A (Tourist) Exploration of Greece

It's our first real day in Greece, and we were set on exploring the highlights of the city. Most of them were tourist attractions, but unlike Hawaii, a lot of them were extremely worth the lines. Since we decided to come to Greece in the winter, there was a surprising lack of tourists. Apparently the summer is crowded and super hot, so I'm glad I got to explore this city in chilly weather.

Every block of every Greek city has a bakery, so for breakfast we picked up traditional Greek baked goods such as Kourabiedes (powdered butter cookies), Baklava (honey and pistachio layered dough) and other forms of fried dough.

After that, we went to the Acropolis Museum to see artifacts recovered at the site of the Acropolis. We learned that the Acropolis was a sacred site for the Athenians, as it was built to honor their patron goddess, Athena, and document their history and religion. Around the main building of the Parthenon, there is stonework telling stories of both mythological and historical battles the Athenians faced. On the front, there were intricate statues of the 12 Greek gods, as well as statues on the back depicting Athena's birth and her competitions with the sea god Poseidon. Unfortunately, these statues were damaged by Christian Missionaries who threw them off the hill of the Acropolis in hopes of destroying the ancient religion. These are now housed in the museum, yet are extremely damaged. Some are missing as well, as the British, Romans, and Persians destroyed and stole many artifacts on their conquests of the city.

Me at the hill the ancient Greeks first practiced law

After that, we attended lunch at a restaurant called MahnMahn, which had the most AMAZING chicken Souvlaki and a traditional lemon pasta called Avgolemono.

Following that we went to the Acropolis. It was so beautiful, with the sun setting and the view of Athens. The surrounding mountains were snowcapped, and there were not many tourists due to the time and season.