For our first day in Athens with Grammy & Gramps, we were on the move. 27,000 steps on the FitBit (7k of those an early morning run in the National Gardens).
Stop 1 - Temple of Olympian Zeus
After filling up on oatmeal at our AirBnb, we started the morning at the Temple of Olympian Zeus. In my first attempt to help Paige and Sadie understand just how old these pillars were (built in 6th Century BC), I let them know that if their distant relatives were here, it would have been their...
"Great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great, great grandparents"
I actually said all the 'greats' individually for impact. Although the impact was likely lost after about 10, I think I got the big idea across successfully.
16 of the original 104 columns remain, one of which is laying on its side. Sadie saw that one and very insightfully said "the column looks like it's a broken churro!" Now every time we see a column we think of churros :)
While we were at the temple, we chatted with a young couple (engaged a couple days prior at Walt Disney Paris). They told us about Quik, a GoPro application to make easy slide shows. So...I gave it a try (see further below).
Stop 2 - The National Gardens
Next stop was Athens' 'Central Park'. We weaved through the National Gardens and we were all impressed by the diversity of trees. We enjoyed wandering through. The only item of note - Sadie slipped into a duck pond when she slid down a mossy ramp. She got a bit wet in the bum, but was all good.
Stop 3 - Monument of the Unknown Soldier
We arrived for the hourly changing of the guard at the Monument of the Unknown Soldier. It was full of foreign wonder for the girls with odd uniforms and strange, synchronized, slow marching & theatrics. We explained to the girls that tombs like this are made to honor those who have fought to protect their country & its people, and that many countries have these around the world. They listened carefully and asked follow-up questions to grasp what we said more clearly. Sadie especially asked a number of interesting questions about soldiers dying and not being found - clearly an odd concept for the innocence of a 6 year old.
Stop 4 - Lunch
A Northwestern friend of Sarah's (from Greece) recommended our next two stops. First was a delicious late lunch at Ta Karamanlidika.
Stop 5 - Central Market
We strolled the fish, meat, vegetable and spice market. I just wish there was time to buy and cook up a feast!
Stop 6 - Coffee
Sitting outside at Mokka coffee, it didn't feel like Greece, but in many ways it felt like we had crossed over into parts of Southeast Asia, both in terms of the architecture and the local population.
Stop 7 - Wandering
After coffee, we walked through some of the main thoroughfares and stopped at various sites, such as the Metropolitan Church of Athens Evangelismos Theotokou.
Stop 8 - Anafiotika
Just below the base of the Acropolis is the Anaflotika neighborhood. We weaved up in random fashion to the large southern wall. After weaving through graffiti art, colorful alleys and white-washed houses, it offered view of sprawling Greece. It was one of those where we had heard about it, didn't really know what it was, but just kept walking up...
Stop 9 - Quick Beer
A quick pit stop for beer with the crew was in order, before heading home.
Stop 9 - Tiki Bar (Parents Gone Wild)
We got back to our place after a long day around 8:00pm. After our big late lunch, the adults were going without dinner, but we needed to pick up a couple things to feed the girls. Sarah and I headed out to walk a few minutes to the grocery store when...we walked by a Tiki Bar.
Screw it, let's get a drink. Round 1.
We ignored our parental responsibility. We shot a quick note to Grammy & Gramps who were back with the girls, letting them know we'd be out for a drink. We ended up back at the apartment to help the girls get some food, put them to bed and then...we showered up and headed out for another drink. Round 2!
Sarah and I stayed at the Tiki bar until 12:45am. No blog posts, no trip planning, just good conversation and a fun time out together!
And that was a wrap on Day 1 in Athens!
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