The Ancient & The New Sarah Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Jet lag definitely can work to one's advantage when in a new country. Waking up at 5:30am, we realize we might as well start our day early seeing that the Acropolis ("Ack-row-po-lee") opened at 8am. Not only do you beat the rush, but you also get the time and space to enjoy the attraction to yourself without mobs of tour groups and people in the way (a bonus for photo taking) later in the day.

The Acropolis admission is 12 euros and includes the Parthenon as well as 5 other nearby ruins/sites in the area-all within a walking distance. Hiking up the hill to the Parthenon was pretty smooth and the view just got better the more elevated we got. Fun fact, the Parthenon is dedicated to the goddess Athena because she was the only virgin god, and hence why she's also the only clothed goddess in her drawings and figurines. This tells you quite a bit about the lifestyle of these Greek gods, but joking aside, the Parthenon is quite a view and so worth spending as much as you can if you had all the time in the world. Athens looked amazing from this height and it was so neat to spot areas we had walked to from the day before. It just comes to show that when there are things to see, walking for hours is not hard at all.

View from top of Parthenon

After the Parthenon, we exited and walked down the hill into Plaka, an ancient neoclassical neighbourhood  with many open air restaurants, patios and cafes. lt was around 11am and most places were just starting to open, but they all looked very cozy and chic, a great spot to people watch over a meal. Down the road from here there were also many sellers setting up tables of locally made jewellery as well as vintage finds, like an actual agora (Greek marketplace) back in the day.

P.S. Freddoccinos are amazing in Athens!-a strong caffeine flavour and so refreshing in the heat! A must drink!

Plaka 

We walked on to discover the rest of the Greek sites included in our admission including the Roman Agora, Hellenic Garden, and the Temple of Zeus. We decided against two of them as they were out of the way and not as recommend from reviews I had read (Ancient Angora and Kerameikos cemetary). I really liked the area the Temple of Zeus was in as it was situated in the National Garden. It felt very fresh to be surrounded by plantations of all sorts and stroll through a garden after having seen so many ancient places. The ancient gate at the Temple of Zeus also was a symbolic divide between the old/ancient city and the new/modern city of Athens. too.The Zeppelon mansion is also located here and we saw some people riding segways in this garden


As timing would have it, we were also able to head back to the Hellenic parliament at Syntagma Square and catch a guard change ceremony happening (on the hour). Though I've seen other guard changes before, I like how every one is different and how culture is embedded into it from the outfits to their walks. I loved the long tassel from the guard's headpiece as well as how their walk felt like a slow motion tap dance. Very amusing and worth the full ten minutes ish. Prior to arriving to the guard change, we stumbled upon Ermou Street, one of the top shopping streets in Athens! Lots of international and local brands amongst street food stalls, cafes, boutiques and unique shops. I had lots of fun window shopping expensive foreign looks and splurging on fun novelties (at a great price!) from my new favourite household store call Tiger from Denmark!

To end off our last night, we headed to Kolonaki, a posh neighbourhood where lots of business people hangout. Locals refer to it as a wealthier area so there were lots of local designer boutiques, high end stores, cafes, bars, and fancy restaurants. We were here at 8pm and the atmosphere was surprisingly quiet as the shops were closed, but the eateries weren't very busy at all. When we inquired about this, we found out that most places don't get lively until 11pm or so, so when in Greece.. keep this in mind if you are looking for night life. We had a ferry to catch early the next day so we headed back shortly after and happen to stumble on something better, the Academy of Athens.

If I thought the buildings were gorgeous during the day, at night its even better with the lights turned on. The Grecian architecture, linear columns, and gold plated designs kept my eyes gazing and loving every moment of the night view. What a great way to cap off our last night in Athens.

Can you guess where we're headed to next?

A for Athens Sarah Sunday, May 03, 2015

When adventuring on soil once trekked by Olympians, waste no time! I can't believe it"s only been day 1 of Europe in this gorgeous capital of Greece. The weather was perfect-hot but with a cooling breeze, the day was off to a good start-early, but full of new discoveries, and nothing was stopping us, not even jet lag!

