Athens

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July 12th 2007

Published: August 7th 2007

We decided to go to Greece for our third vacation this year. We spent three days in Athens and four days in Santorini.

We arrived in Athens at night and we took a Taxi to our hotel near the Plaka. The pictures below of narrow streets full of shops and quaint little restaurants are generally from the Plaka. Indeed we loved the Plaka area so much we spent much of our time there while in Athens. http://www.athensguide.com/plaka.html

The next day, we discovered the Acropolis was closed for the day. The staff was on strike that day so we headed south to the beach. We took a Taxi about 30 minutes south to Glyfada (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Glyfada) and spent the day sightseeing and relaxing. It was Kim’s first time with her toes in the Mediterranean and as usual, the Med provided great natural beauty and people watching. That evening we walked about the Plaka and enjoyed several great meals. The food was amazing, especially the quality of the produce and the feta. In Delhi, the produce needs to be soaked in chemicals before you eat it to kill pathogens, so it is never as good as you get in the US or

Europe.

We were walking so much in Greece we were able to eat several times a day and still not gain any weight. The Plaka has several great night clubs playing various kinds of music so we enjoyed bar hopping, people watching, and dancing the night away. We stayed in the Plaka until 2:00 a.m. taking in the night life.

The Acropololis and other monuments about Athens are illuminated at night, so as you walk about taking in the sights, you are constantly aware of the ancient city surrounding you.

The next morning we took a narrated bus tour of the monuments. The Acropolis was absolutely mobbed with people! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acropolis_of_Athens) But it was still worth battling the cameras and Bermuda shorts. The Caryatids left me speechless (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caryatid), but not for long. I started wondering if I could make a living in Athens? If I threw on a white robe and put out a hat, would people throw money in my hat if I started reading from an English translation of the Iliad? (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iliad) But Kim reminded me that we still have 4 days in Santorini, so off we went.

We had heard that Athens is a