Athens Day 3, Acropolis, Last Bit of Athens, and Drive to Patras

Wednesday July 2nd

I cannot believe that it is already our last day in Athens, the first stop of our grand Greece tour. It was an early morning wake up call as we had to pack up, store our luggage, and walk to the meeting point for the acropolis tour. To save on time this morning but stay fueled for the day, we had packed up most of our stuff yesterday during our midday break, plus we also picked up some new pastries to try at Holy Llama for our breakfast this morning. The pastries we had was good! I loved my lemon chia seed bread loaf. Mom had a blueberry lemon scone that was also tasty. We probably would have been good with just that but we purchased a third that we split. It was dunked in chocolate and had a pistachio cream fill on the inside.

I saved my morning coffee for later, looking for a place on our walk to the Acropolis meeting point. But first, we checked out of our place, it was actually so perfect (location and quality) so if you ever need a place to stay in Athens, book here. We ended up arriving to the Acropolis meeting point pretty early, but that meant I had enough time to find a coffee. I went to a greek sweets shop and ordered the most delicious coffee. I was nervous because it was a greek yogurt shop, but they too know how to make quality espresso. 

We left for Acropolis with our tour group around 9am, with headphones and radios on lock so that we could hear the tour guide. Our tour guide was super nice, you could tell he’d done it a time or two because it sounded like he recited from a perfect script, speaking confidently and eloquently. Here's the tour we took!

Before even entering the gates of Acropolis, there were a few places to see outside the entrance which were two concert halls. One was much more damaged, but you could still imagine how large it must’ve been. They said that it held 17,000 people, but there were only about 10-15 rows visible. This concert hall was for tragedy plays in which the character would endure suffering and likely die. There were some nicer seats for the elite or those living in the temples above. I believe the use of the temples in Acropolis was solely for the religious leaders of the time, as in the priests and ministers. Next, we saw the arches where underneath were shops and merchants who would sell things. Again, something they couldn’t fully restore but if they were able to it would’ve been fascinating to see.

We walked to the next concert hall and this one was very familiar.. it was the place we were at the night before! They were able to restore this concert hall and are even able to host performances there. It was one of the coolest things I did in Athens. When traveling, I seek out to do only what I can do there and not at home. For example, going to the incredible spa in Bucharest was special to me because it's something I’d never done before nor could afford to do in America. And why I always find myself by the ocean because we are the most landlocked state in the US. Athens was shaping up to be a great city and stop on our Greek holiday.

We finally made our way to the top, and entered through the main entrance and which is where it was most packed. Once we entered Acropolis, we learned about the various smaller temples around the top. There were a lot in honor of Athena, in addition to this city also being in her honor (Athena -> Athens). Nike was also a highly honored goddess in Acropolis, which how cool that Nike translates to Nikis, the street that our accommodation was on. We paused near the back side of the Parthenon, which I thought was the main spectacle of the tour.

One thing our tour guide explained in detail was how the temples of the Acropolis were repeatedly destroyed as new empires and rulers took over Athens. Many of these later powers viewed the Acropolis as a symbol of paganism, and over centuries, only fragments of the original structures survived. When it comes to the modern reconstruction and conservation efforts, archaeologists follow a strict principle: they only use original building materials whenever possible. However, the available supply is extremely limited. This scarcity stems from the fact that, thousands of years ago, the rubble from the ruined temples was often repurposed by Athenians to build their own houses and other structures throughout the city. Because of this, today’s restoration teams face the challenge of piecing together monuments with only a fraction of the original marble available. As a result, the temples cannot be fully rebuilt to their original form, like most of the reconstructed buildings are roofless (even though we know they once had roofs).

We got moving and went to see the front side of Parthenon and that was the main showstopper. Interestingly, Parthenon is purposely non symmetrical. This is where our tour ended so we got to have some free time to explore Acropolis at our own pace before heading back down to the city. We went up to a platform that had a good view of the Parthenon and Mount Lycabettus. We returned to our favorite temples, admired them, and made our way onto the next. Of course, I got some great photos before we left.

Karen and Wendy parted ways with us to go check out of their hotel and the rest of us found a cafe to get off our feet for a bit. We stayed there talking for a while, which felt like the proper European experience, to sit outside around a table with a fun beverage and good friends, not looking at the time. We were there for good chunk of time that we were debating what else we could fit in before we to make our way to the bus for our transport to the next destination, Patras. We had thought about checking out the Acropolis museum, where they house all of the preserved sculptures and monuments, but we didn't have enough time to properly see the museum, so we walked a trail around Acropolis instead. There was a hill that I climbed, small but had a nice view of Acropolis and also got to see Ancient Agora on the other side.

We finished our walking loop and just like that it was time for lunch. I routed us to a vegan gyro place I picked out, but on our way there we kept our eye out for food for mom so that she didn’t have to eat at another fully vegan place. We were really striking out as the places were crazy expensive or there wasn’t anything that was sounding good. After about fifteen minutes of checking out places, we found a local street vendor place with gyros and Mom got one for a great price! I stayed with her while she ate, and then just a few minutes down the road was my vegan place and I got the same meal as mom but veganized, chicken souvlaki with pita. It was pretty much a mix of gyro and kebab. 

We still had some extra time and mom wanted gelato, so we stopped at the place I got coffee that this morning. We stayed there so Mom could enjoy her gelato and chatted about all things life. We had a few more minutes to kill before going to the bus stop so it was nice to just sit and enjoy our time together. Finally, we got up, walked to pick up our luggage and made our way to the bus stop that would take us to Patras. We had a 3 hour drive ahead of us, but I didn't mind the time to rewind and reset for the new city and fun wedding festivities, time to party!

The drive there was nice, we sat in the front seat because I love to be close to the driver and have a good view, I switched between journalling and staring out the window. We drove along the sea front which was beautiful, but to make the view even better, mountains grew in the countryside, creating an almost perfect view in my book.

When we got to the hotel, I was in awe over the view that we had. Our hotel room had a mountain view that was absolutely incredible. I love the ocean but I can see that when I'm on the beach. Whereas, the mountain view is just as beautiful and harder to see from anywhere in the hotel so I’m glad that at least I can soak it on our patio. I immediately sat on our patio upon arrival, giving Mom some time to rest after the long drive we just had. But, she wanted to check out the ocean and I was down for that as well. 

The sunset was beautiful when we got down to the water. There were mountains that backed the water and when the sun set behind them, the light sprayed around and made the sunset last forever. A beautiful and lengthy sunset, two things you cannot complain about. 

I got to meet Sofia and Colton and it was so nice to finally talk to them! I came across the world for a wedding of two people that I've heard great things about but hadn't had the opportunity to meet. How cool but also a unique feeling, I guess this is truly plus one status. We stood around the pool and talked, hearing about the wedding plans and what's in store for the weekend. I didn't know much about Patras, but now being here I found there’s something special about this place. The beautiful mountains along the water, the cool bridge stretching across the sea, the lovely greek hotel, and the kind people that we were sharing this experience with. Who can say the traveled to Greece for a wedding? Another once in a lifetime experience.

Karen, Wendy, Mom, and I went to dinner at the place next door and I had a big bowl of pasta. We were there for a while, chatting, and enjoying the beach side dinner while the sun slowly set in front of us.