Our body is used to Singapore's clock. Okay, more for myself because I was awake at 4am Greece timing which is 8am in Singapore while D is still sleeping like a log. That man can just sleep anytime anywhere. But sadly, even when I was awake at this timing, we can't go anywhere because it's so fringing early in the morning and I was starving but I had no food. I know some people advice us to bring Maggie noodles with us when we travel but I'm just afraid some custom wouldn't allow us to bring food over. Example will be in Australia, you cannot bring any food to cross their borders unlike in Malaysia and Indonesia. But well, it's okay to starve a while because at least I can look forward to eating Greek food. Hehe!
This is the bomb.
Day 2 - 05th April 2019
Oh did I say just below our Airbnb, probably few walk away there is a pub. The good thing is we don't feel so secluded because in the morning, there are always people around who have breakfast around there. The downside is every night we can hear club songs being played, so it will take me some time to sleep because of the noise. But I sort of like it when I wake up at 4am because I her some music instead of the surrounding place being just so quiet. *Cricket sound*
So anyway, I woke D up at around 6am Greece timing and told him to get ready to go out for our 2nd day adventure which is to visit all the different ancient sites in Greece. I wanted to be there before other tourist starts coming.
There are 7 different ancient sites in Greece:-
- The Acropolis + North & South Slopes of Acropolis
- Ancient Agora
- Hadrian's Library
- Roman Agora
- Kerameikos
- Olympieion
- The Archaeological site of Lykeion
We took the train and head over to Akropoli station. We followed signs and GPS to navigate ourselves here. We went over to see the Acropolis and Slopes first. We reached here probably around 9am and starting to see the queue forming but still we were in the first few ones nearer to the counter. Actually, if you were to google, there are some ways that you can follow to which ancient site to go first and slowly make your way down to the last one. Well, we didn't plan ours, so our way of exploring kind of go haywire and tiring too. Lol! But I still advice you to head down to Acropolis and Slopes first as early as possible before the other site because this is the most beautiful site and yes, it will get sooooo crowded in the later part of the day as early as 11am and it will be so difficult to walk and take pictures. Trust me.
What we saw from outside the gate while queuing.
Thank God for English because I don't understand Greek language. Hehe!
We made our way inside and start exploring and learning different things.
And then we made our way up slowly,
Honestly this cat of Athens are like models. Lol! But they are soooo cute and tame. You think you some kind of Cleopatra huh you kitty? 🐱 Yes, they sort of 'pose' when they knew people were taking their photos. Lol!
One side pose.
And one front pose. Yeahs. Thank you.
Had to take a pit stop when I see these beautiful red flowers.
As we climbed up the slopes, we reached to our first stop here:-
THEATER OF DIONYSUS
It really look like some kind of theatre and it's really beautiful. You can see some of the sitting area is already cracked. So lucky, some people have tour guides with them but we chose to tour around by ourselves and yes, using google to help us understand the different sites. What did RP taught us? PBL - Problem Based Learning and also to self-learn things on our own. Hehehe!
So many pictures because we did sat here for a while just enjoying the breeze, the beautiful view from up here and seeing tourists slowly starts to walk in one by one and also leaving one by one to the next site.
We then make way to the TEMPLE OF DIONYSUS just a few climb away from its theatre.
It's sort of run down and no one can enter to this site except viewing it right from here. Also this is me on the steps and seat on the theater of Dionysus.
We continue making our way up, climbing up the slopes. As you can see we are sort of above all the buildings as we make our way up with such a pretty clear blue sky as our view too.
Our 2nd stopped from the climb is definitely the ODEON OF HERODES ATTICUS. It's really huge and we can only view it from up here as no one is allowed to enter. And by the time, there were so many tourists too up here. It was so difficult to get a picture. I guess we probably spent so much time sitting down at the theater of Dionysus. Hurhur. But still, amazing view.
Too crowded, we made our way up again,
Finally reaching the entrance of the Acropolis,
And of course here we are at the beautiful iconic PARTHENON. So do you trust me when I said tourist starts to crowd the area and how difficult it is to capture a picture? Ahuh.
