Visiting the Acropolis

One of the main reasons we chose to travel to Athens was to see the acropolis. My partner and I both grew up learning about Greek mythology and so the acropolis was on our bucket list.

I bought tickets to the acropolis through their website. I opted for the more expensive option, which was €30 instead of the €20 just for the Acropolis. This ticket is valid on seven different sites- Acropolis of Athens, Ancient Agora, Archaelogical Museum of Kerameikos, Hadrian’s Library, Lykeion Archaelogical Site, Olympieio and the Roman Agora.

Here is the pdf ticket one gets after purchase, and it also comes with a map of the different locations. This ticket is valid for 5 days, which is enough time.

Since we purchased tickets online, we didn’t have to queue going inside the Acropolis. I forgot how many minutes it took us to go up the top, but it took us a while because we had to a lot of stops along the way.

I did find it a bit disappointing that there were a lot of metal barricades surrounding the temples, but I do understand why it is a necessity. It was still amazing to see the Parthenon, the temple of Athena Nike and the Erechtheion among other things. Amazing how they were able to build these during their time!

Here are some of the photos that I took from our visit to the Acropolis.

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I went to my first overseas trip since January 2020 two weeks ago. You have no idea how excited and happy I was! Our first trip overseas was to Athens, Greece. I have never been to Greece before, and wanted to go to Athens instead of Santorini or any of the other islands.

We were in Greece for around 6 days, which is actually quite short if you ask me, but I really did enjoy our trip.

 

We stayed at Titania Hotel and really enjoyed our stay there. I chose the hotel mainly because of the view from the rooftop restaurant! The hotel was very central, close to two metro stops- although Omonia station is the closest one.

There is also a bus or trolley bus stop just in front of the hotel. Walking to places such as Monastiraki or Syntagma is also not that far, about 15 minutes I guess. There are a lot of stores nearby and not to mention restaurants.

The hotel itself was very nice. Our beds were comfortable and clean. They clean and disinfect the room every day. The wifi was also good and easy to access.

 

We were not able to have dinner at the Olivia restaurant, but we were able to enjoy the breakfast buffet. They had a variety of eggs, sausages, pastries and bread. They also had fruits, a variety of cold cuts and spread and not to mention the different juice we were able to choose from. I was not able to take a photo or video of the breakfast area, it didn’t really cross my mind that time.

 

Unfortunately, I wasn’t able take great photos of the hotel, but I was able to take a video ( a bad one at it) for Tiktok. So enjoy my very short video.

 

These are the only photos that I have of the hotel, and it is partly because we arrived there at night and was just tired from traveling.

The reception area of the hotel
A clearer view from the hotel restaurant

I really enjoyed our short stay at the hotel, and if I ever go back to Athens I would book here again.

After the lookout, we headed to our last stop, the Temple of Leah.

It resembles a pantheon, but it was created by a loving husband to honor his wife. He set the bar up high for men out there.

 

Teodorico S Adarna Jr, set up this temple in 2012 as a symbol of undying love for his late wife. There are 24 chambers in this temple, which were not open to the public. In these chambers are Leah’s collection of antiques, books and special objects and memorabilias that they have collected throughout their years.

Here are some photos from the place.

 

After Sirao Flower Garden, we went to Top of Cebu Lookout. There was also an entrance fee there about 100 pesos per person.

We were there for about half just before the sun set. Cebu City from the lookout was lovely to look at. Also a great place to take photos

Before we actually went to Siargao, we were in Cebu for a few days. To go to Siargao, we had to take the plane from Cebu.

One of the few places we went to in Cebu was the Sirao Flower Garden. We hired a private driver to take us on a tour.

In the area outside Sirao Garden, there were a few vendors selling snacks and drinks. We bought bananaque, which is barbeques banana, super delicous. We had to eat it before entering the garden, as food and drinks are prohibited.

There was a 50pesos entrance fee there. We were there for probably half an hour admiring the different kinds of flowers and the attractions they had there. Also taking photoshoots took some time. Here are some photos we took.

 

We stayed at Hygge Bungalows in General Luna,Siargao. It was in a bit far from the stores, restaurants or spas, however it was quiet there and peaceful. We rented a moped through the bungalow, and so going around the island was not difficult at all.

The bungalow had a living room downstairs, and the two bedrooms were upstairs. Both rooms were air conditioned. The bathroom was downstairs and it was clean. Outside, we could cook and wash the dishes.

There was wifi and we stayed mostly at the living room.

