Europe was created by History!

September 7, 2024
Well, it’s been a month of stress and changes! I can say “ I AM HERE!”

My trip started with attending the Pink concert the night before! This concert was canceled a year ago.

I was lucky to have a friend drive me to the airport, so we had a whole day in Vancouver. We drove around reminiscing and exploring where I grew up! My old house on is still standing! We went for a walk in IKEA, and stopped at the River Rock Casino! I grabbed a quick won ton soup and won $100 before I headed to the airport!

September 8, 2024
My Munich flight to Athens was delayed by about 1 hour. Took the Metro to my Airbnb, grabbed a Greek salad then walked around!

September 9, 2024
Headed out early, grabbed a tea and cinnamon bun for breakfast!

Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

Little Kookland and Umbrella Alley….kinda a weird place

Walked to Monastiraki Flea Market.

Eplored The Agora of Athens. The Agor was one of the most important parts of an ancient city of Athens, the marketplace and civic center. In addition to being a place where people gathered to buy and sell all kinds of commodities, it was also a place where people assembled to discuss all.

Bought a ticket on the Hop On and Off bus. So much easier to see the sites.

Headed back to my Airbnb to take a nap! Exhausted because I didn’t sleep on the plane or last night. Slept most of the day away.

September 10, 2024
I love these sidewalk cafes! Breakfast and tea was delicious in the morning rain.

The Acropolis is an UNESCO site. An acropolis is defined by the Greek definition, Acro meaning “highest; edge”and polis meaning “city.” It served as a highly functional form of protection, a fortress, and as a home to the royal of a city and a centre for religion through the worshipping of different gods.

A tortoise

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus is a stone theatre structure that was built by the Athenian magnate Herodes Atticus in memory of his wife in the slopes of the Acropolis. A steep-sloped theatre with a three-story stone front wall and wooden roof it was used as a venue for music concerts with a capacity of five thousand people. Today, it is one of the main music theatres of the city. Artists who have performed at the Odeon include Frank Sinatra, Luciano Pavarotti, Sting, Elton John, Andrea Bocelli, just to name a few.

The Gateway, Propylaia functioned as the monumental ceremonial gateway to the Acropolis of Athens.

The amazing view of the City of Athens.

The Parthenon was a temple, dedicated to Athena, goddess of wisdom and war, and it stands as a monument to democracy and history.

The Temple of Athena Nike, situated at the Acropolis of Athens, is a small but significant structure dedicated to Athena Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.

Visiting the Acropolis felt so unreal! The history!

We then moved on to the Acropolis Museum.

After the tour, I went exploring and shopping. Stopped for lunch and postcard writing.

This was dinner - carrot cake and Greek green tea!

My view from the deck of my Airbnb.

September 11, 2024
Grabbed a breakfast, then hopped on the Hop on and off bus.

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Stopped at the Parliament to watch the changing of the guards. The "routine" Change of the Guard take place every one hour 24/7, it involves two incoming and two outgoing sentries supervised by a "Corporal of the Change". The Grand Change of the Guard takes place on Sunday mornings. The ceremonies take place at the Presidential Mansion and at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

The soldiers wear Pom Pom's on their shoes and march differently. The pompon on the tip of the tsarouchi is also said to symbolize the tree of liberty. When worn by soldiers, inside the pompon, there is traditionally a small blade that symbolizes the kick that the brave man who wears it will give to every enemy who dares to threaten or hurt the tree of liberty. The nails are beat into the soles of their shoes and creates a metal sound every time they take a step. The sound is symbolic, it's made so that their ancestors can hear that the Greeks are alive and free. As for the different marching, the tale goes that when the young King Otto moved from Bavaria to Greece to take the throne, he could no longer hear the sounds he loved - that of horses. So he made his guards walk in this fashion to replicate the sound and therefore, make him feel like he was closer to home.

Next stop was the Panathinaiko Stadium. The Panathenaic Stadium is a multi-purpose stadium and one of the main historic attractions of Athens, it is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. The stadium held the opening and closing ceremonies of the 1896 Olympics.

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Decided to hike Lycabettus Hill. Mount Lycabettus is a Cretaceous limestone hill in the Greek capital Athens. At 277 meters (908 feet) above sea level, its summit is the highest point in Central Athens and pine trees cover its base.

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Home, showered and headed out for dinner to Restaurant Scholarhio. Delicious calamari, a huge Greek salad, a juice and a carrot pie for dessert only cost me $20 Eur.

Sat on my deck for a quiet and cal sunset.

It is my last night in Athens. I am up early to catch a ferry to Naxos!