A Greek Summer – Back to Athens, and home | alison richards

From Mykonos, it took most of a whole day to get back to Athens. I learned from my arrival in Mykonos that it's not an easy walk from the port to the hotel, so I'd organised a taxi to take me there. But on arrival, I found even more chaos - some of the ferries had been delayed or cancelled, there were so many people at the port, and very little shade. It was pretty awful. I found a spot to stand and wait and hope that the sunblock I'd put on that morning would stand up to the sunshine beating down on my forehead.

I stood there chatting to people who were going the opposite direction to me, to another Greek island, and who had flown to Mykonos - they had no idea what their ferry looked like, and there was no information on the port to say what number dock it would come into. Thankfully, I'd been through it before and I pointed it out to them when it finally arrived, about 2 hours late. Mine was also 2 hours later... and a trip that I'd thought was only supposed to take 2 hours by ferry (I'm sure it had said that on the booking) took almost 4 hours to Athens (Rafina). I then had to catch a bus to the metro, then the metro into central Athens.

I finally made it to my hotel, cleaned up then headed out to the only restaurant I wanted to eat at - To Kafeneio. I had their delicious meatballs, my favourite Greek salad (Maroulosalata - basically lettuce with dill and a viniagrette), half a litre of white wine and some bread. Simple but heavenly. I went back to the hotel and crashed out.

The next day, I was finally going to the Acropolis. I'd skipped it when I was in Athens the first time because I wanted to explore Athens properly and get my bearings, but this was THE DAY. I was there just past 8am when it opened, and it was already 30 degrees. I'd wanted to do it as early as possible because there is literally no shade up there. None. It was hot. But wow, what an experience - it was so incredible. I'm so surprised that something that was built so long ago is still standing strong, and that those people who built it paid so much attention to not only making it strong but also decorative. I loved it. People don't build things to last like this anymore!

You could book tickets to concerts here – I was about to but I thought it was pushing it as it was the night before my morning flight to Santorini. Would have been pretty good though.

The caryatids. These are not the originals but casts. The originals were in the museum nearby. But these are just as impressive

After visiting the Acropolis, I popped into the museum nearby. Not only was it cool inside but it was fascinating – all of the treasures that have been dug up from around Greece. The Greek pots and this lettering was my favourite. You were not supposed to take photos but I snapped this one quickly and thankfully no one saw!

After the museum I had lunch somewhere in Plaka, and had a bit more of a wander around. But it was so hot in Athens - on the islands, at least there was a bit of an ocean breeze (or gale force winds on Mykonos), but in Athens, the air was still and hot and energy-sapping. So I went back to the hotel to cool down, relax, clean up and change for dinner. It was nice going out in the evenings, as it was much cooler but still warm. To Kafeneio looked busy that evening so I visited a restaurant nearby called To Yerani where I had a delicious lamb dish, a salad and some fried zucchini. It was very nice.

The next day was the end of my trip and I reluctantly left Greece. I had such an amazing 17 days there, it was warm and sunny the whole time, the people were so lovely and friendly, it was a very pretty place and I left part of my heart there. I will be back!