Vacation For The Ages

Year 2010 was a bittersweet year most of us. A lot of things went down in our family health wise but everything turned ok as expected. Not to mention, the continuous plunging of the world economy and financial crisis that left most countries, broke and under water.

One of those hard hit country in Europe was Greece. Currently, the Greek government is in the process of enacting an austerity program for the country in order to save their dwindling and down spiraling economy. I had the chance to visit this magnificent country with my beloved wife this year. This trip was almost 3-4 years in the making. I say that because going to Greece is not as easy as going to other European countries. What I mean is, travel to this beautiful country can be a tad expensive compared to other travel destinations. So with courage and good fortune, me and my wife took the plunge and made haste travelling from US to Greece.

Athens

We arrived at Athens airport 9:00 am after a 9.5 hour flight from New York City. One thing that stood out for me was how the Greek immigration officers are very nice to tourist compared to other countries based on our experience. Airport was nice, clean and well kept, a bit modern that what I expected.

We met our tour guide, board the charter bus and off we go to our hotel in downtown Athens. Initial impression – typical European feel, clean and lack of Asian cars. Our tour guide was very knowledgeable and concise with the information he gave us. We got an initial glimpse of the Parthenon, 2004 Olympic stadium and Greek way of life on our way to the hotel. Pop quiz – what are the things you dread when you go to European countries? Answer – small hotel rooms. This pretty much sums up hotel rooms in Europe unless you want to splurge and spend your weak American dollars for an expensive luxurious room. In our case, forget about the big room and save moolah for shopping.

Acropolis of Athens / Parthenon

Although there are many other acropolis in Greece, the significance of the Acropolis of Athens is such that it is commonly known as The Acropolis without qualification. The Parthenon is the highlight of Athens and it was build in the 6th millennium BC. It’s definitely a great feeling to marvel on a structure dating back all the way to the beginning of western civilization.

Acropolis Museum

The new Acropolis museum is situated under the south slope of the Acropolis in Dionyssiou Areopagitou street .The museum was given to the public in 2008 . Here, you will see various artworks from the temples and the other buildings it has as well the statues of the Caryatides and parts of the Parthenon Frieze. It should be noted that photography is not allowed and you are also not allowed to pose with the various objects. Our tour guide gave us a very detailed information of the artworks history and importance to the Greek culture.

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