Athens: My First Greek Experience

My view from the restaurant area in the Astor Hotel, Athens. Photo taken by Diana Crofts-Pelayo.

Athens, the first stop on my journey abroad.  I really did not know exactly what to expect when I first landed in the airport.  Of course, I had always heard from a few friends and my boyfriend that Athens was pretty dirty when they went, but the beaches were to die for.  So once I got to Athens, my agenda was to get to the beach as soon as possible… but how?  I had to spend almost a week in this city with no costal contact?!?!?! Impossible! I knew that going to the beaches of Greece was not on the highest priority of our professors, but I wanted to go nonetheless.  But as our bus driver drove us around the city of Athens from the airport, my mentality completely changed.  I saw Athens for what it was, an enormous city, an ever-expanding city and a city trying to hassle with both problems. 

In the beginning, our group was going to be in Athens for nine days, but a miraculous luck fell over our group, we were going to be in Athens for only six days and in a suburb of Athens, Glyfada, for the three additional days.  I could not believe my luck, I was going to be ever-closer to the beach! But I will talk about Glyfada in a little bit.  Our professors believed that we were moved because of the protests going on in Athens in Syntagma Square, which was extremely close to our hotel.

First dinner in Athens.  The Acropolis in the background!

First meal in Athens.  Cheese pie, spinach pie, fried pepper, fried eggplant, dolmadaki and eggplant dip. Photo taken by Diana Crofts-Pelayo.

Main course: Chicken souvlaki. Photo taken by Diana Crofts-Pelayo.

The hotel in Athens, Hotel Astor, was perfectly situated in Athens.  It was near the Parliament building, Syntagma Square, the Plaka, and the Acropolis!  Oh the view of the Acropolis from the hotel was simply magnificent.  I would eat my early morning breakfasts with the view of the Acropolis as my backdrop, it was incredible how something I had seen on TV and in visitor guides was close to me at last! :)

The view from Hotel Astor in Athens. Parliament Building in the background. Photo taken by Diana Crofts-Pelayo.

The view from Hotel Astor in Athens. The city in the background. Photo taken by Diana Crofts-Pelayo.

The rooms and service at the hotel were, on the other hand, not as perfect as the view.  The hotel staff seemed to be upset and almost irritated by so many college students in their hotel, but my opinion on it was that they should be happy that we were checking into their hotel in the first place.  Also, the rooms were supposed to be “non-smoking,” which meant that on paper they were “non-smoking,” but in reality they were smoking only! ;)  I have planned to post another blog about hotels and rooms a little later.
As a group and individually, I did many things in Athens, and all thanks to our guide Roula Skoula and my two professors Joe Smith and Karey Sabol.  Honestly, Joe would push all of us to see all of the sights in Athens, and to take advantage of the time we had in Athens.

On top of Lykavittos Hill, Athens.

Athens was a dirty city, but it had its charm.  Honestly, seeing ancient ruins next to modern buildings was certainly a shock, but it was a beautiful contrast.  Seeing a city, and its layers of history and culture was very intriguing.  Athens was a great city to start off in when arriving in Greece because it showed to me a little bit of what each region in the country has to offer.