The Greek Sampler III – Athens, City of the Violent Crown

Ancient Athens is where our 10 day Greek Sampler itinerary ended. After experiencing the island party atmosphere of Mykonos and the romantic vibes in Santorini, it was time to switch gears and learn more about the great Greek history in the cultural capital of Athens. Known as the City of the Violent Crown (pretty dramatic name 😱), we had an incredible time exploring her during our 3 days there. This was how our beautiful adventure ended. Enjoy!

Day 7 – Santorini to Athens flight, Visit Acropolis, Explore City, and Dinner in Plaka!

The decision to fly back to Athens instead of taking the ferry was a no brainer. When the two choices are a 5 hour ferry ride or a short 50 minute flight, it’s pretty easy. We had booked this flight about 3 months before our trip and found the best deal on Google flights. Ryanair it was! We had never flown with this outfit but they are apparently like the Southwest airlines of Europe. Nice flight and cheap.

I was either too tired to notice when we first arrived to Athens on the 1st flight from Houston or we entered through another entrance this time, but they have these cool Harry Potter type video monitors as you head towards the baggage claim. It’s a bunch of video testimonies from guests to Greece and where they were from, what they visited, liked, etc. I need to find out how to get by big head on one of them😀.

A quick note about taking cabs from the airport. There are flat rates if you’re heading to the city Centre or the main ports. Those flat rates do go up at night but they are clearly stated on signs all over and inside the cabs themselves so you always know what you’re going to pay. You can also Uber in Athens, just fyi.

Where to stay – InterContinental Athenaeum Athens

We had a lot of fun with this one. John Wick 4 had just come out and my cousin had never stayed at an Intercontinental property so they got a kick out of the name. I even had a gold coin that I slid over to the front desk manager, lol. Because I’m Mexican, the inside joke was that I was Juan Wick 😂.

I’ll start with the good. This property is overlooking the Acropolis, near Kolonaki area and just under 2 miles from all the main tourist attractions. The Rooftop bar has some delightful views of the Acropolis and surrounding city (especially at night). The pool area was fun and had a nice compact layout with good overall service from the pool waiters/attendees. Public transportation is only a few blocks away for those that want to save money on getting around. And last but not least, the Intercontinental service is always on point.

The one drawback is the location could have been better. While I do recommend this place when in Athens, I would suggest you also look at hotels in the Plaka neighborhood. If I could redo this portion of our vacation, I would have based us inside this terrific area. Plaka was bustling and to me is Athens in a nutshell. Lots of good choices for all budgets so have a look in this location.

The Acropolis

The Acropolis in Athens is the universal symbol of Greek civilization. It’s literally visible from almost everywhere in the city. You can’t miss it and my wife and I were giddy as kids on the cab ride to the base of the ancient citadel. All of our lives we had wanted to visit it and here we were just a short ride from walking around the hallowed grounds where it stood. We couldn’t wait to take that step back in time.

The cab dropped us off at the main staging area shown above. From there you just follow the signs to the Acropolis or any one of the many historical sites in the area. If you don’t download a map before arriving, I recommend picking one up at the museum or giftshop there. Some hotels will have them as well so be sure to ask your front desk. But whatever you do, BUY YOUR TICKETS ONLINE AHEAD OF TIME!

Thing to do and know before visiting the Acropolis

• Do not waste up to an hour waiting in line just to buy an entrance ticket. Then you have to wait in another line to get inside the Acropolis grounds. Buy your tickets ahead of time online at the Hellenic Heritage website. Once there, click on the the Attica & Central Greece region, then Acropolis & Slopes, then date you’re visiting, and then the time (don’t worry, you don’t have to show up at that time, it’s just data for the site management people). Choose the Combined ticket ($30 euros) so you can get into multiple sites across up to 5 days. Single tickets ($20 euros) are for one site only and for only one day.
• Download the guide here. There is a nice map that shows the layout of all the important buildings on the site, some pics and brief explainers of the most important ones and some general rules of what is and isn’t permitted.
• Grounds are open from 8 am to 8 pm. Best time to visit are 8am – 10 am or 6 pm- 8 pm. Why you might ask? Simple answer, those damn cruise ship people! Like a Mongolian horde, they will swarm the place pretty much from 9:30 am through 5:30 pm. It’s just too many of them. It’s crazy how many. Have your tickets on your phone and be in the entrance line by 7:30 am.
• FYI, the Parthenon is an ancient religious temple the Athenians built for the Greek goddess Athena. The Acropolis is the high hill that the Parthenon was built on. In short, the Parthenon is a temple and the Acropolis is the hill the Parthenon is located.

Once inside the Acropolis grounds

Follow the signs and start at the Theatre of Dionysus and then the South Slope. This theatre is beyond impressive and is still in use! Our visit was just a little early but from July to mid-October there are several live performances and the schedule can be found on this website. If your visit is during these months, you should definitely book ahead of time to secure your seats!

