So, I’m a bit of a planner. For my trip in November, I had most days planned out very specifically. I tried to leave enough room for unforeseen delays, but in my first overseas trip in a decade, I wanted to see as much as I could.

The joy in all this was that, as I was traveling alone, there was no one to object to my itinerary. Athens was probably the most plotted day, and I am very proud that I executed it almost to the letter.

Itinerary (as originally written)

700 – Arrive in Port

730 – Get off the Boat. Walk to Metro stop. (30 mins if from Terminal B. 20 from Terminal A.  Just walk around the quay)

800 – Take Metro Line 1 (Green line) to Downtown. Get off at Monastiraki

820 – Hadrian’s Library (get an Acropolis combo-ticket for 30 Euros)

850 – Tower of the Winds (walk by on the outside)

900 – Roman Forum

920 – Walk through the Anafiotika to get to the Tourist Office

930 – Walk to the Temple of Olympian Zeus

1015 – Hadrian’s Arch

1045 – Take Metro Red Line from Acopoli to Omonoia, and walk from there to the Archaeological Museum

1100 – Archaeological Museum

1215 – Metro Red Line from Omonoia to Acropoli

1230 – Areopagos

1300 – Acropolis (scheduled to close at 1500)

1520 – Acropolis Museum

1800 – Take Taxi back to terminal

1830 – All Abord

1900 – Departure

This was ambitious, but it was possible to do largely because I didn’t have to coordinate with anyone at any time. I didn’t stick to it exactly, however. I made a few amendments, and picked up a bit of time. In fact, I was off track shortly after getting off the boat.

It was pretty clear when I debarked that I was at the absolute end of the port. I walked just far enough to where the cabs had dropped their prices by 50% before picking one up. I took it to the Piraeus train station, where I picked up a Green Line to the minute on schedule.

I hopped off the train a bit earlier than I expected. A little homesick, I picked up a latte at a Starbucks, and then walked around the neighborhood a bit. It took me a little while to figure out which gate into Hadrian’s library was the one that I wanted, but I walked around the perimeter until one opened. It did not open at the time I had found online, by the way. And that wasn’t the only time this trip that happened. But I got in!

I really liked walking around here. There were cats *everywhere*. And the information placards were really informative as well. When I was done, I walked out, and started walking towards the Tower of the Winds. I didn’t go into the Roman Forums. Rather, I walked around them on the hill above, getting a really good view down below. From there, I traced a path under the Acropolis through Anafiotika. This was an amazing walk with indescribable views of Athens.

I walked by Hadrian’s Arch, took a couple of photos, and kept walking to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. The Temple was astounding, but there wasn’t much to contemplate. I did not spend as much time here as I had anticipated, and I picked up a small amount of time here. When I was done, I caught the subway up to the Archaeological Museum.

There was a small walk from the Omonoia station to the Museum. It felt like a bit of seeing some of the less-touristy Athens. At one of the buildings along the way, there was a large communist gathering. I try to look fairly local and non-touristy when I travel, and I hope that the attempts to speak to me in Greek and hand me Greek political pamphlets was evidence of my success.

I continued on, and reached the Archaeological Museum. It was extremely large, and well-curated. Because I was ahead of schedule, I spent closer to an hour and a half here, before walking back and taking the metro back to where I had picked it up.

I had intended to go to the Areopagos first, but I walked into the first gate to the acropolis I found. I took the southern walk up, going by the theatre. At the top of the acropolis, I mostly did a tour around in a counter-clockwise fashion. I saw everything I had studied in undergrad, and soaked it up. I had finally made it up here!

On the way back down, I found the Areopagos. It was pretty crowded, but I took a quick stroll around it. There were some amazing views in some of the places. I was ahead of schedule at this point (again). I had been getting rather warm in the sun, and moved pretty quickly around. I also did not spend as much time up on the acropolis as I may have done if I had been in Athens for more than a single day. But I really wanted to get to the Acropolis Museum to see the caryatids.

The Acropolis Museum was a lot more sparsely populated than the Archaeological Museum. There were simply a lot fewer items for examination. I made my way through it pretty quickly, but got to spend time with my beloved Caryatids. If I were to do this again, I would plan for a lot less time at the Acropolis Museum and a lot more at the Archaeological Museum. I’d probably also spend more time at the Greek Forum. This was exciting, as I got a chance to visit the temple of Birmingham’s patron god Vulcan (Hephaestus).

Other than the day that I biked to Chenonceau, this was the most active day of my vacation.

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