Written by: the Warrior

The first time I travelled to Europe in the early 2000’s, I was within a stone’s throw to Greece. But since this was before the advent of the internet, it seemed so hard and complicated at the time to sort out travel and ferry schedules from western Europe, that I ended up not going.

Until I finally visited during the summer of 2023, the Greece in my mind was a mishmash of what little I knew of it: ancient ruins, white sandy beaches, clear azure water, white houses, amazing food, mythology, and the birth place of democracy, philosophy, mathematics, science and medicine.

The Greece I actually visited, was all of that, and more.

Before coming to Greece, I borrowed a bunch of books from the library for the Dragon and the Tiger Princess to learn about Greece, like the Percy Jackson series, and Zeus the Mighty series, because I know they don’t get excited over archaeological sites. No matter how important these sites might have been for humanity and civilization. My family tend to dwell on the fact that all they see is a pile of rocks and columns on the ground. And of course, Greece has a lot of these.

I decided that we can’t visit Greece and not visit any sites, but perhaps we can be a little more selective as to which ones we visit.

Since Athens is the gateway to Greece, we could not miss out on its most famous archeological site, the Acropolis, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1987 (20€ entrance fee).

According to UNESCO, “The Acropolis of Athens is the most striking and complete ancient Greek monumental complex still existing in our times… Strong fortification walls have surrounded the summit of the Acropolis for more than 3,300 years.”

We were warned by many people that there was no shade in the Acropolis, and it was best to get there first thing in the morning or very late in the evening.

We took the subway in the morning (to the Acropolis metro stop) and ended up at the less crowded southeast entrance, which required us to circumnavigate the fortification walls around the Acropolis in order to get to the main attractions. This turned out to be a lot less crowded than the main entrance, which was literally packed shoulder to shoulder by the time we got there at around 9am. And we got to visit the Theatre of Dionysos en route.

The Acropolis is built on a hill (156m) that can be seen from almost anywhere in Athens and is comprised of multiple temples and structures in an area of approximately 170m by 350m.

One of the structures is the very famous Parthenon, a Doric temple dedicated to the Patron Goddess of the city, and currently under construction. In fact, this is probably the structure most people associate the Acropolis with.

Erechtheion, is another structure. Legend has it that this is where Poseidon and Athena competed to be the Patron of Athens. (Spoiler alert: Athena won by gifting Athens with an olive tree).

This is the Porch of the Caryatids.

To better appreciate the Acropolis, it is highly recommended to visit the ultra modern Acropolis Museum (15€ entrance fee), a ten minute walk from the site, and an absolute sanctuary when it’s +40C outside.

The inside of the museum tells the history of the Acropolis, its incredible architectural feats, the looting of its treasures, and the demand for them to be returned.

The outside of the museum tells the story that treasures are still being uncovered, even today.

We visited one more paid site in Athens, the Ancient Agora of Athens (10€ entrance fee).

Agora means meeting place, so even though this was not of UNESCO world heritage fame, it was a very significant hub for Athens during its hay day. And like the Acropolis, it’s a complex consisting of many buildings, columns and structures.

The most famous is the Stoa of Attalos, a shopping complex then, a museum now.

The Temple of Hephaistos is located across the complex from the Stoa, a well preserved Doric temple dedicated to the patron god of metal working.

And in between the two, are columns, columns and more columns.

Along with Socrates… since he spoke here (Though a little “confused” as to why Confucius is here).

For a city that has been around as long as Athens, history in the form of columns are everywhere. Some are in enclosed spaces commanding a price of admissions, like the Acropolis, the Ancient Agora of Athens, and the Temple of Olympian Zeus (photo below).

And some are simply found on the side of a hill…

Or on the side walk…

And this fan favourite freebie. Hadrian’s Arch, a 5 minute walk from the Acropolis Museum, a gift to the Roman Emperor in the 131/132 AD, and a gift to the Instagram generation of today.