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  • Well, good afternoon from sunny Athens. We are currently exploring the Greek capital.

  • We recently actually spent a few days traveling around Meteora and now we're finishing up

  • our trip here in Athens. We've got two full days to explore the city which isn't a lot

  • of time but we're going to try to do our best. So let's get ready and start exploring.

  • Though our visit was brief, Audrey and I still made it our mission to see as many sights

  • and attractions as possible around Athens. We set out to visit temples and ruins steeped

  • in history, but along the way we also discovered that the Greek capital is a city with a pretty

  • cool vibe, lots of art, and great food. This video guide will showcase 20 things to do

  • in Athens, Greece:

  • Our first stop was one of the most recognized sights in Athens - the Parthenon, which was

  • dedicated to the goddess Athena who was seen as the patron of Athens.

  • From there we visited the Erechtheion, which is an ancient Greek temple on the north side

  • of the Acropolis that was dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon.

  • A nice quiet alternative after or before visiting the Acropolis is coming here to this park.

  • Wandering around there is all of these really cool ruins and there is hardly anybody here.

  • But aside from the ruins, one of the best things about climbing Philopappos Hill was

  • enjoying the views of the Acropolis in the distance...even if there was a whole lot of

  • scaffolding on a few of the structures.  

  • Beer o'clock! Woah!

  • It's lunchtime here in Athens and we are starving because we've been walking around all morning.

  • So we found a little restaurant, we're going to be eating Greek food obviously, and we

  • are starting out with some homemade bread and black olives. Mmmhmmm.

  • Those are really good olives.

  • So we've now been in Greece long enough to know what some of our favorite foods are and

  • we're having three of them here. We're having Greek salad, which doesn't need too much of

  • an introduction, Moussaka and also Saganaki which is a fried Greek cheese. Yum, now we're

  • just waiting for our order.

  • So first up we're having something called Saganaki which is a fried cheese. And it gets

  • its name from the pan that it is fried in. Apparently, it has two handles. And just have

  • a look over here. It's a nice chunk of cheese, now it is nice and golden from being fried.

  • And it also comes with a little bite of lemon which we can drizzle over top. Oh yeah, drizzle

  • drizzle. And this can be made with three different types of cheese. You can have Gruyère,

  • Halloumi or Sheep's milk and it is very very salty and very greasy because it has been

  • fried. And it is probably not very healthy but it is so good that we just keep ordering

  • it with every meal here in Athens. Let's have another bite. Mmmm. That is really good guys.

  • And what are you having? Now this next dish is one of my personal favorites. It's called

  • Moussaka. And let's take a look down at it. So you can see that there is a layer of Béchamel

  • sauce, you also have minced meat, you have potatoes and you have eggplant.

  • So we've been told that if we want to catch the best sunset we have to climb Mount Lycabettus

  • here in Athens. So that is why I'm a little out of breathe.

  • We're climbing right now and the sun is about to set so we kind of need to hurry. Let's

  • go.

  • We took a taxi to the base of the hill and then hiked up from there. By the time we reached

  • the top, golden hour had set in casting a beautiful light over the city below. Since

  • it was kind of a windy day, we found shelter at a little cafe at the top where we enjoyed

  • a nice meal while the sun set. 

  • After sunset we lingered atop Mount Lycabettus for some night views of the city before taking

  • the funicular down to the bottom. Seeing the Acropolis all lit up at night was a pretty

  • cool sight!

  • Next up we visited the Temple of Zeus which once housed the statue of Zeus, and was considered

  • one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

  • From there we continued on towards Hadrian's Arch. It is believed this monumental gateway

  • was built to celebrate the arrival of the Roman Emperor Hadrian in the city. 

  • When it comes to shopping, there are a few different options. We made our way to Monastiraki,

  • which is one of the principal shopping districts in Athens. Here we visited both the Flea Market

  • and the antique shops in the area. 

  • So the sun is starting to set and dinnertime is quickly approaching. We've been walking

  • around the Athen's flea market and we've worked up an appetite so right now we're stopping

  • for some Greek food. We've found a little joint that is serving up Pita souvlaki and

  • Pita Gyro so we've ordered up one of each. Tada!

  • Doesn't that look good? So yeah, ready for another taste test in Greece.

  • What is fascinating is that Gyro means to turn. It's basically rotisserie meat that

  • is cooked on a skewer and you can have all kinds of different things. There is chicken,

  • pork, lamb. So pick whatever you want and it is stuffed inside of a pita.

  • Mmmmm. That is one of my favorite sandwiches I've had in a while. It's so good. The meat

  • is really tender. I really like the sauce. Tzatziki! Yeah, the Tzatziki sauce and you've

  • also got a lot of onions and tomatoes too. So it's really good stuff.

