Greece

We all know the saying about keeping the best until last and I think I may have done just that. My short stay in Athens was amazing and I can't believe I nearly spent the week working instead of going there. What a huge mistake that would have been!

I booked this trip about a month ago when things were tough at work and told my friend Laura that I was going and would love it if she would come too. We both studied Classics world at university and are both teachers so I knew she'd be the perfect travel buddy for this trip BUT at the time she had work commitments. I dangled the bait of Athens in front of her for a few more weeks and told her all about what I planned to get up to and what do you know, 2 weeks ago I got the message that she was leaving her job and wanted to join me. Success! So there we were, two Classics buffs ready to explore the heart of the Classical world. 

We met up at Gatwick Airport on Monday morning and were discussing our excitement levels while waiting for the plane. I knew I was excited and Laura knew that she was excited too but it didn't quite seem real for some reason and I think this was because we'd both dreamt of this day for so long and couldn't believe it was actually here. The flight went really smoothly, as did the customs check and the transport to the hostel. We couldn't believe how easy it was actually. Our hostel was called 'City Circus', a year old hostel that had some great reviews and was a steal at only €20 a night. It was amazing! Our room was spacious and it was very clean which is key for a hostel.

Sign by our door - cool ha?

Common area, can you spot the hula hoop?

Coolest lamp shade ever!

Wall painting in the reception

After we settled in we headed out for dinner and there were a few nice restaurants within walking distance to the hostel. We settled for a cute little restaurant that had outdoor seating (oh how nice it was sit outside with just a cardigan on). I ordered fish and Laura went for the mousaka. Laura won the best dinner on that night. The waiters were lovely and I was quite surprised at the end of our dinner when one of them gave me a red rose. Shucks I blushed and from that moment on starting falling madly in love with this ancient city.

A nice touch

When we got back to the hostel we took the receptionists advice and went to the 3rd floor terrace to check out views of the Acropolis that she told us about. It took us a while to find our way up there and I think I speak for Laura too because the moment I caught a glimpse of the Acropolis it hit me that this was real and I was really here. We both giggled, looked at each other and then looked back to the Acropolis, yes, it was still there. We must have sat up there close to an hour hypnotised by its beauty. What a great way to spend our first night in Athens!

View from the terrace

Hypnotising

Our alarms went off early the next morning because we had a lot of ground to cover. First stop though was the hostel breakfast. Hostel breakfasts generally are pretty standard and are never anything to rav about but, you guessed it, City Circus put on one hell of a breakfast. Greek yogurt, fresh fruit and honey plus an assortment of other goodies. It set us up well for the busy day that lay ahead of us. 

Impressive breakfast bar

Yum!

Oh wow!

OMG this was the best hostel breakfast ever!

First stop of the day was the Acropolis, home of some of the most iconic ancient Greek temples known the world over. It was quite a climb up there but we pretty much ran because we wanted to beat the crowds and couldn't wait to lay our eyes on the goodies up there.

As we climbed the marble steps I was so overcome with joy, it was so beautiful walking through the Propylaia's huge columns and seeing the restored temple of Athena Nike to the right. We picked a perfect time for our visit too because the clouds parted just at the right moment for us to get some great snaps. Just a quick warning to you all - you can never take too many photos of ancient sites so be prepared for a whole lot of pictures in this entry. There was a lot of construction going on up there but I did a good job imagining the cranes weren't there. In ten years time they reckon that it will be reconstructed to look as it did the 5th century BC. If they manage to do it I would like to go back and see that.

I cannot wait to get inside!

I made it!

Looking out through the entrance

First glimpses of the Parthenon

Parthenon from the other side

Jump for the Parthenon!

Just some columns

Parthenon to your left and Erechtheion

Caryatids holding up the porch

Nice column shot

Some more columns...

Thumbs up for the Erechtheion

This shot shows how dirty the marble got

Thought this was quite arty ;)

Erechtheion

Touching some of the marble!

