Trip to Athens, Greece - Day 6

Our last full day in Athens was on Thursday.  We had one site left on our tickets that we had bought.  We left in the morning after we ate breakfast and took the subway to find the Kerimikos Cemetery and Pottery sites. We didn't realize that it was very close to the ancient Agora site and we ended up getting off at the wrong stop and then walking in the wrong direction (we did a lot of walking on this day!).  When we did find the spot we were on the back end.  We walked all around the site and could see it.  We decided not to go around to the entrance and walk the whole thing again.  The kids (and me a little bit) had done enough walking by that time.

The site, looking through the gates.

After our long walk in the morning we got back on the metro and rode downtown and went to the National Archaeological Museum.  The museum was very large and had a lot of interesting exhibits.  It was like the archaeological version of the Hermitage - too much to see everything and too much to concentrate on for the whole time.  We especially liked the pottery (from the Kerimikos site) and the statues.  There was a large section with Egyptian mummies - those poor Egyptians really had everything taken away from them - and the kids were surprised to see the real mummy and not just the sarcophagus that they had seen in other places (like the Vatican museum).

Satisfied museum customers

Horses - Yulia couldn't resist a statue with a horse! This one was lifted up from a sunk ship.

Reading and learning

Egyptian section

Our favorite style of pottery.  The black relief designs were so amazing.

After we finished with the museum (about two hours worth of browsing) we stopped and got some pastries that we ate right outside the shop and then took the metro home.  We went home and rested for a while and then went out to the first little pita shop that we had gone to on our first day and had our last big meal in Greece.

Pastry shop with everything from savory to sweet treats.

Enjoying our last big Greek meal.

Some baklava treats for the road.

Friday morning we woke up and had breakfast and packed.  At about 10:00 we went out.  While I bought tickets for the trip to the airport, Yulia went and got some pastry treats for our lunch later in the day.  Our trip to the airport was smooth and after waiting for about fifty minutes we were able to check in and wait.  Our trip back to Kazakhstan was smooth.  A brief one hour layover in Istanbul and a late flight (arriving at about 2:30 a.m.) into Astana.

The view from the metro station at the airport. It reminded us of Utah so much!

Reading and waiting for our flight!

We had chosen to go to Greece rather than Hungary because we thought the weather would be better and because our kids had learned quite a bit about ancient Greece in school.  It ended up being a very enjoyable trip and we were very glad that we went.  We loved the food. The people were very nice, and we were impressed with the sites.  Athens isn't like Rome where everything is dense and there is ancient art and sculpture and architecture all over, but the sites that are there and preserved are very impressive.  We took things a little slower than our usual vacations since I was recovering from my surgery, but it was a perfect trip with perfect weather and a perfectly lovely time.

Trip to Athens, Greece - Day 5

  

On Wednesday we decided to visit the other archeological areas that were on our ticket that we had purchased on Monday. We took the subway to Syntagma and started with another walk through the botanical gardens.  Our first stop after walking through the gardens was at the Panathenaic Stadium, which is a restored stadium built on the site of ancient games and which was used during the modern olympics and still used.  It is a stone stadium.  We didn't have tickets inside,  and opted not to pay to walk around inside, but we got a very good look at it and were very impressed.  [We had a lot of fun watching the last season of Amazing Race when they had a task in the stadium.]

Waking through the park (again).

Lexa was taking a lot of pictures with her camera. Here it is outside Zappeio Hall near the gardens.

Looking down from Zappeio Hall on the fountains.

Looking back at the hall.

Yulia matching the lilacs.

Stadium was made entirely out of marble!

Getting more use out of the new selfie stick!

After seeing the stadium we walked to Lykeion, which is a newer site.  We got a bit turned around and did some extra walking, but found the site without too much trouble.  This is the site of Aristotle's school.  It was a gymnasium where they did athletics and learning and was at the site of a stream that ran through Athens at the time.  The site was quiet and was still in the process of renovation, but it had a lot of interesting information.  It was one of my favorite places on the tour.

On the way to Lykeion we passed the National Defense Museum and took some pictures with the equipment that was outside.

Looking at planes.

