Family Travelogue: Athens, Greece/ Family Travelogue 03 June 2016

Sunday, 7 August 2016

Athens, Greece/ Family Travelogue 03 June 2016

Family trip in June 2015, our first stop was in Greece. Athens, Greece. How did we get there from Singapore? First, check out the view of the Parthenon, day and night, from our hotel in Athens.

view of the Acropolis on the rocky hill top from the city

night view of the Acropolis on the rocky hill top from the city

Parthenon is one of historical building in the Acropolis and is one of the world's greatest cultural monuments. It was a temple dedicated to the Goddess Athena, considered patron of the people in Athens, Greece. Parthenon was constructed in 447BC and the sculptures built-in are one of Greek art's known of .

Archaeological remains under the Acropolis Museum

We find Qatar airlines the cheapest comfortable to fly with. We booked our flight on 26 December 2015. I thought I got the best deal, But when I had checked the next few days, same timing as ours cost $500 less of our total airfares. [sad face :( ]

We did a lot of flying for this trip. We flew with Ryanair from Athens to Santorini. Initially, we were considering to cruise but we did not want to waste 8 hours in the ship. By air, took only 30mins plus waiting time at the Airport.

We had a stop-over at Doha and changed plane to Athens. Seven hours flight from Singapore to Doha and another seven hours from Doha to Athens. A bit stressful and messy though with security checking at Doha airport,, enough time to stretch after the long haul.

Check in at the Changi Airport, off to Athens via Doha

foot massage before boarding
at Changi Airport

Doha Airport

before take off from Doha to Athens

soon to touch down Athens

We took the Metro line 3 from Airport to Monastiraki. We stayed at Attalos hotel, few meters from Monastiraki station. There were signs to take you to the train station.from the Athens Airport. For current ticket prices and further info about the Metro trains, check out this site: Athens Airport Metro

Syntagma station is to reach first, from Airport station, next is the Monastiraki station. We did not go around Athens as we just stayed there for 2 days. We just walked around Acropolis, Monastiraki and Syntagma. Train took 45 minutes from airport to Monastiraki station.

Suburban train in Athens

view from Attalos Hotel rooftop

Attalos hotel rooftop

We freshened up a bit, changed and started our adventure in Athens.

Psiri neigborhood in Athens, Greece

It was past lunch time, cafes and restaurants in the area were not busy. This is the Psiri neighborhood. It was used to be the center of the leather district but was converted to a nightlife area. Few years later, Psiri is a place where you can go any time of the day as many cafes and restaurants have opened.

Kebab

Athens Flea Market

Behind was used to be an old Mosque. It is now the Museum of Greek Folk Arts.

Monastiraki Square, Athens, Greece

Church of the Virgin at the Monastiraki Square, Athens, Greece

Athens Flea Market

After we did a little shopping, leather shoes and magnets, we walked to the Acropolis passing the Plaka district.

Acropolis Museum, entrance

We had not bought data sim yet, we were going in here to check our messages and update FB, lol.

Archelogical site at the Acropolis Museum,
below the entrance

Acropolis Museum was built on top of ruins. The walkways are made of glass to allow visitors to view the ruins.

Archelological site, Acropolis Musuem

man dressed in clown, Acropolis, Athens

Acropolis Museum

going back and headed to Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square

Syntagma Square is a well known place, not only in Athens but in Greece. It is located in front of the Greek Parliament, once the Old Royal Palace in the 19th century.