way home and then I think was asleep before 10pm!

beautiful sunrise from our porch

our driving route through Greece

Such a fun trip and we covered so much ground!  Once we got home, I marked our route on a paper map.  Thanks Ian for inviting us to a cool wedding in Istanbul so we could also explore Greece!