They are doing a lot of renovation works. So according to a Singaporean grab driver when we went home. He said the Parthenon doesn't look "authentic" anymore because many renovation work has been done on those ancient stones. But I guess they have to somehow, to preserve it, else I'm sure it will all be gone one day.
And this ang moh man here is CHAMPION. Despite seeing us posing for the camera and yes, saying excuse me. He just won't barge. He could have just moved away for a short while, let us take picture which doesn't even take a minute and can continue admiring the Parthenon, but he didn't. Besides the Parthenon won't disappear or turn into dust like Avengers: Infinity war does! What a bugger and so selfish! 🙄
No idea what this was because it's in Greek language but nobody seem to enter this place. So we didn't too.
After much climbing, we decided to just sit down and enjoy the breeze and view from way up here again. Plus it was definitely a tiring long climb up. Hehe!
From the right we saw another ancient site that looks secluded among the trees. We wanted to head to that place but we just don't know where it was and how to. It look so near yet so far. Lol! And on the left, we saw sort of a rock hill where tourist were just sitting down and chillaxing.
And as you look down on the other side,
We sat for at least 15 minutes before making our way back down. On the way down, we also came across the ERECHTHEION which was just across the Parthenon.
The popular olive tree.
From here we slowly made our way down to the exit. Upon reaching the exit, we climbed up the rock hill where we saw previously. And now we were able to see the Parthenon from here with..featuring many tourists that look like ants from afar. Lol! I just couldn't believe we made the climb and tour.
2) ROMAN AGORA.
Not many tourist here compared to the Acropolis. Since we bought the package ticket, it was easy peasy. All you have to do is show the tickets and the staff at the counter will scan it and you're good to go.
Walked around for 20 minutes and we left the site for the next one. At least another 20 minutes walked before we reached to the next ancient site.
3) HADRIAN'S LIBRARY
Well at least this one barge. Lol!
And yes, I saw Daisies. I love Daisies.
And some flowers?
We sat inside.
And soon the happy smile on our faces turned bitter because this is what we saw when we opened the menu,
PORK?! Pork Souvlaki?!
The struggle is real guyssss.
I wanted to leave the restaurant which also means we have to continue with our search of the next Halal restaurant. I could only think of the first restaurant we head to yesterday but NOPE, we are not going back there again because of the pick-pocket incident. So, I asked the owner if it's Halal and he confirmed it is. Still, I feel so sad to eat..like macam berdosa. But then again, I received a lot of messages from friends who have been to European countries saying, usually these places are Halal but they have to sell wine, alcohol and even pork to cater for the non-muslim, even in Turkey. So I will get used to seeing this. Because realistically, Greece is not a muslim country. So I felt slightly better and I ask myself, do I feel was-was? Seeing the shop owner, we know somehow they are knowledgeable of this Halal and non-Halal thingy, so we felt better and we proceed to order Beef & Chicken Souvlaki.
Anyway, knowing my body have this self auto-reject when it comes to eating non-halal food. If a food is not Halal, I don't know why or how, I'll definitely vomit the food out few minutes later. Lol! Test proven many times. Not that I purposely choose to eat Non-halal food but sometimes unknowingly. Then unknowingly when I vomited and when the ingredients are checked, then yada yada yada. Found ingredients that I shouldn't be eating but luckily too, it haven't like get fully digested most of the time.
And they taste wonder! Sooooooo sedap. So different from the kebab or souvlaki we tasted in Singapore.
Then I saw this. I don't know if this is a Greek thing but I felt like there could have been a nicer way to give tips instead of putting it like that.
I feel fine after eating. Hehe! After food, we walked around Monastiraki for a while. I bought some souvenirs and we headed back to our Airbnb (since it was nearby) for a short rest.
We took the train and drop at Syntagma station. From there D followed his GPS and oh don't ask me about navigations. D is a better at this. It was actually quite a very far walk. We discover many archaeological sites as we were walking.
