2017 - Greece Summary (Athens)

Duration: 6 days (2 were for the Meteora tour)

Highlights

Meteora is worth the 2 day tour that we did. While the food was disappointing, seeing the sights in person was fantastic. I have mentioned that it is a bit disappointing when you are in the monasteries since it seems normal, however, that in itself is a feat since it doesn't seem like it is built on the edge of a hill.

Panathenaic Stadium, the world's only marble stadium is a definite must see even if you just want to see it from the outside.

Acropolis, try to make it early in the morning or in the afternoon to avoid the crowds and heat. A must see for anyone who comes.

Central Market, a must for people who like markets. While it is always similar, it is just always interesting for me to see.

Lowlights

Athens in general outside of the tourist area is a bit sad to see. Lots of graffiti and poor people. I knew that they were hit hard with the recession, but this was unexpected for me. While I wouldn't say it was disappointing, it was eye opening for me.

Food Suggestions

Meliltos, suggested by our Visit Athens volunteer and I would suggest it to anyone. It is a bit pricier, but the food was very good.

Thansis, you should stop by for the kebap. I think there are two restaurants next to one another, but I never found out what the difference was.

Tips

Negotiate! It doesn't take anything but a minute to ask for a discounted price. We got 15% off just for asking if they could give us a better price on the 2 day tour which is a sizable amount.

Final Thoughts

Athens has its charms although I feel like I enjoyed Meteora more. Plan accordingly since if you are not interested in ruins or museums, I felt like Athens does not have much to offer.

2017 - Greece - Day 13 [Athens]

Today, we visit Meteora and then head back to Athens where we will be spending the remainder of our trip.

Meteora Monastery

Hotel Orfeas' breakfast is the same as usual. Usual suspects are here, eggs, ham, cheese, bread, yogurt, honey, nothing special.

Hotel Orfeas' breakfast

We left the hotel at 8:00am and made it to the first monastery, Holy Monastery of Grand Meteoron (first of two) just before 9:00am which is when it opens. We were told that they try to get use there before 9:00am because it gets busy afterwards.

Meteora Monastery

We had 1 hour to wander around the monastery and it was enough time and didn't feel rushed. There isn't a lot to see and I think it looked more impressive when looking at it from the outside than the inside. The reason? It seemed like I was in a regular building. You would have no idea that you were built on top of a cliff. By the time we left, it was really busy outside, so it was good that we got here early.

Meteora Monastery

Some things that you will see inside is a museum which has wooden crosses and old war items like swords, guns, and uniforms.

Meteora Monastery

Next stop, the second monastery, Monastery of St Stephen, where we spent 45 minutes there. It was much smaller than the first one, however, this is a female monastery whereas the first one was a male one. By the time we finished, it was 11:30am. We didn't get as much time at the second stop, but it didn't have a lot for you to explore either. Note, photos are prohibited in a lot of places inside the monastery.

Our sad expensive lunch

Lunch was from 1:30pm - 2:30pm at another handpicked restaurant where the food was expensive and not really good. It cost us 17 euros for a plate of pasta with hotdogs and beef patties with fries.

Final stop was at 4:30pm until 4:55pm and it was just a rest stop with shopping if you like. I noticed that this day, there was significantly less talking from the tour guide.

We ended up making it back to Athens at 6:00pm. We were told that the traffic is random here, so we lucked out and got back early.

Melilotos' beetroot salad

Melilotos' squid ink tagliatelle with trout

Melilotos' beef railway

Checked into our new hotel at Athens Square Center Hotel and had dinner at Melilotos which was suggested by Vanessa from Visit Athens. We ordered the beef railway, beetroot salad, tagliatelle with trout which came out to 38 euros. It was a bit more than usual, but for the food and service was really good. Would recommend if you feel like spending a bit more.

Went back to the hotel to call it a night, tomorrow, we visit the Acropolis.