Week 41: Spain and Greece

We have just spent a little over a week doing Madrid, Spain and Athens, Greece justice! I’m getting a little off with the week count with this, but I wanted to write about these amazing cities together in the same post. So here it goes!

After a pretty full day and night of travel, moving Cusco-Lima-Bogota-Madrid, we arrived in the city! We had two and a half days to explore Madrid, so we got right to it. After we felt like we had seen a good chunk of the city, we had another day of travel to get over to Athens, where we spent three and a half days exploring. 

Highlights from Madrid and Athens:

Streets and squares:both cities are easily explored on foot, and were made especially pleasant with plenty of pedestrian-only streets. These streets lead to squares, where we found beautiful fountains, impressive sculptures/statues, and street performers. The seating for cafes and restaurants spilled out into the streets as well, serving as the perfect location for gathering with friends and people watching. And of course, there was stunning architecture everywhere you looked (more on that below). Our favourite squares in Madrid were Playa Mayor and Puerta del Sol, and our favourite street for people watching was Gran Via. In Athens, we loved Omonia square, Monastiraki square, and Syntagma square.

Madrid

Athens

Museums:in Madrid, we attempted to visit Museo Nacional del Prado, but we were not willing to wait in the line that wrapped around two full walls of it. We did manage to visit Reina Sofia, however, which was filled with interesting art, including a few Picassos!

In Athens, we spent most of our first day exploring the National Archeological Museum. This building was filled with statues, pieces rescued from a shipwreck, grave markers, jewelry, and pottery. We learned a bit more about Greek gods, realizing we actually knew very little about them. Many items displayed were from the 7^thcentury B.C. and later, but they also had rooms of items dated 3200 B.C. and another room with items dated 6000 B.C.! What really put this into perspective for me was Will reminding me that the ruins we had just seen at Machu Picchu were from 600 years ago, and the items in this museum were 2000-5400 years older than that!

We also visited the Acropolis museum. Many items have been lost, stolen, or damaged, but it was incredible to see how they have recreated models of what it used to look like based on detailed drawings and descriptions of the site. It was also interesting to learn that the site was used as a church and a mosque in later years.  

Historical structures:in addition to the museums, we saw some other beautiful buildings and structures. We visited the Catedral de la Almudena, where we caught the marching band and horses parading between here and the Royal Palace. We also walked over to check out Puera de Alcala (a large arch). 

And then there was the Acropolis. We were among the first into the site in the morning, so we were able to beat the crowds. We wandered and marveled at the Parthenon, Temple of Zeus, Sanctuary of Aphrodite and Eros, Erechtheion, Pandroseion, Temple of Athena Nike, Propylaea, Theatre of Dionysus, Odeion of Herodes Atticus, Sanctuary of Asklepios, and St. Mary of the Cave. It really was a sight to see. Due to restoration efforts, big cranes and scaffolding made their way into most photos of the Parthenon, but it was pretty interesting to see how much work they have done over the years. We spent a couple hours walking around the top and along the path surrounding the site in order to take it all in. 

We really enjoyed getting up close to the Acropolis, but found that there were a few other places in the city that had pretty incredible views as well. We especially enjoyed seeing the site from Filapappou Hill, a rooftop café in Monastiraki square, and the rocky hill next to the site.

We also spent a couple days visiting the other historical sites in Athens...

Zeus’ Olympieon, with 15 columns still standing of the original 104 

Aristotle’s Lykeion, where he taught his classes while “strolling”

The Olympic Stadium, which hosted the first modern Olympics in 1896

Hadrian’s Library, complete with mosaic tiles that once covered the floor

The Roman Agora, with many standing columns, a water tower, and Hadrian’s gate

The Ancient Agora, where a few large buildings remaining and columns remain surprisingly in tact

Kerameikos, which featured an arch and a burial site outside, as well as a museum showcasing some items that were restored after being buried for hundreds of years

Athens also had numerous excavation sites displayed all around the city, which we would pass as we walked through the streets. 

Delicious food/drink:this could be a post all on it’s own! Both cities are filled with tasty treats, and we felt like it was impossible to go wrong when selecting food to try. We knew we couldn’t leave Madrid without having tapas, but we also tried their churros and chocolate (‘hot chocolate’ that was literally a mug of liquid chocolate). And ohhh, do they know how to make sangria! In Athens, we had our fill of falafels, kebabs, crepes, gyros, pitas, salads, souvlaki, and gelato. In addition to the many cafes and restaurants in both cities, bakeries filled the streets with sweet smells and drew us in with their mouth-watering displays.

Green spaces:since Madrid was quite busy, we loved escaping the crowds to walk through some of their parks. We especially enjoyed Retiro Park, a massive park filled with a seemingly endless number of pathways and gardens, a glass palace, and a large lake scattered with small paddleboats. We also enjoyed walking through the well-manicured Jardines de Sabatini. 

Blossoms:the beautiful blossoms in these cities literally stopped me in my tracks. The splashes of purple, pink, red, yellow, and orange were such a delightful treat. Their petals scattered across the walking streets, making them even more magical! Just up the road from our place in Athens, we found rows of orange trees too! Shops selling fresh cut flowers on many of the streets also brightened things up so much.

Markets and shops:as with most big cities, each of these places boasted some great shopping. All of the pedestrian streets were lined with shops, big and small. In Madrid, we experienced the very crowded Mercado San Miguel (food market) and the Sunday flea market in El Rastro, which filled a number of streets with great quality items. We even ventured to the 9^thfloor of the massive department store, El Cortes Ingles, where we were rewarded with an amazing view of the city and streets below. Madrid had plenty of small bookshops lining the streets, but it was in Athens that we were treated to Public, a multi-story bookstore with a great selection of English books and a café on the rooftop. 

Gorgeous weather:of course, this isn’t consistent, but we lucked out with having sunny days with perfect temperatures. We had a little sprinkle of rain one day to remind us what that’s like, but that was it! In addition to our dry walks around the city, we were able to enjoy hanging out in rooftop cafes and on the terrace at our place in Athens. 

On May 9, 2007, we got engaged in Venice, Italy. We had spent that trip exploring the ruins in Rome and Pompeii, walking the Cinque Terre trails, and roaming the cities of Venice and Florence, Eleven years later, it was fun to be in another European country, exploring different ruins and another city that has felt so special to us. 

Circa 2007!

Act of Kindness:The people we met in Athens were so friendly and helpful. Our AirBnB host, Mike, gave us detailed travel information, local tips, and a huge wall map for planning our days around the city. The café on our corner was run by a really friendly guy who joked around with us and gave us small fish, bread, and tomatoes to pair with our ouzo, a strong local drink. Each person here played a part in making us feel right at home!

As we head straight into Week 42, we set sail to have some adventures on a few Greek islands!