Rick Steves Athens & The Heart of Greece
Welcome to
Ελλάς
From Denver to Athens - Our first glimpse of Greece!
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It was a long day of traveling, but our first glimpse of water from the airplane window woke us up immediately - Greece!
We were arriving late in the afternoon; our practice of only using carry on luggage got us out of the airport quickly and on our way to the hotel. We were surprised that there was no traffic! It's Easter weekend and it seems nearly everyone in the city heads out to the country to celebrate Easter with their families.
We chose to stay at the same hotel that our tour is using, the Acropolis Select. Knowing there was a view of the Acropolis from the hotel's rooftop restaurant, we headed up immediately after checking into our room. We couldn't wait to see it!
The view that greeted us was spectacular! The entire Acropolis hill was floodlit and glowing, we couldn't take our eyes off it. Finally looking around, we realized we had the restaurant all to ourselves; the waiter could tell we had just arrived; after taking our order, he let us sit and enjoy our first glimpse of Athens.
With dinner and a few Mythos in our stomachs, our bodies suddenly reminded us that we needed some rest! It will be a night of sweet dreams!
We're here!
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A zythos (beer) called Mythos... delicious!
In case your night time picture of the Acropolis doesn't turn out, The Acropolis Select Hotel has this nifty picture on the back of the room key envelope. (I do admit this picture does look a little better than the one I took.)
It's all so very Greek!
Beware of Greek plumbing! The sewer system is a little old and fragile; you will find a handy trash can next to the toilet for all those non-flushables... including toilet paper!
Athens: Greek Family Days
Arriving a few days before your tour starts is a smart way to ease into your new environment and reset your inner timeclock. On this trip, we had a SPECIAL reason to arrive early - to spend Easter with my Greek penpal, Vicky, and her family.
Vicky and I started writing to each other in high school; this is the 40th anniversary of my first visit to Greece to meet her. And 40 years ago it was also on Easter weekend.
Flashback photos, April of 1982. That's me sitting with Vicky, it's a neighborhood Easter barbeque, the lambs are cooking on the grill, people are dancing in the street, everyone in the neighborhood is celebrating together! That was an amazing experience, one that I will treasure forever!
Vicky and Debbie today (and Ron, of course!)
Something we were able to experience while visiting was to go grocery shopping! If you get the chance, go to a local grocery store! It's so much fun! OH MY - if you want to buy some Feta cheese, you get a very large, freshly cut, CHUNK from a barrel, as opposed to that little teeny tiny prepackaged feta sold here in the States!
In addition to the display of different fish, octopus and fresh anchovies, we really enjoyed seeing the large selection of Ouzo! And one thing that was new to us was the escalator for shopping carts! Too fun! Look mom, no hands! The wheels lock in place, so it stays put as you go up or down, how about that!
It was no surprise that things have changed in 40 years, the neighborhood is different now. The older generation has passed on, the neighborhood open-pit BBQs are gone. It was sad to see, but there were some good changes; we were surprised to see that the lambs get roasted differently - they've gone electric! No more turning the spit by hand!
