Our final stop on this magnificent Greek vacation was Athina. The flight from Crete to Athina was just under an hour and we landed late afternoon on a Thursday. We were staying in central Athina which was about a 45 minute taxi ride from the airport. Our hotel, the King George was located within walking distance of many of the sites we wanted to see. The hotel dates back to 1930 and today is a luxury boutique hotel with a stunning view of the Acropolis from its restaurant terrace. The hotel and rooms maintain a very chic, classic look with antique furniture and decor, beautiful hardwood floors, and cornicing combined with modern technology amenities. The window drapery was very plush and probably the thickest drapery I've ever seen in a hotel; likely to help keep the warmth in during winter and certainly great for keeping the light out. The bathroom was made entirely of marble with a large, deep bathtub. Our room faced the courtyard which helped with reducing any outdoor noise and was located on the seventh floor down from the restaurant which was very convenient. Knowing our time in Athina was limited and we wanted to explore all the major attractions, we opted to purchase the Athens City Pass in advance so we could by-pass ticket queues. This ended up being a smart move as we were able to access all the sites we wanted (except for one) and also enjoy access to a hop on, hop off bus.
Athina, a city of close to 4 million people, is the capital of Greece. One of the world's oldest cities, dating back with a recorded history of 3,400 years, it was the heart of ancient Greek civilization and the Greek empire. With so much to see and explore, we took advantage of our hotel location (well planned by Z) and the remaining daylight our first night and head out pretty quick after check in. First stop though was to find a barber so Z could get his hair cut. Our first attempt was unsuccessful as the barber said that without a reservation they could not help as they were fully booked. Thankfully, fairly close by we found The Barber of Athens. The owner, Christos, was quite happy to fit Z in when because his appointment had not shown up. A very lively character, Christos proceeded to give Z a hair cut treatment like he's never experienced before. Of note, people in Greece take pride in their appearance and dress well; Z's barber was no exception, wearing a 3 piece suit. Wash, cut, wash, dry, and style and Z was good to go. Afterwards, we decided to begin our exploration and made our way past the parliament building towards the National Garden on our way to The Arch of Hadrian. Along the way we stumbled upon an archaeological site of a Roman bath that was discovered where a ventilation shaft for the Athens metro was to be sunk. Upon discovery, the ventilation shaft was moved south and the findings preserved in their place. Walking through the National Garden we discovered a book fair going on with countless stands selling books along with live readings.
Day 2 in Athens was a packed day. We got up quite early because our research indicated that the Acropolis is best visited either first thing at opening, or later in the afternoon near closing as to avoid the crowds. After our early breakfast overlooking the Acropolis, we made our way on foot to explore this hilltop citadel and its buildings, including the Parthenon temple and the Temple Athena of Nike. We made it to one of the entrances about 5 minutes before opening and only found about 20 people in front of us. The path first brought us past the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a magnificent open air theatre built in AD 161 that has a capacity of 5,000 spectators. The theatre is still used today for different concerts and theatrical performances. From here we continued our upwards climb to the top so we could view the Parthenon and the Temple of Athena Nike. Both these ruins are very well preserved through restoration projects that are ongoing. I was in awe seeing these structures, their height, and their construction with massive marble columns and the intricate sculptural decorations all along the roof line. I marvelled at the thought of the ancient Greek's construction capabilities and how these buildings have withstood the test of time and at times deliberate destruction. We were glad we went here first thing, not only because we avoided mass crowds, but also because it wasn't overly hot yet. We visited the New Acropolis Museum at bit later in the day and learned a lot more of the history and the many events that took place there, including the many invasions and how during the late fifth century it served as a Christian church and then was converted to a mosque by the Ottoman Turks in the late fifteenth century. The museum is filled only with archeological findings from the Acropolis site and exhibits many original and restored artifacts and pieces. The museum is quite expansive and is a must visit to learn more about this historic site. Beneath the museum is an excavation site of an ancient neighbourhood where you can see the remains of houses, streets, bath houses, and workshops. It's great to see that when they discovered these ruins while planning to build the museum that they incorporated it into the design and build the museum so it looks like it is floating over this ancient neighbourhood.
