Wow. So our first “full” day in Athens was eventful to say the least! We had a leisurely morning with breakfast on the roof of the hotel overlooking Mitropoli and the Acropolis (of course!) For 5 euros the breakfast was amazing – yogurt with honey, a toastie, a bun with butter and cherry jam, coffee or tea, and juice. Even at 9 am we had to move into the shade from the heat!
After breakfast we meandered through the National Gardens and came out at the Presidential Palace. We watched tourists take pictures with the guards for a while (but only after the “regular” guard had spent a minute fixing the uniform and tassle etc) and then meandered to the Panathenaic Stadium. Much to our surprise, you can now go into the stadium for 3 euros and enjoy an audio guide of the complex. And even pretend to win (or lose) in the Olympic games!
It was really good and such a treat to finally go in after seeing it from just the one end the previous times that I have been here. We spent the best part of 2 hours going around the various points on interest – which included a room with Olympic torches and posters which is always fun!
And the best part was the 35 cent water at the gate! The water is sooooo cheap here – maximum 50 cents for 500 ml (unless you are at the Acropolis where it is 3 euros!!!)
Nearby are the remains of the temple of Zeus. Although only 15 of the 104 columns remain standing, it is a sight to behold. A 16th column blew over in a gale in 1852 and lies where it fell.
On the outskirts of the temple is Hadrian’s Arch which was the old division between the ancient city and Roman city.
God’s Restaurant is described as a tourist restaurant with one small difference: good food! Curious, we headed there for our lunch. It can be found on Makrianni Street right across from the Acropolis Museum. It definitely did the trick with tzatziki (albeit with carrots??), feta stuffed mushrooms, mousakas, and a Greek salad.
After a light siesta, we headed out to Filopappou Hill for sunset. It was an easy stroll up the slope to the monument where we enjoyed the views towards the Acropolis and the sea.
Then it was down the back side of the slope to Ano Petralona, which is the area where Vagelis and Eleni live. They were on an airport run but were able to meet up after 9 pm for dinner. As a result, my stomach will never be the same again. !!!!!!! Seriously! And now I’m going to say something that really annoys me when I read it in other blogs, but since we were with locals, I have no idea where we went for dinner!!! It was somewhere off of Troon Street maybe near Tritonos? Regardless, any restaurant in the area must be positively incredible!
I don’t even know where to begin to describe the meal. There was tomato salad, spanakopita, burger patties (with fresh lemon squeezed over them), hare stew with onions, steak, favas (hummous-like and typical to Santorini) veal, spicy cheese, a typical liqueur from Crete, wine, and DESSERT! Phenomenal yogurt with even more phenomenal honey, a platter of watermelon, and the best cake …. EVER. It was so good that the waiter brought another serving even though we had initially declined it! He knew we wanted more!!! And all the while we were learning the key words in Greek to ensure our survival – “4 cold beers”, thank you, cheers, and …. that’s really about it!!!
Needless to say, we rolled home in a taxi and vowed never to eat again (until the next day). It was such a wonderful night out and surely one of the highlights of our trip! Thanks again Eleni and Vagelis! See you in Madrid – or Barcelona!