I finally made it to Greece! Athens and the Greek Islands have been on the top of my travel destination list for years and to celebrate our 10 year anniversary we made the trip! We had such an amazing time and I owe an enormous thank you to my parents and in-laws for watching the kids for the nearly two weeks we were gone. No small feat given how rambunctious they both are!
Our first stop was Athens which was, by far, the least inspiring. One Australian tourist we met described it as a “pit”. I hate to be negative about any city but I have never been in a city that seems so neglected. Nearly every building in the city is covered in graffiti, I’ve never seen anything like it.
Not that there weren’t redeeming aspects of the city but one full day is probably enough to see the highlights here. There were a couple cute neighborhoods, the Plaka and Kolonaki, both have cute shops and restaurants, the Plaka doesn’t allow cars to drive through so it’s very pedestrian friendly. Kolonaki is a more upscale neighborhood and is located at the base of Lycabettus Hill, which undoubtedly has one of the best views of Athens, the perfect spot to view the city at sunset, which we took advantage of with a couple Mythos:)
Of course, the biggest draw in Athens is the Acropolis and Parthenon, and the hike up there is most certainly worth the effort, though Brady nearly cut his heel off slipping on one of the rocks. Weren’t we ill prepared walking up there in flip-flops?! No great images of this while we were there, the whole thing was covered in scaffolding:(
I think one of the best views we had of the Acropolis was on our last night there, we were walking around outside the Acropolis and came across a path up to the Hill of Muses. The view up here was breathtaking, particularly at sunset. Beautiful panoramas of the entire city, worth seeking out in my opinion.
Since Brady insists we check out the public transportation system in any major city, particularly if there is a subway system, we had to ride Athens Metro. I did not have high expectations of this given the general disrepair of the city but this was an anomaly; their subway system was one the cleanest, most efficient I have ever been on!
We were in Athens two days which allowed us to take a half day trip to the Temple of Poseidon…this was probably my favorite area we visited in and around Athens. It was a beautiful drive along the sea and temple is on the southernmost tip of the Attica peninsula. Beautiful!
Despite my general lackluster opinion of Athens I certainly think it’s a city worth visiting, if only for one day. The history there is matched by few others and the people are extremely friendly. It was a very easy city to get around, most of the highlights were within walking distance of each other, and everyone spoke English making it very easy to communicate.
Onto the fun stuff, the photos…
First up, the Acropolis and Parthenon.

The Parliament, despite the elections and fears of rioting and protests, we did not see one bit of chaos.

A few street shots, mostly in the Plaka neighborhood. As you can see the graffiti is everywhere!
And far too many images of the Temple of Poseidon….clearly I got a bit carried away;)
A few sunset shots from the Hill of Muses, as well as some nighttime shots around the Acropolis.