It's good to be home! I will do one more post when I have more time summarizing the trip and provide additional thoughts and tips. In the meantime, below is a short recap of this past Monday and Tuesday (I am so jet lagged!)
On the way to the highest point in Athens
Day 18
After breakfast, decided to trek up to Mount Lycabettus, which is the highest point in Athens. You will notice this point right away, it towers over Athens, much higher than the Acropolis. It's not hard to get to, it's about a mile walk from Sygmata Square but it's a walk upwards with many stairs.
If you put Mount Lycabettus in Google maps, I believe it takes you on the easier route up (which means the entrance on the western side of the park). This path is just more uphill and less stairs. If you enter in from the east side, it's a zig zag of staircases up. Or, you can take the furnicular up, which is what we did.
To ensure you can find the furnicular, just type this into Google maps as well and it will take you to the right streets/entrance. It may not seem obvious when you get there but that's because the furnicular is inside the park and goes up through a tunnel. So there are zero views if you take the furnicular. It's also kind of pricey for what it is (5 euros one way and 7.50 roundtrip). But it's for people who are not active and have issues with stairs. Otherwise the walk up/down isn't bad.
There is not much else to see besides a 360 degree view of the city but I enjoyed it. You can spot the Acropolis, Temple of Zeus, the Olympic Stadium, and the Aegean Sea. People tend to go at sunset but I think it's probably packed at that time (and also not worth wasting time taking the furnicular which would be surely crammed!). We went around noon.
Population of 600,000.
Acropolis rising above the city with the Aegean Sea in the back on a rare cloudy day
Afterwards we spent the rest of the day walking around the city and shopping. All stores are closed Sunday so we didn't get to shop the day before. Then we had our last dinner at Lithos, which is slightly off the beaten track but I liked it. Service was great and food a bit cheaper than in city center.
Day 19
Our flight to go home to NY was at 10 am. We decided to leave the hotel by 7:20, thinking that getting to the airport by 8 am would be plenty of time. Wrong!
First, I was annoyed our taxi to the airport was 43 euros instead of the flat rate of 38. I think it's because we stayed at the Electra and there's an additional fee for them to coordinate the taxi (and maybe because it's on one of those questionable pedestrian or non pedestrian streets--meaning cars are not really allowed on the street unless necessary).
Then it took us 40 minutes to get to the airport even though there wasn't any traffic. The other two times we went back and forth I know the taxis took different ways and for some reason yesterday morning seemed like it was a longer route though it was mostly highways.
Last image of Athens at sunrise on the way to the airport.
When we got to the airport, the check in line for Delta was long. Think we waited 10-15 min. to clear it. Then we rushed to get a tax refund at customs which is right next to the security line for Gate A departures. The lady there was so slow! Not caring that people were in a rush (ie making unnecessary small talk).
Then after we cleared security, tried to use the bathroom before boarding. I can't believe that at such an international airport, there are only one or two bathroom stalls! So we had to wait for that as well. By the time we finished, we had 10 minutes left before going thru one more security line to the actual gate. Once you go thru this security line, no more shop access.
Anyway so I wanted to rush to buy a water bottle and casual snacks but they don't really have a casual newsstand type place to grab and pay and go. Had to wait in a line at a cafe. By the time this was done, it was time to go thru the last security check to the gate. This check in point closes 30 min. before departure I think.
Long story short, had zero time to even glance at duty free shops or do anything else!
All in all though, had a nice time in Greece but was thankful to go home. And luckily for us, the only day it rained during the trip was the day we left.