  • So for mine I got the pita souvlaki and souvlaki is basically meat on a skewer so it is not

  • shaved meat like Sam's. So I've got nice chunks in there. And also it comes with French fries,

  • onions and tomatoes. And we can't forget the Tzatziki sauce which is made with yogurt,

  • garlic and cucumber. Delicious! So I'm going to have another bite here. Yeah, we've got

  • a quality control bite going on.

  • Mmmmm. So so good guys. Mmmmm.

  • Psirri is known for its lively nightlife, but what caught our attention when visiting

  • by day was the street art! Some of the pieces were quite elaborate, while others were bordering

  • vandalism, but regardless it was a really interesting neighborhood to wander around. 

  • So next u we're checking out the Kerameikos Cemetery here in Athens. And this place gets

  • its name because it used to be the potter's quarter and that is where the word ceramics

  • comes from. And this is actually the largest and most ancient cemetery in the city. So

  • we're just going to have a walk around and see what we find.

  • We also made time to go watch the changing of the guard in front of the Parliament

  • building on Syntagma Square. The guards were dressed in their white kilts, red caps, and

  • clogs with pompoms. It was fascinating watching the ceremonial steps be carried out in slow

  • motion.

  • The National Garden is located in the heart of Athens directly behind the Greek Parliament

  • building. It is open to the public from sunrise to sunset and it's a nice spot to decompress

  • if the crowds are starting to get to you.

  • Right now we're visiting Agora Athen's Central Market which has a large fish and meat section.

  • And it is busiest between seven and one PM. And we're seeing lots of locals shopping around.

  • That's right.

  • This is mostly a fish and meat market, so we tried to spare you the gore. It takes a

  • strong stomach to set foot inside, but as you can see there are plenty of other items

  • for sale.

  • The Agora was the central spot in ancient Greek city-states, and it is where people

  • gathered. It was the heart of political, commercial, administrative, religious and cultural activity

  • in the city.

  • Like the name suggests, the Acropolis Museum is located at the foot of the Acropolis and

  • it's mainly focused on the findings of the archaeological site of the Acropolis. It's

  • a cool spot to visit if you want to delve deeper into history.

  • Plaka is an old historical neighborhood located on the eastern slopes of the Acropolis. The

  • place is a bit of a maze with zigzagging streets and a network of staircases that lead up down

  • and around. The neighbourhood has plenty of charms, and there are also lots of restaurants

  • and cafes if you do start feeling a little peckish. 

  • So we were hoping to visit Hadrian's Library this afternoon but unfortunately we got here

  • a little bit too late and it is already closed for the day. However, I did do a little bit

  • of research, so I can give you a bit of background information on the place. So apparently this

  • was built by the Roman Emperor Hadrian and it used to be his library. So they used to

  • store Papyrus scrolls here and they also had reading rooms and lecture halls.

  • Lastly, if you want to take some Greek recipes back home to your kitchen, consider taking

  • a cooking class. 

  • So we are wrapping up our time here in Athens. Any surprises or final thoughts to share?

  • Yeah, something that really surprised me were just the amount of stray animals that I saw

  • on the streets. Lots of cats and dogs. But like Istanbul in Turkey they are well taken

  • care of and it was cool just interacting with them. Going up to them and petting them and

  • giving them food and things like that. That was awesome.

  • I also thought there was really good dining options as well. We had a number of really

  • good Greek meals and also some really good International food too.

  • Final thoughts, I think this is a really underrated capital in Europe. A lot like Warsaw in Poland

  • so if you have an opportunity to visit Athens in Greece definitely do so.

  • So what did you think of Athens? Well, I thought it was a really cool city and I actually had

  • a great time here. It kind of reminded me a little bit of Tel Aviv with the Mediterranean

  • feel but also Berlin because it is very artsy and gritty. So it's a really cool place to

  • check out. Great food, lots of attractions. You have a mix of antiquity with urban. So

  • it's really fun and it is unlike any place I've been before, so I would highly recommend

  • it.

  • And that's a wrap for Athens! We hope you enjoyed this city guide and that it'll come

  • in handy when you plan your own trip. If you have any more suggestions of activities that

  • travelers shouldn't miss, feel free to share those in the comments below.

  • Come join us for extended vlog footage as we eat our favorite Greek cuisine and some

  • classic Greek street food.

  • So the sun is starting to set and dinner time is quickly approaching. We've been walking

  • around the Athens flea market and we've worked up an appetite so right now we are stopping

  • for some Greek food. We've found a little joint that is serving up Pita Souvlaki and

  • Pita Gyro. So we've ordered up one of each. Ta da! Doesn't that look good? So yeah, ready

  • for another taste test in Greece.

