Simply Grace: Athens

So you want to go to Athens, Greece.....

* Note * These are from my experiences and what I believe, everyone experiences things differently, hoped I help!!!

Transportation :

DON'T be afraid to use buses and trains, they are easy to figure out and can be cheaper then a taxi.
DO make sure to have a fixed price and an address before riding in a taxi, the drivers might give you a scenic route to get more money, and having an address will help.
DO realize that your train and bus tickets are only good for an hour so use it widely.
DO stamp or validate your metro and bus card. This time stamps your card, and if you are caught either over time or not validated you will have a fine 60 X the amount you paid. So DON'T do it.

Eating Out and Food:

DO use Trip Advisor to find restaurants in your area, or look at the top rated eateries.

DO realize that most places to eat at aren't busy till later in the night. The reason why that it is because it gets too hot in the day, so people come out in the evening when it's cooler.

DO be mindful that dinner or having coffee is a few hours long. You don't eat and leave, you enjoy and relax.

DO try Greek coffee. It truly is different. ( I personally didn't like it.)

DO try something new, and ask the waiter or waitress what they like the best.

DO try the pistachio's or anything with pistachios. They are most likely from the local island Aegina ( which you can visit for 8 euro a person).

DO try Baklava ( It's a sweet dessert with layer upon layer of pastery.)

* Also, smoking is very common in Greece and in most restaurants you can smoke in.*

Places Grace Ate At:

Lithos- Esopou 17, Athens 105 54, Greece ( Try the grilled octupus and fried feta with honey)Alexander The Great - 3 Meg Alexandrou Street, Karaiskaki Square ( Try the Souvlaki)
Oinopoleion - Aishylou 12, Psirri, Athens. ( Try the moussaka and wine {All the wine in the restaurant comes from their own vineyards)

What To See and Where To Go:

To begin, I suggest visiting Athens in either spring or fall. In the summer it get's uncomfortably hot, so sightseeing will be more enjoyable with cooler weather, but even in the spring it was unbearable hot for me ( thank you german weather )

DO find things that you want to see before you travel.

DO the hop-off hop-on open bus tours ( you can see ; Plake, Acropolis and Acropolis museum, Temple of Zeus, National Gardens, Panathenaic Stadium, Parliament, National Library, Planetarium, and you will visit along the beach.)

DO skip that one day - three island cruise. You can find a better price going to other islands. ( ONLY 8 EURO per PERSON!!!)

DON'T get rid of your tickets from the Parthenon. You can visit other historical sites and get a free entrance with your tickets.
DO go or walk through the markets, but DON'T be a niave tourist. KEEP YOUR ITEMS CLOSE TO YOU AND KEEP YOUR BAGS IN FRONT OF YOU. The markets are a good place for pickpockets, so outsmart them and keep a safe eye.
DON'T buy something right away at the markets, instead, DO haggle with the people. You can usually drop a few euros ( and trust me, it maks a difference.

DO spend at least one day on the beaches or near the port. I found this area much nicer then the inner city, and DO try the seafood near the beach. In the summer, all of the seafood is fresh and from the area.
If you have kids I would recommend to DO the planetarium. (a.) it will help keep the kids interested, and (b.) The planetarium is the largest in the world.
DO walk into an Eastern Orthodox church. They truly are beautiful, and much different from any other you've seen.
DO watch the changing of the guards. As a military family we were very interested in it, and it truly was amazing. It happens every hour, and after you can take photos ( It's in front of the tomb of the unknown or infront of the Parliament building.)
DO look at purchasing Greek leather. A.) it's pretty cheap b.) but not a bad quality.

Things We Saw/ Things We Did : Parthenon, Acropolis, Agora, we visited the coast, Olympic Stadium, Archaeological Museum, changing of the guards, Temple of Zeus, the markets, island Hydra, island Aegina, island Porros, and Plaka.

Things Wish We Could Have Done - Planetarium, visit the beaches more, eat more baklava, walk around Plaka more, skip the cruise and visit Aegina, spend more time on island Hydra, and we wished we could have gone swimming.