The Acropolis steps and pretty much the entire area around the site is uneven and slippery. I recommend wearing hiking shoes/boots or something with some good grip. The rock/marble used on the walkways is worn and smooth which is perfect for you to take a tumble so please plan accordingly. Do not wear flip flops, crocs, or (even worse) heels. Add a little rain (like on our 1st visit) and you’ve really got to be careful.

The rain got us! We had to cut our sightseeing short because it wasn’t letting up, we had no umbrellas, and there was nowhere to shelter. We ended getting soaked but not before we grabbed a few more pics

Exploring The City of the Violent Crown

Okay 2 things, I had no idea that Athens was known as or used to be known as the City of the Violent Crown. It wasn’t until I started researching different things about Athens that I came across this tidbit of history. And second, I just like saying it and writing it because it sounds badass. Also didn’t hurt that it scores well on my SEO headline analyzer but that’s another subject for another day.

So back to our adventure. It literally rained (not heavy) on us the whole walk down from the Acropolis so we sought shelter (and beers and wine) at a restaurant just outside the Plaka neighborhood. Along the way we stopped at some historical sights when there were gaps in the rain. It was a weird on and off type rain as if the Gods were messing with us. It was all good, we were in great spirits and made the best of it. We finally found a nice outdoor table to sit at while we caught our afternoon buzz and game planned the rest of the day.

We somehow made it to the Electra Palace Hotel’s rooftop bar and continued there. The weather had now cleared up and the blue skies returned! We ordered appetizers and more wine and beer as we prepared to head to the heart of Plaka for dinner.

PLAKA – Dinner in the best neighborhood & area in Athens!

This is the oldest section of Athens and has a ton of personality, charm, and beauty. A lot of the streets are closed to automobile traffic so you can walk in peace while you shop or hunt for a place to have dinner like we were doing. So many choices and side roads to go down. The area is sort of hilly so prepare to walk up and down and get your steps in. By now the skies had really cleared and it was blue skies as far as you could see. Made for a perfect backdrop.

We stopped and looked at several restaurant menus from the outside until we settled on the Ανεφάνη restaurant. I’ll let you sound it out and pronounce it 😂. You can clink on the link and read the review and click on the map inside to see the exact location. We found it to be perfect. Great vibe, waitress, views, and most importantly food! Checked all the boxes and there was even live music toward the end of our meal.

After our early dinner it was time to walk it off. We ordered way too much food but it was so good. Our attention turned to the many shops and stores that were in the area and we stopped at many to get our souvenir shopping out of the way. By this time we were all a little tired. It had been a long day of sight seeing and we had an all day trip to Delphi in the morning. We hailed a cab after shopping and made it back to our hotel about 8:30 pm. Just enough time to catch the sunset from our hotel rooftop.

Day 8 – Delphi all day trip to see the Oracle

This day was dedicated solely to the mystical and mythical town of Delphi. The ancient Greeks believed that Delphi was the Navel of the Earth. It was a place seen as a spiritual focal point for all Greeks. This is where the Oracle was visited by local and foreign leaders and dignitaries who were anxious to know the will of Apollo. If it was still around today I would have sought out the winning powerball numbers 😂.

This was a day trip that we booked on Viator prior to us arriving in Greece and I recommend you do the same. It really depends on your budget and schedule because you can book everything from a 1 day Delphi English Day Trip from Athens (which we took) on a big coach bus to a private 4 day tour that takes you to multiple towns and sights. Hey if you got the time and money, go for it!

Our tour operator picked us up at a nearby hotel where we met up with all the other tourists. After a headcount, brief safety induction, and guide introduction, tiny radio speakers and ear pieces were distributed and we were on our way. It’s a 3 hour drive from Athens with only a small stop in between.

Arriving at Delphi

The drive to Delphi is nice and smooth and the guide would periodically point out things of interest or tell Greek stories about the region we were passing through. She was a good story teller and a bit cranky which made some parts pretty funny. Once we got to Delphi we got off the bus and the guide gave us the ground rules. We didn’t have to stay with the group if we didn’t want to but only had to be at the meetup spot at a certain hour to go inside the museum.

We stayed with the group to learn about what we were looking but some people bounced as soon as she gave her speech, lol. You do get released for free time after about an hour and we explored as much as we could in the time allotted. My wife and I are history buffs so if we could do this part again, I would rent a car and drive and spend the night here.

There is just so much to see! And the location of the ruins is breathtakingly beautiful and not really encroached on by modern civilization. The hills they are located on and the ones across the river probably still look the same as they did thousands of years ago.

Hike up to the top!

