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Athens (Part 6): The Last Day

December 17, 2023

I felt like I didn’t really understand Athens yet, like I’ve walked the streets and tried the food but I didn’t really understand the history. Who are the modern Greek people and what have they been through? So I decided to go to the Athens War Museum and the National Historical Museum. I wanted to go to the National Archaelogical Museum also if I had time, it was a Sunday and all 3 museums close early on Sundays. I didn’t have anything to worry about. I went to the war museum and was underwhelmed. Same with the National Historical Museum but at least it was in a cool area, close to Syntagma Square and near the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. I then took the metro to the National Archaelogical Museum and queued for a ticket. The National Archaelogical Museum was impressive, with great sculptures from 200-300 BC. It really displayed the greatness of Athens, an incredible society 2000 years ago. And then I went here: https://maps.app.goo.gl/GT9bjjQ5kNskUnaz7?g_st=ic , and got a mo...

Athens (Part 5): Lycabettus Hill

December 16, 2023

View from outside the National Gallery. At the top floor of the National Gallery, there’s a cafe with a view that’s worth checking out. But let’s walk to Lycabettus Hill. Looking back at the National Gallery. Walk to the hill, there’s a ticket shop with a cafe across from it. Get a one-way ticket from the ticket computer. Get a spinach pie and a coffee if the next tram is in half a hour. Look at the hill, take pictures, it’s beautiful. Then walk down, get some tapas, or just go home. While I was at the gift section of the National Gallery, I picked up a Michelin guide and they had one restaurant in the cheap department. It was an amazing restaurant though. Look at these fries: https://10best.usatoday.com/destinations/greece/athens/kolonaki/restaurants/oikeio/ I got the rabbit. In a chic neighborhood that you could walk back from. They had a weekend menu full of interesting items. Rabbit tastes like chicken!

Athens (Part 4): Basil and Elise

December 16, 2023

I woke up and decided to go to Westwood LA restaurant. Restaurant LA, or Westwood LA I mean, is named after the Westwood district of LA, where UCLA is located by. This walk is just a short distance down the main street. This is called the American omelette. Eggs, ham, onions, bacon. Topped with barbecue sauce. A little too much pork fat. May have contributed to minor food poisoning. Then I took the bus to the Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation. It’s a private art museum. €10 for admission, €5 for special collection. Same as the National Gallery of Greece, which I walked to afterwards.

Athens (Part 3): The Acropolis

December 16, 2023

I woke up a little late today. I went to this place, Fred’s, which opens at 9, and I walked there. It was a nice walk, in the direction of the nearest tram station, about 15 minutes. I was seated outside and served by a nice young man. I knew what I was going to order: the shakshuka. Shakshuka is an Israeli breakfast dish consisting of tomatoes, eggs, cheese. It was my first time having this dish, which was accompanied by a few pieces of Fred’s homemade bread. The whole meal was pretty much perfect. Then I took the tram to the Acropolis. I had to walk to the tram station, wait 30 minutes (the tram must have been delayed), and I had to walk a slight distance to the front of the acropolis. At the “front”, there was a bus parking lot, a person dressed as an Athenian warrior (I presume), and hills and trails to climb. The first trail led me to the bottom of the ancient Roman amphitheater. The next trail led me to the top of it. I wasn’t at the top yet. Or was I? I can’t remember. But I did...