Thinking About A Trip to Athens, Greece? A Traveler's Guide.

Do you love going on vacations, but hate the cost? Well I'm here to tell you that Athens, Greece is truly a forgotten travel destination. After being there, I just can't understand why. It's surprisingly affordable, the people are generally friendly (and most speak English), the weather is outstanding, the landscape is breathtaking, the Mediterranean Sea... need I say more, history, architecture, amazing shopping areas, everything's easy to get to by walking, and the food, well, let's just say there's a reason why the Greeks aren't super thin. And I'm here to tell you today that there is NOTHING wrong with that! The food is incredible, even if you don't care for olives, like myself.

But since I'm a person who looks at both sides of the coin, I will list the short amount of cons that Athens does have.

The crime rate isn't the best. As a lone traveling, obviously not Greek person (female as well), I didn't feel comfortable walking around after dark, so I made the point to be in my hotel room no later than 7:00pm, but since I walked around so much (and because of the tropical humidity), I was usually in my hotel room by 6:00pm, exhausted.

If you're a person who truly detests crowds and bustle, getting a hotel in the center of Athens is not for you. However, this isn't necessarily a con. If you get a hotel on the outskirts, the public transportation is disgustingly cheap for the distance it goes. I will say this though: if you are going to or from the airport, you need to have an 8 Euro special ticket, otherwise you will get fined (and don't forget to validate your ticket!). If you are the anti-crowd person, taking a trip into Athens by public transportation may also be something you dislike. I don't have any idea about the rental car costs, but I do know from what I saw from walking around that driving poses a lot of disadvantages to walking. So, consider your claustrophobia level before making a trip.

Get a map. I'm sure every hotel has free maps of the area to give you. All of the streets are written in Greek, but usually with a phonetic spelling below it. Even still, prepare to get a little turned around. This isn't necessarily a con, but something to be aware of. Also, may also be a con, they do have a serious stray cat issue, but these kitties are so sweet and cute, you'd never even guess they were strays. There are also a few stray dogs wondering around, but they also have a sweet demeanor. It doesn't mean you should let them bite you, but it's not necessarily a threat.

Be prepared to get asked by random people to buy something or to talk to you about giving you something. I turned down a pamphlet about the apocalypse, invitations to sit at restaurants/cafes (those people were actually just doing their job though), purchasing various items in stores, etc. Just be polite but firm. They understand. There is also a fair amount of people asking for money and playing the accordion for Euros, etc., etc. It's another "be prepared" tidbit.

Other than the above, which if you think about it, isn't really a big deal, Athens is truly a great place to visit.

My journey? Well, it was incredible.

DAY 1

The start to my first day was rough. I had to leave the house at about 1:10am, just to catch a bus that wouldn't accept my German debit card for a bus ticket. Fortunately, a nice man offered me his ticket that would get me so far as the airport, which was fine because I could buy a ticket there. Two buses and a train later, I was sitting in the Munich airport at 4:30am or so desperately trying to get internet to connect with the world.

My plane was on time, and the flight time was only about two and a half hours. I arrived in Athens sometime after 11:00am local time (Athens is one hour ahead of Munich). By the time I got my luggage and got on the train, it was about noon. I took the train from the airport to Monastiraki station in downtown Athens, and when I got out of the station, I saw more people that I had ever seen in my life. (The weather was also beautiful, sunny and about 75 Fahrenheit. Being exhausted, I tried to locate Athinas (street), which was straight out of the station, then I walked along it until I found Evripidou (street). I made a wrong turn on Evripidou, which I discovered when the street split into two, so I turned around and found the hotel easily. I will say this: the best advice I got while researching Athens was from a website I can't remember, so I can't give them credit (but it was not my own advice), but they said that pedestrians do NOT necessarily have the right of way, even when the "walk" light is activated. This is a very true statement.

I got checked into the hotel about one o'clock in the afternoon, and had a cozy room on the third floor. I very tiny room, it was clean, had a bathroom, and free wifi. Plus the lady at the counter was so nice it was amazing. (I highly recommend this hotel. By the way, hotels in Athens are very inexpensive. Very inexpensive. Check out: Hotels.com.) I went up to my room, and had every intention of sleeping for a bit when I first arrived, but I found myself too excited to, and unable to connect to the internet, I went exploring with my map.

I saw so much. The Parthenon, Acropolis, the Odeum of Herodes, the Monument of Filopappos, the Plaka shopping district, a beautiful little forest/park area (again reminiscent of Central Park or the English Gardens), and even got myself an organic pizza made with super healthy hemp flour and oil (THC free!). My photo accounts of this day are below.

Monastiraki Station, with Acropolis in the background.

My hotel's sign.

Engravings I saw at the Acropolis site.

More of Acroplis.

Parthenon.

Odeum of Herodes.

Monument of Filopappos.

