Wednesday, October 10, 2018: Travel
This was really just a travel day, where after 18 hours, we ended up in Athens on October 11. We left Seattle on the 10th of October, traveling first to Amsterdam - Schiphol Airport (about 10 hours) and from Amsterdam to Athens. In Amsterdam we saw many travelers from the US and one guy with a Coug cap. He said that the Cougs were going to win the Apple Cup. We shall see. I met one nice man who was from Amsterdam and was visiting his son who worked for PACCAR in Seattle. He travels to Seattle about 4 times a year to see his son and grandchildren. Amsterdam has a nice airport. Keith and Julie will be going there for a side trip over the Christmas holidays so they will get a chance to see a little more.
Thursday, October 11, 2018: Arrived in Athens
We saw our luggage being loaded aboard our Athens bound plane.
We arrived in Athens about 4:30 PM on the 11th after 14 hours of travel plus the layover in Amsterdam.
Thursday, October 11th - Arrival in Athens
We arrived in Athens on October 11th and traveled by Metro to the Acropoli station which was near the Plaka district and our hotel, the Adams Hotel. It wasn't a grand hotel but plenty ample as we just needed the neighborhood and a place to store our luggage and sleep at night. Otherwise we spent little time in the room. It was a 2-star hotel.
Adams Hotel, Plaka neighborhood, Athens
Roof-top view at the Adams Hotel. Were we close enough to the action?
This was my first picture. The acropolis in Athens looks like a golden nuget on a hill. This was taken from the rooftop (pictured above). Can't believe I am here. Having studied this period in history classes in college, I can't imagine being at a more impressive part of the world.
Keith's photo is much better.
The first night we had dinner at Trattoria Plaka, Athens.
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Syntagma Subway Station. This is a main stop for the Athens subway system and where you need to transfer trains to get to Plaka and the Acropoli Station closer to our hotel.
Friday, October 12, 2018 - Full Day Athens Tour
We hit the ground running the next morning and met up with Key Tours to take a full day tour of Athens, which included a trek up to the Acropolis/Parthenon, Temple of Athena and Theater of Dionysys in Athens and a tour through the Acropolis Museum.
Temple of Athena, Athens Acropolis The maidens on the porch were removed in 1979 to preserve them. Five of them are on display in the Acropolis museum and the sisth was controversally taken by Lord Elgin and sits in a British Museum
The Parthenon (see more views elsewhere). Dedicated to the goddess Athena, the Parthenon construction started in about 447 BC One of our videos.https://youtu.be/DsQlOm2rUpI
Five of the real Caryatids in the Acropolis Museum. The Acropolis museum has a glass floor in places and you could see the ruins underneath. One day the tour of the museum will include this area. This was one of the most beautiful museaums.
The Acropolis Museum was one of the highlights of the trip. See for yourself.
I found this animation of the construction of the Parthenon. How impressive.
Our Tour Guide in Athens. He was excellent and very knowledgable.
Theater of Dionysus, on the south slope of the Acropolis (Athens).
Friday, October 12 - Highlights of the Athens Tour
Athens University, part of the Athens Trilogy along with the National Library and the Academy
Panathinaiko Stadium ( This was just a photo op. We will visit it more thoroughly later in the week).
This was taken out of the bus window on our tour and edited. It is a 30 foot statue of runner Dromeas, made of stacked glass
Glass rumming man at night
Friday, October 12 - More of Athens Continued
We had lunch at Arcadia, a restaurant just across from the Acropolis Museum. I got my first taste of a Greek Salad here and never looked back.
Arcadia Restaurant
Other places we saw in Athens were Hadrian's Arc (not far from or Hotel), St Paul's Church, Parliament, Tomb of the Unknow soldier, Schliemann's House (Numismatic Museum) Catholic Cathedral, Old Parliament, Constitution Square, Russian Orthodox Church, the National Garden and the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Most of these were merely pointed out in the bus tour, but several of them we would visit later in the week.
Hadrian's Arc, known by the Greeks as Hadrian's Gate. This was our anchor in Athens and within walking distance from our hotel. The tour buses would often let us off here after the tour. Built in 131 BC, this Roman structure was designed to honor the Roman Emperor Hadrian.
National Gardens
Another part of the National Gardens
National Library (part of the trilogy) that includes the Academy of Athens and the Hellenic Parliament
Another view of the Acropolis Museum (very impressive) Such a contract to the artifacts inside but so breathtaking.
Saturday, October 13: Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplio
Today we took an all day bus tour to Mycenae, Epidaurus and Nafplio. Our first stop in the morning was at the Corinth Canal. This canal is about 27 yards in width and separates the mainland Greece from the Peloponnese. The Canal at one time allowed ships to travel from one sea to the other (Aegean - Adraitic) rather than travel around the Peloponnese. Today's modern ships can not navigate the canal but tour companies offer tours through it. Aside from it's with, it reminded me a little of the UW cut.
Corinth Canal (built in the 19th Century but conceived 2000 years ago)
Sunday, October 14, 2018: Day in Athens, Syntagma Square Changing of the Guard and more
Best part of the day - cappuccino
Pantheon Restaurant in Plaka - A regular hangout especially for breakfast and cappuccinos.
On Sunday, the Changing of the Guard at Syntagma Square was a full ceremony starting at 11:00 am. By the time we got there, a large crowd was waiting for the ceremony to begin.
Sunday full ceremony of Changing of the Guard at Syntagma Square. The Evzones is a special unit of the Hellenic Army, also known as Tsoliades, who guard the Monument of the Unknown Soldier in front of the Hellenic Parliament and the Presidential Mansion. We were told that military service is mandatory extending to at least 9 months of active duty.
In Zappeion, a building in the National Gardens used for meetings and gatherings. We found a brewery inside.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018: Hydra Poros and Aegina
A photo of Poros from the sea.
Port of Poros where we docked.
The ship we that took us on the cruise. We had a very nice Greek buffet lunch following the Poros stop. There was also some Greek dancing aboard but we missed that part.
Keith enroute to the islands
I believe this was taken as we were docking on Hydra.
Only 5 star hotel on Hydra. Where Sean Connery stayed while filming Octopussy.
Tuesday, October 16, 2018
James Bond Street in Hydra. Octopussy was filmed there and Sean Connery stayed in the 5 star hotel below.
Almond Street - Hydra We got a free almond pastry in a local bakery.
The only 5 star hotel on Hydra
Meteora
We stayed in the Amalia Hotel in Kalambaka. It was a lovely hotel and we were the only ones on the bus staying there. When we originally signed up for this tour it was for earlier in our stay and we had chosen the hotel that was closer to city center so we could explore the area. However, Chat Tours cancelled the originally scheduled two day trip but we were able to adjust our schedules to get it later in the week and move other tours so that we got the ones we wanted but just in a different order.
Amalia Hotel Kalambaka
The two pictures above were taken out the bus window as we climbed into the hills , hence the glare on the windows. It was a beautiful day.
We were told by the tour director that women needed to wear skirts/dresses and that men could wear jeans but they had to be full length. Keith had only brought shorts as the weather was nice and anticapated to stay that way. The monastaries had tie-skirts for the women to put over their clothing but Keith had to buy a long pair of pants in the hotel to go over his shorts. They worked fine.
This is the most famous photo you will see of the monastaries but Keith actually took this one. It is used for the cover of books we found at the Icon factory in Kalambaka
This is one of the monasteries that we went into. You can see a picture of Keith in the gazebo (below).
Keith in the gazebo of the monastery shown above.
Although 24 monestaries were originally built, only 6 are still in use in this area. Two of them house nuns and the others, monks. We saw two of these six.