On our last night there, there was a bagyo or typhoon. So there was a blackout which meant that we did not have any electricity for hours. Luckily my sister and I charged our phones beforehand and downloaded some series we could watch. It was a memorable last night.

 

We were picked up by a van to get us to the airport. The Bungalow can fix a service to and from the airport, it is a shared service so some sightseeing should be expected and some time allowance should be added.

We went island hopping in Siargao. We went to three islands: Naked Island, Daku and Guyam.

We went near the pier and booked our island hopping tour. Two other tourists from Spain actually went to us and asked if we could form as a group, which we did. The tour was good for 6 people and splitting the cost is much better. As for how much it was, I think it was 1500PHP for 6 people for the tour.

Before going to the boat, we had to buy lunch. So we bought some bread and seafood for lunch.

The first island we went to was the Naked Island. I would think naked island was the name given to it, because it just is an island without any trees, just a naked island. We were there for maybe half an hour or an hour.

The second island we went to was Daku island. It was the biggest island among the three we stayed at and it was where we had lunch. We rented a cottage and gave all our food to the boatmen so they could get them cooked. We shared our food with them by the way.

 

There were dogs and cats on the island. The dogs we met were kind, but they had very long nails. There was also Japanese actor shooting for a commercial there. He was from the movie Nobody Knows, Yuya Yagira.

Our last stop was Guyam Island. It was the island I actually liked the most! It had shops where you could buy snacks and shakes. There were hammocks and people could play beach volleyball.

I bought the mango shake ( with a stainless steel straw) at Guyum’s Burger! This was one of the best shakes I have had!

If you’re wondering why my photo is not as sunny as other photos from Siargao. We went there at the end of July- early August, which is wet season in the Philippines! Luckily the weather wasn’t that bad when we went there.

When I went to the Philippines, I told my mom that I wanted to explore the country and not just stay at one place. So we went to Siargao and stayed there for a three days, but I wished we stayed longer.

In Siargao, they have banned plastic bags. So when shopping for produce you have to bring your own bag or buy a bag made of cloth, which is impractical if you’re buying meat or fish.

In Siargao transportation is by motorcycle or moped. Last time I drove one, was when I was 15! We had to rent one, and I was like yeah sure it’s probably easy! Took me a some time to figure out how to turn the thing on. After I got a hold of driving, it wasn’t a problem having my mom and my sister on my back 🙈

There are a lot of stray dogs in Siargao. The food is great especially the mango shakes they have. And every day that we were there, we got full body massages! So great to have.

Unfortunately, when it is summer vacation here in Norway it is rainy season in Siargao. I think if we were there when it is dry season, it would’ve been much much better weather-wise 😊

I would like to go back there and stay longer. Missing the Siargao life.

As part of the package my uncle ordered for the family. We went on a river cruise in Dapitan. The river cruise included a lunch buffet and live music. The cruise was a fun experience!

After the cruise we went on a small tour in Dapitan City, but because it was so hot that they and there were a lot of oldies with us, we decided to drop some of the things. We did however visit one of the shortest person in the world. He lives in this heritage house in Dapitan, or maybe he doesn’t live here, but it was here we visited him to see him.

His name is Junrey Balawing

He is 23 years old, and we talked to his dad. His dad said that they got kicked out of Facebook, and those who are claiming to be them on Facebook is not them at all! I think he also mentioned that his hearing and eyesight is deteriorating.

 

After our visit to Junrey we headed back to Dakak and then went to Gloria de Dapitan to eat our last supper together. We also went to the Fantasy land, but there weren’t a lot of rides that us youngsters wanted to ride. We did do the roller coaster about three times, it was fun. We wanted to go to the Horror House, but it was closed. We tried the 4D experience thingy, uhm, it wasn’t worth it. The animation was lagging and the color suddenly changed. Not worth it!

The rest of the evening we were at the arcade or was at the bar having fun eating and drinking.

While in Dakak, we only ever tried two of their activities. We did the zipline and snorkeling.

For the zipline, we had to be driven to the place since it was a bit far from the main area. I forgot how much it cost.

The view from where the zipline starts was amazing btw!

The zipline didn’t take long, but it was fun! The place we landed was not far from our rooms 😊 unfortunately, we didn’t buy the zipline photos 🙈

Our next activity was snorkeling. It was a bit expensive, but it included the boat trip and snorkeling equipments. My mom, my sister, and two of cousins and I did the snorkeling. I think it was about an hour or so. It was fun and the water was very clear.

We took some pictures, but not many as we were busy snorkeling

We enjoyed these activities, and if we had more time (and maybe more money) maybe we would’ve tried other activities Dakak has to offer 😊