Up until our arrival in Athens (3 weeks into the trip), everything was going smoothly. Then we had our first major issue of the trip. The plan was to arrive in Athens in the afternoon, settle into the hotel, explore the city and visit the Acropolis. The next morning we had an early ferry to Santorini. Upon checking in, we found out from the hotel that all ferries in Greece were on strike that day. Meaning our ferry over to Santorini got cancelled and we'd have to make other last minute arrangements.
It was really annoying but I was on vacation..so I wasn't as mad about it as I maybe should have been. Although I wish we could have gotten more compensation back from the ferry company (to compensate for our last minute flight booking, first hotel night lost in Santorini, etc) rather than just a refund. Which I am not sure if I even got back yet..but anyways. It was kind of stressful having to arrange last minute flights over to Santorini but we managed to book our tickets there the next morning - at 5am. So we had to stay in Athens one extra day than planned. It was our first time in Athens and there isn't a whole lot to do there. In my opinion, 2 days there is a day too much. & on the days we were there, it was unbearably hot outside.
Our hotel (
360 Hotel) was in the best location. It was right on Monastiraki Square, with a view of the Acropolis in the distance. We also had a rooftop restaurant with the perfect view of the Acropolis (the main reason why we booked them). The staff were also really helpful and accommodating with our ferry situation.
I guess my favourite part of Athens was the restaurants. It was a nice atmosphere (live musicians and everyone sits outside), and their kebabs were amazingly delicious. I don't think I ever even had kebabs before these. We had them almost every meal there. We were also told that the kebabs there (O Thanasis, right in one of the streets off Monastiraki Square) are the best in Athens.
Dinner with the perfect views
So this was as close as we got to the Acropolis. We missed our chance to go there on the first day (since we were busy dealing with the Santorini situation). On the second day it was a ridiculous 40C degrees and we had a middle-of-the-night flight to catch that night, so we decided to have a more relaxing day and leave the Acropolis to our second time in Athens (we would come back again after Santorini for one day only). However on that day I was not feeling well and it was also extremely hot so we decided to just skip it altogether. I guess we will have to return to Athens again someday to visit it lol. I didn't really like Athens (besides the food and restaurants) but I love the islands in Greece so I definitely want to go back someday.
The Panathenaic Stadium is made entirely of marble and where the first modern Olympic games were held.
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