Unfortunately we had just the late afternoon and evening in Thessaloniki because the next morning we took at train at 7 to Athens, and we arrived there early afternoonish. We decided to buy our tickets back to Istanbul from there (okay, so we forgot in Thessaloniki) and much to our dismay there was no space for us to leave on Thursday, so we had to leave a day earlier, cutting a day out from our time in Athens, but I have to say I was really relieved so I had a full day to recooperate (5 nights, 4 different beds) before going back to work. And I think we still had enough time in Athens, I didn't feel too rushed, and I hope to go back, especially for some island hopping!
Our first afternoon/evening there we mostly just walked around Plaka, a cute yet touristy area, and investigated the entrance to the Acropolis (REALLY hard to find, considering how famous it is!).
Men sitting and drinking tea and playing backgammon - feels like Turkey!
Looking up a cute street. In the foreground you can see some evil eyes, another Turkish tradition.
Some cute chairs we quickly sat in just to get a photo in.
No trip to Greece is complete without pork souvlaki and a gyro!
The next morning we visited the Acropolis, and we really did hit it at the right time of the year. It was warm but not too too hot and not too crowded. If we came much earlier it wouldn't have been as pleasant of an experience.
I've actually been in Athens before many years ago and just for a few hours and I was really really sick but the one thing I remember is that there was sprawl EVERYWHERE.
We were pretty tired after visiting it so we went to the National Gardens nearby and sat and had a cold drink, it was really nice and sweet.
The next day before we left on the train we went up that hill in the distance. No joke. It was a really nice walk, lots of nature and benches that had nice views.
Crazy huge aloe? plants. I felt like I had been shrunk.
There was a monastery up there, nice place for it!
We had to take a train from Athens to Thessaloniki and then wait for about an hour for our next train to Athens, another 17 hour train ride where the first (dark) hour was spent without electricity and us shoving ham and cheese on crackers into our face. The train was different and I was scared to sleep up so high because there was no barrier and it was a pretty shaky train. But it was fun and cute.
I really didn't mean to go on so long about the trip, but I really had a great time and I wanted to have the memories and itinerary in written form. Greece is a really interesting, beautiful and friendly country and I hope to return soon. I'm so thankful to have had a great travel companion too! Thanks everyone for following, again, sorry it went on a little long!
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