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Botanical Gardens with Bre |
Breanna arrived in Geneva Monday morning and we quickly took advantage of our time together. After dropping off her luggage, we jumped on the tram to the Botanical Gardens. It was so beautiful and peaceful in the park. Earlier this spring I had watched the creation of an exhibit out of various sticks of wood. Now I was captivated by the finished designs. We continued our walk along the banks of Lake Geneva mesmerized by the beauty of the lake and mountains. We walked 2 miles until we reached the center of town. It was time to get home to shop for groceries, cook dinner and pack. We were leaving early the next day.
Tuesday morning Bre and I traveled to Athens, Greece on a 6 a.m. flight out of Geneva. We landed in Athens by 9:30 a.m. with our backpacks and grabbed the metro to our stop in the heart of the city. It was our plan to go to the hotel, check our luggage and head to the beach. It was a beautiful, sunny, warm day and I was so excited to be here with Bre.
My first glance of the countryside revealed an arid landscape with rocky mountains surrounding the airport. As I looked closer, I saw the beauty of palm trees, flowers planted by the roadside and olive groves dotting the hills. The airport was about 12 miles from Athens which took 40 minutes by metro. I was thankful so many signs were written in both Greek and English because it was really difficult to match the Greek symbols to the address of the hotel I held in my hand. I had picked a hotel just a short walk from a metro station for convenience. This was a short 2 day visit and I wanted to take advantage of every minute. We reached our hotel without any difficulty and in a matter of minutes we were headed to the beach by bus.
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Voula Beach |
We wanted to go to a sandy, private beach so we could have beach chairs and an umbrella. Our receptionist had suggested the beach at Voula. She said "once you get there just pick one." I hoped it would be that easy. After about 30 minutes on the bus we had our first glimpse of the beaches. We knew our beach was still 30 minutes farther down the coast so we stayed on the bus and enjoyed the view. Some beaches were stony, some sandy, but all were enticing. We kept going hoping we could find the beach we wanted once we got off the bus. We were so surprised when we arrived. The area was beautiful and perfect. We began walking along the sandy beach not quite sure how things worked. We saw there were different kinds of lounge chairs denoting different owners. We found someone who explained we just needed to pick our chairs and then pay 2.50 euro for the chair for the rest of the day.

That was easy.
We picked chairs next to the sea with an amazing view of the clear, hazel colored water and nearby islands. It was the middle of the week so the area was not crowded.
We laid out in the sun for hours, waded in the water, read a little, slept a little, talked a little and had the best time. Listening to the water lap against the shore rejuvenated both of us. The blue skies, warm sun, salty air and gentle breeze made this a picture perfect day.
It was time to leave long before either of us were ready to go, but we slowly walked back to the bus encouraged by the thought of authentic Greek cuisine for dinner. The Athinaikon Restaurant was near our hotel and calling our name. Bre had Moussaka and I tried their homemade spicy sausage dish. Both were fabulous.
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The Parthenon on Acropolis |
In the morning I went to the rooftop terrace of our hotel to catch a glimpse of the Acropolis. Bre and I had spotted it in the distance the day before but it looked so far away. The Acropolis was clearly visible from the 9th floor of the hotel but I still wondered about the climb. After breakfast we headed out to see as much of the city as we could.
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Stefanos explaining the sites |
We went on a 3 hour free walking tour beginning just a short distance from our hotel. Stefanos was our very knowledgeable tour guide. He actually worked as an archaeologist but picked up extra money leading tours. He shared a wealth of information with us and said, "I will give you just enough so you want to study more on your own." He did a great job all day. We also met some really nice people; students from Michigan, missionaries from Wisconsin, a grad student from London, and a couple from New Zealand.
We began at Monastiraki Square where the Pantanassa Monastery was built in the 10th century. We then walked through the Monastiraki Flea Market which had a little bit of everything for sale. The streets were narrow and filled with booths and people. It was a great place for people watching as we wound our way through the area.
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Ancient Agora |
We saw the Ancient Agora where all the commerce, political decisions, religious and cultural activity occurred in Athens. Ancient, as in 3000 B.C. It was hard to fathom that much history. Later in the day, Bre and I walked around in the ruins of the area and appreciated how much the excavations revealed.
