Home to the Parthenon, Acropolis and the original Olympic Stadium is the city of Athens. We really didn't know what to expect from Athens before arriving, but from the airport to downtown there are mountains all around and almost desert like conditions. The center and old portion of Athens has many streets filled with little shops and restaurants everywhere with the waiters trying to pull you in at every turn. Then you have streets with high end stores lining them, big squares where everyone hangs out and lots of cars. It seems like drivers decide upon the number of lanes a road should have, sometimes it's 2 but if you want to squeeze in between those two cars, they just make a third lane! I don't know how we didn't see more accidents. But we arrived safely and the taxi dropped us off at our Airbnb then it took us a minute to actually find the entrance, it is located in a shopping center with apartments above it. When the shops are closed, the metal roll-down gate in front of the alleyway/hallway is closed, so we have to open and close it to get in and out during off hours. That's a little strange for us, but Kyle loved operating it! We are on the 8th floor, with some high tech vault-style doors and locks to get into it. It's definitely odd, but we certainly feel safe! Braydon said it feels like a big hotel room. It does give off that vibe a bit, I agree. The best part though is one, we can see the Acropolis from the big living room window and two, there's a huge semi-covered balcony. The sunset from up here is quite nice. That Friday night after we had all walked around a bit and had dinner, Paul and I sat up on that balcony looking over at the lit up Parthenon drinking a glass of wine, watching the stars come out overhead. We really love a good balcony. Although, one thing I noticed on our second morning in Athens, as I was drinking my tea, is that a guy in the building next to ours likes to water his plants on his balcony completely naked!!!😲

Since we really didn't know much about Athens, we decided to take one of those Hop on and Hop off buses around the city on Saturday. It was good, but if you sat on the top of the double decker bus, it was hot as heck, and since the bus stops frequently, not only to let people on and off, but in traffic as well, there was no air circulation and the sun just beat down on you. But if you sit downstairs where it is at least covered, you can't see much. We lasted about half way through the tour before we saw a big toy store and figured that was the perfect time to get off the bus. We wandered all through the toy store cooling off and just looking at familiar toys and books in Greek. Then we strolled through the alleyways lined with souvenir shops trying to stay in the shade. Kyle and Paul both bought t-shirts. I've been eyeing all the pretty jewelry.

That evening after dinner, the boys went back to the apartment and Paul and I walked over to the Parliament building where they have a memorial for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guards perform a very ritualist "dance" as I called it, Paul said it was a ceremonial march every hour. They do a slow motion interpretation of a march, clicking their heels on the ground, some of which send up sparks-I think they are wearing tap shoes! Their uniforms are checked by another guard before they can start this ceremony, even centering out the little puff on their shoes if they are crooked. It lasted at least 15 minutes and was very different from any changing of the guard ceremony I've seen before. Glad we saw it!

I really wanted to make it over to one of the close by islands, but since our only free day was Sunday, I had read that the islands would be crowded, ferries could be sold out, etc. I ended up finding a private tour of the Athenian Riviera and down to the southern-most tip of Atticus (the part of land Athens sits on), where the Temple of Poseidon sits. It was about an hour and half drive down there, we stopped once to see a gorgeous view, but the entire drive was along the coast with amazing sea views. It seemed like everyone living near Athens was at the beaches/coast that day. Every beach or little cove was filled with people enjoying the cool Adriatic Sea. We toured the Temple of Poseidon and took lots of pictures up on the hill overlooking the sea and nearby islands. It was so windy up there, it felt quite nice compared to the hot still air in Athens. Our goal was to go to one of these beaches, so our guide brought us to one, but it was very crowded and there was very little shade and for some reason the water was quite cool. We stayed just long enough for Braydon and I to venture in the water a bit, while Paul and Kyle sat under a tree reading. Then our guide brought us to a restaurant that supposedly served the best Souvlaki and gyros. We enjoyed our lunch and then stopped off to take a quick photo of the original Olympic Stadium-which is surprisingly very well preserved! It was originally made from wood, but at some point it was redone in all marble, so it looks quite nice. Paul is hoping to run around the track at some point.

Unfortunately on Sunday I started having a sore throat, no other symptoms, so we weren't sure if it was just the dry hot air here causing it or what. Really hoping it wasn't Covid! So on Monday, Paul took the boys up to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, while I stayed home and took a Covid test-it was negative! The line to get up to the Acropolis was long, but not terrible they said, although it was quite crowded all around the Parthenon. We all met for lunch afterwards at an outdoor café and then pretty much called it a day. I did take the boys out much later for ice cream (to soothe my aching throat) and to let the boys see the changing of the guard that we saw the other night without them.

On Tuesday we had to switch Airbnb's because we changed our trip at some point and I couldn't get the other place for the entire week. Luckily we were able to get in early, so no waiting around between check out and check in. The new place is only 15 minute walk away from the other place. It is located right above a Vegan and gluten free restaurant! We are right on a main road, so a lot of traffic going by below our balcony, but it does overlook the ruins of the Temple of Zeus. I like the change of pace and being able to see activity right below us, since we are only on the 2nd floor. This place is really nicely decorated, apparently the owner is a painter and did all the art work in here-they are great! We walked around the National Gardens which we are very close to here, not too many flowers, it's more little pathways through lots of different types of trees, and some fountains here and there. We also took some time to play on the playground. It wasn't nearly as hot walking in the shade, and it was a very windy day which made it feel even better, we then grabbed some lunch from the Vegan café. Afterwards, I took another Covid test, luckily it was still negative.

Wednesday July 20th, my 45th birthday! We had booked a sunset sailboat cruise a while ago for my birthday, and it was non-refundable, so even though I still had that sore throat and also a cough by that point, we still went out on the trip. I did take a 3rd Covid test before we went though, and figured since we were completely outside with space to spread out on the boat, I wouldn't be passing germs around too much. There were 10 people on the boat plus the captain and chef. Paul, Braydon and I immediately went up to the front section of the catamaran and laid out, Kyle stayed toward the back and the shade for a while. The views were very pretty along the Athens Riviera coastline. We anchored at a secluded cove and everyone, except Paul and I, went swimming. The boys swam over to a little beach-it looked like they were conquering the island, since they were the only ones on it! We stayed in that cove for a while and had a nice meal prepared for us, she even did some special gluten free fried tomato fritters for me that were amazing! After our meal and relaxing time, we started our sail back, it was very windy so we were cruising! Getting back to the port just as the sun was dipping behind the mountains. The chef brought out a cake and everyone sang happy birthday to me. It was very sweet, even though I couldn't actually eat the cake because of the gluten. It was a very lovely outing and we all were very glad we went.

Thursday was a very low key day, I don't think Kyle left the apartment except for once to run down and grab a slice of pizza. Braydon, Paul and I did do a bit of wandering around, but that was it. Back to the apartment to do laundry and pack up.

Friday we left bright and early for the airport. We were lucky to not run into any issues with our travel day. Except by this point in my cold I had a lot of congestion, cough and some minor ear soreness, and so I prepared for it by tripling up on different medications recommended by the Greek pharmacists, but when we started our descent, my ears were hurting pretty good. I was massaging them with my eyes closed, and I guess I looked like I was in pain, because the flight attendant stopped and asked if my ears were hurting. When I told her yes, she said, ok, give me a second. She came back with two paper cups containing hot wet paper towels. She told me to cup them over my ears, and they should help them pop. Boy did the boys and Paul get a good laugh at me holding these cups to my ears!! They did help, but my ears didn't pop until we were just about to get off the plane in London.