Athens

We made it to Athens and I gotta admit, I was nervous to be here because of the Greek financial crisis and I thought it would probably be the worst here.  However, nothing could be further from the truth.  Athens is absolutely amazing!  We are loving every minute!  It's vibrant, fun and totally safe.  The people are super friendly and seem glad that we're here.  We are having the best time.

We got here a couple days ago and checked into our hostel in the touristy Plaka neighborhood.

Our hostel is one of my favorites; the staff are so nice, they serve a great breakfast, the rooms are really spacious and you walk out the door and anything you could want to do or see is right in front of you:

That's literally right outside our hostel.  When we don't have transportation and we're staying in a place only for a few days, I'm totally down to be in a tourist neighborhood.  It might mean prices are a bit higher, but it also means you're close to all the good stuff (The Acropolis is a 15 minute walk away).

I did a bus tour of Athens and Piraeus, just so I could hit all the highlights.

Temple of Zeus:

Acropolis (we didn't go in until the next day):

A few different museums:

Stadiums from the 2004 Olympics:

The port is the largest in The Mediterranean.  I've never seen so many cruise ships in one place, I'm guessing there were about 20:

Piraeus:

Back in Athens, shopping areas:

Meat/fish market:

Monastiraki Square:

You can see The Acropolis up above on the mountain:

Isn't the city just incredible?  If I didn't know about the financial crisis and impending doom they speak of in the news constantly, I would never have found out from being here.  I'm so beyond sad to leave Greece (and Europe, in general).  I'm going to go drown my sorrows in a gyro.