And we have finally arrived…..at my last trip for the semester. However, since my last trip was to Greece, I have about a million and a half photos SO I am breaking up the week into a few posts. Which means less endless scrolling and more blue-and-white filled photos for all of you! This is also the next post in my (hopefully weekly) Wanderlust Wednesday series!
Tori and I planned our trip to Greece months in advance- it was actually the first (but oh, certainly not the last) trip that we planned. Our trip to Greece was only the beginning- we hadn’t seen each other since arriving and decided to finally grab dinner after our first few weeks. After talking about all the places we wanted to visit- and finding that we both had a pretty long list- we headed back to our building and booked a flight and a hotel within 30 minutes.
Our trip started out…..rough. After taking a veeeerrrryyyy long time getting back to Amsterdam from Morocco, we had about six hours to shower, unpack, repack, and get to the airport. We nearly missed our flight (pro tip: be extremely polite and thankful and airlines will always help you get to where you are going). Since I hadn’t slept the entire night before, I knocked out before we even took off, and didn’t wake up until after we had landed. But, as always, we made it! After schlepping to our hotel, changing, and eating for the first time probably since we left Morocco, we hit the road for our planned ‘history’ day.
Athens (really all of Greece) is ancient, so for anyone who loves history this is pretty much the place to be.
We hopped on the metro to the ‘Acropolis’ station to hit up…the Acropolis. It is probably one of the most iconic and recognizable spots in the world, and was really the only thing I had to see in Athens.
The Acropolis of Athens, as it is formally known, is the collective cluster of buildings and ruins atop the hill. Acropolis means “high city.” This is pretty literal, as you have to hike up to the top to see the majority of the buildings, but there are sights to see all around.
Until you finally reach the top!
The most famous monument on the Acropolis is the Parthenon, the ancient temple to the Greek goddess Athena, for whom the city is named.
The Parthenon.
Work on the Parthenon began in 447 BCE and continued until 438 BCE. It has been worn down and partially destroyed over time, but much of the Acropolis is currently or has been under renovation.
Throwing up my Zeta sign in front of the Acropolis.
The view of Athens from the top.
After coming down from the Acropolis, we wandered around the surrounding area. It is mostly filled with historical museums, the museum of the Acropolis, a tree-lined street full of shops, and the Arch of Hadrian.
Once you see the Acropolis, I don’t really have any other must-see recommendations. We stayed in Athens the entire week and traveled around from there, but if I was going to travel to Greece again I would island hop from day to day and only spend one day in Athens. Past the Acropolis and maybe the museum, just walk around. And then head out to the islands like we did!
If you weren’t excited by my post from Athens, just wait…Aegina and Santorini are coming,