I Travel.

I’ve to admit, I did research/plan on which cities or towns to go to, and even on transportations and accommodations, but on places to visit or things to do in the city or town itself, I did nada. I thought I’d wing it, and secretly hoped Alicia did some homework. Alas, Alicia was stuck in L.A. because of Hurricane Irene. Ugh... I didn’t even bring a guidebook.

I did know for sure I wanted to visit the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. I had to. It was a major deal in my art history course back in college. This is an art student’s dream. Mine, at least. So, I googled to see what’s nearby the Acropolis to fill up the rest of my day, and I found an awesome one page simple guide. Perfect. Jotted down some notes, and off I went.

I left the hotel around 11 a.m., and made my way to The Acropolis. It was 87˚F with occasional cooling breeze, which I embraced. (Living in San Francisco, I'm occasionally hot weather deprived.) Although the Acropolis looked far and high on top of the hill, it really wasn’t hard to get to. The walk took more or less 30 minutes with a few stops. On the awesome one page simple guide, it recommends women not to wear high heels when walking up the slippery hill. Seriously? We women do that? But no kidding on the slippery part. The rock pavement is old, and certain parts have become very smooth over the course of time, and when you’re not a professional flip flop (or high heels) wearer like I am, going uphill can be tough.

The €12 ticket to the Acropolis also allows you to other major sites nearby, which includes Ancient Agora, Theatre Dionysos, Roman Agora, Kerameikos, Temple of Olympian Zeus, Hadrian’s Library. After the Acropolis, which, of course, was swamped with tourists, I made my way down.

Just a bit further down is the rock of Arios Pagos. (Dad, you’d have liked this!) —> Arios Pagos was where the Apostle Paul spoke to the Athenians, and later, his speech was carved on a metal plate, and hung on the rock. Now, this is where a flip flop wearer, myself included, should be cautious because the rock is slippery. But it’s worth the climb because the view is simply breathtaking. I found a spot to sit on, which had the view of the Acropolis on my right and the city of Athens on my left. (Picture below.) With the sun shinning and the wind blowing, it was definitely a 30 minutes zen like moment to cherish.

The Ancient Agora was my next stop, which is located to the Northwest of Acropolis. Unfortunately, when you purchase a ticket, they don’t include a printed map. I was told map signs can be found everywhere, which weren’t as convenient, but this method saves trees, so I was green and game. Now, here’s the tricky part. Not all buildings are intact, which kind of look like they are on the map, so you’ll get parts of them in ruins. For example, I went looking for Stoa of Zeus Eleutherios, and later realized all that remains is the foundation, tucked in between the remains of Temple of Apollo Patroos and Royal Stoa. Duh! After 5 hours in the sun, I was done. The time in Athens and San Francisco is the total opposite, so I was incredibly jet-lag. This was when having a nearby hotel came in handy.

Around 7ish p.m., I walked towards to Monastiraki. I checked out the flea market in the area, and most of the stores were closed by then. I didn’t feel I miss much as I've seen a lot of (flea) markets throughout my travels. But perhaps, if I've gotten there earlier, I could've looked to see if there are any hookah pipes, which are hot souvenir items. Peeps love them! They look so cool as a display item on the coffee table. As I walked further on, it struck me how clean Athens is. There’s hardly any litter around. I did, however, notice Athens is covered in graffiti — walls, stores’ gates, bus shelters, signs, etc. (Picture Below.) Seems like, after the vandalization, nobody bothered to clean up, and just left the graffiti there. Or maybe it isn’t that they didn’t want to put in the money or work to clean up, maybe they see something I was starting to see as I walked further on — the graffiti adds character and color, and it'll grow on you. Or not.

On Saturday, August 27, 2011, I arrived around 8 pm or so in Athens after almost a day of non-stop flights and airports. Thank the Greek God Zeus! I was beginning to feel like Tom Hanks in the movie, The Terminal.

Everything went pretty smooth and fast from there. I didn’t know what to expect in Athens — like how safe the metro train and walk (from the station) to the hotel were after I got off that late at night. It turned out, the train was not only safe, it was also easy and convenient. And super duper new and clean. Even the stations. I was impressed.

The ride was about 40 minutes, so I took the advantage of not being plugged in (to my music) and be lost in my own world, but actually observing and listening to my surrounding. As the train went on further, I found myself immersed in a crowd of Europeans with different foreign languages all around. Ah… I didn’t need to be plugged in. That was already beautiful music to my ears.

I got off at Monastiraki Square, and followed the instruction the hotel gave me. The street was quiet as I dragged my big over packed duffel bag, along with my over packed backpack on my back. I refused help to where I was going from a street merchant because well, one, he looked suspicious, and two, I was determined to do this on my own. Plus, I was too worn out to want to talk to him. And somehow, not too worn out to be lost if it came to that. Fortunately, just like the instruction stated, the hotel was easy to find.

The hotel I’m at is Athens Center Square Hotel. It was especially easy to find because of the bright colorful lights, which I recognized from the photo on their website. I wasn’t sure of the lights when I first saw the photo online, but now, I think the idea of such lights is brilliant! I like this hotel a lot. Thank you, Alicia, my travel bud, for finding it. It’s too bad Alicia isn’t able to experience it. All because of Hurricane Irene. That Irene is such a troublemaker.

Athens Center Square Hotel is between small to medium in size, which is perfect to me. It accommodates different variety of guests who you could tell did their own research (like Alicia) to find this hotel. The guests here move at their own relaxed pace, and take the time to smile or smile back. The hotel itself has a modern feel to it, and everything is new and clean. Heck, the room even has a fridge and a safe. But where’s the hairdryer? Oh, it’s okay because the shower is awesome! Especially right after not being able to shower for almost 24 hours straight.