Athens

We stayed in the Plaka area of Athens, which according to Sofka is admired by tourists and locals. It's easy to see why. There are cafes lining the streets, little shops, cute hotels...all within walking distance of ancient Athens.


We arrived in the early afternoon and set out immediately since we only had two and a half days here (we planned it that way since we were told it's like Rome--crowded and loud; a must-see place, but one you won't want to stay in long).

We walked around the Acropolis trying to find the gate and came upon some amazing views. Athens is huge and stretches for miles. After spending so much time with water views, my eyes were a little shocked to realize that the glittering below us was a sea of modern buildings that stretched for miles.
Each time you turn around in Athens it seems you get a better view of the Acropolis. I'm on the same rock that Adam is on in the last picture. You can see the scaffolding in the background--they are doing a lot of work up there. Essentially, the Acropolis was reconstructed a few decades ago, but was done all wrong, so they're doing it over. Nice.

We stopped by Parliament to see the changing of the guard at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. They do that stoic thing like in England. This poor guy was sweating like crazy (the guard, not Adam--though Adam was probably perspiring as well). Those white tights are WOOL, kids!


Note the adorable little fuzzballs (I believe that is the official term) on their clogs. They swing their feet around and then slap them down a lot, which really emphasizes the cuteness. This makes enemies stop in their tracks to go "Awwww".


After dinner we went to an ice cream shop with a rooftop terrace.


Adam got some *real* Greek ice cream made out of tree sap or something like that... I got chocolate.


And our view...