cloudy sky: Honeymoon - Athens, Greece

5/1/2010 Saturday - Athens (5)

May 1st is Labour Day in Greece so everything is closed today, plus a strike at Sygtama square
We walked from the hotel to the Acropolis, stopping by Goody's for a light breakst (Goody's is like Greece's McDonald)
Acropolis - We walked around and around the Acropolis to prepare for tomorrow's visit, and walked to the Ancient Agora next, and then walked through Thissio and the Plaka, back to Sygtama Square.
Sygtama Square - The Parliment building and the guard change was beautiful
Panepistimio - The famous trio of Academy, University and Library and they were truly impressive buildings. Too bad the area was filled with black vendors and pissing everywhere :(
Taking the shuttle bus back to hotel as we could not feel our legs anymore

5/2/2010 Sunday- Athens

Turns out today is a good day to visit the museums because admission is free every Sunday of the month (except July~September)
Acropolis - finally, we got in and it was impressive - the temple, the Parthenon, and the number of tourists. A world's wonder located right in the heart of modern Athens, truly a must-see in Greece!
New Acropolis Museum - this still requires $5 entry fee and no photography allowed (needed to check backpack as well). The layout is nicely done with one easy path to follow and you see videos of Acropolis' history and artifacts from the temple.
Ancient Agora - It's a big historical site with some well preserved temples and museum, we were a bit tired to walk it all so we just zipped through it on the way back to hotel.
National Archaeological Museum - As we arrived an hour before closing, we glanced through the entire museum and took pictures without understanding much. Compared to the Acropolis museum, this one is outdated and harder to navigate.
Worst part of Athens - I got pickpocketed >_< at my last night and last attraction in Greece.

As I was exiting the Omonia Square subway station on the EMPTY escalator, a group of gypsie/Albanian (?) people stood around me, forcing me to separate with Wendy. As the escalator ends, the guy in front of me refused to walk off and backed into me, causing a big stumble mess. I was alert enough to notice this is quite intentional (due to the EMPTY escalator and he chose to stand right in front of me) and instantly checked my pocket - empty, and I knew it!! He was walking away when we looked at him and he turned around too, but we lost him at the corner when we followed him. It was probably his "coworker" who took my pocket anyway.
Actually we didn't know what to do even if we caught up to him... so in hindsight it's safer to admit my loss of ~$40 and the need to replace all the cards. We walked around to look for my wallet in the garbage cans, hoping he'd dump it once he got the cash - no success.

Notes

Overall I liked Athens for its warm weather and historic attractions, while having easy access to the modern world if you choose to
Transportation is easier on the Tram or Subway, because the Bus system is confusing without English. Their ticketing system requires some getting used to and the need "validate your ticket"/honour system is interesting. X95 was a lifesaver from the Airport to Sygtama Square both ways, door-to-door without the need to carry luggage up and down.
2~3 days is plenty in Athens

5/3/2010 Monday

Depart for Toronto on the Air Transat flight 691 Athens-Toronto in Club Class
The Club Class is like traditional business class on the older aircraft, where you get all of the business class service and food, with no lie-flat seats and AVOD personal tv system. However, it is well worth the $300 per person extra because it ends our Honeymoon on an exclamation mark! We were stuffed with food from the get go, the nonstop drinks and cookies/desserts, and received some goodies bag. Wendy was extremely happy on the 11 hour flight as am I ^__^

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