In Athens, we spend an evening in a typical Greek Taverna, listening to bouzouki music and watching Greek folk dances. We stay up late and struggle to wake up the next morning.

The climax of our trip is visiting the Acropolis. Dreaming of this moment since we booked our trip, we are amazed at the incredible spectacle before our eyes. It is huge and full of history, set high up above the city. You can find it from the Plaka (town area) by looking up. As the landmark of Athens that represents the ancient infrastructure, it is humbling and exhilarating to be here. The most valuable artifacts of the many remains are situated inside the Acropolis Museum. It appears like a city itself, within the city of Athens. As one of the seven manmade wonders of the world, it is one of the most visited attractions in Greece. The only disappointment is that there is scaffolding hindering our photography, as major renovations are taking place right now.

The subway gives us easy access to downtown and the Plaka.  We visit the Hard Rock Café and have wonderful shopping opportunities.   Here there are many restaurants where we eat most of our dinners.  One restaurant stands out because of the vegetarian Moussaka they serve. 
 
For our last full day, we planned a trip to Edipsos, a hot spring on the isle of Avia.  I found it on the internet.  Hiring a private taxi to take us, by pre-booking online for an exorbitant price, he agrees to take us there and provide a tour.  Our journey requires us to take a ferry across with the taxi.  Asking around, he finds a soaking opportunity for us in the bathtub style.  However, there is a complication.  The owner says we need medical certification to soak.  We are led to a doctor’s office, but he is at lunch.  Finally someone intervenes.  “These are young people.  They do not need clearance from the doctor to soak in the tubs.”    It was a bit amusing to us, as the outdoor pools are 85°F and we control the temperature of the water in a bathtub.  Now, the owner tells us if we eat before soaking, we will have a stroke.  So we have our 30 minute soak for $5.00 each.  The taxi driver dominates our excursion, first by making us late for the initial ferry by stopping for breakfast on the way, and then choosing where we will eat lunch.  He sits down at the table with us and orders more food than we are ordering. Then he sticks us with his bill.  When he is ready to take us back to Athens we are not happy campers. 

Taking back control of our excursion that he did not plan at all, we use our information that we brought with us to discover Edipsos’ true bliss.  Soaking under a rock, a pipe funnels hot mineral water over our heads.   It pours down over us like a hot outdoor shower.  Our feet are in the light turquoise blue water of the sea, facing the backdrop of neighboring islands that are all around us.  The view is delightful and takes our breath away.  From the beach, we dig our feet into the sand.  Hot water emerges up from beneath the white sand.  This is why we came to Edipsos and now we are elated.

What a perfect end to a fascinating journey through the Greek islands and Athens. We never really caught up on our sleep throughout the whirlwind vacation. The food and wine were exquisite, the architectural influences and beaches were enthralling and it was difficult not to fall in love with Greece. Next: A wee bit of liquid gold: Scotland's "Whisky Trail"