Greece 06: Athens

Day 12 - Wed 21 May 08 - Athens
The day i experienced one of life's magical moments

Arrived at Piraeus after a pretty rough night on the ferry and took the metro back to Pan Hotel where we had a room reservation. We dumped our bags, freshened up and immediately hit the streets of Athens. Surprisingly i felt pumped and fully awake.

Visited the Athens Archaelogical Museum which apparently is one of the world's greatest Museums and houses important finds from Greece's archaelogical sites according to Lonely Planet.

We walked 3 bus stops from the Archaelogical Museum to Keramikos and stopped to photograph this building along the way. My poor feet really hurt from all the accummulated fortnight of trekking and walking.

Keramikos, the city's cemetery during the Roman times. It wasn't as verdent and tranquil as i imagined it to be.

Spinach pie and pizza in a bread for lunch at Kydanthineon Street next to the Students & Travellers' Inn.

Walked about Plaka up to Monastiraki in search of souveniors and stopped for a refreshing fresh fruit juice at this cafe with nice interior and toilets which you had to walk gingerly across a glass floor overlooking some rocks to get to.

Ahhh... watching a hollywood movie on the rooftop of this open air cinema with an excellent view of the magnificent Acropolis to the left of the screen was one of the best experiences of my life! It's just the combination of the hollywood movie juxtaposed next to an ancient historical site which started to light up as the evening sky became dark and the stars started appearing above. Plus the charming apartment with a spiral escape staircase to the right from which i can hear whimpering from a boy being spanked by his mom and the two makeshift circle seats with tables behind us above the stall selling popcorn and drinks in a very charming manner. It's definitely one experience i didn't want to forget and at this very same time my camera battery died on me it almost seemed like a practical joke. I guess it's a sign that some of the best things in life are not meant to be recorded but imprinted in your memory just so you can truly savour the moment instead of busying yourself taking pictures in fervent effort to record everything.

Day 13 - Thurs 22 May 08 - Athens
The last day of my truly fulfilling Greece trip.

View of the acropolis in the far distance from beneath the umbrella canopies of this fruit vendor's stall.

Crepe & hot chocolate breakfast at the sidewalk cafe we'd walked past several times throughout our little walks around Plaka and Monastiraki. Loved chillin' and people watchin' at these outdoor cafes.

Mitropoli Church at Agoras Square somewhere between Monaskiraki and Plaka.

Greek snacks & souvenior shopping for family and friends back home.

Our last lunch in Greece had to be the Greek Moussaka and we'd have ordered a Greek salad (which we enjoyed in countless mealtimes) as well except that we were still feeling quite full from a really late breakfast this morning.

Syntagma Square, the place in Athens we quickly familiarised ourselves with when we first arrived and the last place we would be at before taking the metro to the airport.

Cheesy as it sounds and as the saying goes, all good things must come to an end but i must say that it has been a truly wonderful and fulfilling trip in almost every way possible and travelling with my somewhat regular travel buddy, Teik, plus finding really excellent company in two new travel buddies, Rayvees & Anng, simply made all the difference.

Turkey, 2009? ;)

Featuring travel buddies: Teik, Rayvees & Anng