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Published: June 19th 2012
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We had just spent a few days in Italy, now we were going to our next Mediterranean country, Greece! So many people put Greece on the top of their travel list, so I had high expectations coming here. In the end, I would summarize Greece as a place of rich long history and beautiful sunsets. We visited Katakolon which had great laid back beaches, and the next day we visited Athens which is the center of Greece history and politics.
In Katakolon you can take a day trip to visit Olympia, which are the ruins where the Olympics first started in ancient Greece. When we arrived it was early morning and we decided to take a short train tour of the countryside. On the train tour of Katakolon we saw a castle and some beautiful Greek landscapes. We passed lots of homes, farms, and sheep grazing the plains. Next we decided to rent a moped (10-20Euros) to tour the beaches ourselves, which was really fun and we felt like one of the locals! First we sat by a pier to drink some cappuccinos and watch the jelly fish swimming in the Katakolon beach water. We drove to beautiful Agios Andreas
Beach on the other side of Katakolon (which doesn't have jelly fish) and spent some time exploring. If it were warmer I would have gone in, it was so beautiful! There is a nice resort there and an elegant restaurant where a few people were eating breakfast that morning. We took some nice pictures and moved on to a gorgeous high cliff overlooking the Mediterranean sea. We sat there and took in the beautiful views. At one point we saw a roaming sheep which I tried to get a picture of but then he started to run away, and I thought to myself, only a sheep would be found roaming around like this in Europe. After we returned the moped we walked the local markets where I bought a lovely Grecian sweater that I saw many of the locals wearing. It was a very relaxing easy peasy day. One of the other popular souvenirs you'll see here are these bracelets and charms that are blue colored eyes. I had to ask what these were, and learned that these "eye charms" ward off negative energy given off by people. They call it the "evil eye" although essentially they are protecting you
from the "evil." And yes I bought a couple!
We were looking forward to visiting the ancient city of Athens, especially for the historically famous Acropolis and the Parthenon. The port here is huge, there's no doubt this is a very busy place for ships and people to sail in and out. Our excursion started early and we were taken to our first stop which was a huge Olympic Stadium. According to legend the Olympic games were founded by Heracles, the son of Zeus. Earliest records found that the first games were held in 776 BCE. After that, we made our way to the Acropolis.
The Acropolis is the name of the hill that the famous Parthenon stands on. The views from up here are stunning, I had no idea we were so high up at first until I got a gorgeous clear view of all of Athens. Around the Acropolis are many stray dogs, they hang around waiting for tourists to hand them a snack to eat. There are also a ton of Olive trees, and I took an olive leaf with me as a souvenir (the leaf had already fallen to the ground, so I didn't
damage anything!) The marble floor is very slippery from all the tourists polishing it with their walking shoes. The history here tremendous. Built in 447 BCE, one of the facts that I found amazing about this place is that despite all the time that has passed, the fires that have broken out, and the numerous wars and bombs that have fallen on it, it still stands today big and strong! Thank goodness for that because if it had crumbled down we would have no way to see these beautiful columns built during the Greek golden age. It does help that people have helped preserve it and even reconstruct certain parts. I was glad we had a tour guide here but it was so windy and at times so crowded we hardly heard her! The sun bounces off all the white on the buildings and surrounding rock making the sun exposure twice as strong up here, you should wear lots of sunscreen on exposed skin unless you want to look sunburned the next day! We bumped into a cute couple from Spain and talked to them for a bit since we speak Spanish fluently. They told us they take short weekend
trips all around Europe when they are off from school/work, how lucky! From the Acropolis we also saw the Theater of Dionysus which is amazing. There are so many monuments here, having a tour guide or at least a book guide is important or else you won't know what you're seeing in the ruins.
We stayed at the Acropolis for 2 hours which was enough time to take in the beauty and learn the history. On our way back, we saw the changing of the guard and many of Athens’s government buildings. We decided to spend the rest of the day walking around Athens pretending to be locals. I am told constantly that I look more like a Greek/Mediterranean girl than a girl who is actually Hispanic. I wonder if anyone there assumed I was a local? They may have, because when we walked into a little Greek restaurant to order some sandwiches they started speaking really fast in Greek, I just smiled and I told them sorry I don't understand!
Sailing out of the port that evening we saw the most beautiful Greek sunset, I must have taken a hundred pictures of this thing because I knew
I wouldn't see it again any time soon. We really enjoyed our time in Greece. If you like culture, ancient historical buildings, and calm relaxing settings then you will like it here. Greeks have a slow paced life style, even in the cities there is little hustle and bustle compared to other major cities and countries.
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