Arriving at 10:20am meant having and making the most of the day ahead of us. so after checking in with our sweet Air B&B host,we quickly freshened up and were ready to walked the path of the Olympians. Living in the Acropolis station area meant exceptional convenience and access to all the major tourist hubs via walking. We didn't have to metro once, we literally walked almost a whole section of a subway line in one day. There is so much to see whereever you go that boredom and tiredness is the last of your worries. 

We started off wandering around the Acropolis area which was lined with open air restaurants, cafes, and of course souvneirs. The Adrinou Shopping Street here is prominent for the latter and it's best to compare prices before an impulse buy because things start looking the same really fast and cost does vary from seller to seller. Another thing you notice is that no matter what time of day or which cafe /restaurant you sight, it is always 80% occupied if not full. The waiters are great at luring you in with their compliments, but make sure to compare and check over menus to see what you are interested in as it can get overwhelming. Food is obviously a big part of Greek culture though and having a meal can become a leisure activity span over several hours! With the endless selections, it may take a while before you settle on a decision hah!

As it was our first day, we fixed our hunger quickly with the first spotting of a souvlaki sign (so stereotypical I know). The crowd outside reassured us of its standard and it didn't disappoint! At 2.7 euros (~$4), it was delicious and filling and a good size to share between two if you are just looking for a snack like my friend Thy & I (souvlaki shops are everywhere and around the same price). After, we kept walking north from the Acropolis area and ended up in Monastiraki Square, an open public space which hosts a flea market every Sunday (lucky us for arriving right on a Sunday, but the flea finds were closing by the time we got there at 4pm) and musical performers. There were also lots of cafes and little shops tucked into the alleyways of this area. What made this square mesmerizing was the beautiful backdrop of the Parthenon-what a beaut!

Monastiraki Square

Across this square is a street full of furniture, decor, and lots of vintage finds. A must for the treasure hunters! Thy & I loved this area for the amount of photo-esque hipster spots it had calling our names. Athens is loaded with graffiti and it's so awesome that the city embraces this graffiti  culture and ghetto cool vibe it gives off... or perhaps it's just too hard to cleanup over the years (lol), regardless, we loved and took advantage of it!

Hunting for vintage treasures!

One of the many hipster streets

From there, we wandered further north and arrived Omonia, a touristy shopping central area. We didn't spend much time here as the stores and brands were similar to back home so we explored on to find the National Library and University of Athens east of this.  There's no doubt about why Greek columns and architecture are so commonly sought after because the beauty of it is jawdropping. The lines and design of these buildings and so many others are worth a photo shoot alone. To cap off the day, we spent some time here admiring the sun's slow setting and casting a lovely glow on the parliament. 

National Library of Athens

On our way "home," we passed Synatgma Square and realize the parliament with the guard change was happening. However, our bodies weren't keeping up with our energetic minds any longer so we called it a day and saved the rest of our itinerary for another wonderful time tomorrow. In between all this walking and photo taking (seriously, everywhere you go is such a photo opp spot), we tried Greek coffee (the espresso was too grainy for me towards the end, but I loved the sugar-mint flavour turkish-like delight it came with (apparently served with coffee))  and also a delightful sandwich and dessert from Kimbo, one of the many exquisite bakeries & sandwich shop franchises in Athens.

Overall, I am so satisfied from my first day on Greek soil. The Greeks are very friendly and always ready to give directions. We were aware of the multitudes of theft and scams forewarned to us by previous travellers throughout Europe, but we felt really safe and comfortable where ever we went. Being Asian, we thought we also get the sense that we would get the minority vibe and questioned often, but other than some tourists we met being skeptical that we weren't from Canada, we felt right at home. We figured with the diversity of tourists Athens receives, the locals are probably use to it. So thank You Greeks for being so welcoming, we can't wait to discover more!