{"id":9144,"date":"2023-06-11T13:28:35","date_gmt":"2023-06-11T13:28:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/zeweekendtraveller.com\/?p=9144"},"modified":"2024-01-28T07:18:10","modified_gmt":"2024-01-28T07:18:10","slug":"pre-cruise-day-2-athens","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/zeweekendtraveller.com\/index.php\/unesco-world-heritage\/pre-cruise-day-2-athens\/","title":{"rendered":"Pre-cruise day 2 – Athens"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Day no. 2 we woke up early which was a surprise after that loud music that was blaring until late. Today I had planned some sight seeing activities to see Athens but did not do any booking as I was not sure if we would visit the Acropolis this morning or the next.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Morning in Athens<\/h2>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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Acropolis<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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We discussed over a cup of coffee , compliments of the Hotel – a rough plan of the day and I went ahead to book our tickets to the Acropolis. We had not very much time in Athens and so we did not buy the Combi\u00a0 ticket for the other archeological sites. Soon we were out the door heading to that fantastic beacon on the hill. From Google maps we were only 1.1 km away but it needs to be factored in that it is going uphill. We were pretty early and the place opens at 8am so we took a leisurely walk and marvelling at the sights along the way. Soon we arrived – with already a queue of about 10 people. More started to arrive with the taxi as well. Some were at the ticket queue so I was glad to have bought the ticket online earlier. We were one of the first to go in and we headed toward the top passing by the Odeon and walking through the Propylaea. A group of soldiers were making their way down and we made way for them. I stood in awe looking at the archeological wonder before me and realizing that I was standing on ground that was built such a long time ago. Although the Partheon was the biggest one that can be seen easily from all over, what captivated me was rather The Erechtheion with its Maidens as columns.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>

We made our way to the Southern slopes which is the very impressive Odeon and went down to more ruins around notably the Theater of Dionysus.\u00a0<\/span><\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\t\tTips on visiting Acropolis\t\t\t\t\t<\/h2>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\tUseful information you will be glad to have\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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\u00a0It was a great way to spend the morning and because we had started early we were done by 09:40am and went looking for coffee. We found a great small shop – where I ordered the Freddo Cappuccino and a freshly pressed orange juice which was incredibly sweet in a good natural way. This is a shop I would go back to – Niki’s cafe.<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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We passed by Hadrian’s Arch just to have a look. The thing about Athens is: you don’t really need to go into the archeological site – if you are like us, with no real appreciation for a deeper look (*gasp) then looking from afar is possible all around Athens.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Plaka<\/h3>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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We walked on with my planned route to make our way to Plaka. As it was still relatively early in the morning not all shops were open yet. So it was a good stroll around with no crowds and I was distracted by a shop which I went into and went away on some unplanned shopping. Made me happy at least. Plaka is very pleasant albeit touristy. We passed by an ice-cream place with Baklava flavoured ice cream. I really wanted to try it but it was really too early in the morning and I was not in the mood. We were told that they have an ice cream demonstration after 1pm and I thought to come back later which I never did, unfortunately. We went uphill and saw many tavernas with tables – very quaint sight to see. There are back lanes that are like mazes. A different sight greets at every corner. Don’t take my word for it – check out the video.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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