I’d visited Athens in particular cause I wanted to explore it’s historical sites such as the Acropolis, Parthenon, Temple of Olympian Zeus and the National Archaeological Museum.

I’d traveled solo to Athens and it resulted in an educational and inspiring traveling experience.

Here is my 1 day itinerary on how I spent my time in Athens that perhaps could be helpful with planning your visit as well!

Day 1: October 1, 2022

🔶Flew into Athens International Airport at 1:00 AM. I’d flew with RyanAir as I was traveling from Budapest, Hungary. This is the cheapest way to travel to other countries once in Europe.

🔷Didn’t have to go through immigration since I was flying from Budapest, Hungary. I’d cleared custom at Lisbon, Portugal.

🔶Stayed 1 night at Athens Market Portrait located in the ❤️of downtown Athens, Greece. Loved this hotel. It’s walking distance to literally all the museums, cathedrals, stores, cafes, bookstores and it’s surrounded by restaurants.

🔷Booked a morning tour with Viator to explore the Acropolis and Parthenon. It was a walking tour.

🔶We’d first made a stop at the Presidential Mansion in Greece. We were able to see the ceremony of the changing of guards. It happens every Sundays at 11:00 AM and is open to the public.

🔷 We’d walked through the National Gardens of Athens. It’s right next to the Presidential Mansion. I thought it was pretty cool that they have this really awesome and huge park filled with some exotic trees 🌲 in the heart of the city of Athens. This park is also referred to as the Zappeion Garden.

🔶We’d made a stop at the Turtle Pond with beautiful green water. It was such a delight. It’s a famous spot to take pictures at if you are a turtle 🐢 fan.

🔷 ✅ A lifetime experience of mine has been accomplished. I have an interest for Greek Gods & Goddess.

Below are 5️⃣ fun facts that’s made me fall in ❤️ with this breathtaking historical Greek monument:

1️⃣ The Acropolis is a hill (used to be a citadel/Ancient Greek Godly City) that has many ancient ruins such as the real Parthenon. The Greek Gods and Goddess used to chilled here.

2️⃣ The Parthenon is a temple/ancient ruin that was built in dedication/honor of the Greek Goddess Athena.

3️⃣ Athena was the the Goddess of wisdom, warfare, and handicraft. (Per google)

4️⃣ Athena was an unmarried Goddess.

5️⃣ The Parthenon 🏛 got beaten up pretty badly by the Germans, British (took their marbles), Turks, and Persians.

This place will leave you mesmerizing. I’d recommend climbing up by using the side entrance as opposed to the main entrance. This will give you access to the other ruins such as the theater, the God of wine and much more cool 😎 historical surprises.

🔶 One of my favorite Greek God is Zeus.

He was the king of all the Greek Gods and Goddesses.

He wore many hats (had multiple roles and responsibilities) in his kingdom.

He was a very powerful God and was known for throwing lightning bolts at the 👿 fictitious peeps. Lol! I wonder how often he did this…

If you too have an interest in Zeus, then definitely visit the below two historical sites when visiting the Modern Greek World in Athens, Greece.

📍Temple of Olympian Zeus

This site used to be the largest religious temple in the Ancient World. It was built in dedication to Zeus. It used to be made of 104 columns. Each column was said to have been created uniquely with its own strong personality. Now there are only 15 columns standing. This place is wickedly intriguing. I wonder how it was back in the days when it was first built…

🔷📍National Archaeological Museum

This museum is known to house the largest collections of Greek sculptures and treasures. I’d especially visited and explored solo in search of pretty much all forms of Zeus’s statues.

I’d only stayed here 2.5 hours cause I wanted to get back to my hotel before it was dark as I was traveling by foot.

🔶What I ate in Athens, Greece?

So I’m a member of an international food blogging group on WhatsApp. And there was a fun opportunity to blog about my food experience while I was vacationing in 📍Athens.

🔷Late Dinner/Early Breakfast:

At 2:00 AM; I’d had a chicken gyro platter (The Greek pronounced gyro with a “j”). The chicken meat was slightly tender, juicy (I’d could taste the fresh olive 🫒 oil spilling in my mouth as I chewed on the meat). Yum yum! Their green peppers was kinda roasted with a bit of black pepper filling. I did not eat the french fries nor the pita bread; it appeared to be too much salt dashed all over it, no thank you please.

Had a few local Greek beer 🍺 called Alpha;…it’d tasted like Heineken. I’d wonder if Alpha and Heineken are like 1st cousin. Super cheap; it was 2 Euro per pint…hello!!!

🔶Lunch:

At 2:05 PM; I’d explored the Asian restaurants and had some chicken lo mein. But, I don’t know what happened, I thought I was Inspector Gadget searching for those pieces of chicken meat. But…hear me out…the noodles were well flavored and cooked to perfection.

🔷Dessert:

At 6:00 PM; I’d had some Loukoumades (Greek fried donuts soaked in too much sugar). I was instantly in love. Lol 😂

🔶Dinner:

At 10:00 PM, I’d had a lamb pie 🥧 stuffed with slamming crushed chunky juicy lamb meat. There was all sort of vegetables/greens in it. It was best served and complimented with fresh baked tasty Greek bread. Seriously? You have to pay for bread in Greece…I’d washed it down with some local Greek wine 🍷; I’m sorry I didn’t get the name…but it tasted like volcanic crushed ashes…so I was told by the local Greek to mix it with water….felt successful..

Thank you for virtually exploring with me.

Thank you for your taking the time to read my blog.

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