Hey guys, since I last checked in Elliot and I made the 3 hour trek from Lamia to Athens. Before setting out from Lamia, we lucked into finding a cafe where I had the best breakfast I’ve had on my whole trip!

On the way to Athens, we stopped by the battlefield of Thermopylae which is where the battle from the movie “300” took place. About 1000 Greeks held off over a million Persians for several days in the this tiny corridor between the mountains and the sea for several days, but were eventually overrun by the superior force. There wasn’t much to see there besides a monument, but it was an easy and interesting stop nonetheless.

After visiting the battle site, it was about 2 hours to get to Athens. We headed straight for Mt. Lycabettus, where I had read we could get some great views out over the city. Also, we had plans to meet with my buddy Tom from Leeds (who I met in Croatia last month), and I knew there was a restaurant up there where we could get WiFi and try to get in touch with him. The traffic was surprisingly light, and we really enjoyed the views from the top of Lycabettus.

At the restaurant on Lycabettus, we were able to get in touch with Tom, who was sitting down by the Acropolis and waiting for us to go in. He sent me his GPS location and we found him after a 15 minute ride across town. We all wanted to go inside the Acropolis, but after finding out that entry was 20 Euros a piece, we decided we didn’t need to see it that bad. There was brief consideration of hopping the fence and sneaking in, but wiser heads ultimately prevailed. Not worth 20 Euros or a possible international incident to see a pile of rocks (although a very significant pile of rocks) 😂

After deciding against the Acropolis, we drove over to get the car closer to where Elliot’s hostel was located and look for a suitable overnight parking spot. I had already decided that I was going to sleep in the car overnight since I had to get up fairly early to get Vickie from the airport anyways and knew we’d be going to our hotel after her arrival where I would be able to get cleaned up. I really don’t mind sleeping in the car from time to time to save a few bucks! We found a spot very close to the hostel and then set out to do a little exploring around that neighborhood.

The first stop was the gate of Athena and the ruins of the Roman Forum. Again, 20 Euros to enter, so we were happy to see them from a distance.

After checking out the Forum, we walked over to the tomb of the unknown soldier to watch the changing of the guard. It was interesting to watch the closely choreographed routine of the guards there.

After watching the guard changing, we headed over to get a little food in us, and wound up settling on some Greek fast food. I went with the chicken gyros and enjoyed it quite a bit!

After dinner, we went back to Elliot’s hostel and proceeded to get some drinks in us! I really enjoyed hanging out with these two guys. Tom is off to an island today and soon back to England, so there’s no telling when our paths will cross again – but hopefully before too long!

After parting ways with the fellas for the evening, I passed out in the car for a few hours until it was time to get up and head to the airport to get my sister in law Vickie. It was a bit of a rough morning to say the least. But I bounced back pretty quickly after some water and a coffee, and made it there right on time to pick her up even though she landed about an hour early. It was great to see her, and I decided to take her straight to Mt. Lycabettus to get the view that Elliot and I had yesterday. She enjoyed that, but was feeling pretty tired from all the traveling, so we just headed straight to the hotel she had booked after the mountain. A happy surprise was that this hotel has a rooftop pool, which I’m about to hop into myself!

I don’t think there is too much on the agenda today other than relaxing and preparing for the 6 hour drive tomorrow to Thessaloniki, which is the second biggest city in Greece and reputed to be one of the best party cities in the world. We will be there Friday and Saturday nights before heading back towards Athens on Sunday with a stop in the Pelion Peninsula in between for a couple of nights. Saturday is Vickie’s 50th birthday, so we are planning on doing it right!

That’s all the news for today, so I’ll talk to you guys again soon!