Many of the historical and archeological sites we wanted to visit were within close walking proximity of one another. From the Acropolis, we wandered down through the streets of the Plaka neighbourhood. Plaka is a very scenic, picturesque neighbourhood with labyrinthine streets filled with restaurants and more shops that you know what to do with. We found several fresh fruit stands in one of the squares and decided to buy some grapes as a snack while we took in the sights of the area. We wandered over to the ruins of Hadrian's library, also located on the site of the Roman Agora which was the central square and meeting place in the ancient Roman times and today you can see some of the remains from the market square. The library was not used only to house books, but also served as a repository for official state archives. Nearby is the Ancient Agora site and this was the economic and political centre of Athens for several centuries. Ancient Agora was a bit more fascinating to explore with many ruins scattered throughout the site, but most notable for us was the Temple of Hephaestus - a very well preserved Greek temple, and the Stoa of Attalos - a Hellenistic period building that was entirely rebuilt in the 20th century based on its historic appearance, after a fire destroyed the original building in 267 BC. Today this building houses a museum of artifacts from Ancient Agora.
To get off our feet and take a bit of a break from the hot sun, we jumped on to the hop on, hop off bus also included in our Athens City Pass ticket. We stayed on for the entire bus loop so we could see some of the other popular sites that were perhaps not as close walking distance.
Our final stop on day 2 was visit to the Panathenaic Stadium. This was a must see for me as it hosted the opening and closing ceremonies of the first modern Olympics and is the home of the finish line for the Athens Classic Marathon. It's the only stadium in the world built entirely from marble. We took a self guided tour of the stadium and learned a lot of its history, how it was abandoned in the 4th century and fell into ruin, and was later reconstructed in the 1800s. We climbed all the way to the top and that wasn't exactly an easy feet as the steps are of an unusual depth and fairly steep, but the view from the top is quite fantastic. While the stadium can hold over 68,000 spectators, we were unable to locate any washrooms in the stadium and wondered how that all works when an event is held there. Perhaps access was hidden somewhere that wasn't open to us. The tour did take us through a tunnel that lead to an area that is used as a staging area and hidden in that same area is a room that pays tribute to past modern day Olympics with displays of different Olympic posters and torches.
By the end of the day we were both feeling very pooped, but we had dinner plans at a lovely bistro wine bar called By The Glass. This place has a selection of over 500 wines sourced both domestically from Greece and internationally. The setting of the bistro is quite lovely situated in a square outdoors with the view of a beautiful old church. Dinner was delicious and we tried a few different wines and favoured on translated as the Naked King. As we were walking back to the hotel from dinner we saw a liquor store and decided to pop in and see what the changes were that they called this particular wine. As we were browsing the store owner asked if she could help and we asked if she had any Naked King and to our amazement, she was familiar with the wine and had two bottles in stock which we bought to bring home. What were the chances? It must have been meant to be.
On our last full day in Athens we spent a more leisurely time exploring the city including checking out the university and library buildings, and spent some time shopping. We found our way to the Kotsanas Museum: Ancient Greece - The Origins of Technology. We really enjoyed this museum and I was quite fascinated by its exhibits which showcase all the different technologies ancient Greeks discovered such as hydraulics, an automated robot that served wine, and an astronomical instrument that was considered the first calculating machine in history. We capped our day off with dinner at our hotel's Tudor Hall restaurant, which transforms into a formal dinner restaurant in the evenings. We had a lovely outdoor table with an unobstructed view of the Acropolis.
Our time in Athens was short, but we managed to see everything we wanted to and felt we really explored the city and all it has to offer. As with the rest of this trip we indulged ourselves with amazing food, including freshly made loukoumades.
This trip to Greece was quite special. It was a few years in the making and in the end was the best version of what we originally had planned. We got to see and experience so much. The country is incredibly beautiful, full of rich culture and history, with awesome food that tasted so fresh and made with care and love, wonderful people, and of course amazing wine. The memories will vividly live on.
To travel is to live....life is good.
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