Day two of our Greek odyssey and this time we're exploring the birthplace of democracy – Athens.

The Classic period of Greece was between 500 and 300 BC . It was a time of great creativity and ingenuity, with accomplishments in art, literature, politics and architecture proving the foundation for modern civilisation. Scattered across Athens are reminders of this golden age.

The most prominent of which are the ruins on the Acropolis – the Parthenon, Erectheion and the Temple of Athena Nike. The Acropolis dominates the Athenian skyline and is a good reference point for navigating the small, winding streets that make up the Plaka.

Since the port is about 30 minutes away from Athens, we signed up for the ships 'Athens on your own’ tour. Like the one we did in KL, this one consisted of being driven to the town centre, getting a short introduction to the area, being given a map and told when/where to meet.

After being given the go ahead from the tour guide we headed to the entrance to the Acropolis. We wanted to avoid spending too much time in the midday Athenian sun, so we hit the most exposed area first. Unfortunately hundreds of people had the exact same plan as us. A dead give away should have been the number of people lining up to enter park gates at the same time as us – while there were a lot of people around, it is easier for two people to discreetly pop in front of other people while they stare at a piece of marble or fiddle with their tour head set.

Speaking of marble, so many people visit the area, that the marble that lines the ground of the Acropolis has been polished smooth by the friction from people’s shoes . While it looks quite impressive, the slippery nature of the now super smooth marble did cause a couple of people (including us) to have a little bit of a slip.

The Parthenon is a white marble Doric temple dedicated to Athena, Goddess of Wisdom. Construction began in 447 BC and continued until 438 BC. So that the structure appears to be standing up straight for people viewing it from the bottom of the Acropolis, it was actually constructed with a slight curve to it. That said it still looked pretty straight to me while looking at it up close. The columns in the Parthenon are bulky with the top of the column being plain.

The temple of Nike, a Ionic temple (i.e. the columns are slender and the top of them are also plan) is located just across from the Parthenon. On one side of the structure there are a couple lovely carved statues.

One of the more overlooked things at the top of the Acropolis is a smallish olive tree that seems to be standing in the middle of nowhere . Legend has it that Athena and Poseidon were in a competition to see who would rule Athens. Poseidon gave the city water but Athena gave them the olive tree. It is believed that this particular tree an offshoot of original tree provided by Athena.

After wandering down the southern slope of the park and looking a small amphitheatre and a few more ruins, we decided to board the green hop off hop on train. The train makes its way around the streets that surround the Acropolis and through the area that is the Plaka. While not the best tour in the world, it did provide us with a chance to see some of the sites while resting our feet. From our carriage, we were able to get a photo of the Greek guards of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier (as it was Sunday, they were wearing their traditional costumes. The shoes with the pom poms weight 3kg each), the Parliament Building, Hadrian’s Library and the reconstruction of the original agora. Once we had completed our tour it was time to find some lunch .

Having seen a few options from the train, we headed to the Plaka. It didn’t take long to find somewhere that seemed reasonably priced and that offered free Wi-Fi. Having learnt our lesson from yesterday, we decided to share dishes and went for a Greek salad, fried squids (which was a mix of baby octopus and calamari) and fried cheese (which was a mix between Haloumi and string cheese).

After lunch we continued our walk through the Plaka – a couple of shops were entered and purchases made. Mum also bought a small bottle of Ouzo for some people we know from the ship who were unable to get off today.

On our walk through the plaka we also came across a small spa that specialised in fish pedicures – you know where the little fish nibble at your feet. As we were a little sore in the foot area, we decided to give it a go and proceeded to hand over the relevant number of Euros. After washing and preparing our feet for the fish, it was time for them to start eating . The sensation was neither pleasant nor unpleasant, it felt like a mini spa bath and every so often would get to a place on your foot where it it would tickle or feel icky so you’d flinch and the fish would have to start all over again. Overall it felt weird but we both left with smooth, refreshed feet.

After meeting up with a tour group bus, we took the short trip back to the port of Piraeus where the cruise ships docked.

Fun fact:
In 2004 when Greece held the Olympics, some of the events used a stadium that had originally been used back in 1896 when they hosted the first modern Olympics.