Highlights in Athens

After our 2am flight from Malaga, Spain, and long taxi ride in morning traffic, we arrived in our apartment in Athens around 9am. Needless to say, we were all exhausted and it took basically a whole day to recover. 

Haloumi and pita

So our first day in Greece, which also happened to be my 38th birthday, was spent resting, going out to explore our neighbourhood in search of lunch and groceries, and getting into bed early. 

On the next day I had booked Zorion and I into a cooking class which was a casual experience in a budding chef’s apartment kitchen. It was interesting to spend a few hours in a local’s home and learn more about where she gets her ingredients and, of course, how to make the three dishes she had planned for our time together. Zorion wrote about the class in his blog post.

After the class, we decided to go for a Fish Spa which is an ancient middle eastern tradition. The fish felt really interesting but didn’t eat off as much dead skin as I needed so, as you’ll read later, I had to get another pedicure which wasn’t quite as relaxing of an experience.

The Monastiraki Market was next on our list and, funnily enough, I went to the same market for the next three days as well. Zorion mostly enjoyed looking at the wooden crafts.

On the following day I met up with a friend of a friend for lunch, then reconvened with the rest of the family at the Acropolis Museum. Compared to the museums we’ve been to in the USA and even Australia, I personally felt it really lacked an interactive element. There were a lot of amazing artefacts, no doubt, but besides the brightly coloured page-long descriptions for kids on signs scattered throughout the exhibits, there was nothing much offered except reading and looking, and a couple of short documentaries. Cora even tried to touch one of the screens that displayed a description and a museum attendant hurried over to tell her to stop. The Greek way of communicating is not very meek, and we saw a lot of what we would consider "telling off" during the museum visit (taking photos where they shouldn't, etc). I felt it was a bit of a pity because there was so much potential to make the museum come to life for kids and adults, alike.

After the museum, it was cool enough (around 7pm) to walk up to the Acropolis. I would have enjoyed participating in a tour to learn more about the various structures but Zaf reminded me that we have three kids and it was enough just to have a good experience being there. It was after this photo that I realised it was really time to get my grey roots touched up!  It really was quite something to be up there and imagine all the history that was made in these spots, not to mention the incredible views.



On the next three days, we took it pretty easy and decided to go out only in the afternoons when it was not so hot. I went out in search of a hair salon and found one not too far from our apartment. It wasn’t the best experience (the hairdresser had to redo my colouring as she turned my grey roots bright orange!) but I did learn a bit more about the Greek communication style. As soon as I looked into the mirror she barked, “Tell me!” and I had to take a deep breath before responding because I knew she didn’t mean it in a confrontational way but it was simply typical to ask questions in a very direct way.

I also decided to get a pedicure since they offered them in the same salon, and was taken off guard by the extremely professional (ie no chit chat) and serious manner (ie being very meticulous) in which my feet were cared for. Although I was appreciative of the great result, it was one of - if not THE - least relaxing pedicures I have ever experienced... and I've had quite a few. I just had to tell myself throughout the process that it must mean Greek women are very tough if this is how all pedicures are done in Greece!  



After my interesting salon experience, it was time to destress. Cora and I visited the market by ourselves while the boys did some electronic shopping, and came across a bead shop. Since we are going on pilgrimage next week, I decided it was a good time to make some new prayer beads so we spent a good hour looking through all the beads and creating a pattern. 

When we got home, the boys also wanted to make beads so we went back the next day so they could select some. Then we had to go back a third time, in order to get them all tied off properly by the local shop attendant who was there to help! 

I also got everyone bags for their prayer books, so we would have a convenient way to carry them throughout pilgrimage and also keep flower petals, etc. For my beads, pictured above, I chose colours to remind me of the blue doors of the Holy Places and pomegranates. I love how the kids' beads reflect their own personalities and preferences at this point in time, too.



Saturday night was our only scheduled event for the week, which was actually originally meant for my birthday but with our flight change from Spain, I moved it to the weekend. It was a theatrical performance of Greek plays under the Acropolis. Before it started, we got to see the stunning view of the city under the setting sun.



The performance itself featured about six famous Greek stories, and was extremely dramatic! We were all super impressed by the acting skills on display which even included singing, dancing, and some actual tears. Luckily we arrived half an hour before the show started so got front row seats.



Because I had a bit of a cold all week, I didn't have much of an appetite to try all the Greek goodies that we saw but I did take an opportunity on our last day to try a few. It's actually a bit out of character for me but I think since we have been travelling for so long (over two months in Europe alone) I'm actually getting reluctant to try everything because I'm craving more familiar foods these days.

On our last day, Cora and I went to Hadrian's Library for a little photo shoot in her new Athenian dress and crown.



We also attended a "family festival" which turned out to feel more like a party scene to us, with a DJ playing music that we expected might be in a club, not a children's event!



It was really fun to spot the olive trees...



...as well as the pomegranates! How amazing would it be to see these when they were full size?!

We had a slow-paced week in Athens, and didn't even get to do any day trips outside the city. Although I would have loved to do a few more of the things we had originally on our schedule, the reality of our exhaustion from so many weeks of travelling is setting in so I'm feeling content if we just cover the highlights. I was not feeling 100% (even worse than the previous week when I supposedly had COVID!) and was definitely in need of the extra rest. 

I think overall the kids got a taste of Greek history, food, and culture so I'll consider Athens a place successfully checked off our bucket list. Would I love to come back to explore other parts of Greece though? Definitely :-D