Athens, Greece, part 1
I’ll just go ahead and declare my love for Athens before I even begin this post! But, to take it slow, here’s the story behind it…
When we were planning our 4-month trip through Europe, we knew we wanted to visit Greece, but deciding on a city was the difficult part. After some deliberations, we decided on Athens.
Our initial plan was to spend a few days in Athens before we’d take a cruise on the Mediterranean Sea hitting other cities we were interested in visiting that way. Well, our cruise plans didn’t work out and that’s how we got “stuck" with a schedule of 4 days in Athens, as we couldn’t make changes at that point. Otherwise, we would have spent a lot more time there.
If you were to leisurely visit Athens, I say you’d need at least 5-6 full days there. Also, as far as language, and in our experience, more people speak English here than in Paris, to be honest; we didn’t have any difficulty communicating while in Athens.
We flew into this city (after a long layover and delay at Otopeni airport in Bucharest) towards the end of August. We again had booked a taxi via Booking.com airport taxi service in advance to take us to our hotel, and after our Paris experience, I have to admit we were nervous. However, our taxi driver was waiting for us by the gate, acting all courteous. We were impressed already.
When looking for hotels, we came across Wyndham Residence, and being familiar with the name and concept, we booked with them immediately, especially since the rates were really convenient. This turned out to be a great decision. We didn’t pay attention to that, but this hotel has a 4-star rating, while its “sibling” across the street - Wyndham Grand has 5 (I’m not talking about reviews), and the best part - it was ALMOST empty.
August is, as in many other cities in Europe, the month when the majority of the people take their vacations (sometimes as long as the entire month). This leads to generally, a quiet city, especially traffic-wise, even if with some very hot [and dry] weather.
This was our first time visiting Greece, and on our way from the airport to our hotel, we could tell that this country has been through some stuff. When we arrived at the hotel, we were a bit wary of the location, to be perfectly honest. It was somewhat in the center of the city, but we could see what looked like abandoned buildings and construction, and a lot of graffiti. There were a few homeless people hanging around too (I’m not hating on that or them, I’m just stating a fact). Shortly after though, we’ve come to learn that, apart from the traffic, the area was overall very quiet, and we never felt unsafe there, safety being our number one priority on this trip. It helped that there were always people around, as there were a few restaurants nearby.
After checking in, in our tradition, we dropped our luggage and headed out. Next door to the hotel was a bakery, and since we were hungry, we went to check it out.
And there was where I fell in love with Greek food even more. Bread Factory, the name of the bakery, has just about everything you can imagine at great prices, from meals to pies, to cakes, sweets, and the famous baklava. We were hooked.
After buying more food than we could eat, we headed to the rooftop of our hotel and ate on what I would literally describe as a balmy summer evening: not too warm, definitely not cold, and with a pleasant breeze. Oh, did I mention we had the rooftop all to ourselves?
After eating, and because we could (as Wyndham Residence guests, we were told we could visit the amenities of Wyndham Grand), we crossed the street and went to Wyndham Grand; from its amazing rooftop you can see the lit-up Acropolis at night (what a view!). It was a perfect end to our “first day” in Athens.
The next day we decided to go full-force exploring, but we needed to exchange money. As I shared before, we decided to use cash-only on this trip, since we had a budget to stick to.
Exchanging money has been an experience everywhere but definitely more so in Athens. We thought we’d go to the banks for that, but after visiting several, we were told that banks in Athens just don’t do exchanges. Something to keep in mind.
After being advised of a few options, we headed up the “Agiou Konstantinou” street where we found the best exchange rate at Western Union. Once we exchanged some money, on our way, we came across the Hondos Center, which is a great place to shop tax-free. After strolling through a bit, I bought my hat, as the sun in Athens was no joke, and we continued our walk towards the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens. Even though it looks empty in photos, there we found the city buzzing: just on the other side of the street tourists, some traffic and locals were all going about their day.
From the university, we found our way towards Monastiraki Square, which is a must-visit in Athens (do watch yourself for scammers here though, read this post for details). A popular place among tourists as well as locals, this square offers a variety of shops and vendors, a flea market, crowds, a few restaurants, by most importantly, amazing views of the Acropolis.
On our way there, we passed by the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens, which was built using the marble of 72 demolished churches. A funny thing, which was common for me in Athens, was that I found the tiled floor very slippery (it might have been my shoes), but I always had to watch how I walked so I don’t end up falling (and no, it didn’t happen).
It might be because of their age and use, but some of the sidewalks and stairs, especially at the Acropolis, looked polished and smooth, and therefore, slippery; keep that in mind if you plan on visiting Athens.
On our way to Monastiraki Square, we passed by the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens
Next to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens was the Little Metropolis, which was built over the ruins of a temple, using the stones from earlier buildings. We did not visit any of these churches as that day I was wearing a dress exposing my shoulders; as we found, in Greece and Italy you are asked to be respectful towards the church, by having your shoulders and [at times] your head covered (for women), and hats off for men.
Little Metropolis, Athens
From Monastiraki Square, we found ourselves in the middle of ancient ruins, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get the chills seeing them. To get to stand in front of these giants carrying so much history over the thousands of years since they’ve been built was a feeling I will never forget. I was so humbled at the grandness, the hard work, and human sacrifice and triumph standing in front of my eyes. Imagine it all being built by the hands of so many people!
Roman Agora, Athens, Greece
Gate of Athena Archegetis, Athens, Greece
We strolled on these streets for a while before returning to our hotel to catch the sunset light hitting the Acropolis. The next day the plan was to finally get up close and personal with the Ancient ruins.
Sunset in Athens, Greece
To be continued…
Until next time.
xoxo,
Em
