Up early on Wednesday to catch a flight from Chania to Athens where we would be meeting up with Jim and Ann. It was sad to leave Crete. Everyone loved our short stay in Archontiki village where it was quiet except for sounds of animals and peaceful.
Easy flight to Athens where our driver was waiting for us with two cabs.
The apartments we rented in an Athenian neighborhood of Pangrati are perfect for the eight of us. 6 bedrooms, lots of baths, 2 kitchens and besides good beds, wifi and AC the best part is a roof top terrace with views to the acropolis.
For a quick lunch, we found a little dive nearby that was recommended by the apartment owner called Thraka. They setup tables for us on the sidewalk and brought plates of meat, french fries and Greek salad. Yum. Then off to meet our guide Dora for a tour of Acropolis Museum and the Acropolis. Took us a while to walk all the way, thankfully Burke took the lead on navigating the way.
Having a guide was much more interesting than our typical do it yourself tour. We did the Acropolis Museum first when it was still hot outside. No pictures allowed inside so this is the only photo we could take.
Tour of Acropolis was in the late afternoon when the light was perfect and crowds were gone. Our guide had so much information to share. She is working on her PHD in Archeology and History. Her English was excellent and she was very passionate about history, even though she does these tours every day during the summer. Going in the late afternoon was perfect – sun was lower and not so hot and the colors much richer for taking photos.
We wandered streets around the ruins to find a lovely restaurant hidden among the antique stores in the Monistiraki neighborhood. Luckily they had an open 8 top table on the rooftop terrace with views of Acropolis. We got to watch the sunset and then the lights come on to illuminate the Acropolis and Parthenon. Cafe Avisnias had a twist on Greek foods, with a bit of a Turkish flair. Sadly during dinner, I started getting urgent texts from Bonnie and Heidi that Grammy was not well. She had fallen and broken her femur, was being moved to skilled nursing and had been shuttled back and forth to the ER each time she fell. Bonnie was scheduled to leave for her cruise the next day and didn’t want to go, understandably. Bill’s brother David got in the car and drove to Charleston on Wednesday night and made sure Bonnie got on her Thursday flight. He stayed a week to get Grammy situated with Hospice and make sure she was comfortable.
Took metro home still lots of walking. Cab fare would have been less than metro tickets we learned next day.