BREATHTAKING LANDSCAPES AND CULTURAL SITES
PLACE VISITED: Athens, Greece
GREECE
Athens, Greece - Sept 20 to 23, 2015
A peaceful yet bustling city - clean, well organized transport system (ah no traffic really!). There were not so many fancy restaurants and malls. Lots of coffee shops, bakeries, pastry shops. Colorful baked goodies of all shapes, forms, and tastes in every corner. Gyros, doners and (greek) salads served in super extra large portions. Some falafels and kepabs (kebab in saudi). Being a fan of international food franchise outlets, I was a bit surprised not to find a lot of the usual names. I just recognized Paul, Starbucks of course (but that's a coffee shop eh!) and found only McDonalds and KFC. Not much of burger fans they are i guess and rice was a bit hard to find! We tried the hop on- hop off bus and visited all spots Athens offers. From the historical olympic stadium to archeological museums to grandiose Greek temples and monuments, from old rundown buildings, headless statues, marble carvings, splendid ruins to bronze and gold artifacts. And the Parliament guards were truly amazing in their marching routine.
Shops and houses along the streets were lined up with graffitied walls (looks like some kinda modern heiroglyphics?!). Some kind of colorful expression I wish i could understand.
In my POV Athens is a such a lovely mixture of cultures- from western to mediterranean and a very light hint of asian. People are friendly, always smiling and willing to help (there were a lot of (handsome) policemen everywhere too.
As Lord Byron puts it, Athens is the most injured and most celebrated of cities. It truly is.
And I say Athens is a must-visit for people who would love a step-back to the past..a glimpse to one of the world's most significant civilization and history or simply those who need a break from their busy, modern city life.
ευχαριστώ (ef̱charistó̱) Athens!
A peaceful yet bustling city - clean, well organized transport system (ah no traffic really!). There were not so many fancy restaurants and malls. Lots of coffee shops, bakeries, pastry shops. Colorful baked goodies of all shapes, forms, and tastes in every corner. Gyros, doners and (greek) salads served in super extra large portions. Some falafels and kepabs (kebab in saudi). Being a fan of international food franchise outlets, I was a bit surprised not to find a lot of the usual names. I just recognized Paul, Starbucks of course (but that's a coffee shop eh!) and found only McDonalds and KFC. Not much of burger fans they are i guess and rice was a bit hard to find! We tried the hop on- hop off bus and visited all spots Athens offers. From the historical olympic stadium to archeological museums to grandiose Greek temples and monuments, from old rundown buildings, headless statues, marble carvings, splendid ruins to bronze and gold artifacts. And the Parliament guards were truly amazing in their marching routine.
Shops and houses along the streets were lined up with graffitied walls (looks like some kinda modern heiroglyphics?!). Some kind of colorful expression I wish i could understand.
In my POV Athens is a such a lovely mixture of cultures- from western to mediterranean and a very light hint of asian. People are friendly, always smiling and willing to help (there were a lot of (handsome) policemen everywhere too.
As Lord Byron puts it, Athens is the most injured and most celebrated of cities. It truly is.
And I say Athens is a must-visit for people who would love a step-back to the past..a glimpse to one of the world's most significant civilization and history or simply those who need a break from their busy, modern city life.
ευχαριστώ (ef̱charistó̱) Athens!