I arrived in Athens on a Saturday night after a long flight. It was pretty easy to figure out the metro system and then walk to our hotel, which was a few blocks from the Syntagma stop. Syntagma is where the main parliment stop is and we went the next morning to watch the changing of the guard, a long process involving guards in full costume with big puffy balls on their feet walking around.
From there we walked further into the market/tourist district where you can see the acropolis from almost everywhere and the streets are lined with souvlaki and gyro places, selling greek salads thick with feta and cold Mythos or Alpha beers (Alpha being the sweeter/maliter, Mythos more like Corona or Stella).
We stayed at the Student Traveler's Inn which was footsteps from the Plaka, or center of Athens. Plaka is like little italy. It is pedestrian only with cobblestone streets, cute little sidewalk eateries and people selling all kinds of Greek chotchkes. It was enchanting for a few days but quickly became old and tiresome. The setting was great- the arched doorways covered with flowers and vines. It was just all the people trying to sell you stuff all the time.
The hostel was cute with a garden terrace and lots of friendly internationals. It was just a little too loud. Around 5 am before we had to get up to catch the 7am ferry to Naxos, we heard an american girl come in loudly saying that she had made out with a greek boy and nobody better tell her boyfriend! That "don't tell my boyfriend" became an instant inside joke througout our trip.
The historical sites of athens are pretty cool. For 12 euro you can buy a ticket to all the main sites including Hadrian's Arch/library, the acropolis, the two agoras, theaters and other places. The Acropolis had amazing views of the city but was very very hot on a 90 plus degree day. I enjoyed getting to know this side of Athens.
We also went to see a traditional greek dance but got rained out in the middle of this outdoor performance.
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