Arriving in Athens was surreal. I am now on the other side of the world, I thought. The Olympics were here. The Olympics BEGAN here. They were JUST here (in 2004). It was awesome.

I had traveled to Athens with a friend who also runs, and has run many marathons. L had never really been outside of the United States, other than Canada, so this would be fun. We got our bearings, then figured out how to get to our hotel. We decided to try the metro, or light rail, or subway, or whatever it was called. It was muuuuuch cheaper than taking a taxi. 

The benefit of having had the Olympics in just 2004 is that the transportation system is still pretty convenient. Other than being a bit of a trip, it was pretty easy. Traveling with a suitcase made me feel a bit like I stuck out, but it was okay. We also were traveling at what seemed like rush hour. The people watching was good, and it was relatively an uneventful trip. We arrived at our stop, were able to get off with no problems, and made our way to the hotel.

The view from the hotel was great. It was almost right across the street from the Temple of Zeus and the hotel room had a great view of the Acropolis.

After arriving at the hotel, and getting up to the room, it was time to eat. In my experience in other countries, every touristy area has a restaurant street. Athens was no exception. We made our way to the restaurant street and found one that had traditional Greek food and claimed to be the best. The food was good, and they had a local interesting beer made with honey. It was good!