  • What do we call this in Greece vs back at home? Alright, so here's the deal. Over here

  • it is called Gyros but where I grew up in Canada and also visiting in the US it was

  • called gyro. So it is kind of hard for me to say it as gyros but I'm starting to get

  • used to it. So when you're in Greece call it the gyros.

  • So what is fascinating is that gyros means to turn. It is basically rotisserie meat that

  • is cooked on a skewer and you can have all kinds of different things. There is chicken,

  • pork, lamb. So pick whatever you want and it is stuffed inside of a pita.

  • So enough of me rambling on. Let's actually try it here. Mmmm.

  • That's one of my favorite sandwiches I've had in a while. It's so good. The meat is

  • really tender. I really like the sauce. Tzatziki. Yeah, the tzatziki sauce and you've also got

  • a lot of onions and tomatoes too, so really good stuff.

  • So for mine I got the pita souvlaki. And souvlaki is basically meat on a skewer so it is not

  • shaved meat like Sam's. So I've got nice chunks in there. And also it comes with French fries,

  • onions and tomatoes. And we can't forget the tzatziki sauce which is made with yogurt,

  • garlic and cucumber. Delicious! So I'm going to have another bite here. We've got a quality

  • control bite right now.

  • Mmmmm.

  • So so good guys.

  • So you polished that off quickly. Yeah, I devoured that. Seriously, that was really

  • fast. In terms of price this is basically the cheapest and most affordable meal that

  • you can get in Greece. And it is so delicious. Where we picked it up here, which is a super

  • touristy area, it was 2 Euros each. The giant ones were 3.50 and if you're walking down

  • say more of a residential area, somewhere that is not in a touristy zone, you can pick

  • one up in the one to two Euros range.

  • It's lunchtime here in Athens and we are starving because we've been walking around all morning.

  • So we found a little restaurant. We're going to be eating Greek food obviously. And we

  • are starting out with some homemade bread and black olives. Those are really good olives.

  • The pit. Hahaha.

  • Bread with olive oil. Can't go wrong.

  • So we've now been in Greece long enough to know what some of our favorite foods are.

  • And we're having three of them here. We're having Greek salad which doesn't need too

  • much of an introduction, Moussaka and also Saganaki which is a fried Greek cheese.

  • Yum, now we are just waiting for our order.

  • So first up we're having something called Saganaki which is a fried cheese. And it gets

  • its name from the pan that it is fried in. Apparently it has two handles and just have

  • a look over here. It's a nice chunk of cheese. Now it is nice and golden from being fried.

  • And it also comes with a little bit of lemon which we can drizzle over top. Oh yeah, drizzle,

  • drizzle, drizzle. And this can be made with three different types of cheese. You can have

  • Gruyère, Halloumi or Sheep's milk. And it is very very salty and very greasy since

  • it has been fried. And it is probably not very healthy but it is so good that we just

  • keep ordering it with every meal here in Athens. Let's have another bite.

  • Mmmmm. That is really good guys. Good stuff.

  • And what are you having? Now this next dish is one of personal favorites. It's called

  • Moussaka. And let's take a look down at it. So you can see that there is a layer of Béchamel

  • sauce, you also have minced meat, you have potatoes and you have eggplant.

  • So apparently this is a pretty old recipe, right? Yeah, this dish dates back to the former

  • Ottoman Empire. And you can also find it in countries such as Albania and Turkey presently.

  • So time for me to finally have a bit of this. Wow, it is so thick! It's like a Lasagna almost.

  • It almost looks like a Sheppard's Pie to me. Yeah, that's actually a better comparison.

  • Mmmm. That's fantastic.

  • And because we're trying to keep this a balanced meal we did order a salad. A Greek salad because

  • this is Greece. So as you can see we've got tomatoes, feta, cucumbers, black olives. We've

  • got some peppers and olive oil drizzled all over top with a little bit of oregano sprinkled

  • as well. So it looks really really good. Let's take a bit of that. Oh yeah. Don't forget

  • the feta cheese. Yeah, that's right.

  • Let's get a bit of everything. Onions. Cheese. Tomato. Hahaha.

  • Mmmm.

  • That's really nice. The olive oil has a really special flavor here. You can almost taste

  • the olives. It's just really good and a nice and refreshing salad. Really nice.

  • And price point for that delicious Greek meal? So for all of that food we paid about thirty

  • Euros. Keep in mind we did eat in a touristy zone and if you're in a more residential area

  • you can maybe expect to pay 20, 25 Euros for that.

Well, good afternoon from sunny Athens. We are currently exploring the Greek capital.

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