Athens, Greece

I spent 3 full days in Athens, exploring the city and visiting some of the tourist sites. To be honest, I'd say 2 days would be more than enough if you're just thinking of checking out the city centre + popular tourist sites! I went there in Early April so the weather was just nice! It was sunny but not too hot, arnd 15deg! Perfect time to visit Athens!

Anyhowz my family stayed in Melia hotel. It's located near Omonia train station and a 15 min walk away frm Monastiraki Square (The main square in Athens) Quite a convenient location! Only drawback is that there's no wifi in the room, and if you want internet in your room, you'd have to pay extra! But there's free wifi in the hotel lobby.

Everytime I visit a city, I'd always join the free walking tour (if there is one)! I think such tours are very helpful and informative! Most tour guides would bring you arnd the city centre, point out the main tourist attractions and provide some background knowledge and history. And at the end of the walking tour, it's up to you to tip your tour guide! (For me, I'd usually tip a fiver cos I'm a poor student, jokes!!!)

And so, I went on the free walking tour while I was in Athens! (Check out: http://www.athensfreewalkingtour.com/ for more info)

Here are some of the places I visited:

 

Monastiraki Square

A very busy area filled with small shops and food places. You can find loads of restaurants selling gyro and souvlaki here. 

Small shops selling various products ranging frm slippers to dried food stuffs

We met our tour guide in Monastiraki and frm there, we took a little walk arnd and visited most of the tourist sites. 

 

On the way up to the Acropolis.....

Loads of graffiti on the walls.

More graffiti... I'M A BIRD~

Yikes Idk what is this place but I'm assuming that it's one of the agoras or sth....

Roman Agora

 



Tower of the winds in the background

Just my family and I posing for a photo!

I'm really bad with all the names and Greek history but this is one of the ancient ruins! You'll definitely walk past it on your way up to the Acropolis! If you're an EU student, simply flash your student card to get free entry. I think my parents paid 12 euros per person to enter and the ticket includes entry into the Acropolis, Ancient Agora and some other sites too!

Acropolis

 

If you don't already knw, the Acropolis is located on top of a hill and so on your hike up, you'd be able to catch a view of Athens. Very pretty!

 

And so this is the Acropolis! When you think of Greece, you'd definitely think of the Acropolis (even if you don't knw the name, I'm sure you'd knw that this is the famous Greek architecture!) This is a major tourist attraction so be sure not to miss it! (LOL YOU WOULDN'T....)

Entry is 12 euros each! According to my tour guide, it can get pretty crowded in the mornings so the best time to visit the Acropolis would be after lunch! My family visited this place just after 11am and it wasn't too bad!

National Garden of Athens

A beautiful park located in the centre of Athens. Formerly known as the Royal Garden, it is now known as the National Garden. It is located just 5 mins away frm the Zappeion and the Panathenaic Stadium.

Zappeion

This building was used for some major olympic events before but now it's mainly used for meetings and ceremonies.

Hadrian's Arch

Located abt 5 mins away frm the National Gardens, the Hadrian is a gateway separating the old and new cities of Athens. 

The Parliament

The parliament is located in Syntagma. In front of the parliament, the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier is guarded by guards (known as evzones) in traditional uniform. On the hour, every hour, there would be the changing of guards and they'll do some marching (similar to the changing of guards at London's Buckingham Palace except slightly less spectacular)

(The guards were still in their winter outfit when I visited hence the thick clothes!)

Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens

Pillars made of blue marble.

A statue of an orthodox priest (Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens) in front of the cathedral.

Did you knw that the main religion in Greece is Orthodox and the Metropolitan Cathedral is the largest church in Athens? As you enter the building, you'll see huge pillars made of blue marble and if I didn't rmb wrongly, the tour guide did mention that the marble's frm Mykonos (lol random fact!!!) And becos of the extensive use of marble, the interior felt significantly cooler!

And......

THIS PLACE!!!!! I can't rmb the name of this place!!!!!! I tried googling it etc but I just can't figure it out!!!! I'm sure it's some sort of stadium or sth but it's not the Panathenaic stadium!!!! Ahhh does anyone knw the name of this place? But anywayz you'll walk past it on the way to the Zappeion!

Mikrolimano

This place isn't in the city centre. We took a train to Faliro and then a cab (abt 3 euros)! There are buses going there frm Omonia too (not too sure which number) but I'd say just take the train + cab, you'll be less likely to lose your way haha!

So Mikrolimano is near the sea side and hence you'd expect loads of restaurants selling seafood! I went there during the day and it was pretty quiet but I think it shld be more lively in the evening. Do take a slow walk arnd the area and explore the place. This area can be covered in abt half a day

That's all I have for Athens! Didn't post pics but while you're there, do check out the Panathenaic stadium too! It's the stadium where the first Olympics was held! Definitely worth seeing! Also if you're into shopping, do check out Ermou Street where all the shops are!

