Since I was a little girl I have always heard that Athens was a place a to visit, for the history, architecture, and being the birthplace of democracy. I almost went in 2006, sadly had to cancel the Greece part of the trip. So here we are in 2023 and I can finally say I have been to Athens, it just took a friend to have a destination wedding for me to make it!’
With early September chosen for the wedding celebrations I was looking forward to spending a week in the Athenian sun doing a mix of sightseeing, relaxing, and wedding celebrations. I still got to do all three, only thing missing was the sun. It was a week full of rain and wind.
Arrival day had a bit of a drizzle from the airport to the hotel as well as a text message saying the wedding welcome dinner location changed to due more rain on the forecast later in the evening. Shrugged it off with the excitement of arriving and once I reached the hotel, I was in awe of the views. Located on the outskirts of the city on the water, it was a perfect spot. The property was beautiful and right on the water and my room also had a great view. The hotel had multiple buildings, a spa, pool, beach, and many restaurants to dine at. Did not get to explore the hotel too much as I wanted to wash the airplane off.
Welcome dinner took place in a restaurant in the heart of the city with view of the Acropolis. Everyone was arriving and looking beautiful in their dresses and the men in their linen outfits. It was a nice way for both sides to meet and kickoff for the celebrations. The bride and groom were very willing to go with the flow, not letting the venue change affect the celebrations. It was an early night since the next day included five hours of sightseeing.
Ancient Athens Ruis
Woke up early to have breakfast before spending five hours sightseeing. Before getting ready, I double checked the weather and noticed rain on the forecast. I thought it would be fine, but made sure to throw a light jacket into my bag and grab an umbrella from the hotel. Took a taxi into the heart of the city and met up with my tour guide. It was a guided tour of the ancient sites of Athens and I was excited. The guide provided a bag of goodies that included a rain poncho, which turned out to be quite useful. We started in the Agora on the east side exploring the Stoa of Attalos, the first “mall” you could say. Today it is a museum showcasing exhibits of Athenian democracy. Here I learned about the history of Athens and great democracy experiment that started in the city.
When we started to make our way up to Acropolis, the heavens opened and the rain came pouring down. Thankfully a little cafe let us under their awning to wait out the storm. Finally we made the uphill climb, wear comfy walking shoes, the walk is a bit slippery especially as you get closer to the top with marble pathways. Initially the site had closed as there had been some lightening and very wet. We waited about 30-45 minutes before they announced that Acropolis would be reopening. Once we got through the line and made it in, it was breathtaking. So much history at this site.
Parthenon
There is restoration work being done on the Parthenon, the former temple on the Athenian Acropolis. Though it is very painstaking work. At one point the Parthenon was used as a munitions storage and hit by a Venetian mortar round. This led to crumbles and the loss of the roof. Restoration today is using technology to figure out which pieces of marble on the Acropolis belong to the Parthenon and putting it back in the exact place. However, due to a law, the roof will never be done as one would need 80% of the original building material to restore it, which sadly does not exist.
After spending time at the Acropolis, we made the slow trek down and headed to the Temple of Zeus. Built on an ancient religious site, this was once a mighty temple dedicated to Zeus. However due to multiple theories of what happened is not a ruins of a very few pillars that remain. There are stories of the place being haunted or cursed so visit during the day.
The sights were beautiful, the wedding was delightful, the rain I could have done without. Maybe another trip to Athens is in my future, this time with some sun.