Athens!

Day 1 


After the flight fiasco, we finally arrived in Athens. Before arriving, I asked my parents if they wanted to take the cheaper and more adventurous route (tram to the hotel), or the "safe bet" route (taxi). Neither of them had a definite answer, so of course I voted for the tram. We bought our tickets and everything was fine and dandy....until we had to make a transfer.

The tram was super crowded (as most are), and my dad did NOT like the idea of switching onto another one with all of our luggage. Granted, it was crowded, but you know how that goes---some how, some way people will make room for you. Anyway, that was not how my dad thought and he had a bit of a breakdown. To resolve the issue we went upstairs at that point and took a taxi. The taxi driver then proceeded to drive us in circles while running up the fare. Typical move.

Once we got to our hotel, it was really nice! I was excited about this because I was in charge of finding hotels that would a) make my parents happy and b) make my parents' wallets happy. First city was a success....until dinner that is. We dropped our stuff off and headed out to see the Acropolis. It wasn't such a far way from our hotel but we decided to take the tram anyway. It was awesome! It was pretty easy to get there because you can see it from a mile away. We bought our tickets and climbed up, although I was having some serious issues with my footwear. Note to self: don't wear sandals on old, slick rocks! Once we finally got up there we took the millions of touristy photo-ops that awaited us.

at the Parthenon

overlooking the city. it was SO HUGE!

The view from the top was amazing, and I had no idea how much area the city covered. It was a cityscape in all directions for as far as you could see. We walked around for a while and marveled at the size and scale of the buildings up there, as well as the lack of machinery they had when they built it. Really a marvel, when you think about it. We finished exploring and then headed back down and went to a restaurant. While we were there, I ordered tzatziki...which I had eaten before and knew I loved. My parents were both skeptical, but they fell in love. We ate it every single meal for the rest of the time we were there, and my dad STILL talks about it.

On our way back we found out we weren't staying in the best of areas. Our cab driver just told us to watch our things when around our hotel, but a woman in a store said "REALLY?! that's the WORST!!" Great, so much for my hotel-choosing skills, at this point I'm now 0 for 1. I thought people may have been over-exaggerating, but right downstairs we saw some guys shooting drugs straight into their jugulars, right in the middle of the sidewalk. uh oh! Needless to say, we made reservations for another hotel and moved there in the morning.

Day 2


After moving to our hotel (which wasn't too far away, but a world of difference), we walked around the Plaka. It was a neighborhood with little streets that all had shops of handmade goods, as well as some souvenirs and fruit stands. It was a good time and we took the chance to get some gifts for the family. I also took some time to choose a pair of handmade leather sandals. There were MILLIONS! Not kidding. It was so hard to find the perfect ones. In the end, I went with some classic gladiator sandals.

that face just screams excitement

Next, we stumbled upon a post office. Seems silly, but this was a breakthrough for us. We decided we needed to send home a box or else there was no way we were going to meet the weight requirements for our next flights. Then we were on a Brosky-style mission to get things together and get it back to the post office. I think we ended up sending home about 20 pounds of clothes to make room for new.

The rest of this day we just walked around the Plaka more, which was relaxing and a cute little place with lots of outdoor cafes and restaurants. The next day we decided we should get out of the city and get to an island. Next stop: Hydra.

The Parthenon at night from our hotel's rooftop cafe