Come fly with me and explore GREECE! PART IV- ATHENS
Ah yes, ATHENS! ATHENS! ATHENS! City of history, history and history. It was a final chapter of our DREAM, BUCKET LIST, VACATION. A 45-minute flight to the crazy Athens airport and a quick 30-minute ride by a car service BLACK LANE and we are now in our apartment in PLAKA. NOTE: I highly recommend Plaka versus any other part of the city - everything is right on the palm of your hand, well kinda, as you still have to climb a structure or two. :) Our balcony was facing Acropolis!! WOW. Simply breath taking especially at night, when it’s all lid up.
As we always do, dropped our bags and off we go for exploring. The market, the Roman Agora, Monastiraki were right there. Quite surreal to wonder among ruins. And the cats, oh my, the amount of cats just lounging on the ruins or under to avoid sun is quite excessive. After a few hours of shmoozing and taking magnificent landmarks in, it was time to get an ice cream for Izabella and a glass of aperitif for her parents to quinch the thirst. To make it perfect, stopped at Zorbas. Imagine that, a very unusual name for a restaurant in Greece. :) It’s absolutely a perfect place for drinks, people watching and especially watching typical Greek looking manager and owner convincing for tourists to stop at their restaurant. “Come in, come in, we huv driincks, Greek food, pasta, very, very nice tables,” and if they were ignored, they would start another cigarette and I bet, a curse came out of them. What a show!
In the evening, we found a great roof top restaurant with a magnificent view to the whole city and a beautiful sunset. More grilled octopus for mama and souvlaki for the fam. NOTE: Plaka has the most wonderful roof top selection for restaurants. You really cannot go wrong!!!
In the morning of the next day, as our tradition, we took a hop on hop off bus to get acquainted with the city and this is when we were faced with horrendous traffic. Due to the extreme heat, the tickets to the Acropolis and Pantheon were only available at 8 or 17.00 (5pm). My preference was for 17.00 (tour with a small group) to have a chance to enjoy the city prior. NOTE: Tickets to the ruins don’t include tickets to the Acropolis Museum, make sure you don’t skip the museum.
We ended up with an incredible guide who LOVED the history, waaalked very, very, very, very slowly and loved his espresso and cigarettes. “You cannot walk faster as your tour guide.” He made a comment to one of the families. “Why are you in a hurry? You are on vacation. Enjoy it. No, no, no don’t hurry.” As we were all dying from heat, I was absolutely amazed how he could sip on his hot espresso. I was getting hot just by looking at him. What can I say, Acropolis, Pantheon, the history behind it - INCREDIBLE. I won’t go into details; you simply have to see it for yourself or use the good old Google.
On our last day, we did a Food Tour. Oh my, we loved it. First stop was ARISTON for their infamous spinach and feta pie. The bakery has been there since 1910. LUKUMADES Greeks love their dough balls drizzled with honey. Then onto my most favorite stop but not Izabella’s - Cheese shop. STROUGKA Had a chance to try 6 amazing types of cheese. And that is why Izabella and I are a great team. She eats my desserts and I eat her cheese. I figured I must have had half a kilo of cheese at that shop with no regrets what’s so ever. And now for some MEZE!! ZARKADIAN Basturma, prosciutto, cheese and wine in plastic bottles. What can be better than that? AND THE LUNCH at the meat market. Pig heads, hanging rabbits, chickens, ton of fresh smelts, octopus and an array of different types of steaks. The smell may be not the best, but the restaurant we ate at, sure was special. OINOMAGEIREIO Steamed artichokes, potatoes and eggplant, sausages and potatoes, tirokafteri and so much more. DELISH!!! Adorable OLIVES shop and then a stop at the desert shop with Greek coffee. Mmm mmm so so good. Unfortunately for me, no one was able to read coffee grinds from my cup, but there is always a next time.
A nice stroll down Stadiou Street through Athens National Garden to the Panathinaiko Stadium with Olympic Rings was exactly what the doctor ordered. Simply beautiful, peaceful and with a lot of shade.
Our final dinner was quite memorable at the ATHINAIKON Truly fab Lamb patties are definitely worth trying.
AND NOW THE TRIP HAS COME TO AN END, BUT THE MEMORIES OF PICTURERESQUE PLACES, BLUE DOMES, FOOD, PEOPLE AND FAMILY TIME WILL ALWAYS STAY WITH ME AND MY FAMILY.
OPA! YAMAS!