We’re kicking off the ‘Deyerles Do Europe’ series with recapping our time in the first city we visited- Athens’ Greece! This is where our cruise left from, so we actually flew in a day early and spent the night in the city. It’s definitely a different experience when you are actually staying in the city as opposed to just hopping in and out from the cruise ship. We still didn’t have too much time in this historical city, but we did get to see the main sites and they were stunning!

Our time in Athens has convinced me that ancient civilizations had help from aliens when building their temples and buildings. I mean, I just can’t fathom how they built such grand and intricate structures in freaking B.C.! So crazy! Even when we were walking around the modern part of the city, you’d still see random ancient ruins scattered all over. It’s so surreal to think that they’re used to be a thriving ancient civilization is that same place. Definitely nothing like that in the states!

We landed in Athens in the afternoon and despite our best efforts, couldn’t manage to start sight seeing until after a little cat nap. That jet lag is something else! That and the fact that I can’t manage to sleep on airplanes didn’t help much either! After our nap, we made our way to The Plaka area for dinner and wandering. I don’t know how we would have managed had I not gotten data on my phone. Our GPS was our saving grace as we tried to navigate our way through the windy roads of The Plaka. We really enjoyed our first night of our European getaway just taking a leisurely stroll through the city on a warm night. Perfect way to kick things off! Oh you know, just some ancient ruins on the side of the road. No biggie. Could he look more like a tourist? I don’t think so.  The next morning we got an early start so we could hike to the top of the Acropolis, the main sight to see in Athens. This limestone plateau has been the heart of Athens since the beginning of recorded time (verbatim from our Rick Steves guide book). All along the hike up you could see various temples and theaters from ancient times. The view of the city was pretty breathtaking too!    At the top is the main show stopper of the Acropolis, the Parthenon! The finest temple in the ancient world, says Rick Steves. Completed nearly 2500 years ago! With the help of the aliens, of course. ;)    There were stray cats and dogs everywhere! An ancient temple ain’t a bad place for a nap! After a few hours of sight seeing, we climbed aboard our vessel for the rest of our trip, the Carnival Vista! Check out THIS POST to see all the fun we had onboard. In next weeks post, we’ll visit another ancient city in Turkey!