It was worth it. All the time and energy it took to get here was trivial, compared to how nice it is to explore this country. We’re about 24 hours into our time in Athens, and we’re already in love. Our breakfast yesterday didn’t hurt the city’s cause. It was nothing short of a feast. Feta, olives, eggs, spanakopita, Greek “pancakes” (donuts, really), and fresh produce kept arriving at our table faster than we could eat them. And that was from a street corner cafe picked essentially at random.
That’s been the case for every meal in this city. We see a cafe with some tables on the sidewalk. We sit down. We have the best meal of our lives. Walk, repeat.
We started our day with a short metro ride, which prompted Mimi to charmingly shout, “Choo choo!!” throughout the day whenever she remembered that we took a train ride earlier.
There will come a time when we can no longer count a metro ride as the day’s activity for Mimi. But that day is not today.
Our main goal was essentially just to keep our eyes open. We knew the daylight would be good for all of us to help flip our circadian rhythms. Plus, it was nice to wander around the city.
We stumbled upon a 200 year old Greek Orthodox church, and looking back, I’m a little surprised I didn’t take a picture. But in this city, 200 years old is essentially modern times, so it didn’t register as something I should capture.
But I did take a picture of Mimi holding back her two new pets out front.
In fact, there’s so much history in this town, they can’t help but stumble upon more of it. Just a couple of years ago, workers were digging a ventilation shaft for the metro system when they came across some clay shards. Turns out they were about to bore through a 2000 year old Roman bath house. Archeologists kept the site intact, and the sidewalk of a major street simply wraps around it.
By the way, our street is super vibrant! When we arrived, it looked like a post-apocalyptic movie scene. The next morning, it was completely unrecognizable. It’s filled with pedestrians and vendors, and seems to be the city’s clothing store district. There are even a couple of kids’ stores with toys and strollers if we forgot anything. I’d totally rent an apartment on this street! Oh wait.
Like most European capitals, Athens is dense. It’s only a 10-15 minute walk from our apartment to pretty much any place in the city. Our nominal destination yesterday was the ancient historical district, which is capped off by the stunning Acropolis overlooking the city.
We briefly considered walking up the hillside to the actual Acropolis building, but that seemed a bit ambitious before we broke through some more jet lag. A nap to end all naps that afternoon helped quite a bit.
Still full from our amazing breakfast, we didn’t eat much in the way of lunch, but dinner was just as fantastic. A street side cafe with yet more chicken, lamb, fresh pita, and creamy tzatziki sauce. Perfection. Mimi inhaled all of it while Aimee and I patted ourselves on the back. Dessert was fresh fruit from a vendor in one of the plazas on our walk. We could get used to this.
After dinner, we stopped by a grocery store to pick up some diapers and beer. Traveling with children is all about preparation.
Today’s agenda was pretty similar, but we were starting to feel like we could actually start exploring some monuments. We chose the Temple of Zeus, one of the oldest and biggest temples in Athens. These days, there are just a few pillars left, but it gives a pretty breathtaking glimpse into the scale of Greek construction over 2400 years ago.
Or so I thought. The garden is made up of a meandering set of trails well shaded by trees, so you don’t really get a sense for how big it is, or even what’s around the next corner. But we happened to see a playground sign pointing us down one of the paths.
We weren’t super confident that we were going in the right direction until we saw this guy.
We knew he’d get us to the playground.
And he did! Nestled in a corner of the national garden, between the parliament building and the Temple of Zeus is the only place in Athens our daughter will remember.
But at least that’s more than Quinn will remember.
Our day was punctuated by several dozen Athenians fawning over our kids. And it’s not just the old ladies. They fawn over kids the world over. What stands out about particularly baby-friendly cultures like Greece (and Viet Nam for that matter) is when grown men will stop an argument and make cooing sounds to a two month old. That’s something to see.
Speaking of kids, I’m writing this post at 4 pm during one of their naps. It feels wrong on so many levels to wake a napping child, but it’s probably the right move to help get them back on a regular sleep schedule. So I will, but I’m not going to feel good about it. At least it means we can go eat some more.