This is one the Archaeological site of Roman Bath.
Apart from archaeological sites, not forgetting having to see beautiful flowers too. Hehe!
Purple daisies? 😍
After much walking we are finally ALMOST there. We came across the ARCH OF HADRIAN. This is just outside. You don't need a ticket to go here, just that you require to walk pass here in order to head to the next site.
Actually we didn't realized we have been walking in the wrong direction. As in we took a longer route to reach here but well, we did it somehow.
4) OLYMPIEION
The place which I wanted to see so much but there isn't anything much left to see. Hehe!
But still, it was a good experience to view this first hand. This place is also know as the temple of Zeus.
And from here you can view the Parthenon.
And I don't know this got here too. Lol!
What I love about this place here, there is not much tourist here but even if there was. I love how open and big this space is. Thus, you don't feel so suffocated with people. Besides, we went during Spring season, so it was a cool breeze in the open despite the slight sun and us sweating a bit due to many walking. Hehe! Anyway, we stayed here for a another 20 minutes before we head back to the train station. While walking back to the train station, we sort of took another route and came across many other sights and places.
We decide to spend at least 30 minutes walking around and then headed back to our apartment because we were so lethargic. Plus it was past 9pm Singapore time. Lol! We just wanted to be back and get some sleep else, we will ended up following Greece timing and be super jet-lagged when going back to Singapore. Bought my favourite Hot chocolate again and pasra salad and went back to our apartment for a nice sip of hot chocolate before ending the day. Greece hot chocolate are soooo awesome please! I don't mind having it every day.
Day 3 - 06th April 2019
I was wide awake at 5am Singapore timing and...
Lol! Forced myself to sleep and I eventually fall asleep only to wake up later. D and I headed for breakfast and this time we thought maybe to go back to the Halal area food (Omonia) was and hoping it will be safer early in the morning. It's just a 5-7 minutes walk from our apartment. As we walked down, I hear Surah Yassin being played in the surrounding vicinity. Such a bliss knowing my Muslim friends are just around. 😌
We both were just undecided where or what to eat and nothing seem to be of appetizing for me since it's just a lot of Indian food. In the end we settled for Briyani because D wanted rice.
The presentation is definitely so different of from Singapore. If you buy lamb/mutton or chicken briyani, ours will come with a big chicken or lamb/mutton probably buried inside or of bigger size. And you'll be served with curry gravy. Here is just ONLY lamb briyani. 😐
But we are served with this mint chutney instead of curry. I still find it hard to swallow because I like my rice to be soaked with curry. Lol! We are still thankful for the food.
Anyway, I didn't find it too comfortable eating here. I realized there are still few drug addicts loitering around and people who are just too scary on the streets. Many time, weird scary strangers just kept coming to restaurant and the shop owner will just talk them out nicely. Then they will return again to the place. So, we quickly eat and quickly left.
It started pouring soon after and we headed back to our apartment. Our timing got disrupted because we cannot leave the apartment yet. The rain just wouldn't stopped 5 hours later and it was already 1pm on the clock. So I told D to just leave our apartment and TRY to make our way to the next archaeological site (because we still have 3 more sites to go). D being D, he told me to just skipped the places. But we already paid 60 Euros! Heck no am I letting it burn away just like that. Lol! And so in the pouring rain, we did. My husband again being so accommodating to the wife. Hahahaha!
5) KERAMEIKOS
The site of the Ancient cemetery.
We went over to this site first as it closes by 4pm. We took the train and yes, stopped at Kerameikos station as the name suggest. Again, we were quite lost on how to go here but D GPS our way through. I have no idea why they always say it's a short walk from one archaeological site to another but it feels like everything is crazy far and difficult to locate. Tsk. Plus it was drizzling (luckily the heavy rain stopped), so we just walked in the rainy weather.