It was funny to see the groups of school kids who were so uninterested

Temple of Athena Nike

Laura had found a walking tour that started outside the Acropolis museum for 10am so we got there just in time to find out it was to be postponed due to small numbers. We were a bit guttered at the time but it was actually quite a blessing in disguise because it meant we got to go into the museum earlier than expected. This museum sits at the bottom of the Acropolis and was built to hold the remains from the buildings on the Acropolis and various other findings from the site. It is the number one ranked attraction in Athens by Trip Advisor and it is easy to see why, for starters if you stand outside it on a clear day you can see the reflection of the Acropolis on the glass outside because of the angle of the building as it acts as a mirror. Inside everything is laid out in such and inviting way and as you walk around the Parthenon marbles you can glimpse out the windows and see actual temple up on the hill. Unfortunately most of the marbles sit in the British Museum and Greece is in an ongoing battle to get them back but I don't think that will happen in my life time. I really liked seeing the Caryatids from the Erechtheion, these are columns that are in the female form as the ones up in the temple are all reconstructed ones. They were awesome, everything in there was awesome. I almost forgot to mention that the museum was built on top of an archaeological site so instead of covering it up that built in with glass floors and openings so you could see the remains underneath as you explored the museum.

Laura at the entrance to the museum, can you see through the glass?

Opening outside the museum to see the ruins

View from inside

Wicked layout

Woah, hello there

Not the best day to see the reflection but it's definitely there

Pizza was on the menu for lunch and then it was a quick visit to the Temple of Zeus. This temple was once the largest in Athens but it didn't come through the years too well and only a few columns are left remaining. What is left though impressed me as the columns were huge. One of the columns that had survived fell over in a cyclone but they decided to leave it as it fell to show how the columns were put together. 

Temple of Zeus

Great jump shot of Laura

Up close and personal

Laura capturing the column at its best

A column in pieces

The day honestly just kept getting better and next on our list was the Athens Archaeological Museum. I won't bore you with extensive explanations of what we saw but I will tell you this now, I was definitely in my happy place. We both were and I will remember that feeling forever.

Ice berg roses out front of the museum that reminded me of home :)

Best place EVER

Woah - Dipylon Vase, so impressed right now

Lucky I got away with this because in Greece you are NOT allowed to pose by sculptures (I learnt the hard way)

Someone's excited

I don't believe it

Zara and Zeus

Agamemnon's Death Mask!!! OMG

They randomly had pieces of modern art scattered around the place...

What can I say, pots excite me

After a long day exploring (we got up at 7am which was 5am England time) we headed back to our part of town and went for another nice dinner. This time I got mousaka, Laura got lamb and it was a tie for the best dinner. We tried to get an early night because we had another early start the next day to go on a trip to Delphi.

I was woken up in the middle of the night by a wild thunder storm and at this moment my heart sunk because I thought my trip to Delphi would potentially be rained off. It was still raining when I woke up and drizzled lightly as we walked to the place we were getting picked up from. We passed through a heavy rain storm but I could see patches of blue sky in the distance so was optimistic as always. And what do you know, clear blue skies welcomed us at the sanctuary at Delphi. For those of you who don't know about Delphi it was an incredibly important place of worship and dedication for the ancient Greeks. Alexander the Great walked the steps to get advice from the famous Delphic oracle so I felt pretty cool to be walking the same path as so many great people. It was an incredible site and from going there I gained a greater appreciation for the time and effort it would have taken to build. The site of Delphi lies at 1600 metres above sea level so getting all that marble there would have been such a mission. It just blows my mind to think of how such a place exists. Absolutely incredible.

Ruins

More ruins

Treasury of the Athenians

Front view

View from further back

Temple of Apollo

What remains of the temple from the back

Admiring the theatre

I feel cool standing here

The money shot (good work Laura)

Theatre from the top

Mountain top stadium

I like this column

I think I found where the oracle lived!

