greece tour - athens

we went to greece during the easter break. melbourne is the third largest greek community outside greece. so we kinda felt like visiting the relatives. we landed in the morning. the weather was cool and nice. but the taxi driver told us that it could hit 40s in summer. we glad we came at the right time. the road from the airport to the city was very nice. we thought it might be built for the athens olympics. and on the way we could see the olympics stadium.

we stayed at eridanus hotel, a boutique hotel near acropolis. it was one of the best hotels we'd stayed. small (room and bath were spacious) but elegant to every details. breakfast was excellent. we could see acropolis from the hotel balcony. it was beautiful at night with lights on acropolis.

after we checked in, we took a walk to acropolis. we crossed a market which was selling mostly cheese and sacrificed goats for the easter. berrie closed her eyes, but i couldn't because i had to lead the way. there were also quite a few shops selling nuts, dried fruits and desserts, quite similar to those in turkey. we bought some and sat down in a square, and shared the snack with pigeons.

when we arrived at acropolis, we felt very hungry. we didn't know the area well, so we just picked a restaurant which looked nice with a spacious outdoor area. it was not difficult to order because we had greek food in melbourne many times. but what surprised us was the fine quality of the food and the cheap price (half of that in melbourne, and considering that we were in a tourist place). the meat was grilled just nice. the mashed potato with meat source was very tasty. they had very good tomatoes and olives. the coffee was like turkish style, but just matching the style of the food. we concluded that greek food was not only yummy, but also very healthy.

after the meal, we started to climb the hill to acropolis. it was about 2km to the top, but it was a pleasant climb. the hill is not very steep, and has cafes and restaurants along the way. we were glad that we picked a good time. it was warm, with a little breeze to just cool us down as we walk. the entrance was free because it was public holiday. i am not very good at history, so i think i will refer you to http://www.athensguide.com/acropolis.html for some background about acropolis, and follow my slides to walk around the site. we were stunned by the technology used for the original site. it has been reconstructed many times, but still couldn't be restored to the original glory and magnificence. archimdes' daddy must be able to tell you a lot more about the greatness of ancient greeks.

the next day was good friday. many restaurants were not open. we remembered that we passed by a restaurant at the foot of acropolis which mentioned easter dinner, so we decided to go there. we were glad we did. from the restaurant, we could see acropolis from very close at night. the lighting shed on the temples, making it look like a heavenly place. that justified the price we paid for the dinner.

our next stop was santorini, a postcard island. don't forget to join us tomorrow.