Parthenon in Athens, Greece (October 10, 2025)
Yay, getting up early for more ancient stuff!!!
To be fair, the Parthenon in Athens is one of the most spectacular sights you’ll see of ancient Greece. As you’ve read before in this blog, no pictures will do it justice — only give you a feel for the towering structure.
“First look” when you enter the space before the Parthenon in awe
As you approach, the first thing you notice is how immense and towering this structure actually is. Sure, you can see it from many parts of Athens and it’s impressive from afar. But then, you get up close it feel the intended reverence standing under this magnificent structure.
Bill, Elena and Violet standing in front of the Parthenon in Athens
What was enjoyable was to witness Violet’s mouth drop as she took in this incredible sight. Elena and I celebrated our wedding anniversary in this exact spot two years ago (September 3, 2023) and I can tell you, seeing it again in no way felt redundant. It was just as amazing the second time around.
And it’s not just the Parthenon that’s amazing to witness. On your way up the steps, you witness the incredible theater that is still used for performances today, along with the template to Nike and the four ladies as part of another temple of Athena (known as Erechtheion) who delivered the olive tree to the people of Athens to become the protector of their city (beating out Poseidon) in the Greek mythology.
So many wonderful ruins to take in, take pictures of, admire and be with. As Elena said, “I can feel the ancients here.” It’s true. It’s easy to imagine the ancient Greeks walking among us in this incredible place.
After taking it all in, Violet was beat so she went back to the hotel for some recovery time. I didn’t blame her. We had a full travel day yesterday and because of the limited travel times, we ended up doing a lot more waiting around than actually travelling.
While Violet when back to the hotel, Elena and I met up with Evi (Evthokia Kathrepti) who lives here locally and offered to be our tour guide for the day. What I love is the combination of local side streets and major attractions that she took us to. So while we had the opportunity to witness the changing of guards and get a few pictures of the university and in front of the gorgeous looking library, we also wandered around Greece’s version of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter. At this time, the alley is made up of all sorts of Halloween decorations.
Biil and Evi in front of Greece’s Diagon Alley with Halloween Deco
From there, we checked out the local Greek market and tried a few different local treats that Evi told me the names of, but I failed to write down. Luckily, there’s Google Images. I believe the first one was called pasteli, which is a honey and sesame bar with tahini. I’d never had that one before. I believe the other was Greek macedonian halva with peanuts, which was also amazing.
Then we sat down for a spinach pie. Yes, both Elena and I had enjoyed this back home in NY, but this was one of the best we’d ever had. Greek food is quite possibly the best in the world. I know I have not yet been to Thailand and I hear that food is amazing, but it will have to topple our Greek food experiences which, so far, are at the top of our list.
And after exploring the streets of Athens, Elena took a break back at the hotel room while Evi treated me to an incredible Souvlaki restaurant where I truly had the best Greek Souvlaki I’ve ever had. Yes, I know, I’m here in Athens and there are several biases including a “recency bias”, “location bias”, and enjoying wonderful conversation with a friend (i.e. “friendship bias”) but I’ll take them all. Great food, great weather, great atmosphere, great people, and the list of gratitude keeps going and going. It was a wonderful day.
Lastly, Evi and I walked back to my hotel together. She hadn’t seen this part of Athens as it’s been continuously updated and developed since the last time she’d been in this part of town. It was nice that there was at least something I could expose her to while I’m here. I was able to get Violet to pop down for one final group picture.
One last group shot before ending the day together (now with Violet)
All in all, a wonderful first day in Athens. Tomorrow we head out on our cruise ship and see several more islands and enjoy our time together exploring many of the Greek islands (as well as a brief stop in Turkey). More to come.
