Europe Day Forty Eight - The Greek Forum

In the morning we went back to the same restaurant again (it was a really good restaurant) and headed to the Greek Forum. The Greek Forum had a lot of temples, gardens, olive trees, and fountains. It was where the public square used to be where they had meetings and the marketplace. We had seen forums in Rome and Pompeii too.

About halfway through Mom, Dad, and Sage wanted to see the rest and let us walk the ten minutes back to the apartment so that we could rest a bit before the overnight ferry to Crete. Once Mom, Dad, and Sage got back they had some dinner for us.We all packed our bags and got ready to go to the ferry. Once we got there we boarded the ferry and found our rooms. We separated into the two rooms and went to bed shortly after leaving Athens.

Total miles walked: 2.9 miles

Total subways: 1

Total ferries: 1 overnight

Europe Day Forty Six and Forty Seven - The Acropolis

When morning came around we left Rome and took a flight to Greece. We landed in Athens, the capitol of Greece and took a twenty minute taxi ride to our Air BnB. Once we got in the apartment we realized that it wasn't the one we had ordered online, so we talked to the property manager and they had given us the the wrong apartment. (They had quite a few.) But they said they would let us stay in the one we were already in as it was their mistake. It turned out well because it was actually a nice one.

After dropping of our stuff we headed out to the Plaka which is the oldest section of Athens and went right by the Acropolis. It was a two minute walk and we were on the cobblestone street (no cars though) where they sold a ton of different merchandise like necklaces, trinkets, carving, and much more. We strolled down the market looking for a place to have lunch and we found a nice outdoor restaurant with comfy wicker chairs and ordered some crepes. It took awhile but they were delicious. After we finished our meal we decided to walk up to the Acropolis.

After we finished our meal we decided to walk up to the Acropolis. Unfortunately it was closing within 10 minutes (we had had a really late lunch after our travel day) so they wouldn't let us in. We walked around a little more and then headed back to our apartment and watched a movie, something we hadn't done in a very long time. Mom and Dad and Sage went to grab some groceries down the street and brought back dinner. After such an early start we headed for bed before too long.

In the morning we went back to the restaurant and got some banana cinnamon pancakes with honey for breakfast then we headed to the The Acropolis Museum.

Inside the Museum there were Greek statues of Minotaurs, Centaurs, and the Greek Gods. We also saw the Caryatid Statues - the famous Statues that held up an ancient temple that has now fallen. After we saw all of the statues we went up to the top layer of the Museum and watched the projected video of how the Acropolis was built and how for every Empire that overtook it it was changed.

After we watched the video we headed to the Acropolis Mountain to hike our way up. On the way we stopped by a Amphitheater for a few minutes before continuing up the mountain. Once we reached the top we went through the entrance to the Acropolis.

We walked through and finally saw the Acropolis. It was a lot bigger than I thought it was and it's columns reached up to the sky.

We checked out the base and took some pictures but it was hard to keep the giant cranes and scaffolding out of the pictures. It turns out that the Acropolis was currently under restoration to put it back to it's original state. After checking out the Acropolis we went to see the view from the point. At the top of the mountain we could see almost all of Athens from where we were. Once we all had time to look around the mountain we decided to go down and head into the city more.

We walked past some more ruins and found a nice place for dinner in the city. Almost everywhere was booked so we had to wait a while for a seat but the food was nice. After that we went back to the apartment and went to bed.

Total planes: 1

Total taxis: 1

Total miles walked: 7.9 miles

Europe Day Forty Five - 150 Flavors

When we woke up we realized it was our last day in Rome. We needed an easy day and although we wanted to see the aquaducts they were too far away so we took the morning off and after lunch we set course for the gelato shop that has one hundred and fifty flavors. We got a little lost on the way and it took a good half an hour to get there but when we did we were amazed by just how many different flavours they had.

We all picked out four flavors for the first time ever. My favourite one was Orange Chocolate. It was really good. After we all finished our cones we went to the Trevi Fountain again to see the turquoise waters before we left.

We didn't go up to the front rim but we still got a good few from the back. Once we all got our last look at the Trevi we started to head home. On the long walk home the streets were crowded on a Friday night. We went by the Colosseum one last time and bid it farewell.

Once we arrived at the apartment we packed our bags for the early start the next morning and had some dinner before going to bed.

Total miles walked: 4.6 miles

Europe Day Forty Four - Pompeii

In the morning we walked to the train station. We boarded a connection train to Pompeii and it took about 2 and a half hours and 2 trains to get there. Dad got our tickets at the front booth and then we all made our way up to the entrance of  the Pompeii ruins.

We walked through the giant front gate into the forgotten city. One of the great things about Pompeii is that it is a perfect look into the past with all the homes that were covered after the volcano erupted. None of the pots and tools were taken and the city was in good condition because of the ash and magma that protected it from natural destruction as it covered the city so quickly.

Almost all of the houses were the same size and close together. There weren't any super big or super small, basically equal.

After a picnic lunch we got out our map and decided to head to the Arena where they held battles, city meetings, and rituals. Once we got to the Arena we saw all the rows carved out of the rock where people sat. Each Arena could fit at least a 5000 people. We walked around the rows and made our way to the center of the Arena. In the center of the arena Sage started dancing around the dirt stage.

After we left the Arena we wandered around Pompeii and saw the ovens, sinks, marble counter tops and the fountains and drainage system. After covering some good ground we headed over to the Amphitheater which was a bigger version of the Arena we had gone to earlier. Once we were inside we played tag around the giant Amphitheater center.

We took some photos and moved on to try and find the Pompeii plasters which are the plaster molds of the people of Pompeii who died in the eruption. When they were excavating Pompeii out of the ash they found body shaped holes in the ash where someone had died and decayed creating a hole under the hardened ash. They then filled them with plaster to make perfect replicas of the body. It took us a while to find the exhibit but once we did it was a bit sad. There were little kids, people praying and even a really sad one of a Mom trying to protect her baby from the lava. It was sad to know that these were the dying position of people who had lived almost 2000 years ago. (Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD.) We all left the exhibit a bit sadder than before.

The sun was about to set so we went quickly to the small museum exhibit which wasn't all too impressive (but we had seen a lot of exhibits at bigger museums with many of the same kinds of pottery) and started for the exit.

We went back to the front gate and watched the sun set right behind a Centaur statue that was right at the entrance.

We left Pompeii and went to the train station where we had to wait 15 minutes for the train to come. Once we got on we were all very tired. We had dinner on the train from Naples to Rome. When we got back we walked for another 10 minutes to the apartment which was much faster than the first time we walked it when we first arrived. We found a better way around the park. When we walked into the apartment we plopped  down on our beds for the night.

Total trains: 4

Total miles walked: 7.3 miles