Athens is a lovely place and I'm glad I chose to visit it over my Easter break this yr! Up next, Santorini! Stay tune for more of my Greek adventures! X

Athens, Greece: Food food food

Just came back frm Athens 3 weeks ago! And becos the memory is still fresh in my mind, I'm gonna kick start this blog by introducing some of the yummy Greek dishes I had during my recent trip!

Stoa of Attalos

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For our first proper meal in Athens, I brought my family to this authentic Greek restaurant which I found on Google (I typed in "Must try food in Athens" and some website recommended this place!)

Took us abt 5 min to locate this place! It's on a street called Andrianou and there are loads of Greek restaurants there! A very crowded area (or at least, it was pretty packed when I was there on a Saturday!)

Anywayz while I was there, it was sunny and the alfresco dining area seemed to be a more popular option among the locals? But my family chose to sit indoors haha! We ordered a few items to share:

This isn't a Greek salad! I can't rmb the name! But the portion was massive!

Fried cod fish. It was okay.

Dolmadakia, wine leaves stuffed with minced meat.
Read abt this Greek dish on the internet so I decided to order it. But to be honest, I was rather disappointed with it! It was okay, not fantastic!

Didn't expect the food portions to be so big! We were stuffed after lunch! Quite a disappointing first meal (in my honest opinion)! I expected quite a bit after reading the reviews on tripadvisor etc! Maybe I'm just not used to the taste???

O Thanasis

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(In Monastiraki Square)

So one of the must try dishes when in Greece is Souvlaki! According to various websites on Google, O Thanasis seems to serve the best Souvlaki in town so we decided to try it!

Pork souvlaki! There's a chicken and beef option too, not sure if they do lamb.

Souvlaki is essentially small pieces of meat on a skewer + pita bread + fries. It was my first time having this so I really didn't knw what to expect of it! Not even sure how I'm supposed to attack the dish. Do I eat the meat with pita at the same time? Or...???

Anywayz sad to say, once again, I was disappointed with the food! Hmmm maybe I'm just too picky but this dish really failed to meet my expectations! The meat wasn't all that tender. It was somewhat tough. Overall, it just didn't quite make the cut. I knw it looks pretty good in the picture but looks can be deceiving!!!

Froyo

Froyo (Frozen yogurt) can be found everywhere in Athens! And it's so cheap and good! I ate the 1euro yogurt frm Everest for 3 consecutive days while I was there, simply becos it was so cheap and yummy!!! Everest is a popular local coffee place which can be found in almost every corner in Athens. Be sure to try the froyo and stuff your face with it while you're there!

Not frm Everest but nonetheless, it was very yummy!
I love my froyo topped with oreos and raisins!

Gyro

Another must try dish when you visit Athens is Gyro! I'm not sure of the name of this restaurant becos we chanced upon it on our way back to the hotel but it's located near Omonia Square. It was selling gyro for a ridiculously cheap price, I can't quite rmb but I think it was abt 2.50euros? If I'm not wrong, you can get gyro at a relatively low price in Athens!

Gyro is somewhat similar to a kebab I think! A gyro is essentially meat, vegs, fries and mayo wrapped in a pita bread. The Greeks seem to love pita bread alot! But anywayz the meat is roasted on a vertical spit for many hours so it's very moist and tasty! I really enjoyed this dish alot!!! Cheap, good and very filling!

Just me stuffing my face with my gyro.

Would have loved to recommend this restaurant becos the owner was very friendly and attentive to our needs. He was constantly checking if we needed more napkins/ asking us how was the food etc. But I really can't recall the name of the shop! What a pity!

Krinos

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Loukoumades! The Greek donut at Krinos was amazing! I read abt it online and I'm so glad I made a trip down to try it! I went there on a Sunday but it was closed (Btw most shops in Athens are closed on a Sunday) But I really wanted to try this cos the reviews online seemed amazing, so I made another trip down on Monday!

The Greek donut is different frm all the other donuts I've tried before. It isn't as sweet. It's very very crispy on the outside but fluffy on the inside. And it's served with honey drizzled all over. You'd expect it to be very sweet cos of the amt of honey they pour on your donuts but surprisingly, it wasn't that sweet! It was perfect! Simply amazing.

So damn good.

Quick Pitta

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Decided to try out this restaurant cos the price seemed pretty reasonable (Read: CHEAP!!!) And we weren't that hungry at that time and just wanted sth light. And I'm so glad we picked this place! The service was good and food was delicious!

My parents ordered souvlaki to share and I decided to go for the strawberry and parmesan cheese salad! Best salad ever. There were walnuts in it too, adds to the texture of the dish and I loved it!

Not that cheap, abt 5.50euros but I think it was money well spent!

 I'd strongly recommend this restaurant as it's good value for money and the food's amazing!

That's abt all for my food adventures in Athens! Stay tune for my nxt update regarding my trip! X