I’ve read about some of the ancient civilizations in books and stories since my childhood, but hadn’t had the chance to visit the remains of places, until now when I was lucky enough to visit Athens the heart of Ancient Greece.

I visited the Acropolis, an ancient citadel where there are ruins of temples, the most famous being the Parthenon, built in ancient Greece for the goddess Athena in 438 BC. Another temple I saw was the Temple of Nike. On the way up was the Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a stone Roman theatre structure, and also the Theatre of Dionysus, the world’s first theater and the birthplace of Greek drama.

The view from the top of the Acropolis was pretty amazing, even with the grey and looming clouds, that then dropped it’s load and drenched everyone!

On the second day we decided to take a ferry to the nearby island of Aegina. Being off season, lots of the shops were closed but we were still able to look around and explore. We found a pretty umbrella street and then visited the archaeological site of Palaiochora of Aegina with a temple and then the Holy Monastery of the Holy Trinity. We bought some souvenirs, pistachio being grown and harvested on the island as a must buy, before heading back to Athens.

On the final day we visited the Acropolis museum, and then looked around the Plaka neighbourhood which had some pretty lanes and houses. We then visited the Roman Agora and Hadrian’s Library, both architechural ruins. We then ended up in Monastiraki square and found a great rooftop view with the Acropolis in the background.

I had a great time in Athens and the nearby islands, there was so much to learn and see. Amazing to think that these structures were built centuries ago and that we can still see some of them intact and still looking grand.