The cradle of western civilization, the birthplace of democracy, western philosophy, western arts, and incubator for early Christianity.  There are many reasons to want to visit Greece, but there is also a refugee crisis, a financial crisis, and a language and alphabet quite unlike English.  So when the Olsons, my mom Julie, brother Mike, brother Dan, and sister-in-law Ann, decided on Greece for our annual family visit, I was excited, but also a little apprehensive.  However, Greece’s breathtaking landscapes and incredibly warm hospitality  left all of my concerns unfounded and we had a truly awesome trip!

The vacation started on Thursday March 10th when the Olsons arrived in Athens at 2 p.m., after 13 hours of travel, requiring two flights.  Then they were nice enough to wait another 2 hours for me to arrive from Geneva (Melissa would join us on Saturday).  After a round of hugs with everyone, having not seen each other in 7 months, we all walked out the front door where we were greeted by a row of taxis and vans with drivers vying for  unfamiliar tourists’ business.

We were quickly approached by a van driver, speaking perfect English, who told us he could take us into the city center.  But when we asked how much it would cost he said, 90 Euros – much more than we thought it would be.  The driver kept trying to sell himself saying taxis are cheaper, but we wouldn’t all be able to fit into one, so we should take his van.  As Olsons, we never want to feel like we got anything short of a good deal, so we debated back and forth for a bit.  One of us mentioned that we could just all take the metro for a total cost of 50 euros and a different van driver standing near us overheard us.  He said he would cut us a deal and drive us straight to our hotel door for 50 euro.  Not only did we not know taxis were negotiable, we didn’t know we were such effective hagglers either!

The van drove a circuitous route on a modern freeway around Athens, which is sprawled out in a basin surrounded by rounded mountains.   I kept looking out the window for the Acropolis hill, the fabled plateau upon which the Parthenon sits. However steep outcroppings of rock were strewn throughout the city so it was nearly impossible to immediately spot the Acropolis.   Eventually we exited the freeway and wound our way through ever narrower streets (sometimes barely one car wide) to the heart of the city and our hotel called Hotel Attolos.  As soon as I stepped out of the van and looked south, the Acropolis hill with the Parthenon was in full view, framed by the narrow street lined with 5 story buildings.

The hotel offered up a few firsts for me.  As we were checking in, we noticed a pitcher of alcohol at the front desk, with a sign saying it is free to all the guests, so of course we all had to try (even Mike, who is of legal age… in Greece.)  While it was clear like vodka, it was surprisingly syrupy and sweet.  We had two rooms for our group, and the front desk clerk gave us one room key card per room.  He told us that when we leave the hotel to sight-see, we weren’t supposed to take it with us, instead to leave it at the front desk. Once we made it to the rooms, one last surprise awaited me in the bathroom – a sign requesting us not to flush paper down the toilet.  Dan had told me about this, but I didn’t believe him until I saw the sign.

My mom, Mike, and I all stayed in the same room on the second floor, while Dan and Ann had a room on the 5th floor.  Their room was equipped with a private balcony that had an incredible view of the city and the Acropolis.  For us poor people without a balcony the hotel also had a bar on the 7th floor with an even better 360º view of the city.

After getting settled into the hotel we decided to walk around the city.  When planning the trip we weren’t sure how tired everyone would be, so any sights on Thursday we took as a bonus.  We walked toward the acropolis and came up to the busy Monastiraki square, one of the main squares in Athens, it’s name meaning “little monastery”.  There are two old churches, and one mosque butting up to the square the trace the religious history of the city through time. This square and its side streets are bursting with flee markets, shops, restaurants, and people.  Mike made a friend with someone trying to give him a bracelet.  This is a tourist scam, where if the swindler gets the bracelet on your wrist he will demand money and make a scene to guilt you into paying.  Luckily, Mike was able to shoo him off.

We then walked past the ruins of Hadrian’s library, built in 132 AD by the Romans; it was closed to people, but not stray cats.  From the outside of the fence, though, we could still get a nice view in. We continued walking up toward the acropolis, but couldn’t find our way around the mess of gates.  After all that walking, Micheal was starting to get hungry and tried to pull an orange off of one of the hundreds of orange trees that line the city streets.  While they were just out reach for Mike, my mom got a hold of one.  She peeled the bright and fresh looking orange, took one bite and made quite a face. Turns out that these oranges are much more sour than the ones we buy at a grocery store, and no one else wanted to try it, so she threw it away.  Later on during the vacation, we found out from a local that these orange trees were strictly for decorative purposes.

Wrapping up our first evening, we ate at a traditional looking restaurant.  We all enjoyed traditional Greek foods like souvlaki, pork chops, gyros, and stuffed grape leaves.  At the end of the meal, as an example of the warm Greek hospitality, our waiter offered us free shots and we toasted to the beginning of a wonderful vacation.

[Show slideshow]