I think of all the places we were going to be visiting on the trip, the one that most excited me was Athens. The reason was simple: it had the most bucket list sites and I had never been there.

Our NCL ship docked early at the port of Piraeus and with our luggage in hand we set about the process of self-debarkation. It was rather easy since we were literally one story above the exit gangway and didn’t need to use the elevators (which are always packed on embarkation and debarkation day).

Almost every time we’ve ben on a cruise the last day has been rather depressing. But knowing we had two days to enjoy Athens, and having gotten to the point we had in dealing with lackluster food, pushy people, and generally unfriendly staff, we were ready to get off the ship and be done with the cruise.

We had paid more to go on a Norwegian cruise and at the end of the cruise I can genuinely say that the only great thing about it was the itinerary. The food quality was subpar except at Cagney’s Steakhouse, the shipboard entertainment was pathetic, and we never even bothered trying to use the pool because we were kind of jaded by the pushy, rude people on the decks and around the ship.

Once off the ship we set about finding our driver who would take us to our hotel in the Plaka district. We found him and he helped us load our luggage and ourselves into the van for the drive to the city.

Driving into Athens was interesting. The city was certainly sprawling and full of graffiti. I mean, covered in it in places. It was somewhat unsettling.

Plaka, he told us, was one of the most beautiful places in Athens. We had chosen well. That was something I was counting on. I wanted to be as close to the major sites as possible, in a district that offered plenty of good restaurants.

As we neared the hotel he told us he could not drive all the way to the hotel itself. There was a pedestrian walkway that led to it. All we needed to do was going about 100 feet up the walkway and the hotel would be on the corner.

We exited with our luggage and found that the pedestrian walkway was indeed the case, and yet other drivers would in fact drive the narrow path causing some startled looks from pedestrians. Was it a walkway or a street?

The Kyria Boutique House was right on the corner. Well actually the doorway was right next to the souvenir shop on the corner. We arrived at the door and after a quick Whats App message the maid appeared to allow us to stow our luggage. It wasn’t yet even 9:00 AM and way too early to check in.

I chose the Kyria Boutique House because of the location and chose the largest suite room for our family. Two rooms and a big bathroom with a tub. Ideal for a family of four

But the location. I kid you not, the location is the best probably in the entire city. From the doorway to our room we literally needed to walk about fifty feet to the entrance of the Acropolis and the Acropolis Museum was just a tiny bit farther on the opposite side. We could walk to dozens of restaurants and souvenir shops. The location was utterly fantastic. Just what I intended.

With our luggage safely stowed we could visit the Acropolis Museum. The museum opened at 9:00 but our debarkation and trip to the hotel had gone so effortlessly well we were in line before the museum even opened.

People were gathering on the steps in front of the museum and we took our place there as well. It was good to be there when the museum opened because the museum was sure to get crowded shortly thereafter.

The Acropolis Museum

Once inside we found that we needed to check our backpacks in at the entrance. No big deal. I had a smaller, sling pack I bought on Amazon that was allowed in the museum, and into which I could put everything I needed for perusing the museum. Including my GoPro.

The Acropolis Museum contains the treasures taken from the Acropolis on the hill next door. Well, almost all the treasures. The Elgin Marbles aren’t here yet.

The museum collections are fascinating of course. We often think of the statues as having been colorless marble, but in many originally were painted and traces of the original colors can still be seen. In certain cases the museum displayed a reproduction to show how it would have looked with color.

The museum collection also spans centuries, as does the history of Athens. Classical Athens which covered the period from about 500 BC until around 300 BC is the most represented, as would be expected since the great monuments on the hill above were largely constructed in this time frame.

Before coming to the museum I had heard about the Caryatids and in particular their complex hairstyles. It’s interesting to think that women in ancient Greece might actually have had hair long enough to be styled in such a manner.

Regardless of whether the hairstyle was really possible, the statues are something to behold, as well as the fact that for over 2400 years they supported the weight of the Erechtheion Porch on the Acropolis. Now they are safely inside and replicas stand in their place.

After we had a rather slow breakfast in the museum cafeteria, we spent some time viewing the area below the museum. There is not a single area of the modern city that doesn’t have history buried beneath it. And that includes the ground below which the museum stands.

Beneath the museum are the ruins of an ancient neighborhood dating back to Roman and Byzantine times. The entire museum is supported by pillars just over these ancient dwellings.

As it was now approaching lunch time, and it was still not yet time to check in to the hotel, we wandered down one of the Plaka streets to find something to eat and drink. It was hot and a cool drink would help. Athens is always very hot in the summer, though we were fortunate to have arrived after a heat wave the prior week.

As we sat there eating, a tour group appeared behind us. The guide was talking about the craziest Athenian of all: Diogenes. We knew right away who he was talking about. He’s our favorite philosopher. If that term applies to a guy that lived in a barrel in the Agora. Because he wanted to avoid earthly comforts. Or so he claimed.

So after eating and discussing Diogenes and whether or not we’d find his barrel the next day in the Agora, we were ready to check in. We walked over to the hotel and were finally able to crash in our terrific suite. Right in the heart of everything and yet somehow quietly away from it all once inside. The perfect place to be in Athens.

We took some time to rest and relax. We were far from done that day, of course. But it does help to have some air conditioning to counter the midday sun in Athens.

Once we were fully rested, or rested enough, we walked down to the outside to a taxi stand. We overpaid for a ride to the National Museum of Archaeology. But getting there was worth it.

The National Museum of Archaeology

If you go to only one museum in your time in Athens (which would be a shame), it needs to be this one. As good as the Acropolis Museum was, it paled in comparison to the National Archaeological Museum.

The collections in the museum cover all of Greece, through every era of its history. You’ll find Minoan artifacts, artifacts from Troy (yes, the city burned in the Illiad and Odyssey), artifacts from Mycenaean graves including the death mask that Heinrich Schliemann called the Mask of Agamemnom.

You’ll see the evolution of Greek art as it became more sophisticated and they began making statues. You can see the artistry grow ever more intricate over time and by the late Classical and Roman era the statues are utterly beautiful (look at the statue of the girl resting).

Finally, there is the artifact that was the inspiration for the Dial of Destiny in the latest Indiana Jones: the Antikythera Mechanism. Of course modern research has determined that it was actually useful for tracking moon phases, which is an incredibly sophisticated achievement in itself. As well as a replica of Ptolemy’s astrolabe.

So by the time we were finished exploring we felt pretty convinced that this museum was the best we’d seen in Greece.

Return to Plaka

You can use Uber in Athens and it turned out to be the easier and cheaper way to hail a taxi. For half the price of our ride to the museum we got a ride back to our hotel. We walked a short distance and found a place tucked away beneath the hustle and bustle in the neighborhood above.

The restaurant was a bit pricy and kind of pretentious (we don’t really care what famous person ate there – especially if it’s a politician), but we were all feeling good and looking forward to exploring Athens more the next day.