All of the goddamn soap in the world

 Last full day in Greece.  Where does time fly my friends, it seems like yesterday were saw some cheap tickets in October and I convince JW to buy them because the prices would only go up from there (I was right).  And then I put together our plan of attack and sent it to our travel agent Uli in December.  And then gradually one by one things fell into place, got our vaccine shots, check, Greece opens to American tourists check, hotels all confirm, check.  Flights all confirm check.

So today, the Attalos, the one hotel we have stayed at for all 5 trips to Greece, is here in the heart of Athens, near the acropolis, is alive and well, and we think, we are some of the few people even staying here, whatever, we get up, we get ready, we go the breakfast room and have some eggs, ok, but next door to the Attalos is this amazing bakery, and we have to go in there as well to get the coffee, and the bread type items for snacks, and off we go towards the acropolis, on the back streets, and up a few hills, and there it is, and the ticket line is empty, and we buy our super expensise tickets and in the fuck we go.

We go to the acropolis every single time we come to Greece and I will tell you why.

First, we need Athens as our last night in Greece because that is where the airport is and because we need a day to decompress and not think about the last 2 weeks.

Second, the acropolis to us is the symbol of all that is Greece.  Take for instance this year, which was so unique.  There was no line to get a ticket, ok.  There was no line to goi snide.  Ok, once you get instide, it’s a chokehold because there is a single set of stairs up to the acropolis, with a tiny rope splitting into up and down.  We have never not had to wait in a line to go up those stairs, or to come down them.

There was literally no line up or down.  We got up the stairs and looked out onto and to our surprise, there was maybe 40 people up there, maybe scattered around a hilltop the size of a very large football stadium, the point is, and I have pictures to prove it, never in our 4 previous trips was it possible to get a picture of anything on the acropolis without getting at least 30 other people in the frame.  Here are the pictures I took today you be the judge.

After the acropolis, we went out the gate and around the side towards the base of the acropolis where there are some cool theaters, but apparently they no longer let you use your ticket to get in through the top and the bottom of the center, whatever, we paid 40 bucks, this is not me bitching about, they need the money.

I then motioned off into the distance and Jedi mind tricked Julia into going up Lycebettos, the highest point in the city, a place we visited in 2015, and a very exhausting walk.  You start at acropolis level, and go down to street level and then gradually go up to 3 times acropolis level on first neighborhood streets, then stairs and paths and finally marble stairs.  The view of the city from there is unparalleled.

We rested a very long time after this hike, and then shimmed down the road until we reached the bottom of thehill, back to Psiri to go to our old favorite Oinopoleion for lunch, and it was delicious

Then down the street to Boubouk the soap store for all the soaps.  If you’re on the soap list, you will be pleased.

We then we out into the plaka area looking for olive oil and the ouzo king, which we did find after a while and bought a lot of those things.  Slinking through the streets we then came across a Greek beer shop and had a Greek beer, bought another for the road, and promised to give them powerful publicity, so go there already.

We are now having siesta and will shortly head to Kypsili for dinner.

The walk to Kypseli took an hour, the food at Bakalagatos was amazing, Kypseli was cute as a button, and we got stuffed on some amazing foooods, and then we walked back.  Cyrrwntly having a final rooftop drink before the final pack and a 430 wake up

America here we come