Athens: Day 5 ( What Grace Did and Where Grace Ate)

So, day five was our final day ( * instert sad face*). After doing the bus tour, there was obviously things we wanted to see and things that we weren't able to make our way to do it. Each family member picked one thing they really wanted to see. My father wanted to go to the olympic stadium, I wanted to see the Archeology Museum, my mother wanted to visit the Agora, and my sister wanted to see the markets again. Lucky for us, everything was on the red route and not that far away from where we were starting at. The first thing we visited was the olympic stadium. It did cost money to go in, however students and young children go free ( like most attractions in Athens). You could climb all around the stadium, run on the track, stand on the podium, and see all of the past olympic torches (When I lived in England I got to see the 2012 torch run by my school). We spent around 45 minutes here, because honestly there wasn't much to see. However, it was interesting to see the stadium because the olympics and marathons began in Greece. After the stadium we visited the world famous Archeology Museum of Athens. It did cost money, however it wasn't expensive. If you enjoy looking at statues and historical things (like me) than this is the place to go. However, if you are like my family and get bored easily, you will probably only visit the first floor and be content (we only walked around the first floor). After the museum, we decided to just walk around the city ( Again, but truly walking around was a lot of fun). The whole trip we were being cautious because of the economic crisis in Greece right now, and tried to stay away from the university ( where they were protesting.) but we kept running into riot police. Which..... After being to a few soccer games ( BORUSSIA MOENCHENGLADBACH) I was pretty used to it ( just a little surprised with the tear gas). While we were wandering the city, we definately took a wrong turn and ended up in probably the area that we didn't belong in most. Lucky for us we found a restaurant that had great food *note* this was our lunch*, ( Souvlaki - Pita wrapped around meat, tzaziki, and french fries, Twas' the bomb diggity) and the owner gave us helpful directions. The restaurant is called Alexander The Great and the address is 3 Meg Alexandrou Street, Karaiskaki Square. I have to say, this was probably the third best food we had in Athens. SO EAT THERE. I will do an overall Athens summary later, however... back to the main point. On our way trying to get back to human civilization ( The streets were deserted!!) we came across the fish and meat market. Now, THIS was a sight to see. If you have a weak stomach or against animal cruelty you might not be a fan, but DEFINETLY visit this. And this is also a stop if you ride the hop-on hop-off bus. It was just interesting seeing all the knives and butchers blocks. We eventually made it back to Plaka, and my sister wanted to go back to the markets. The markets were really neat, especially what they were selling. It would be like a craft fair in the states ( A LOT OF JEWELRY), and they also had Greek Orthodox prayer beads.... Which I got. And the market is in the perfect spot, you could have a beautiful view of the Agora and Parthenon. We decided in the last 20 minutes of the Agora's opening times that we wanted to visit the Agora ( Use your ticket from the Parthenon to get in free). For it being a short trip, we definately would spend more time there. The Agora was almost perfectly intact, and there was surrounding ruins. Definetly worth the visit. As it being our "last supper" in Athens we decided to get fancy and pull out the trusty Trip Advisor to find a restaurant. Trip advisor is glorious because it gives you the ranks of hotels and restaurants, as well as reviews. So, another traveling holy grail. We decided to eat a place not far from where we were called Oinopoleion. The reviews on the restaurant said it was hard to find, however the good thing about Trip Advisor if you have it on your phone is that it will give a GPS and guide you. When we finally reached the restaurant we knew we picked a good one. It was truly in a small little area with around 7 other restaurants. The atmostphere was great, especially with the outside eating areas. And don't even get me started on the food. It was GOOD. AMAZING. *Insert every other mainstream word to describe something you like*. I'll post pictures of the food below. And I forgot to mention the restaurant's address ( Aishylou 12, Psirri, Athens. ) and there is also a website (ww.oinoploeio.gr). As the night came to and end, we decided to do a final tour/ detour to where the cabs were. We definately enjoyed our vacation and would love to see Greece again. But maybe a different area. I will do a summary of do's and don'ts on traveling here, which will be posted later. * insert happy face* :)

*Culture Alert* - Forgot the mention, but at diner don't order dessert because most restaurants will give you one for free.