June 1, Athens: Storm Troopers and Liquor Rainbows

Last day of our vacation, last day in Athens. A fruit-filled tree outside of our apartment balcony. Also, our neighbors in the apartments across the street hung out their canary cage every day. So we woke up every morning to beautiful singing.



We stopped at Coffee Right to get our breakfast pies.



And I got a frappe. This chain felt like the Dunkin' Donuts of Athens. Which is fine by me, especially coming from DD deprived L.A. Look at that unnatural froth going on.



And then, the Temple of Zeus. My favorite temple of the trip. Here is the entryway.







With the Acropolis in the background. I'm going to geek out for a second. Something about the Temple of Zeus reminds me of the Imperial Walkers from "The Empire Strikes Back." Do you see it? Yeah, I'm probably crazy.





So massive. With some people for scale.



Acropolis in the background.



Fallen column among yellow flowers.



Then across the street to the National Gardens, where surrounded by trees and shade and birdsong you have no idea you're in a city center.





Then up and across another street to the Olympic Stadium, where the first modern Olympics were held in 1896.



For 3 euros, you can go inside, wander around and take your place on the medal stand.



We thought the view from the outside was good enough, so we passed.



Walked back to Plaka and had lunch at Scholarhio.



For a set price of 28 euros for two people, you pick five dishes from a massive tray, accompanied by bread, water, and wine. It's a lot of food and a good deal.



And a lovely terrace.



After lunch, a drink at Bretto's, the most colorful bar in town. Their own distilled liquors stacked to the ceiling.





I ordered a glass of wine. Hubs had a Rakonelo, which was a sugary, super-drinkable rendition of Raki. Dessert in a glass.



2 drinks = 8.50 euros.

After the drinks, and the wine at lunch, I was a little tipsy. I've never done a museum buzzed before, but there's a first for everything. We visited the Acropolis museum a little less than sober. The statues from the Acropolis were beautiful. Most of them were built for what we would call tithing; commissioned statues paid for by simple citizens to honor the gods. I had no idea the concept of tithing went back so far.

One of the craziest things about the Acropolis is that at one point in history, some British dude came and stole a large number of statues and took them back to England. Crazier still, even though that thievery has been acknowledged, the statues are still in a London museum. It just seems wrong.

The museum is definitely worth a visit, especially at 5 euros per person.



We went back to the hotel and chilled for a bit before our last meal of the trip. We decided to keep it simple and went back to Kafamaki Bar where we were able to sit at a candlelit table outside on a gorgeous spring evening, perfect for people and dog watching.

The food was just as good as our first visit. We shared grilled halumi cheese and their delicious grilled bread.



And pork and chicken skewers. I had a Fix dark. An easy, fuss-free, delicious last meal.



Topped off with a piece of chocolate pie, which is actually chocolate cake.



Can such an epic vacation really end on a picture of chocolate cake? Yes. Yes, it can.