I was so busy shooting pics and videos and taking in the ruins around us that I had totally forgot that our guide said the Delphi track was at the very top of the hill. It was a good trek up and by the time I snapped, it was too late. But just as I thought that I wasn’t going to get any pics from up there, along comes my cousin’s husband Joey all sweaty and breathing hard. I asked if he was okay and he told me he had ran a lap at the Delphi track. I was skeptical but he sent me the pics below. Do y’all think he really ran a lap up there? 😎

Delphi museum, lunch, and drive back

After a some time (not enough for me!) at the ruins, the tour heads to the Delphi museum which to be honest, is too rushed and crowded to enjoy. In hindsight, I could have done without going to the museum. That’s an activity that is best enjoyed when all the tour people have left. Probable early morning or right before closing time like everything else. If you’re with a group, just bypass this part and continue enjoying the ruins. Besides, the majority of the displays and statues are of pitos. Greeks were fascinated with them.

For lunch you have 2 options, you can prepay through the tour company Viator when you purchase your tour or you can use the allocated lunch time to eat somewhere on your own. You given a hour so we found a restaurant with a wonderful view overlooking the valley below and had a Greek lunch and beers.

On the drive back we made one stop at some big retail store that sold all kinds of merchandise. This was like a 20 minute stop and about half the people on the bus didn’t get off. Most that did was only to use the restroom. The 3 hour ride back was filled again with Greek stories and I rather enjoyed them to be honest. Once in Athens, the bus makes stops at several hotels and ours was the last one. It had been a great and eventful day. We were all beat. Dinner was had at a cheap eatery around the corner and we setup a 4:50 a wakup call for in the morning!

Day 9 – Sunrise at Areopagus Hill, Acropolis II, The Temple of Zeus, and Olympic Stadium tour

We were in a cab by 5:15 this morning and at the foot of Areodpagus Hill by 5:40. My wife and I were determined to catch the sunrise and got to the top of the hill with minutes to spare. We had googled the best spots to catch the sunrise and this was one that didn’t require a big hike or long cab ride. There were already people posted up at the top when we arrived. Just a few but we all had the same idea.

It was quiet and peaceful with no one talking. Everyone was either staring off into the beautiful sky and sun in the distance or snapping a pic or video. Just as it should be. If you’ve been reading my blog then you know I absolutely love sunrises. Here’s a few pics of it finally peeking through 🌞.

Acropolis Take II 😊

It was now about 6:30 am and we had time to kill before the Acropolis grounds opened up. We wanted a redo from the other day because we were short changed by the rain and the mobs of cruise ship people. We found a street that led into the nearest neighborhood and found the Sparta Point cafe open. Some coffee and breakfast was just what we needed to fuel up for all the walking and sightseeing we had planned.

Our plan worked to perfection! We were in line to get into the grounds at 7:45 am with our tickets on our phone and it wasn’t even crowded yet. For some reason there was already a line forming for the ticket counter to open up! Why would you not buy them online!? Oh well, not my problem (in Mr.Chow’s voice from the Hangover movie). Right at 8 we went through and climbed to the top. And with a bold blue sky providing the perfect backdrop and no cruise ship people, we were in heaven.

The pictures come out so much better when you have a nice sky to work with. Plus you can see further out with clear skies.

Hadrian’s Arch and The Temple of Zeus

Once the cruise ship people got to the Acropolis, that was our cue to leave. We had retaken the pictures we wanted and grabbed some really great shots that weren’t possible on our first visit. The next stop on our list was the Temple of Zeus. It was only about a 15 minute walk from the Acropolis and it took us through Hadrian’s Arch. The temple itself was undergoing renovations but from our self guided tour of the grounds, you could still see how big and impressive it all was. It’s still worth seeing. It’s just amazing to me how the ancient Greek civilization loved working with these huge magnificent columns.

Panathenaic Stadium – Birthplace of the Modern Olympics!

From the Temple of Zeus we headed straight for the Panathenaic Stadium, better known as the birthplace of the Olympics. You can do your own google search on the amazing history of this place but coming here was high on my list of places to see and experience while in Athens! Because it was still early we had the place practically to ourselves. There was some kind of summer school program going in the middle of the field but they went on about their business, and ignore the tourists as they walked by.

With paid entrance, you pretty much have free reign to roam around the stadium as you please. The small history museum is actually inside the players tunnel which was pretty cool to walk to and from. All in all, I loved visiting this place. Even took my place at the winner’s podium. 1st place of course 😜.

End of Day 9 – Relax and enjoy the pool

We rendezvoused with my cousin and her husband late in the afternoon at the hotel. They did some other sight seeing in the morning, had packed, and were now chilling in the pool. I soon joined them, lol. It was our last day in Greece. Our flight was the next day and we were going to make the most of what was left of our epic vacation. It all seemed surreal then and it’s crazy even writing about it now.

An amazing place that we all dreamed about as kids had been scratched off the bucket list. We ordered our tequila, listened to our music, and basked in the moment. To me it was personal. My wife’s top 6 places to visit were Spain, Greece, Ireland, Scotland, England, and Italy. I had just watched her enjoy her 5th of 6 countries. We already have a plan for Italy. It will be an epic 3 week Italy only vacation. Stay tuned!

Thanks to you all who read my blog posts regularly and a big welcome to my new readers. I appreciate you all of you for taking the time to have a look.