Athens!

Ok so I actually went to Athens on the weekend of December 8th, so I'm a bit out of order. Please forgive me!

I had a great weekend in Athens, no thanks to Alitalia canceling 2 of my connecting flights to and from Rome to Catania, but that’s another story.

I arrived early Friday evening. My friends Dhiren and Nima awaited me at our hostel which was right in the middle of the action. We were pretty much in between Psiri and the Plaka. Psiri is the place to be at night with tons of bars and clubs, and the Plaka is where you go to eat and shop for souvenirs. Plus there was a great view of the Acropolis at night and during the day.



Saturday was packed with sight seeing. We got up early and headed to the National Archaeological Museum, then to the Acropolis. There was really no one there, and I kept telling myself that in the summer this place is totally packed and I need to enjoy the space. We lucked out on weather too, it was sunny but not hot.


The Acropolis was cool, I love ruins! And I love how it’s on top of this massive hill overlooking the city. When you get up there you really get a good idea of how large Athens is. It just keeps going. You can also see other ruins from atop the hill. We were able to see the Temple of Zeus and the Agora of Athena.

On Sunday we headed out to Olympic Park where they held the 2004 Olympics. It was completely deserted and of course all the buildings were closed. The metro lets off right at the park and then you end up in this area that is just space. I can imagine this is where they had all the TV crews and trailers, but now there is nothing. Almost everything is in white, these huge structures that look like they were meant to be some form of art, which I am sure they were, but now just look plain.


By the way, Athens has an incredible public transportation system. The metro is probably the cleanest most efficient metro I have ever been on.