Athens, Greece


	We'd heard from several sources in the US that Athens was not the place to spend a lot of time, and we'd have to agree. Not that it wasn't interesting to spend some time there, just that three or four days was probably plenty of time to spend.

We flew in and went directly to a hotel in the Plaka district. It was the only hotel we'd booked in advance, the plan was to spend the two weeks winging it as much as possible - we'd booked the flights and the first nights' stay, but that was it.

One tip about Athens - get your cab fares from the airport figured out in advance! When you book a room (if you're doing it in advance) ask them, or find an authority of some sort at the airport. Then, when picking a cab, make sure they understand what you're willing to pay.

Cab drivers have a tough job in Athens - I wouldn't want to drive there - but our first cab ride from the airport was an experience both as a road race and because the cab driver expected an exorbitant fee at the end. Perhaps he thought we didn't know what was reasonable, and we did manage to get it down into the proper range after a bit of negotiation, but best to settle these things in advance...


	The Plaka was really the place to stay while in Athens. At the foot of the Acropolis, the Plaka has been there a long, long time. Of course, so has most everything in Greece.


	One of the first things that struck us about being there is the close juxtaposition of the buildings and monuments that mean "Ancient Greece" to those of us who've spent time reading about it to the modern city of Athens. It never occurred to me that those pictures of the Parthenon sitting high up on the Acropolis were taken right in the middle of a relatively modern city!


	The Acropolis, with the Parthenon as it's most recognized landmark, was tremendous to see in person. As you can imagine it's a bit "touristy", but worth the visit

Be sure to try and time your trip to be there at sunset, but watch the timing - when they say they're closing, they're CLOSING... We lingered for pictures but the guards didn't care about the sunset, they wanted us off now!

Of course we visited the National museum, spent most of a day there. We also did quite a bit of wandering around just looking at the city and checking out the restaurants. We both love Greek food and decided at the beginning that we'd try to eat something different for every meal on the entire trip. We repeated gyros a few times (from street corner vendors, couldn't avoid it!) but I think we were successful.

One thing everyone should do is get to the top of Lycavettus Hill. At the top is a church with a nice deck for viewing the city (and a restaurant, although it was closed when I was there.) It's a great place to view the sunrise and the light spreading over the city - the first picture on this page was shot just after sunrise.

I woke up jet lagged one morning and walked from the Plaka to the base of Lycavettus hill at about 4am. Don't think I'd recommend that to anyone, it's a bit of a hike and Greek streets don't tend to be the best lit in the world... The plan was to climb the hill and watch the sun rise, but like all plans this one had a problem - I hadn't anticipated that they'd lock it up at night!

Fortunately the fences were not very high, and after climbing to the top of the hill in the dark I wasn't about to turn around....

Sitting on the deck at the top of the hill in the dark was an incredible experience. Watching the stars and thinking about the ancient Greeks who may have been on that exact spot naming those same stars and constellations is something that makes you really feel the impact of how old Greek civilization is.

After a couple hours the sun came up and the light spread over the city, eventually reaching the Acropolis and lighting up the Parthenon. As the first "official" tourists began to arrive I started the walk down the hill and back to Patty in the room.


	After a few days in Athens we pulled ourselves out of bed at some ungodly awful hour of the morning and caught a cab to the ferry terminal in Piraeus - a short drive from Athens - to catch the ferry to Mykonos...

The Greek ferry system is great. A bit chancy on the timing, perhaps, but it will get you anywhere in the islands (eventually) and is very affordable. The seats are comfortable enough, there's often tables to sit at and play cards, and if you're on a long trip or an overnight ride you may want to reserve a cabin - most of the ferries were on had them

If you'd like to read a bit more about Athens, here' s a link to a website that gives a bit more info

Now, on to the Cyclades and the island of Mykonos....