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Published: October 4th 2008
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Athens has become our favorite capital city in all of Europe. Athens has a flavor that is most appealing to the both of us. It certainly has the historical flavor with all of the ruins and archeological sites, but the people of Athens make it a very unique city. It is a bustling, cosmopolitan city boasting a population of about 3.9 million people. Nearly 17 million people visit Greece each year and most of us transit through Athens on their way to the many beautiful Greek Islands.
This is our second visit to Athens together. We had previously visited nearly two years ago. This is actually my third visit. My first visit was way back in 1987. My first visit was to teach two Services Supervisor courses to Services NCOs throughout Europe. We were hosted by my good friend Bob Prichard who recently retired after serving our nation for 46 years. Efharisto Bob—you have been a mentor and friend since then.
On Thursday, 4 September, we flew from Rome to Athens. We had considered taking a ferry to Greece, but opted to fly instead. We arrived in Athens with no reservations and went over to the TIC to
A written message from Safety Dude
Stay tuned for Safety Dude's grand debut. Safety Dude is coming. see if they could hook us up with some budget accommodations. They handed us a huge list of accommodations and told us we would need to find one on our own. Well, at least we know they weren’t getting any kickbacks here. Fortunately we had already scoped a few places out. One of the places we had researched was the Athens Studios. This place is run by the same folks who run the Athens Backpacker Hostel. We did not want to do the hostel accommodation and opted to go for a studio. Lynne made a quick call and they were able to squeeze us in. The studio is located a short walk from the Acropolis Metro Station and is in a great location. The price seemed a little high, but it was actually pretty cheap for Athens. We check in at the Backpacker and head to the room. The room has internet and a kitchen which will help with the budget.
We head down the block and pick up a few groceries and search for an internet Cat 5 cable so we can hit the internet in the studio.
Next on the agenda is to head to Monistriaki Square. We
immediately go to Thanasis Souvaki Shop. We had learned about this place on our last visited and enjoyed the meals on multiple occasions. Some say it is the best souvlaki in all of Greece and we would have to agree. I recall on our first visit, we ordered the souvlaki and got a whole plate of food. We later learned that if we wanted the sandwiches, we needed to order the souvlaki or kebab sandwich. Service may seem a little slow at this sidewalk café, but these folks really pack em in. Once you get service, it is exceptional and the wait staff is a hoot with a great sense of humor. Some of these guys have been here for decades and they have a blast taking care of people. You can even get sandwiches to take away. If you are planning a visit to Athens, check this place out. In fact, be on the lookout for our friend, Vangjelis. He is the one in the photo with Lynne and Marco.
After gorging ourselves on some great souvlaki, we decide to walk it off and cruise around the Plaka, old market place and back to Syntagma Square. Syntagma Square is
a focal point in Athens and is also a major hub for Metro and bus transportation. It is located directly in front of the Parliament Building and the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. We hang out here for a brief time to watch people and the street vendors being chased off by the tourist police. This is actually pretty funny to watch because as soon as they chase someone off and move on, another one shows up until they make their rounds again. We take a leisurely stroll back to the room and retire for the evening.
On Friday, 5 September, we decided to sleep in and just relax for the morning. We have a quick breakfast in the studio and hit the streets. We have no particular agenda for the day, but decide to just wander around town. We had purchased a weekly Metro card so we were free to travel on the public transportation network. The public transportation system in Athens in the cleanest and most organized system we have encountered in all of Europe. Naturally, nothing will ever come close to the Japan Rail system for efficiency, cleanliness and convenience.
Again I have to shake
my head at how America has failed with the mass public transportation availability. One would have thought that the oil crisis of the early 1970’s would have been a launching point for investment in mass transportation.
Ok, back to the story. We spend a leisurely day just kicking around town and stop by Thanisis to get some special kebab sandwiches to go. I’m telling you, we are hooked on this place. After a full day of sightseeing, we head back to the studio for a good, home-cooked meal. We had picked up some pork steaks from the nearby market. We had a great meal in the studio and settled in for the evening.
On Saturday, 6 September, we did a little more sightseeing. We stopped by the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and took some photos with Marco. We stopped by a “Public” store which specialized in electronics. We had debated about bringing binoculars with us originally, but left them at home. We agreed that picking up a set would be well worth their weight in checking out distant objects. We opted to take a dry run to the port and buy our ferry tickets to Naxos. The
area around the port is nasty with trash and debris throughout the neighborhood. There is also a heavy concentration of hawkers and panhandlers around the train station. There was nothing much exciting for the remainder of the day.
On Sunday, 7 September, we did a lot more relaxing and just plain ole walking around town. We spent a significant amount of time in Syntagma Square just checking people out. This is a great place to just sit back and watch people. Again, we return to Thanisis for some take away sandwiches and wander around town. Right before sunset, we headed up to Filopappos Hill. This hill offers one of the best views of the Acropolis and Parthanon. We take a few sunset photos and head around the Acropolis to the old Plaka. Naturally, we had to stop by Thanisis for some more great food. We decide to walk off dinner and walk back to the room.
On Monday, 8 September, we did absolutely nothing at all. We just stayed in the room and relaxed.
On Tuesday, 9 September, we got on the Blue Star Ferry at 7:30 AM and headed off to Naxos.
Stay tuned for our
update about our adventures in the Greek Islands. Upon completion of our time in the Greek Islands, we will post one final update from Athens, Greece, and Europe.
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Vickie
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Your pictures are beautiful. Miss you a lot. Hope you had a wonderful birthday..Love ya