Leaving Istanbul airport to Athens, Greece; 1 hour later I had arrived in the city that was the cradle of modern civilisation. Checked in at the hotel around noon time, it was perfect as it gives us time to start exploring the city. It was very convenience for us as the hotel situated in the centre, and most attractions were within a walking distance. We had lunch at this friendly cafe nearby calls Smile cafe that has good review on Tripadvisor, I quite enjoyed it as the staff were friendly and the price for food was decent. After lunch, I needed to go to purchase a simcard for 3G usage and also make it a lot easier to get around the city with Google maps, honestly, I wouldn’t know what I would do without Google maps help me getting around places that I travel to, especially for the first time, usually it would take me a day familiarise myself with the area I was staying at.
After getting the simcard, I was ready to explore the city and since I was staying in Akropolis area so visiting the Parthenon was the first on my list. All attractions in Athens will cost a little for the entry ticket, lucky for me, being an EU student, most attractions were free. The Parthenon was built on the high point of the city, and there is no easy way to get up there but to walk up, which is not my strongest suit but I did it anyway because it simply the view you can’t miss if you visit Athens. The Parthenon is the foundation of many architecture design today, it defined the right symmetry for buildings. The view of the entire city was incredible from above, it is also amazing how the location of Parthenon makes it possible to see from almost everywhere of the city, as most of the places I visited after the first day, I was able to see the Parthenon. We stayed up there to enjoyed the view for quite awhile, then we visited he Akropolis Museum, it was great to look at the left over and partly or almost destroyed by the war. Unfortunately, no photography was allowed inside the museum.
We then wander the streets to look for some souvenirs, as we learnt, it is best to get sourvenirs on the first day to prevent rushing to buy some on the last day. And then head off to dinner at this Strofi restaurant that claims to have a good view of the Parthenon at night but we didn’t get a good table for that good view. If you ever in Athens and want to have a good view then I would recommend a restaurant call Dionysos, it is much closer to the Parthenon and the way it was built, allowing the good view from almost any table but do remember to make reservation. Unfortunately for me, I should have known and book a table there as the second day I wanted to have dinner there, it was fully book.
