So, apart from my travels to, from, and back to the UK this year, Greece was the first REAL vacation I've experienced in 7 years. Yup... how deprived, eh? Just kidding, mom! After a long 8 week term, a nice little getaway sounded perfectly lovely. And it was!
The alarm was set to go off at 3AM, and getting to the airport was a breeze. Can you believe I - yes me - only hauled a carry-on full of clothes for my one week adventure? Withhold the disbelief, I know!
And despite the fact that it was silly o'clock in the morning upon checking in, I still needed to stock up on my Pret! :)
You know, I really ought to call up the company and request an instalment here in Colchester.... but that's neither here nor there right now!
Landing in the nation of feta cheese and baklava, I swiped a map from a kiosk nearby, scouted the bus route we needed to take to the hotel, and directed us to (what I hoped to be) our reliable means of transportation! Kudos to me, cause I mean, couldn't understand a word of it...it was all Greek to me! ;)
Happy Steph.... Excited Steph, and the rooftop of our hotel:
I look at the picture now, and it seems so surreal... what a breathtaking view. It's exactly how I imagined Greece to be.
Our first night there, we walked the streets of, oh my heavens I just realized, I never told you.... we were in downtown Athens! :) We strolled the streets in a leisurely fashion, familiarizing ourselves with the surroundings and trying to remember the street names... can I just say, we had a hoot trying to read the names, and came up with our own variations seeing as we butchered the pronunciation anyways! Haha.
My beloved coke zero, note the Greek writing ;)
When in Greece, you HAVE to chow down on GYROS :) mine was a chicken gyro, into which they traditionally put french fries, haha. Yum-yum-yum!
Ah, then we stumbled upon this delightful bakery - which, might I add, we frequented every single night! Whether it be a salad, or scrumptious dessert, I loved every bit of this place (and I'm pretty sure the people working there could tell, as they exchanged knowing glances every time I floated in and out of the store!)
Macaroons! Oh the sight of them did make me swoon, look how many there were!
Mmmmm... the beloved baklava ... How can you resist?!
Such concluded our first night in Athens. Might I add that whilst Tudor was sorting the internet downstairs, I opened our mini fridge, eyed all the lovely chocolates, managed to practically inhale an entire bar, excitedly announce to him that there were hidden gems in the bar fridge only for him to inform me that we would have to pay for them - erm, more like that chocolate bar would be charged to his card. LOL. I'm such a treasure, I'm telling ya.
✿ Day One ✿
One of life's many blessings: all you can eat breakfast bars. Our hotel had such a lovely set up - I wish I could still dine in style there some mornings! The chocolate greek yogurt alone was enough to keep me there. I had a big bowl full every morning #noshame. There were an assortment of breads and cakes, fresh bagels, fruits, yogurts and toppings. They also served various cereals and had a hot section with eggs, sausages, bacon, mushrooms and cream, etc. A server came round with fresh coffee, and we could help ourselves to unlimited teas and fruit juices. I was living the dream, baby! So having lugged my very full stomach out of the breakfast lounge and prepping myself for the day ahead of me - we set off!
Pictured below: Steph and her big map, putting an unmistakable X on all the places I wanted to venture off to :) .... On the right: ready to go!
Walking the streets.... notice the Starbucks ;) hehe
Preserving a local church nearby?
I bet you're wondering what caught my eye....
KITTY! Now, either she is a closet yoga-guru.... or just a classy lady ;) I'll let you decide... either way, I made a new friend.
Can I just say, Athens was crawling with cats (literally) everywhere! Casually just chilling around, yanno....
We made a pit stop at the cutest little shop for some gelato! As I am in a committed relationship with any sort of chocolate that happens to cross my path, I naturally opted for Nutella. If I could bottle up happiness and sunshine, the bottle would be loaded top to bottom with this glorious bit of heaven on earth. Honestly, the BEST I have ever had the pleasure of tasting.... do you think they ship ice cream to the UK? SIGN ME UP!
