Introduction
Flight and Athens
The Acropolis
Athens Protest 2011 and Mount Lycabettus
Acropolis Museum
Trip to Gythio, Mystras, and Ouzo
Monemvasia – a fortress you can live in
Diros Caves near Gythio and Night-Before Dinner/Antics
Back to Athens and homeward bound

July 2011:

So I got to the airport a few hours early and checked in. Well there was an issue. There was no ticket between BOS-LHR but they saw my LHR-ATH leg. Then i checked my email and saw that leg missing in the flight updated email. The agent told me that AA automatically cancelled my outbound ticket because the BOS-LHR was leaving 30 minutes late so i wouldn’t catch my connecting flight. Well yea, that’s pretty stupid.

Luckily, the BA gate agent called over to an AA agent in BOS and had my ticket reissued in about three minutes. I was really scared for those few minutes as this never happened to me before. Lesson learned, always check those ticket update emails. I guess there was a phantom seat reserved for me and I believe i got the seat i picked. They then changed my connecting flight to the later flight and everything else went smoothly.

There was a short layover in LHR before my flight to ATH. I was surprised that i had to go through security again to get to my connecting flight. It was a pain as i had my laptop in my large backpack and i had to get those things out and get it back in. The lines weren’t long so I made it to my connecting flight with plenty of time.

Athens Airport

I took the airport train right into the city. It was very convenient as it was built for the 2004 Olympics. I headed to my hotel, which was Best Western Pythagorion Hotel. Let’s say it wasn’t the best hotel in the best neighborhood. Later I found out it was in a rough neighborhood, even though it was in the center of the city. It was about a 10 minute walk from Omonoia station. It was also a 20 minute walk down to Monastiraki.

I was trying to find a cell phone store to get a SIM card when i saw the National Library and Academy of Athens:

Academy of Athens

National Library of Greece

The cell phone shop wasn’t too far away. I was getting hungry so i made a bee line over to Monastiraki for some Kebap, which are sausages served with tomatoes and Pita bread.

I then walked through the ruins near Monastiraki and saw the Library of Hadrian, and Tetraconch Church:

Library of Hadrian

Tetraconch Church

My first tourist stop was the Acropolis, so i cut through the market area with all sorts of tourist souvenirs to get to it. I made a quick stop at a Yogurt bar. They had all sorts of different yogurt, like ones made with goat milk.

The store was right before the Acropolis, which will be covered in the next post! It is across the street from the Acropolis Museum, which is seen in the sign. The Acrpolis Museum will also be covered in a later post. Stay tuned!