18: Via Athens Airport

Thank god for free wifi...

Spring break started on Friday for me with Laura and I taking a very long train to Rome. We were flying out of Rome to Athens the following morning. Now, I am a big fan of airports because of the natural order and flow that comes with transportation of that magnitude. Terminal 2 of Rome's airport is not like this at all. So instead of a relaxing 10-hour wait in the airport, which I was a big supporter of, we found that to stay in the terminal all night would be a really dumb idea. Oops. We checked into a Hilton for the night, which wasn't as expensive as I thought it was going to be.

Flash forward to Athens. I've long been told to not expect anything from Athens, the modern city. In fact, most travel guides suggest staying at a hotel in Plaka, the downtown historic area, despite high costs. We stayed at a cheap (25 Euro per each) Best Western for the night a little ways outside of the center. We were by the National Archeological Museum, which boasts the title of best museum in Athens (mind you we walked through a homeless ridden, poop-filled, and generally shifty park to get to it). And the museum is rather extensive, although we were ushered out promptly at 3 because it was closing. I took some photographs of bronze work, so that was neat.

Dinner in Plaka, a 5 minute metro ride away, was delicious. I had lamb and rice pilaf; Laura had an exceptional Greek salad: we split a side of roasted potatoes. Plus baklavah and authentic Greek wine (which I absolutely love). We then strolled around the area for a bit.

This morning we went to the ruins. If Athens has any redeeming quality, it's the ruins. The walk up is gorgeous, and once at the top there are the Parthenon, a temple devoted to Athena and Poseidon, and some other things that I can't remember the names of. And it's free. And it was great weather. And we saw after that the Temple of Zeus, Hadrian's Arch, the stadium, and ancient Agora! So that was pretty neat.

Now we're in the airport waiting for our flight to... Santorini! Time for some relaxing pool/beach time (weather premitting), long island walks, and lots of good food! Will I transform into an old lady on a holiday to the Greek isles? You freaking betcha' I'm putting on my straw sun hat as I type...