View of Acropolis/Athens from the end of the forest area, near the monument from above.

I told you I was in a tropical climate! This is an orange tree! (And there were many more where this came from!)

Meow. They were so sweet.

I realized that I was feeling the affects of a one hour sleep from the night before when I was waiting to take my pizza back to the hotel. I started tilting slightly, and I knew that was a bad sign. So I went back to my hotel as soon as I could, got there about 6:00pm, asked the hotel lady about the internet, who gave me a slip of paper, then I went up to my room. I ate three slices of organic goodness, and was able to connect to the internet long enough to send an e-mail, then, unbeknownst to me, I passed out. Literally passed out. Like I don't remember crawling under the covers and turning out the lights. I woke up abruptly at about 12:30am or so. I made some "I'm alive and safe" phone calls, then tried to sleep again. I couldn't. The hotel, which I did enjoy thoroughly, was a bit noisy at night, probably because of where my room was in respect to the stairs, it was like a sound tunnel. So I didn't get too much sleep.

DAY 2

I knew when I woke up that this was my shopping day. I was determined to just wander around, looking at stores, visiting organic shops, and maybe going to a museum or two. I got to see a lot again, with visiting the Temple of Olympian Zeus, the New Acropolis Museum, an organic store (which supplies handmade Greek halva! I was in heaven!), a vegan restaurant next door (I ordered an avocado milkshake. It was surprisingly delicious!), the Theatre of Dionysos, and the Athens Flea Market. I was again in my hotel between 6:00pm and 7:00pm, and my day is accounted in pictures below. The museum is not pictured because pictures inside were forbidden. Also, it was raining off and on for most of the day, so there are only a few pictures. The temperature was still in the 70's though. (Note: It's worth mentioning that the Acropolis is a 12 Euro fee, but that also includes the Dionysos Theatre, the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and others. I think it's a pretty good deal.)

Temple of Olympian Zeus.

Fallen pillar at the temple site.

Theatre of Dionysos.

Engravings at the theatre.

The Athens Flea Market. To me it looks like a modern Arabian marketplace.

DAY 3

I didn't sleep real well again the next night, but at the same time I don't usually sleep well in new places at first. I was determined to see the sea on my last official day in Athens, so I made sure I had good directions, put on my bikini, and had my first adventure riding the Athens public transportation system, which included more than the train this time... a bus as well. The only issue I found was that there was no way of knowing what stop was next for someone who didn't know the area. On the other hand, I probably should have counted the stops before I got on the bus, but I'm not sure how I would have known that. But the water was beautiful. I did a lot of walking around, went in the water a bit in a nice secluded section of the beach, read part of my book (Okay, pause. Recommended reads by Holly: Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen and Moloka'i by Alan Brennert. I know both books have been out for a while, but they are fabulous and I highly recommend.), and then I realized I was going to get sunburned (Holly the pale white girl didn't think she'd need to bring sunscreen), so I headed back. The weather was somewhere around 80 and sunny, but I was starting to feel my lack of sleep, plus I was starting to feel my sunburn bad, so I headed back and rested until the next day, when I was leaving. (Hey, I was on vacation after all.)

Cascade of foliage. It was also covering a mini cave.

The water was so clear and beautiful it was ridiculous.

The Mediterranean Sea. I should point out that the area I was in was called Varkiza, just southeast of Athens.

DAY 4

I overslept a bit because I again didn't sleep real well, but I made it out the door about 9:15am or so, and when I checked out the hotel lady seemed very sad to see me go (she was truly wonderful during my stay), and I promised her I'd be back (which I will be). I made it to the station okay, got my special ticket to the airport, made it through security, baggage check, and everything else, only to discover my plane was delayed... by three hours. When I finally did get on the plane, it was a perfectly smooth ride for the first 2 hours or so, but then we hit "severe turbulence," as the attendant put it, directly over the Alps. My heart felt like it would explode and the nice Greek lady next to me held my hand. The turbulence only lasted a couple minutes, but the people on the plane were panicky and yelling a bit too. When we finally landed, everyone on the plane clapped, and I had never been so happy to be on the ground in my life. It took another hour for me to get home with the S-Bahn and bus, and when I did get home I discovered that the family was gone, and I still needed to get to the store before 8:00pm, cause I had no food for the next few days (Easter and Easter Monday everything is closed here), and I had gotten back at 6:00pm. And well, everyone knows the rest. I got my Elephant & Piggie stuffed animals, and typed up my blog post on the Squishables Fashion Show yesterday, and now here I am!

My next step is to, of course, plan my trip to Paris, which I'm hoping won't be too costly. Until then, I'm going to be continuing my German classes, working here with the children, doing my chores, cooking my mini-meals, and best of all going on my own little day trips!

I will post another blog entry when I have more to talk about.

I hope everyone had a great Easter!