It was an earlish start for us, with a pickup at 5:00 a.m. Although we’d booked a taxi, we both agreed our driver seemed more suited to robbing banks. He was fast—getting us to Stansted in about an hour, the drive just a blur.
We thought that by taking a weekend flight, the airport wouldn’t be too busy. We were wrong—it was rammed! On this occasion, I was glad we’d arrived early. The flight to Athens took about three and a half hours, and we touched down in the Greek capital around 1:30 p.m. (GMT+2). After clearing customs and collecting our suitcase, we met the driver our hosts had arranged to take us to the apartment.
It’s always great when you get a driver willing to share a local take on things that fall outside the tourist radar.
We’d booked our apartment last minute—which, nearly four years into this adventure, no longer feels scary like it used to. In fact, it seems to work well for us now. We chose this apartment because it was right in the heart of the action, with all the attractions, great restaurants, and coffee shops within walking distance.
What struck us first was how green the city is. Yes, like many cities we’ve visited, Athens has its share of “brutish” concrete apartment buildings, but here they somehow fade into the background.
We quickly settled into a routine. After our morning exercise, we’d head to the National Gardens, which sit opposite the Presidential Palace. It’s a beautiful way to start the day, and crucially, the gardens are shaded by a canopy of magnificent old trees—especially important as Athens is currently in the middle of a heatwave. As you walk through, you’re serenaded by a variety of birds, many of them part of the city’s thriving parakeet colony.
Christien flew in later that week for a long weekend, and together we set off to explore the city. With the heat, sightseeing is best done in the early morning or late afternoon. One evening, we wandered through quiet side streets toward the Acropolis. You can see it from almost anywhere in downtown Athens. It sits high on a plateau, glowing at night, but this particular afternoon it stood bold and golden against the cobalt sky.
I must admit, I expected the Acropolis site to be larger, but really, it’s all about the Parthenon. Built around 440 BC, like most significant buildings here, it was erected in tribute to Athena. Beside it is the Temple of Athena, and just along the fortified walls lies yet another ancient structure. Greek mythology was always my favorite subject in school, and I’d forgotten just how revered the goddess Athena was. I can’t think of another capital city where one individual is still held in such high esteem.
Christien had picked out a rooftop restaurant for dinner, which came with a welcome breeze and fantastic food.
We continued our tour of the historic sites, including the Acropolis Museum—an impressive modern building that took nearly a decade to complete. Its glass façade offers unobstructed views of the southern side of the Acropolis, and the building itself is constructed over an archaeological dig site. As one of the guides told us: “Wherever you dig in Athens, there’s a story beneath the ground.”
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Dream Chasers 