Now or Never

The journey from Dubrovnik to Athens was our first flight since LA to Amsterdam four weeks earlier. The Athens airport is pretty far outside the city proper but a €9 train drops you off in the main tourist area. Our Airbnb was in a neighborhood called Koukaki, only a 10 minute walk from the famous Acropolis that towers above the city – we were just far enough away from the crowds to feel like locals.

Our first morning in Athens we decided to get up early to visit the Acropolis right when it opened at 8am. We highly recommend getting there at this time to beat the crowds. While the Parthenon (by far the biggest and most well known site within the Acropolis) is in a constant state of restoration, the sheer number of temples and monuments, plus the amazing views of the city in the morning, definitely made the experience live up to the hype. After walking around the grounds for an hour we headed to the Acropolis Museum near the base of the hill which houses an extensive collection of ancient archeological artifacts recovered from the area. The museum is incredibly well done and a great way to complement a visit to the Acropolis.

Since the start of our trip the two of us have been pretty good at staying active and keeping up with running during the week. More than anything it’s been a great way to explore new cities. Through our research we found that the Panathenaic Stadium was only about a mile away from our Airbnb. This was the site of the first modern Olympics in 1896 and is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. So naturally, we figured it was the perfect spot for a morning workout. Beyond getting to spend time in a place with so much history (the original site dates back to the 6th century BC), there is also a guided audio tour included in the €10 admission and a small museum that holds Olympics memorabilia, along with every torch from the modern games.

After our time at the stadium, we spent the rest of our time in Athens wandering around town and eating. Greek food is already some of our favorite and it blew any other food we had in Europe out of the water. We definitely ate our weight in gyros.

After three nights in Athens we hopped on another short flight to Rhodes, a large Greek island just off the coast of Turkey and our final stop in Europe. Up until that point we had been moving at a breakneck pace so an entire week hanging at the beach sounded right up our alley.

We rented a private room in a large hostel in the main city at the northern tip of the island and spent the week exploring the medieval castle complexes, going on day beach trips via bus to other parts of the island, petting the (friendly) stray cats meandering virtually everywhere, and just taking it easy.

Because many of the beaches are pebbly or have smooth rock formations that go right to the water’s edge, renting day beds + an umbrella is the way to go. For about €15 the two of us could hang out in style. Beach highlights include Kallithea Springs, Oasis Beach, and Lindos – all with clean, clear, and warm water. We also checked a sunset cruise off the list, which of course happened to be cloudy during a week of otherwise perfect upper 70s/low 80s sunny weather…can’t win them all! And yes, we continued to eat our weight in gyros.

After a week in Rhodes that seemed to fly by, we caught a two hour ferry to Fethiye to start the next leg of the trip. 2.5 weeks in Turkey, let’s gooo.