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Hadrian's Library |
We walked on towards the Roman Agora which was built when Rome occupied Greece. It was built by Julius Caesar and Augustus. All this history in just a few footsteps was almost overwhelming. We saw the Tower of the Winds, a marble clocktower built in the 2nd century B.C. We passed Hadrian's Library, built in 132 AD, which was more like a cultural center as it had lecture halls, held 16,000 scrolls, and a theater.
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Changing of the guard at the tomb of the unknown soldier |
We continued to wander through neighborhoods where the old and the new blended beautifully into the current city of Athens. The Mikri Mitropoli (small cathedral) built in the 13th century sat next to the Cathedral of Athens built in 1832. We walked one block to Ermou Street and were greeted by all the modern shopping stores. We headed to Constitution Square for the changing of the guard. The soldiers guard the tomb of the unknown soldier and every hour a symbolic ceremony is held. A dog sat at the soldiers feet until the ceremony was completed and the new guard was in place.
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Zappeion Hall |
The National Gardens were lovely, shaded (much appreciated), and filled with walking trails. We grabbed another bottle of cold water and walked to Zappeion Hall, built in 1888 for the modern Olympic Games. It has been used in some fashion for every Olympic Games held in Athens since then. We walked up the steps, entered the portico, and looked at the open atrium. The cool air inside the building welcomed me as I appreciated its historical significance.
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Panathenaic Stadium |
It was a short walk to the stunning Panathenaic Stadium. The entire stadium was built of white
marble for the Olympic Games of 1896. This was the same site where the ancient games were held in 776 B.C. We also learned the origin of the Marathon race began at these games to commemorate when Greek warriors ran 25 miles from Marathon, Greece to Athens to defend the city against the Persians. Again I was bombarded by the history of Athens.
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Temple of Olympian Zeus |
Bre was excited as we walked back through the Roman Agora and saw the Temple of
Olympian Zeus. It was one of the sites she really wanted to see. The remaining 15 columns (out of 109) showed how large this temple really was. Nearby we saw Hadrian's Arch, built in 132 AD as a gate between the Ancient Agora and the Roman city of Athens.
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Climbing the steps up Mars Hill |
Our tour was almost finished but I was most looking forward to Mars Hill. We continued our walk
toward the Acropolis as Stefanos told us the history of Athens and the myths surrounding the temple of Athena. Under the threat of rain, with lightning in the distance, we climbed the marble rock of Mars Hill. The marble was very slippery and the climb steep. Stefanos explained the marble had been polished over the years by the leather sandals of the many people who had climbed this hill before us. This hill is also called the Areopagos. It was here that Apostle Paul first spoke to the people of Athens about Jesus. I took some time to be still as I contemplated Paul's speech.
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On top of the Areopagos (Mars Hill) |
The storm quickly approached and the skies threatened to open up with a torrential downpour so we carefully walked off the hill back to where we began our tour. The rain began as we stood under the awning of a building and said goodbye to Stefanos and our new friends. Bre and I knew we were headed back to the Acropolis but chose to grab Gyros for lunch (they were so delicious) and our raincoats first. We were much more familiar with the streets of Athens and felt confident as we walked back to the Acropolis. The hill was not as difficult as we thought it would be and the view of Athens was incredible. Just as we got to the Acropolis the sun came out and the temperature grew even warmer. We wandered along the north slope fascinated by the construction of the many buildings of the Acropolis during a time without modern equipment. The Parthenon was built after the Greek forces defeated the invading Persian armies of Darius and Xerxes in 500 B.C.. I was amazed as I learned it used 22,000 tons of white marble from a mountain 17 miles away.
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At the Parthenon |
We climbed the steps to the Parthenon and looked out over the city of Athens. We walked down the south side through the ruins from the Theatre of Dionysos and then visited the Acropolis Museum. The Museum was incredible. It was actually built on the site of an archaeological dig and the floor tiles were clear so we saw the ruins below our feet. The statues from the Acropolis were in the museum for protection from further ruin. The entire side of the museum was a window which gave us a spectacular view of the Acropolis.

We left the museum and wandered through the streets toward our hotel and dinner. We sat at an outside table at a Mediterranean restaurant and enjoyed the ambiance and delicious food. We shared stories until the lights came on and our eyes began to close.
I loved experiencing Athens with Breanna. The laughter we shared and the memories we created far exceeded anything I could have imagined.
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