A Walk Through History: Part 1

After two days, dozens of miles walked, and just a little sunburn, we’ve already made it to the end of our time in Athens! (How is that possible?!) It’s been a surreal experience, walking in the footsteps of some of history’s greatest thinkers, visiting the birthplace of Democracy, and marveling at how history has been preserved through time. To say that it was magical and awe-inspiring would be a huge understatement.

Gabriel and I each had our own nerding-out moment. His was on the first day when made the trek up to the Acropolis and saw the Parthenon up close. Mine was on the second day when we visited the Panathenaic Stadium, which was the site of the first modern Olympic games and the place from which the Olympic Flame is delivered.

There were so many times when we both looked at each other and asked, “How is this real life?”

Okay…before I get too far into the details, let’s start with our hotel. We stayed at Hotel Melia in Omonia Square, which is filled with coffee shops, restaurants, clothing stores, and so on. This part of the city was grittier and more industrial than we had expected, but it was out of the way of the dense touristy areas and had a view of the Acropolis and Lycabettus Hill from the rooftop pool.

That rooftop made the slightly longer walk to all the sites worth it!

Just down the road from our hotel (about 15 minutes) was Syntagma Square, which is the heart of Athens. This is where you find the Parliament Building, the National Gardens, the National Library, and all the shops and restaurants you could desire!

Our first jet-lagged morning had us hitting the snooze button more than a couple of times. So, we planned to take it easy, stroll around Syntagma Square, and get a feel for the city. After breakfast, we began to wander aimlessly and were happy to find the Athens we had expected: narrow streets lined with market stalls, old churches, and the picturesque buildings we’d seen in photos.

During our walk, we noticed tourists half-heartedly looking through a gate and taking photos. From their reactions, we weren’t expecting to see a field of ruins in the center of the neighborhood! (It didn’t take long to realize that wasn’t an uncommon thing to see all around the city.) But this was our first up-close look, so we decided we had to go in. After a short walk past more market stalls and cute al fresco cafes, we reached the entrance and discovered we’d found our first archaeological site: Hadrian’s Library.

We were so enchanted by Hadrian’s Library that we decided we should visit just one more site to keep the momentum going. So, we chose the closest one, which was the Ancient Agora. Luckily, we had Rick Steves’ audio tour to guide us through this incredible place!

This was the end of our tour of the Ancient Agora, and now we had a choice to make. It was the middle of the afternoon, we were sweaty, tired, and I was a little hangry, but we were also SO CLOSE to the Acropolis. After some gentle encouragement from Gabriel – and some strategically stashed snacks from our travel day – we decided we couldn’t turn back now!

Our first stop was to the top of Areopagus, which is a famous hill on which Saint Paul preached.

Then we began the trek up to the Acropolis. Tip: Make sure to wear shoes with good traction because you’ll be walking on a lot of slippery marble!

After an hour or so of wandering the grounds and marveling at the ruins, we made our way back down the hillside to find the Acropolis Museum. Unfortunately, we weren’t allowed to take photos inside, but it was quite impressive! It was 3 floors of restored statues and pottery, including 5 of the 6 original Caryatids statues from the Erechtheion.

After taking in all we could at the museum, we walked through a side street close by and found a cute cafe for dinner. (Food post coming soon!) As the sun began to set, we took in the last glorious moments of the city and then began our journey back to the hotel to rest up for another day of exploration.

Stay tuned for Part 2 of our adventures around Athens. (It’ll be shorter, I promise! 🙂 )

Much love from Greece,
Juliette