We arrived at the Rhodes Airport in plenty of time for our flight. Every step was pretty trouble free from returning the car to checking our backpacks (although I had a brief second of concern when my bag was .03 kg over the weight limit).
We flew into Athens and were depending on a transportation app that I had to get us into the city 40 minutes away. I chose and screen shotted the route with the least walking (because my back pack currently weighs approximately 30% of my body weight and Deiann's didn't weigh much less!).
We ended up not trusting the information because we felt like we were still on airport property when our bus stop arrived so we decided to stay on the bus. We checked with a couple of flight attendants on the bus and they told us we could ride the bus to the end and then ask someone else for help. At the end of the line we wandered around for a few minutes looking for the next bus that we needed but no one wanted to be spending time doing that in the late afternoon Athens heat. We decided to ask the concierge at the closest hotel (which of course turned out to be the ritziest in town... The hotel with the restaurant that multiple websites suggested if you wanted a " special, very nice night out" long story short we were a 20 minute walk from our hotel and a 5 euro taxi ride away.TAXI !!!
Our taxi driver regaled us with the economic woes of his country on the traffic filled ride to our doorstep. The hotel is in a very colorful neighborhood that was chosen by our friend Lauri who is no longer here to enjoy it. Exarchion is the formally affluent neighborhood which is now inhabited by a youthful, revolutionary culture.
After settling in our room and getting a very helpful itinerary from Costas (the funny young desk receptionist ) we set out for the Acropolis. It was beginning to cool off slightly and the climb up the hill seemed so much easier the second time around....Of course I have twelve days more of climbing high things under my belt! I went to "The Rock" while Deiann, Kim and Danielle went to take in the Acropolis. The rock is a giant rock just down the hill from the entrance to the Acropolis. There is an ancient marble staircase up and for the less adventurous, a steel staircase at the opposite end. At the top of the staircase you can scramble around the marble surface to get an amazing view of the city. The marble, as with all the marble streets and staircases around the city, is extremely slick in places and extreme caution is needed to make your way to the edge to look over the edge or to find a seat to watch the sunset over Athens.
After the Acropolis we wandered through the city watching it come alive with its evening face (which is entirely different than its early morning and afternoon faces). We found a falafel stand for dinner and took our food back to our hotel which has a rooftop terrace. We have a great view of Lycabettus Hill, the highest natural point in Athens.
We literally fell into bed exhausted. Were we really still at Grandmas house this morning???
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