I fulfilled a childhood dream. Goobie discovered a love for pretending to behead his Daddy. And Matt learned how to be a Gorgon, a Minotaur and a Man-Eating Mare. We spent two days in Athens soaking up the myths, the history and the incredible views.

It all started with a hotel in the red light district. As our taxi driver stopped outside the Hotel Brazil, he told us ominously that ‘This isn’t a good area.’ Apparently Matt knew, but beggars can’t be choosers when you leave booking your hotel until 48 hours beforehand. But actually, it was a good little place, just a 5-minute walk from the Metro. The hotel staff were extremely welcoming – and the map of Loughborough on the reception desk gave me a good laugh.

When I was 8, we did the Greek myths at school. My friend and I would daydream about going to Greece when we were grown-up. Athens – the name sounded so exotic, on the edge of the small world I was familiar with. Today, I see Athens as a neighbour; a convenient hour-and-forty-minutes flight away – and the gateway to the Greek Islands.

We weren’t staying in Athens for long, so we prioritised – the Acropolis for us, the funicular railway for Goobie.

‘Get to the Acropolis for 8am, when it opens,’ our friendly hotel manager told us. ‘There is no shade up there and it will be full of tourists later on.’

We got there at 11.30am. Big mistake.

That first moment when you round a street corner and see the Acropolis is quite something. Spectacular. Rising hundreds of feet upwards, the Parthenon sits at the top, seemingly overlooking every nook and cranny in Athens. Since the economic crisis, the cost of a ticket has more than doubled to 20 Euros for adults. Fair enough – it was totally worth it. Since we seemed to have arrived during the peak tourist time, we were in the ticket queue for a while.

Once in, we followed the path to the Acropolis, stopping to take in the ruins and increasingly impressive views of the city. As we walked up, I was struck by the thought that the magnificence of this place would be lost on 5 year-old Goobie, which seemed a shame. I had an idea.

‘Goobie, see those temples up there? A long time ago, Greek superheroes lived there.’  I told him about Perseus and the Gorgon, Theseus and the Minotaur, and Athena.

And that was it. A new obsession was launched right there on our walk up to the Acropolis.

We finally reached the entrance to the Acropolis – the Propylaia, with the Temple of Athena Nike sitting to the right of it. It had been restored brilliantly in 2003 and I was totally blown away by its grandeur; the size of it and the gleaming white marble of its magnificent steps and pillars. It really was like entering the Land of the Gods.

It was heaving with tourists. Totally packed. Long lines of organised tour groups weaved their way up the steps and inside. Also, it was 12 noon and we were about to leave the last of the shade – it was boiling. I’ll admit, the crowds ruined the atmosphere for me. Why didn’t we listen to the hotel manager? Because we’d been knackered the night before and needed a long sleep. However, Top Tip for anyone planning to visit: GET THERE EARLY!

We walked through the Propylaia and stepped out into the Acropolis. At first I didn’t recognise the Parthenon because the side that was facing me was covered in scaffolding. I hadn’t heard of the Acropolis Restoration Project and was a bit disappointed not to get the famous photo, but the important project is nearing completion. The Parthenon is the largest Doric temple ever completed in Greece and it was dedicated to the god Athena. It was also used as a Treasury. It is huge and, as we walked around it, I tried to recapture that feeling I got when I first saw the Propylaia. But the scaffolding and crowds made it impossible. We were either constantly in the way of someone’s photo, or they were in the way of ours. We should perhaps have booked ourselves a guide to have taken our minds off it.

The Parthenon is such an iconic place that I took Teddy with me to photograph him in front of it. Teddy has travelled with me all over the world. I have pictures of him on the Great Wall of China, the Pyramids in Egypt, Potala Palace in Tibet, the Amazon Rainforest and Table Mountain in Cape Town, to name a few. It was great to add the Parthenon to the collection.

We had a look at the impressive Erechtheion, a temple built for the cults of Athena, Erechtheus and Poseidon. We then sat down to take in the awesome 360-degree view.

On our way back down from the Acropolis, we drank refreshing lemonade in the shade of olive trees.

At the bottom of the Acropolis, there was a little road train offering 30-minute tours of the city. It was too good to be true – we needed a sit down, and Goobie loves trains.

The train took us through the maze of pretty streets in Plaka, the old historical part of Athens that lies at the bottom of the Acropolis. It’s built on the ancient city and around the ancient Agora, the central space of the old city. It is filled with a mix of restaurants, tourist shops and trendy arty shops. And here and there in the middle of it all are some amazing ruins! You need longer than two days to visit them all.

The train took us to Syntagma Square and past the parliament building with the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier and its traditionally costumed guards.

The train dropped us off at the Acropolis, fully rested. Our next port of call was the Acropolis Museum, containing all the artefacts found in the Acropolis. They are housed in a very swish building built over the ruins of the ancient city. The building stands on concrete pillars and has glass floors so you can see the ruins beneath.

The museum was really interesting and brought the Acropolis to life. I mistakenly thought cameras were prohibited so didn’t get any photos. There’s a nice restaurant in the museum where we had a drink. There’s also a well-stocked bookshop where we bought Goobie a full-colour illustrated collection of Greek myths. Goobie would not be parted with this book for the duration of our holiday and I think it brought Greece alive for him more than anything else.

It was getting late so we retraced our train route and found the lovely Palia Taverna Tou Psara restaurant in Plaka’s warren of alleyways. Overlooked, as always, by the Parthenon.

Afterwards we took a slow stroll back to the metro station, enjoying the contemporary arty, historical vibe of Plaka. It was a combination that worked. We listened to some talented street musicians and one band invited Goobie to join them. Laid-back jazz filled the air.

Our second day in Athens was at the end of our holiday. This time we were staying in the historical Hotel Acropolis House. It was conveniently located in Plaka and its ceilings were covered in original frescos.

After a hearty hotel breakfast, we set off for Lykavittos Hill where we’d promised Goobie a ride on the funicular railway. It took us to the top of the hill and out into blinding sunlight and the most spectacular views of Athens. We’d seen this hill from the Parthenon and now had an incredible view of the Parthenon – minus crowds – from this hill.

We could also see the massive Panathenaic Stadium. It looked like a long white slash in the city. This was our next stop. We took the funicular back down the hill, hopped in a taxi and were there in 10 minutes.

Wow! It was like a stadium for the gods, it was that massive. The original stadium was built in the 4^th century BC and restored in 1895. It hosted the first modern Olympic Games in 1896. We did all the typical touristy things, running on the track, standing on the podium, pretending to do the long jump. We walked along the athletes’ tunnel and it took us to a small Olympic Games museum, complete with memorabilia and Olympic torches.

Our time in Athens was drawing to a close and we had one final mission to complete: Goobie wanted a Medusa statue, the scarier the better. We found him a large hideous thing in the bustling Athens Flea Market – he loved it. We had dinner in a square in Plaka while Goobie pretended he was Perseus chopping off Matt’s head.

We’d only visited Athens briefly, but whether through myth or through the mingling of past and present, Athens came alive for us all and showed us that we needed to visit again – for longer next time.