Athens, Greece

The last two days have been filled with history, astounding architecture,  and breath-taking scenery. We arrived in Athens late Monday night - without much instruction from the hostel, we managed to find ourselves on a bus headed for Syntagma Square. Once we arrived in the heart of Athens, it took us three police officers and two shop owners to direct us to the cute neighborhood of Plaka, where we eventually found The Student & Travelers Inn. After putting our stuff down in our room, we went back outside to start our exploration of Athens. Most stores were starting to close for the evening while a few restaurants and bars remained open. We found a shop that sold all sorts of hats and stopped by to try some but came out empty handed. At that point, we realized it was probably best if we went back to the hostel to rest up before our first full day of exploration. While back at the hostel, I interacted with two girls who recently graduated from Michigan State and found out one of them was actually from Los Altos, CA. They were really nice and shared some insight from their trip to Santorini before we all went to sleep.

The following morning we woke up to find everyone in our room was already awake and gone for the day. We got showered and got ready to then discover breakfast was done being served for the morning so I missed my first opportunity at real Greek yogurt. Instead we found a cute cafe off the same street our hostel was located and decided to give it a try and experience our first taste at Greek food. Christine had a gyro while I opted for a slice of spinach pie. We both left very satisfied and ready to explore the city. After a second failed attempt at trying to buy sun hats, we happened to stumble across the entrance to the South Slope of the Acropolis and decided to enter. While purchasing our tickets, we realized how valuable our student IDs were at getting us reduced price tickets for literally everything touristy related and really regretted not bringing them with us on this trip. Lesson to be learned: always bring your student ID! Within a few steps of entering the Acropolis, we were standing amongst the remains of the Theater of Dionysos. Slightly further uphill, we came across the magnificent Odeion of Herodes Atticus, a Greek theater, that is still currently being used to this day and had a performance one evening during our stay in Athens. As we continued our trek uphill, we really wished we had purchased those sun hats from town as the sun beamed down and we were left with little to no shade as we approached the top of the Acropolis, the sacred rock which was considered the most important religious center of the city of Athens. The Parthenon, a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena, sits at the center and is one of the most recognized monuments of Greece. It was unfortunate to see that it was currently being restored and had construction machinery and other pillars surrounding some of the columns. The top of the Acropolis provided breath-taking panoramic views of the entire city of Athens and extended all the way out to the Aegean Sea. As we made our way down the hill, we stopped to see the Temple of Athena Nike, pass through Ancient Agora, and see the Stoa of Attalos and the Temple of Hephaestus. After exiting the ancient ruins, we found ourselves amidst the Monastiraki Flea Market and finally found sun hats we both liked and were able to bargain them down for €8 a piece. We continued to shop around and eventually managed to cool ourselves off with a scoop of gelato. Before returning to the hostel, we made a quick stop to a local grocery store to buy some fruit, Greek beer, and other necessities that we did not have with us. We also managed to pick up our dinner at a bakery and ate it along one of the streets just outside of the Library of Hadrian. At this point in the evening, Argentina had just advanced in the round of 16 for the World Cup and we were getting ready to head back to the hostel for the USA versus Belgium match. We spent the rest of the evening watching the game with other hostel stayers and once again were the last ones in our room to go to sleep.

Day 2 in Athens started off slightly earlier and I was finally able to get my Greek yogurt with honey. It was definitely the best yogurt I had and I was already craving more. After leaving the hostel, our first stop took us to the Panathenaic Stadium, the site of the first ever modern Olympics and the entire structure is made out of marble. We then walked through the National Public Garden, passing by the president's summer palace and the Parliament building, which brought us back to Syantigma Square. On our way to get lunch, we discovered the cutest neighborhood within Plaka that had colorful houses and street art lining the walls. After spending some time taking photos there we eventually made it back down to town and had crêpes for lunch. Our sightseeing continued with a quick stop to see the Arc of Hadrian and the Temple of Olympian Zeus, all structures we were able to see from the top of the Acropolis. We then went back to Monastiraki and walked through the Library of Hadrian, where we got yelled at by one of the workers twice for doing things we were not supposed to be doing. Once we left the library, we walked around and sat on the ledge that surrounded the Acropolis and people watched for some time before walking over to the Odeon of Herodes Atticus to see who was performing. That night's performance was a popular Greek singer and we opted to listen from outside of the theater, for free of course. Our night ended back at the hostel after listening to the singer for about 45 minutes. We packed our belongings and prepared to embark on the second leg of our European escapade to the island of Santorini in the morning.

Santorini, Greece

I woke up at 4:30 am and began to gather all of my belongings as quietly as I could to not disturb the follow hostel stayers. Once Christine was awake, we checked out of the hostel and walked through the quiet and empty streets of Plaka to the Monastiraki train station that was going to take us to Piraeus, the largest port in Greece. We made it to the train station with just minutes to spare before the train arrived and barely made it on the train after we paused to take a selfie. The train only took us 20 minutes to get from the center of Athens to the coastal port of Piraeus. We boarded the Blue Star Ferry and found seats on the top deck of the 8th floor on the massive ferry and enjoyed our 6 hour ride through the Aegean Sea.
... I lied, the 6 hour ferry ride ended up taking close to 8 hours and we just wanted to get off the boat. Nevertheless, our short time here in Oia has already been filled with amazing sites and the "best seafood" in Santorini. We are looking forward to exploring more of the island in the next few days and will continue to update you soon!

xoxo
- Dev

Boston, MA, USA

Today has been a hectic day. We woke up and ran a bunch of errands to prepare for our trip, yet still managed to forget our student IDs and a few other items.... Nevertheless we are Boston Logan Airport eagerly waiting to board the flight for the first leg of our journey to Athens, Greece via Istanbul, Turkey .
We can't wait to explore Turkey  during our layover and begin our European vacation.!

Adventure is out there  and we are so exited for you to join us on our journey!

xoxo

Christine & Devin