Athens — Rome | FindPenguins

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Trip start
February 27, 2025
Athens — Rome
Take off
February 28, 2025 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 48 °F
With a little help from ChatGPT I was the responsible one and created a full itinerary. Dinner dates booked, tickets secured, hotels and flights arranged. Next stop, Athens.
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Athens — Rome
Touchdown and Day 1
March 1, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Arrived in Athens. Our taxi was ripping at 140kph to the hotel. We are staying at the NJV right on Syntagma Square, the central plaza of Athens. Caught the changing of the guards at the tomb of the unknown soldier in front of the parliament building. The fried feta with honey and sesame seeds was the highlight of dinner. Couldn’t convince Courtney to get the Oreo coke.Read more
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Athens — Rome
Acropolis Museum
March 2, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Started off with the best Hotel breakfast we’ve ever had. Walked to the Acropolis to realize I booked tickets for the next day, maybe I’m not too good at this. Ended up spending the morning at the Museum and exploring Plaka.Read more
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Athens — Rome
Mount Lycabettus & Panathinaiko Stadium
March 2, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 59 °F
Took the cable car to the top of the best overlook in the city. Enjoyed some drinks and marched our way down even though we paid for a return ticket. The stadium was a highlight, walked the tunnels the gladiators and athletes entered through, sat in the King and Queens thrones.

“The Panathenaic Stadium or Kallimarmaro is a multi-purpose stadium in Athens, Greece. One of the main historic attractions of Athens, it is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. A stadium was built on the site of a simple racecourse by the Athenian statesman Lykourgos c. 400 BC, primarily for the Panathenaic Games. It was rebuilt in marble by Herodes Atticus, an Athenian Roman senator, by 144 AD it had a capacity of 50,000 seats.”

Finished with dinner at Greco with live music and gelato at Le Greche.Read more
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Athens — Rome
Acropolis
March 3, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
So the Acropolis is the citadel and the Parthenon is the temple. I kept getting that mixed up.

We started on the south slope and first stop was the Theater of Dionysus, where ancient theater was born. From there we passed by the temple of Themis and made it up to the Odeion of Herodes Artricus. A Roman theater in much better shape than the first. We entered through the Propylae, a Doric style ceremonial gate leading to the Acropolis.

We fought our way to get good Parthenon photos and then checked out the overlook, temple of Athena Nike, Temple of Rome and Augustus, and the Pandroseion.

From there we left through the Beulé Gate, built by the Roman’s with repurposed stone from another monument.Read more
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Athens — Rome
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Ancient Agoras/Temple of Hephaestus
March 3, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
Second half of the morning. Stopped at the Roman Agora, Agora’s were public spaces used for assembles and markets. From there we went to the Ancient Agora of Athens. The missal there is rebuilt like the original which is cool. In the same place was the Temple of Hephaestus. It’s Greek and mostly standing due to its varied use throughout the years.

We then walked back to the hotel passing through Monastiraki square and past the Panaghia Kanikarea Church.Read more
Traveler What an iconic pic
3/3/25Reply
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Athens — Rome
Dinner with a view
March 3, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☁️ 54 °F
Took a walk through the Plaka neighborhood and found Bretto’s bar. The oldest distillery in Athens. From there we went to Dionysos Zonar’s and had some amazing food with a matching view. I had the sea bass and Courtney got the shrimp linguine. It had the biggest shrimp I’ve ever seen. Topped it off with some dessert and walked it off on the way home.Read more
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Athens — Rome
Flight to Rome
March 4, 2025 in Greece ⋅ ☀️ 46 °F
Courtney really wanted McDonalds for breakfast but they don’t start brekky until 8am! She was devastated and I had to settle with scrambled eggs and smoked salmon with hash browns at the hotel. First time taking a bus to a plan and they let us board from the front and back at the same time. It was chaotic. This driver also had the need for speed and had us up to 90mph at one point. Hotel is amazing and walking distance to the Vatican.Read more
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Athens — Rome
A stroll through Trastevere
March 4, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 63 °F
Can’t kick a rock without hitting a historic building or a church around here. Had our first authentic pizza and ate it with a fork as you do. Took a walk through the Trastevere neighborhood and our first stop was the Basilica of Santa Maria, one of the oldest churches in Rome. Checked out an ancient city gate, Porta Portese.

We then walked to Largo di Torre Argentina. It is an ancient square where historians believe Roman senators assassinated Julius Caesar in 44 BCE. What draws the interest of visitors, though, are the half dozen or so cats lounging in the nooks and crannies of the old stone walls.

Stopped at a couple vintage stores, and grabbed snacks for the walk back along the Trevere river.Read more
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Athens — Rome
Vatican City
March 5, 2025 in Vatican City ⋅ ☀️ 43 °F
So much art. Luckily we had a tour booked so we got to skip all the lines and go straight in. We didn’t realize the size of the Vatican Museums collection. Highlights were some of the statues, Raphael Rooms, the pope mobile collection, and of course the Sistine Chapel. No photos in the Sistine but it was pretty amazing. Grabbed lunch after and walked through Prati and past Emperor Augustus’ tomb. Did some shopping by the Spanish steps and walked the river home.

Our tour guide told us there would be a test and called Courtney out. He didn’t think she would pass. But at the end he said even the blonde girl from the US passed.Read more
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Athens — Rome
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The Roman Forum & Colosseum
March 6, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 45 °F
Rome wasn’t built in a day. Toured the Colosseum, including the tunnel the gladiators traveled through from the training building that they lived in to the arena. Fun fact: it’s called arena because that means sand. The floor was covered in sand to soak up the blood. We were the first group to enter the underground for the day so it wasn’t too busy but it sure was cold. It’s amazing the engineering it took to build the roof system, the arena floor, elevators, drainage system, let alone the colosseum.

Palatine hill is filled with too many places to list them all. The city was founded on this hill by Romulus and also where he murdered his brother. The rich originally lived in this hill before the empire started. They made huge palaces and eventually expanded the hill. At the base were many government buildings including the senate house.Read more
Traveler Tired Courtney
3/6/25Reply
TravelerShe thought the old rocks were sooooo interesting.
3/8/25Reply
Traveler Nice one!
3/11/25Reply
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Athens — Rome
Afternoon amble
March 6, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
1. Trevi Fountain
- Drink stop
2. Spanish Steps
- Courtney got her McDonalds
3. Pantheon
- Starbucks
4. Piazza Novona

Shopping, walking, seeing, and snacking
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Athens — Rome
Last Full Day
March 7, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☀️ 55 °F
Hiked up Janiculum hill to see the view. From there we went to the WeGil and checked out the Warhol/Banksy exhibit. Took a break at the CircusMaximus, the oldest and largest arena in Rome. Later the events became more specialized after they built the coliseum and this was mainly used for chariot racing. Grabbed lunch and checked out St. Peter’s Square and the Vatican one last time. Stocked up on snacks and began packing up before dinner.Read more
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Athens — Rome
Travel Day
March 8, 2025 in Italy ⋅ ☁️ 50 °F
Happy international women’s day! They celebrate by giving yellow flowers to ladies. Courtney got some at breakfast. I could get used to being chauffeured around in Mercedes.

Watched Gladiator 1 and 2 on the plane to catch up on my Roman history.Read more
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Trip end
March 8, 2025