We walked around the place for again about 20 minutes and left wanting to head to the next site. But luck wasn't on our side again. As we were walking back to the train station, it started pouring so heavily. Of course going back to our apartment wasn't a good idea to wait, else someone might turn out lazy. Lol! So, I googled for good cafe or chocolate place for us to drink, chill while waiting for the rain to stop and I found this place in somewhere in Syntagma which was just sort of a long walking distance,
This is by far the most amazing hot chocolate drink I ever tasted seriously. It's like eating real chocolate bars but out of milk/drink form. I ordered a Bahibe and D ordered an Azelia. Both drink were amazing, D's one is like drinking kinder bueno Hot chcocolate. So so so so heavenly nice that I kept stealing his drink. Hehe! We sat for almost an hour plus but the rain just didn't stopped. I told D to give it a more a couple of minutes, if it still haven't stopped raining, we will see how our next plan will go.
The rain still hasn't stopped but it wasn't truly heavy as before. So I told D we could rushed to both ancient site today. But if we don't, we have to pick one. When I did my research, a lot of bloggers or travelers usually say that we can skip the Lykeion as it is really run down without nothing much to see. So I set my priority first to..
6) ANCIENT AGORA
Nearby train station would be Monastiraki (which we was where we alighted) or Thission station.
All these Agora names truly reminded me of my Polytechnic halls. RP halls are called Agora too. Hehe! And boy I do not regret coming here because it's so beautiful just like how beautiful it is when I see The Acropolis. It feels like I was in my own garden. This place was used as an assembly or gathering place during the ancient time. You can read more on all these interesting places at the link I left at the end of the entry.
All these Agora names truly reminded me of my Polytechnic halls. RP halls are called Agora too. Hehe! And boy I do not regret coming here because it's so beautiful just like how beautiful it is when I see The Acropolis. It feels like I was in my own garden. This place was used as an assembly or gathering place during the ancient time. You can read more on all these interesting places at the link I left at the end of the entry.
The surviving torso of a statue of the Roman Emperor Hadrian (117-138 CE)
TEMPLE OF HEPHAISTOS
We then caught eyes of another ancient building in the agora,
We left this place and came across the MIDDLE STOA.
And a walk down that lead us to STOA OF ATTALOS. I love how beautiful this place even though it didn't have anything much. Well, there is a museum inside but you have to pay to get inside. We didn't bother going inside as we were rushing for time, hoping to be able to visit the last archaeological site. After all, we need to make our 30 Euros worth it.
Took the train back to Syntagma station and headed to the last site. If you noticed, we took the train here and there it's because we bought the 24 hours ticket instead of a one way ticket. So we don't have to worry to keep purchasing tickets every time at the train station as our tickets can last us till 24 hours. We can just keep tapping using the tickets and take many train rides as much as possible as long as it's within 24 hours. But don't lost your ticket, else of course you have to purchase a new one. I kept mine with D because he is better at keeping things than me. I'm careless most of the time. 🤷♀️
6) LYKEION / ARISTOTLE'S LYCEUM
It's quite a long walk from Syntagma but we made it because we were rushing like crazy. Haha! Truth be said. The place has nothing much to see. When we enter, the guard told us, 15 minutes because it was already almost closing time but I thought it was still nice of him to still allow us to enter. Hehe!
Also believed to be a gymnasium or wrestling area, D is ready to wrestle his way through. Lol!
Actually, we were so exhausted but if time permit, I had one place to go which is the Benaki Museum - Museum of the Islamic Art. While heading to Lykeion, we came across the Benaki Museum which was just a few walks away. And I thought why not visit it since we will still have to walk past the museum while heading back to train station. D was reluctant but again he just followed to save himself from me being so upset. Hahahaha! Yeahs, my husband is not a fan of long walks or adventure like me but most of the time he just accommodate.
BENAKI MUSEUM
We entered the museum and bought the tickets. Sadly after buying the tickets, we then realized the museum is not the Islamic Art one but it's the Museum of Greek culture. We didn't realized there is two Benaki Museum and we went to the wrong one. The Islamic Art is located near Monastiraki station and Greek culture is the one located in Syntagma. I was so disappointed but I told myself it's okay, just walk and see since we already paid. I google this many time and still I got it wrong. No one mentioned there was 2 Benaki Museum until I asked the staff there herself.