Great column shot

The museum we went to afterwards lay at the bottom of the site and housed some impressive items. My favourite was the bronze sculpture of the charioteer, one I had studied in quite a lot of detail and seeing the intricacies up close was something else. I felt very satisfied at this moment.

The charioteer

Amazing detail

Now you all know that I love a bargain and I have a feeling you will be impressed with what I tell you next. There were two price options for the Delphi trip; €55 included bus and guide or €91 which included bus, guide, entrance fee and lunch. We found out that the entrance fee was only €9 so if you do the math that works out to be one expensive lunch. We opted for the €55 option and that meant the tour bus dropped us off in the modern town of Delphi to find our own lunch. What a deal we found, a FOUR course meal for €8!!! Oh and what a great meal it was. I will let the pictures do the talking.

How adorable! A hand-written menu!

Olives to start

Greek salad

Mousaka

Souvlaki

Honeyed grapes and ice-cream = YUM!

We both slept on the 3 hour bus trip back to Athens and when we got back to the hostel found out it had been raining and stormy all day. This made us happy that we had chosen to do things the way we did. That night the hostel put on a free Japanese Pantomime performance, it was pretty intense but enjoyable. The rain stopped in the evening so we took a glass of wine up to the terrace to enjoy the Acropolis view again. It was as stunning as the first time we saw it.

Our last morning in Athens we got a small sleep in and enjoyed a few servings of breakfast before we headed out to do our walking tour. Our guide, George, was a young Greek guy who had moved to Australia when he was 6 but returned to Greece when he was 18 to complete military service. He was great! Very informative and took us to some great sites. One I really liked was the Panathenaic Stadium, where the Athens marathon will end this Sunday. He told us a great version of the Pheidippides myth and the origin of the modern marathon. This weekend the runners will run from the town of Marathon to end in the stadium. Standing here was the closest I think I will ever get to running a marathon though. We ended our tour up on Mars Hill and got some great panoramic views of the city.

Officials sorting out stuff for the marathon

The closest I will get to a marathon she says with a biscuit in her mouth

The guards outside parliament we passed on the tour

We had a break and I discovered a cheese and ham pie which was surprisingly good

A rainbow!

Temple of Hephaetus in the distance

View of the Acropolis from Mars Hill

Athens in the background

Happy girlies in front of the Acropolis

George gave us great tips for places to spend our last remanding hours in this amazing city so we both tipped him a solid €7 for his time and information.

George!

We explored a bit more around the Acropolis site and headed in to see the Theatre of Dionysus. I found the cutest little girl posing so just had to snap a quick pic!

Remains of a theatre

Would you look at her! Adorable!

Wide angle shot

Theatre of Dionysus

The Greek Agora was our next hot spot and I couldn't wait to get up close and personal with the Temple of Hephaetus. The main reason for this was because it is the best preserved ancient Greek temple because the way it stands is as it would have looked in the 5th century BC. It's amazing that it has had no major damage in all those years.

Through the trees

Another good jump shot captured by moi

In preparation to jump

Beautiful

Check out the blue sky

Arty

In complete awe

Straight after this shot was taken we saw this man approaching us with his camera asking for a photo. He had a NZ Rugby League shirt on so I said, "Of course, but only because you're Kiwi", to which he replied, "Yea, I heard you talking so thought it was a safe bet". He was on his way to England to watch the Rugby League World Cup. We chatted for a while before we went out separate ways but it just shows that us Kiwis pop up in places you least expect!

We had to be back at our hostel by 4pm so had enough time to do a bit of souvenir shopping around the main square. Before we knew it we were at the airport ready to take off and fly back to tropical England. I was sad to say goodbye to Laura at the airport because I know it'll be a while before I see her again... But what fantastic memories we made. 

So I guess that brings my blogging to an end. What an amazing 11 months I have had, not a moment wasted or opportunity missed. I am completely satisfied and am so ready to come home and start my new adventure.

See you all VERY soon!

All my love,

Zara xxxx