Athens was one of the main reasons I wanted us to go to Greece. I’m not a history buff and I hate museums, but you can’t turn down an opportunity to see some of the oldest, most influential ruins of all time. Honestly, looking through the pictures, unless it’s labeled, I have no idea what anything is. It all looks relatively the same. All I know is that it was a great thing to be able to experience. Kim and I are basically bad weather magnets and it rained all afternoon and evening.
After struggling to find our apartment for about a half an hour, we were dropped our things off in our apartment, chugged some water and headed off to dinner. We were not far from the Acropolis metro stop, which is a large area of restaurants targeted at tourists. One of my biggest disappointments about Greece was that everyone speaks English, and there are countless Americans. Norway was peaceful and immersive experience, whereas Greece is a run of the mill tourist vacation destination. Prepare yourself to be courted by every single restaurant. We dodged the rain by grabbing lunch/dinner at God’s Restaurant. Turns out, it was recommended by Kim’s favorite travel writer, Rick Steves. I’ll vouch for that restaurant, the portions were generous and we were stuffed for a reasonable price.
When the rain subsided, we made our way through some back alleys, looking for a decent glimpse of the Acropolis without having to pay. There are several places you can see from a distance, but for less than $20 a person, you can see all the sights. Just be sure to purchase your tickets together at the entrance to the Parthenon; it’s cheaper than buying them individually at each place.
The Theater of Dionysus is impressive, which makes sense for being the Greek God of Wine. There is another amphitheater that is more fully restored and actually hosts concerts and dance performances. If would be a beautiful venue for a concert. The Parthenon is the most recognizable, and is visible from outside the ruins. It’s fun to walk up and around everything, but it is a bummer that you aren’t allowed to walk freely throughout the buildings. The view of Athens from the top is incredible. It’s hard to fully grasp the size of the city until you see it from a panoramic view.
As the evening wound down, we left history in the past and made for dessert. We scored some wine and chocolates from some local shops and went back to our room to wind down. The apartment we were staying in had a view of the Parthenon. It was obscured by some antennas, but awesome nonetheless. It was a beautiful feeling drinking wine on the balcony with the love of my life halfway around the world. If I ever make it back to Greece, I will definitely plan on spending more time in Athens. It has much more to offer than old, crumbling ruins.