So anyway, it was still interesting to learn about the Greek culture.
Also more of my loot for today,
We left Ancient Agora and had like at least 45 minutes left before the last site is close. I am always someone who wants to experience and be there even though there is nothing much left, besides I already paid for the site and so I don't want to miss it.
Took the train back to Syntagma station and headed to the last site. If you noticed, we took the train here and there it's because we bought the 24 hours ticket instead of a one way ticket. So we don't have to worry to keep purchasing tickets every time at the train station as our tickets can last us till 24 hours. We can just keep tapping using the tickets and take many train rides as much as possible as long as it's within 24 hours. But don't lost your ticket, else of course you have to purchase a new one. I kept mine with D because he is better at keeping things than me. I'm careless most of the time. 🤷♀️
6) LYKEION / ARISTOTLE'S LYCEUM
Also believed to be a gymnasium or wrestling area, D is ready to wrestle his way through. Lol!
To respect the closing time, we made our way out even less than 15 minutes. We basically just walked one whole round around the Lykeion, took some pictures and left.
The Exit.
BENAKI MUSEUM
We entered the museum and bought the tickets. Sadly after buying the tickets, we then realized the museum is not the Islamic Art one but it's the Museum of Greek culture. We didn't realized there is two Benaki Museum and we went to the wrong one. The Islamic Art is located near Monastiraki station and Greek culture is the one located in Syntagma. I was so disappointed but I told myself it's okay, just walk and see since we already paid. I google this many time and still I got it wrong. No one mentioned there was 2 Benaki Museum until I asked the staff there herself.
So anyway, it was still interesting to learn about the Greek culture.
We walked until we start seeing Mannequin and figurines and well, it was time for us to leave sebab sis pun rasa macam takut gitu. Lol!
Secretly, I wish we had the energy to visit the Islamic of the Art Museum but I guess time doesn't really permit us as it was already almost 6pm and our legs were tired too plus we need to be up so early the next day. We dropped at Monastiraki and decided to buy dinner back to our apartment. D kinda like the place where we had briyani for breakfast and so, he suggested to go back there to buy our dinner. Plus, I saw an ice-cream I wanted at a nearby shop.
As D was buying our dinner and I was insta-story-ing, one of my friend who frequent Athens recognize the area and said this. It was so true that I didn't disagree with him. As we were waiting for our food to be cooked and packed, I felt so uncomfortable and scared. Like all eyes were on us and it felt like some of them are going to attack or prey on us any time we leave the place. After a while, D felt 'it' too and we were both so anxious while waiting for our order to be ready.
Omigod. How do people actually live here? And I started to feel so thankful about living in Singapore. We are always safe almost everywhere. Although we have crime like they say, low crime doesn't mean no crime. But at least, I don't have to worry about being prey or pick-pocketed even if I'm alone while ordering my food. When we got our order and was about to leave the shop, some guys started sort of...I felt like they were following us. So scary, I can't handle this feeling. I wanted to skip the Ice-cream but D keep insisting me to just make a quick buy and that he'll protect me. 😑 But I'd rather we be safe than needing any protection at all. Lol!
Since I've always saw this in Facebook and have always wanted to try - the Kinder Bueno ice-cream, I made a quick purchase, left the shop and we continued making our way out of that scary place.
😍😍😍😍😋😋😋😋
I prayed so much for Allah SWT protection too and Alhamdulilah we reached Monastiraki back safely. D and I had dinner at the comfort of our apartment and the TV as well as our Netflix on phone. Hehehe!
After dinner both of us started to pack our bags to get ourselves for Day 4 which I am sooooo excited already.
Stay tuned for the next entry because of we went to Santorini! 💃💃💃
Helpful links:-
Stay tuned for the next entry because of we went to Santorini! 💃💃💃
Helpful links:-
XOXO,
Princess Azie Anni ♥
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