Athens

The travel season arrived, and we had little hesitation to block our destination. It was another one of my wife’s dream ones – Greece. Primarily Santorini with historic Athens clubbed in.
We set off by the morning Wizzair flight from Luton airport on Friday. It started off with a dampener as I had missed doing the web check-in before three hours of departure. This proved costly as check-in at the airport is payable and we had to swipe out £62 for something which would be ideally free. 
A three-hour flight took us to the Greek capital at around afternoon. Weather forecasts were not that encouraging, and we were well aware of it. Rains kept away but it was very windy resulting in a chilly breeze throughout. We just prayed that the sun would peep out and the rains would stay away especially at Santorini. We took the airport shuttle bus from the airport and after a relatively longish ride got dropped off at the city centre. A short walk then took us to our Hotel Carolina. The hotel was nice just that we were provided a room at the attic, which would have to be reached virtually by a ladder. We settled in fine but on request and seeing our discomfort the hotel authorities were kind enough to provide us a room which was reachable by the lift.
Without wasting much time, we set-off exploring the city. First task was to satisfy our hunger and we found a restaurant right next to our hotel. Over the next few days we would eat at many such restaurants which have the Turkish flavor with kababs and all that come with it. This would suit us perfectly as we began our Greek journey with a sound meal full of kababs and the Greek pita break which I would fall in love with.  The town was buzzing as the evening set-in as we walked towards the Monastiraki Square, which we figured out was the main square. We got a view of the great Acropolis of Athens on a hill top which we would be visiting the next day. As the wind chill grew, we decided to take refuge at a café on the top floor of a hotel named ‘A for Athens’ which gave us an aerial view of the city under the lights.

The square was buzzing, and we took a walk down the local market. As ill equipped, we were for the chilly weather, I had to purchase a warm cap mostly used in the winters. Next up was the tough decision to identify the restaurant to have dinner. After scanning most we settled for the place which was playing live music and of course had a Turkish/Persian feel. We tasted the kababs with the Greek Pita bread, and it turned out to be better than our naan bread. I would be feasting on the pita bread and kababs for quite a few meals for the next few days. By midnight, the early start and the whole day’s activities took its toll and we were ready to hit the bed though not without a round of dessert. The best thing was the party was still on with the streets full of people. This, at the time of the year when the season had not even started.

We were up for a long haul the next day in the historic city of Athens. The weather was much better with the sun shining though it was still windy. My wife had figured out all the plans as we set-off walking towards the Acropolis of Athens. The walk took us through some gardens, some ancient monuments and on to the main road which led to the Acropolis. Much like I felt in Rome, I wondered how ironic it was that the most photogenic structures around were the ruins. First up we saw an ancient amphitheater where we duly had our first photo session. Post that we had the climb.

We climbed up the steps and reached the entrance where we purchased tickets to go in. There were ancient structures all around, mostly in ruins making it sought after attractions for selfies and photographs. The wind had now gathered momentum and many a times it threatened to blow our caps away. Most importantly the place gave us a 360-degree birds eye view of the city of Athens basking in the spring sunshine. The color was uniform ranging from white to beige to grey. We could spot the sea at a distance, the Malostranski Square where we were hanging around as well as the area close to our hotel. At a distance was another hill-top which was the Lycabectus, which we had planned to visit later in the day to view a gorgeous sunset.

After spending around three hours and having multiple photo sessions, we decided to head downwards into the city. We walked it to Plaka, one of the most happening areas of the city. We started off with an ice-cream and then explored the many lanes full of cafes, restaurants and shops. It was still the last day of March and early days in spring, yet the lanes were full of tourists. I wondered what the scene would be in peak summer. We explored the place and settled for one of the lovely restaurants. It was a stepped restaurant where the tables were placed at different levels. There were many who were happily seated on those steps. Another sumptuous Greek meal and we were all set for the evening. We were seated outside initially but the chilly weather drove us inside in order to warm up for the evening. It was time for some souvenir shopping now as we walked through the shops trying to pick up refrigerator magnets and other stuff for near and dear ones.

Mount Lycabectus

Our next plan for the day was to go Mount Lycabectus. Apparently, that would give us a great sunset view as well as another birds eye view of the city. We had to take a cab to the place which was slightly away from the city center. We walked through the market at Plaka and reached a road where there seemed to be a taxi stand. We hailed the first available taxi and got into a most interesting conversation with the driver. In his broken English he welcomed us and repeatedly reminded us that he was not just a taxi driver but a travel agent. He duly gave his business card and offered all possible trips around Athens to us. By the end of the trip we were friends on Facebook and he was following our page. He proudly sold his country and does so often through his Facebook page which I ‘like’ whenever possible. His name was Lionis and he offered us a round trip to the mountain with a wait over there for EUR 50 which we readily accepted. The place was quite deserted as far as public transport was concerned so it was a very good idea to ask Lionis to wait. There were a number of people flocking to the top of the mountain. After a walk up a ramp we could view a most beautiful dusk. The orange hue had captured the whole city and it was reflected on every house down there. Most houses are white or grey hence the twilight almost painted the town orange. The mountain top was extremely cold and windy. The setting sun and the Acropolis at a distance provide a beautiful spectacle and made the journey worth it. There was a café located there where we had to take shelter from the cold and sip a hot drink to keep us warm. We had one more look at Athens from the hilltop once the lights set in after which it was time for us to leave as the arrangement with Loanis had a time limit as well. We overshot that limit, however, he was not very fussed about it. He dropped us at the town centre close to our hotel and we were now once again in ‘walking’ mode. 

Pittaki Street

Next up it was my wife’s travel expertise that took over. She threw in the name of Pittaki street which was worth a visit. Lionis had no idea of it but that made it all the more attractive. A not so visited place. We walked into it with the help of google maps and sure enough it was worth it. To start with it had those colorful umbrellas, an arrangement we had viewed in Split as well. Along with that it had fairy tale themed cafes. Overall it all looked bright and colorful.

This was not all. One lane led to another just like it happens in any European city and each of the lanes had an assortment of restaurant and cafes. There was nothing better we could ask for. We explored much and identified the cafe where we would have our dessert. Dinner was a no brainer as we would be having at the same restaurant as the day before. The live music was on and another round of Greek bread and lamb kabab made the day even more fulfilling. We were not done still. Shops were open which enabled us to purchase more souvenirs after which we walked over to the place we had earlier identified for desserts. We were now finally done as we realised that the next we had the small matter of boarding an early morning 7 AM flight. As we retired into our room, the music was still on at a number of places and we could hear people even at 4 AM when we woke up. Athens was truly our type of a place.