Athens, Greece

Hi. I travel. I take photos. I write. Sometimes I’m inspired to write a lot, sometimes very little. I commit to being genuine, and generally coherent. You can read everything, or read nothing & just look at my pretty pictures, no pressure. – Jen

No photos here of the view from the Parthenon atop The Acropolis. Rob and I have both been up there in the past, although not together, but for us, once is enough. So we really just relaxed in Athens.

For those who don’t know, I really did not get this until this trip: the Acropolis is the natural table-like geological structure. The PARthenon is the big building with columns that sits on top of the Acropolis in Athens. The PANtheon is a cool building in Rome.

We went to the Acropolis museum, which is a beautiful facility only 8 years old, so new for both of us. it is literally a museum dedicated to education and preservation of artifacts from atop the Acropolis – or at least all of them that don’t sit in another country’s museum due to theft back in the day when a bunch of countries were pilfering each other’s treasures. This museum tactfully makes it clear it’s pissed that some other countries have pieces of the Parthenon, and apply a general social pressure in their information to RETURN OUR STUFF! But, as one guide put it, if some museums in other countries returned all the stuff they have on display to their rightful owner-countries, they’d have to close their doors (looking at you, England).

The museum is situated to look directly at the Acropolis and the Parthenon, so it basically educates you on what you are seeing up there. It worked, I really much better understood the history and timeline of the Parthenon and Acropolis.

(Rob doesn’t like the next picture in the blog because it looks blurry. He’s right, until you scroll down. Then you’ll see my artsy take on it).

One of the FFN members had arranged an “EatWith” dinner, so we signed up. These are meals hosted by locals in various cities throughout the world, many in Europe. This one was €27 per person, and included beverages, wine, and a delicious middle-eastern meal. No, not Greek, but we knew that from the description. It was simple food in a simple apartment, but it was an interesting discussion about current challenges of refugees in Greece, and the hosts’ attempts to improve studios long-term. Just getting there was an adventure – around 20 people buying subway tickets from a Greek vending machine, all squeezing into the rush-hour cried before the doors closed, walking in a herd through an unfamiliar part of the city navigating with slightly-off directions… But it was fun, sort of a group-logic scavenger hunt. We arrived hot and thirsty and the apartment had no A/C, but the breeze on the rooftop was refreshing, and the water was cool.

After this dinner, Rob and I wanted to see the nicest hotel in the city, where many presidents and world leaders have stayed. We had a cool drink on THAT rooftop bar with a view of the night-lit Acropolis. It was a pleasant way to say goodbye to Athens – worth every Presidential-priced penny those drinks cost us.

The rest of our time was spent strolling the streets a bit looking in shop windows…

…drinking coffee at Coffee Dive an AMAZING coffee house nearby, and recommending it to our FFN friends.

We also sequestered medications that are a mere fraction in price from the price from the United States, and took the double-decker bus tour.

View from coffee bar, our pharmacy is through those trees

What we learned from the double-decker bus tours of Athens is that as some guidebooks tried to tell us, Athens is not a city to hang out in. It’s best show is its “antiquities,” as they call them. The city is clean enough, feel safe enough, but more functional than attractive. Frankly, it was one of the most boring double-decker bus tours we’ve taken in cities around the world. Sorry, Athens, I just can’t fluff it up more than that.