Lykeion site in the midst of archaeological restoration and study.

Looking and reading.

Lina!

After visiting the Lykeion, we decided we'd take the funicular to the top of Mount Lycabettus.  We had enjoyed riding funiculars in other places.  It was a bit of a hike and a lot of stairs to get to the base of the mountain. The Funicular ride was very inefficient and expensive.  The view from the top of the hill was nice, but the cost of the trip and the amount of time we had to wait to go up and down (one trip each way every hour) wasn't worth it.

Climbing the stairs to the foot of the Lyccobettus Hill.

More climbing!

Church at the top of the hill.

Looking out over Athens.

More view down on Athens. Athens is huge!

Looking out to the sea and Acropolis.

The mountains!

Going down the stairs was easier.

We took subway to Monastiraki square and found a nice little pastry shop there.  We ate our pastries and rested for awhile before walking from there to Syntagma station through an area that had a lot of shops.  We stopped and went inside The Church of Panagia Kapnikarea which is a Greek Orthodox church and one of the oldest churches in Athens and really enjoyed the peacefulness of that experience.

Eating lunch on the square.

The Church of Panagia Kapnikarea or just Kapnikarea was built in the 11th century. It is still working today.

Shopping district.

The weary band of explorers.

Yulia posing next to our favorite pastry place near our apartment.

We rode the metro home to Dafne.  We got the kids settled in and then Yulia and I went on a date. Earlier in the day we received a message from the doctor who did a second colonoscopy and a surgery saying that the biopsy results came negative and I do not have cancer.  We wanted to celebrate! We wandered around until we found a little place to eat. This was the only place where the waiter didn't speak any English, but we managed to order some delicious Greek food anyway.  It was nice to sneak out for a bit of a date in Athens!

Love those Greek salads!

Salads in Greece are fantastic!

Trip to Athens, Greece - Day 4

On Tuesday we decided to go to the sea.  We took the train (as usual) to the last stop at the piers.  The station there was above-ground and quite nice.  Right outside of the station was a lot of construction.  We walked across the street and walked around the pier and looked at all of the Ferry ships and cruise ships that were docked.  We got to see one ship come in and dock and that was quite fun. 

At the station exiting the train.

Walking on the pier.  Looking at the schools of little fish in the harbor.

Looking out at all the ships.  Many were ferries that go out to the islands.

 

A cruise ship (Italian flag)

 

Lina posing more or less willingly.

These were smaller ferries, and we assume much faster than the normal ones.

A ferry parked and unloading cars.

After we had seen the harbor, we got back on the train and rode back a few stops to a stop near some of the Olympic stadiums from the 2004 Athens games.  We went to get on the trolley to go along the coast and out to the beach areas.  We had to wait for awhile for the trolley, but it was a nice day.  This area was much more rundown and the economic difficulties were more visible.  One of the stadiums was shuttered and in disrepair.

We took the Trolley almost all the way to the end of its route.  We got off at a public beach.  The beaches were more rocky than sandy (gravelly) but the kids all kicked off their shoes and waded, threw rocks, and generally had a good time.  We spent about 90 minutes kicking around at the beach and then walked from there over to the city area and found someplace to eat. 

We wanted to have one seafood meal, so we figured the day we were near the beach would be a good day to do it.  We were walking and saw an "all you can eat" fish place.  We probably should have known better, but we went in.  The food was okay, but not great.  The prices were also okay, but not great.  Everybody got enough to eat, though so in that sense it was a success.  We took the tram back to a subway stop and from there home.  On the way home we stopped for pastries (notice that there are only 5 of them.  I am trying to cut back) and went in for the night.  We had been from one end of Athens to the other by Subway and then by trolley.  It was a fun day and a nice change of pace after our long day of walking and seeing sites the day before.

Waiting for the tram (this was the wrong number!)

Riding (getting ready to go)

At the beach!  The light was soft and the day was warm.

Kids, rocks, and water.  That always equals success and fun!

Skipping rocks.

This was a beach club just down the beach from us - a bit fancier than the public beach.

 

Heading toward town for some food.

Night cap pastries for the ladies!