Afterwards, Tudor and I ventured a little off the plotted route, and just explored the side streets, not really knowing where we would end up! We eventually caught up to a gentleman speaking English, and we just looked at each other and said "right, we're following him." LOL.
Then we found this little nook.... and a photoshoot ensued!
Just round the corner, we stumbled into this graffiti garden wall! :)
How cute is this?
Deciding it might be a grand idea to get back on track, we started to head up the hill towards the Parthenon! :) Our trek through the hillside was lovely, we got to stroll through what I call the 'typical' Greek style mountain-side homes.
At this point, me being me, says "WAIT I NEED A PICTURE HERE" ... Oh Stephanie....
A narrow and winding path! It was single file, or nothing!
Midway, we stopped to take some photos...
Trekking on up the rest of the way, we finally reached the gates and, huzzah, received free entrance tickets as it was a holiday Monday :)
And cue the need for photos any time I see anything that looks like it will make a good shot ;)
Stumbling upon the Theatre of Dionysus, do you know how difficult it was to contain myself from zooming down those (quite steep) flight of stairs simply to stand in the middle of the stage and let my dramatic ways and tendencies get the best of me? (And, I suppose the onlookers as well LOL).
Eventually, we conquered that mountain, finding ourselves in front of the temple that was formerly my home (you know, back when I was a Greek Goddess in the days ;) LOL).
Look how happy I am.... home sweet home ;)
As grey skies quickly engulfed the skies above, one can only presume that it began to rain!
As a result, we decided to descend and seek shelter - though I did have my umbrella, so at least I was safe. Tudor had to fend for himself. Haha, just kidding.
As we weaved through the streets once more, we were flagged down by a host minding the front of his restaurant. One thing I loved about Greece was the open concept when it came to dining and culinary experiences; tables were scattered in front of itty-bitty restaurants, safely sheltered with some sort of tent, and fully equipped with heaters to boot! Something intrinsic to European culture, I was so happy to finally acquaint myself with the custom. Funnily enough, a handful of people presumed Tudor was Greek (he's Romanian, so he does have that European twinkle pumping through his blood!)... so the host starts speaking to us in Greek, thinking he and Tudor are homeboys LOL, and my lovely had to (sadly) let in that he wasn't actually Greek, ergo couldn't understand a word that was being said HAHA. Darn, imagine all the perks we could have gotten away with ;) We dined at the restaurant regardless, because I was dying for some food!
The complimentary starter; toasted garlic bread with olive tapenade. (Between the two of us, neither fancies the likes of an olive...but, I did try the tapenade, cause, you know, when in Greece! It was okay, but for someone who steers clear of olives - even holding her breath on occasion as she passes the olive bar in grocery stores LOL - it just wasn't for me).
Always and forever the coke zero life!
My HUGE plate, definitely couldn't finish it all. More authentic tzatziki sauce... can't go wrong!
Thus marks the end of Day 1 in Greece! Pretty sure Tudor and I were eternally stuffed after this very late lunch. In which case, I probably ended up getting a salad from my beloved bakery, and he opted for a BLT Sandwich (which, if you know the kid, is nothing new).
✿ Day Two ✿
The second day began as gloriously as the first: with the divine, all-you-can-eat breakfast affair. Mmmm. Food devoured, hunger satisfied, time to hit the road again!
Today, we set out to find Delphi. At one point, I remember convincing ourselves we were never going to find it... which actually happened at least once or twice every single time we ventured off in search of a specific place/site LOL. Up and up and up the mountain we went. Holy Hannah, a lot of Greece was going uphill!
Halfway through the hike, we paused to snap some photos. Note: we're now standing directly opposite of Parthenon!
HI! :)
I opted for the Chicken Caesar ... so sinfully good. Tudor got some sort of all meat pizza, which might I add, was about 75% cheese!? I think the chefs went a little cheese-happy in the back, holy macaroni. Ick. LOL.
Until next post, where I'll share the rest of our Greek adventures.... :)
Steph xxx
