Traveling to Athens with Our Adult Children

Athens already held a special place in my heart after Dave and I visited a few years ago (our Greek anniversary cruise). But this time felt completely different because we got to experience it with our adult children.

After our adventures in Crete, we had one full day to explore Athens together, and we packed it full.

From standing in the shadow of the Parthenon to watching Lucy navigate ancient pathways with her cane, it became one of those travel days I hope I’ll remember forever.

It was so fun to arrive in the evening straight from Crete. We checked into our hotel, everyone with eyes as big as saucers that we got to be in that place.

Monastiraki Square

We walked out to explore the city, delicious Greek dinner en route…

…making our way over to Monastiraki Square.

Dave and I had loved that spot last time we were there: the Acropolis all lit up looming above us. We loved reminiscing and exploring the same place with our kids, that gorgeous backdrop behind them.

I had assigned all the kids one part of our tour scheduled for the next day to do a little report on, and Claire and Lar did theirs this night as we stood at that square.

It was a moment I don’t have photos of, but I wished I could have bottled up all the excitement, Claire all lit up because she had JUST learned so much of this history in a college class this last semester.

Let’s be honest, the majority of the kids didn’t get to their little “reports,” (a long-time tradition when we travel in our family), there was just too much commotion going on. But let me tell you, they made up for that in their genuine interest about all the history.

You can see part of the ruins of the old city in certain places from the Monastiraki Square and that got us even more excited for the next day.

A Note about Abby’s Photos

I can’t go much further without giving a shout-out to Abby who brought along her new camera and captured SO MUCH! She caught some priceless moments (mostly black and white) that I will cherish forever.

THANK YOU ABBY!!

Athens City Tour

The next morning we were picked up in a van to head on our tour with this awesome lady I found online (there is so much work that goes into planning and I only had this one day, bless Dave’s whole heart).

Our kids (especially Max and Lar), were filled up to the brim with questions trying to piece all that history together all day and I loved that so much.

And our tour guide, Elizabeth, was so knowledgable with all her explanations fitting in all the fascinating historical facts.

The Acropolis

We were so filled with awe as we climbed up the entrance to the Acropolis and the kids got to see the Parthenon for the first time. There is something so especially beautiful about the light in Athens…

We walked through the Propylaea (the grand entrance) and I loved that our guide had renderings of how it used to look.

The Acropolis sits high above Athens and has watched over the city for more than 2,400 years.

Isn’t that incredible?

It was built during the height of ancient Greek civilization and served as both a religious center and a symbol of Athens’ power and devotion to the goddess Athena, for whom the city was named.

Kind of cool that her statue used to be ginormous on display in the Parthenon.

I mean, to get an idea of scale, check out those people below in the rendering.

We walked past the Temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion with its famous Caryatid statues, it was hard not to imagine the generations of people who had climbed those same rocky paths before us.

Can you see the olive tree up there? According to Greek mythology, that tree marks the very spot where the goddess Athena and Poseidon competed for the patronage of the city.

Legend tells us that Poseidon struck the Acropolis rock with his trident, producing a saltwater spring and Athena planted an olive tree there, offering a symbol of peace, food, and prosperity.

The citizens judged Athena’s gift as more valuable than Poseidon’s so they named the city Athens in her honor.

Just a little history for you.

Here’s Elizabeth’s rendering with the olive tree way back when.

The Parthenon

And then, of course, there is the Parthenon. Which is, of course, the crown jewel of the Acropolis.

It is so incredible to be there in the shadows of that thing (that seems to be continually under construction), one of the most recognizable symbols of ancient Greece and a reminder of the incredible influence Greek culture still has on the world today.

Again, so interesting to think how it used to look, all filled with color on the outside and the huge Athena statue on the inside.

How Lucy Experienced Athens

Lucy was incredible. She took notes on her phone all day, held up inches from her face with huge font as she typed. And asked such good questions. But even more impressively she maneuvered all those ancient pathways with her cane, allowing others to link arms with her on the tricky parts.

I got a little teary with this army of siblings looking out for her. And teary at her determined tenacity to “see” and experience big things. Things it would be so easy for her to shrink from.

Watching Lucy navigate Athens became one of the most meaningful parts of this trip for me. I’ll share more about her experience traveling through Greece and Egypt with a vision impairment in a separate post, coming soon.

Roman Agora

We walked back down from the Acropolis to see some more Athens hotspots.

The first was the Roman Agora.

Our tour guide taught us all about how this was the commercial and civic center of Athens during the Roman period. It was built around the first century B.C. after Roman influence spread through Greece.

While the Ancient Agora had been the heart of Athenian life for centuries, the Roman Agora became a new marketplace where merchants gathered and goods were traded.

One of its most notable things there is the Tower of the Winds, which is considered the world’s first meteorological station. Can you see it on the left below?

It’s made of marble and functioned as a clock, weather vane, and sundial all in one.

As we looked out on those ruins, it was fascinating to me to imagine the bustling marketplace that once stood there and the generations of Athenians who passed through its gates centuries ago.

It was right smack-dab in the middle of the city, with regular stuff like this on the other side:

Panathenaic Stadium

The Panathenaic Stadium is pretty cool. It’s one of the most significant athletic sites in the whole wide world and we got to go. (Dave and I didn’t get there last time we visited and I loved it).

This stadium was originally built in ancient Greece for the Panathenaic Games. It was later rebuilt entirely in marble and became the venue for the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

It was amazing to imagine athletes competing here more than two thousand years ago, and then again as modern Olympics came to be. During the 2004 Games, archery competitions were hosted here. It also served as the finish line for both the men’s and women’s Olympic marathons.

It can hold around 50,000 spectators and remains the only major stadium in the world built entirely of marble.

Mount Lycabettus

I really wanted Mount Lycabettus to be part of our tour. There’s something about looking out at a city from up high that I love so much. We didn’t hike to the very top, but we did get to this good lookout in our van.

Can you see the Parthenon out there on the Acropolis in the distance?

The Changing of the Guard at the Hellenic Parliament Building

This was such a unique thing to see. I love how the guards march in sync with their huge in-sync steps wearing super heavy shoes.

Not sure why the heavy on the shoes??

But it was pretty cool to watch.

And that was the end of our tour. Loved our guide, loved our driver, loved thinking of that ancient world filled with Gods and Goddesses and people throughout all time trying to connect with their own renditions of the divine.

I loved standing (and sitting) next to my kids who were soaking it all in, trying to get things straight like how Socrates taught Plato who taught Aristotle who taught Alexander the Great.

And I loved hanging with my amazing and interested Lucy through it all too.

The City of Athens

We found some late lunch after our tour on a little sunny patio:

And did a little wandering around those streets.

The girls had to find a photo booth and a thrift store, of course.

Lucy in that first one on the top on the left? Love.

She was not about to get in this one, but man I love that man up there, and these girls below.

And all these grand adventurers we got to travel with.

We packed up and headed to the airport again: off to meet up with our friends for the next adventure in EGYPT.

As much as I loved seeing the Acropolis again, my favorite part of Athens wasn’t the ancient ruins. It was watching our kids experience them. Listening to their questions. Watching them piece together history they had studied in school. Seeing siblings help each other over uneven stones and link arms as they experienced it all.

Athens is a city filled with reminders of people searching for wisdom, truth, beauty, and meaning. As I walked those ancient streets with our family, I couldn’t help feeling grateful that we were searching, learning, and growing together too.