FLIGHT OF THE PHOENIX: Acropolis

Jonah slept through 12 hours like a champion. The adults were not as capable and woke up at 2am. It could be argued that perhaps it was our bladders that woke us up. Slumber returned at various times and quantities until it was time to "officially" wake up at 6:15. We set out to get some breakfast and then tackle the Acropolis right on opening time.

A deserted Monastiraki Square at 6:50am

Breakfast of champions

Greek cheese pie

Hadrian's Library with the Acropolis visible in the background.

We coughed up for a Private Tour of Acropolis & Acropolis Museum. We met our guide, Frosso, at 0730 so she was able to school us on basic Greek history before tackling the info on the Acropolis. This was so we could be one of the first to enter right on 8am. However I don't think she got the concept of rope drop...we ended up being about 10th in line because she was explaining architecture. Sheesh!

We discovered that there was no need to buy a ticket for entry into the archaeological site. We forget what the name of the day is but instead of having to pay 90 Euro total for entry, we only needed 25 euro for the museum. Wahoo! In addition to the Viator price match as well as the 14% cashback from shopback it turned out to be a very good value tour.

Frosso explained neoclassical architecture...we wanted to rope drop

It was empty...

The Odeon of Herodes Atticus

Gateway to the Acropolis

Western facade of the Parthenon

Eastern facade

View back down to Plaka

Acropolis Museum

They have cleverly left blank spaces or bright white replicas to indicate which relics the British "took", in hope that they will one day return...

In seriousness, Frosso was great. She made up for the initial slowness by expertly weaving us through the throngs that came behind us. She kept the stories interesting and at the museum only picked choice pieces to look at whilst keeping everything in context and tying it all together. It was fortunate that we had Jonah, for he made us look smart as a family by being able to answer all her questions. Go Percy Jackson. As fascinating as the morning was, by 1030 we were exhausted. We parted ways with Frosso and wandered the streets of Plaka on foot this time for our lunch at Psaras Taverna. The food was reasonable, but didn't make up for the rude "welcome" from the owner who woke up on the wrong side of the bed. Still, it was on the side of a warm hill with a cool breeze so we didn't let him ruin our day.

Picturesque Plaka

Drink stop

Now starting to fill with tourists

Psaras Taverna

Mixed grill plate for 2

Grilled octopus

"Free time" pencilled in on the itinerary was a dangerous entry, because that quickly became nap time...interrupted occasionally by Malcolm cheering whenever the Bunnies dropped the ball in their semi-final against Penrith.

Dinner was an experiment in trying to eat where the locals eat. Avli is all about authentic, small-serve food at good prices in an unpretentious venue in a grubby alley. There was a short queue at 515PM which was amazing considering that most Greeks eat much later. The food lived up to our expectations, but, unfortunately the small courtyard venue was full of cigarette smoke. I guess we take it for granted that smoking is much less common at home.

We ended our day with a return to Nancy's Sweet Home. There was too much to choose from so we ended up picking our dessert rather randomly...it was tasty but rich and even one serve was enough to satisfy all three of us.