Athens: Day 1 (or at least the first I remember)

Having seen most of the attractions people know (can anyone name anything in Athens other than the Parthenon?), we took a more leisurely pace the second day. We started out retracing our steps from yesterday so I could remember all the cool places we went.

Since the Acropolis museum wasn't free on environment day, we passed it yesterday and opted to see what it was about today. We learned all about the Acropolis, but the major take-away, is a majority of the antiquities are at the British museum (aka the imperialist era was good to the Brits). We wandered from there to the Athens flee market which turned out to be less of a market and more of a slew of tourist chotchky stores on a pedestrian pathway. We took a quick 5 o'clock appero, and then headed to the parliament district for dinner.

The district behind parliament is my favorite of Athens thus far. Although it is hilly it has quaint restaurants cages and bars tucked in many pedestrian walkways with shady trees. Despite the trees being of dubious intentions (haha get it? "shady" trees), we find two restaurants our guidebook recommends and have my favorite meal of Athens. Off a dare I order traditional Greek mustaflo (basically lasagna with eggplant instead of noodles which in case you haven't heard my rant about eggplant being the most under appreciated vegetable, is right up my ally). Washed down with plenty of house red made a delightful meal.

Walking further up the hill, we reach the funicular to our afternoon activity: the tallest mountain in Athens. It's right in the center and goes straight up so it offers an outstanding panoramic view of all of Athens. This was my #1 thing to do in Athens, not necessarily this specific hill, but see Athens from above. Everything in the city is 3-5 stories tall, so once you pass that height, you can see for miles in either direction. It took this view for me to really appreciate Athens, the architecture, the vibe. A few minutes past sunset, we ride back down the mountain, introduce Derek and Camille to grappa at a nearby cafe, and head back to the hotel.


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