Adventures in Athens

I booked us a room at the Royal Olympic Hotel which turned out to be a great choice location wise. Close to everything. The room included free wireless and a breakfast buffet every morning which was convenient.The hotel was awesome nonetheless. Made out of marble since marble is so damn available in Greece. Everything is marble...I went into a shitty cafe to use the bathroom and the entire bathroom was made out of marble. Ceilings, floor, sink...everything.

On our first day in Greece we were still pretty jet lagged so took it easy and just toured the surrounding neighborhood Plaka. Plaka is a charming neighborhood with many shops and restaurants. It's generally and touristy area but the food is pretty incredible. We ate at the above restaurant and had incredible bolognese. It's not the kind in US with red sauce but more of a meat and oil sauce which reminds me of the way my grandma used to make it Sitting outside to eat is like a religion in Greece. Every single placed we passed was completely empty inside. Even in the frigid night, heat lamps are put out for people to site and eat outside.

Here is the Theatre of Dionysus which was one of the earliest theaters in the world where plays were performed in honor of the God Dionysus. It's not restored and not in use anymore but beautiful nonetheless. Just imagine all the ancient Greeks that have sat on those steps and now little ol me is standing on them. Crazy crazy.

We finally walked up to the Herodes Atticus Theater entrance which was built in 161 AD. Pretty new for Greek standards!!Had to walk across super slanted, rocky surface to get a good shot. E.W. did it first and made it look easy. Well it wasn't especially in my slippery boots. And it doesn't look like it but I was very very high up.

I present the Parthenon! The most famous building in Greece. It's a shame that it had to be viewed with all of the scaffolding around but it's necessary for all the restoring they are doing. It took 9 years to build the Parthenon and they have been restoring it for 30 years and not even half way done. Most of those pillars were destroyed and they have been piecing them together one by one. Like the world's most annoying and torturous jigsaw puzzle in 3D.

We visited Parliament one day which didn't interest me too much. I know the building has something to do with government and blahdity blah blah. I'm not stupid or anything, it's just that these topics bore me to death. Yes literally to death..like I will zone out when people start talking about politics, government or economics.

It was a beautiful day out so we took a hike up Filopappos Hill which was more like a mini mountain. At the base of the hill there was an old, charming house that had pretty flowers out on the porch. I snuck onto it to take a quick pic.The hill was no easy climb. It was pretty rough terrain and the pathways were steep and rocky. But I'm not a prissy girl so I let my sparkling white Pumas get dirty. Once again I was astonished at how Green Athens was. I have not added color to any of these photos! The grass really was THAT green. I even told E.W. that it was almost an unnatural shade of green...like something you would see in a cartoon.

This is the Temple of Hephaestus, the most well preserved temple in Athens. It was built 400 years before Christ

Acropolis is the highest point of the city and it was of great importance during the Greek Civilization. You get an unmatched view from here

We followed the recommendation of our bartender and hit up the hottest new nightclub in Athens called W. E.W. can talk his way into any club so before we knew it we were escorted to the VIP area without having to pay a cover charge.W was without a doubt my number 1 club experience EVER. Las Vegas, Amsterdam and New York don't even compare to Greek nightlife. I usually hate large nightclubs, but this place was stunningly lit and filled with beautiful people. The dance floor was madness and we didn't dare step onto it in fear of getting trampled. The music was a very light lyrical house type music which was so chill...like nothing I had ever experienced before....none of that BUMP BUMP BUMP jersey shore music crap that techno parties in US tend to play.They even had go-go dancers who were just ok. I took a pic with one but I looked so retard drunk that I dare not post it.

Our last day in Athens we visited the Temple of Zeus. I don't know why we waited until the last day since it was right across the street from our hotel.This was the most massive building that we had seen yet. It originally had over 100 pillars but after much human destruction and earthquakes, only 15 or so remain.

We took this trolley thing up Lycabettus Hill which is the tallest point in Athens. On the hill we had a 360 degree view of the entire city, something that we were looking forward to the whole trip.