GREECE | ATHENS DAY ONE

Remember that time I went to Greece and never posted about it? Well I’m fixing that because I’m finally getting around to recapping our trip! Starting with our first day, or half day rather, in Athens~

We landed around noonish and with buying a train pass, waiting for train, riding train while falling asleep in public, walking to hotel we didn’t arrive until about 3 or 4 and immediately took a nap but first looked out our small hotel porch to see this:

30336879642_24ac47233c_k

We kept saying how this style reminded us of cruise ships, you see it? Very common around all the parts of Greece we went to. I was fond of the colors of this particular building.

For this leg of the trip we didn’t splurge on our room by any means, but instead got something cheap and close to everything.  The Airotel Parthenon was close to everything but I will say, it looked nicer online, ha! Our room smelled of sulfur and it overall felt dirty but the lobby and breakfast that was included was very nice. I wouldn’t say don’t stay there because we were able to walk to all we did and the staff was great but beware, you get what you pay for.

29822950024_47afb5b0cb_k

After our power nap we got up and went to get some spiked coffees with no real plan just going where details led us like “pretty flowers! lets walk this way” stopping at the cutest outdoor cafe.

Greek iced coffee with Bailey’s ~ fun energy!

29822949094_46f129aaea_k

Went a little nuts snapping photos of this cafe, but I was so in love!

29822951454_0fbdf8ac4e_k

30336879102_cb808558bd_k

I climbed inside a tree to get this pic! Screams Europe right?!

29821169263_cc930dfaaa_k

snacks

We did a lot of walking from the start, had to pick up some fuel from a street vendor.

This day was very short so after coffee and snacks we hightailed it to Mars Hill to catch the sun setting on the entire city and view of the Parthenon atop Acropolis. You can’t tell from this photo but it was very windy up there and we had to be extra careful walking around all the slippery marble.

30367626161_689e5ca51e_k

I was squealing with delight over the rosy gold glow, it was like Joshua Tree in the sense of it just kept getting better and better!

29821835963_1a84e00461_k

Ray-Bans, Anthro top, vintage Coach bag, Old Navy sandals and Free People shorts

30367082581_e3ee8371e7_k

Some of these were taken with my little Rebel but this last one Dustin took on his phone and I was very impressed! The following day we switched over to the Acropolis side but first getting a different view of it was extra cool.

Once it got dark I stuck with just using Snapchat so no more photos from day .5 but the fun didn’t stop after Mars Hill. Next destination was the historic neighborhood, Plaka. This is where you can do it all -shop, drink, have fish eat the dead skin off your feet, watch street performers, eat, shop some more.  A friend here in Atlanta that’s from Thessaloniki who helped me big time with the trip recommended a spot for dinner he and his family go to every time they are in Athens, Thanasis Kebab.  He said “it’s nothing fancy but I love it” and I would agree, it wasn’t the fanciest but we sat on a cobblestone street lined with other restaurants and lots of foot traffic and enjoyed some Greek beer with the traditional plates and loved it!  We attempted to stay out as long as possible to battle jet lag but that night was pretty brutal for me. Having never traveled with such a big time difference, 7 hours ahead, I laid wide awake most of that night being envious of Dustin soundly sleeping like it was no different.

img_4317

Have no fear, I totally rallied the next day! Check back tomorrow to see post two from Athens!

You Might Also Like

2 Comments

  • Reply
    Katy
    October 25, 2016 at 12:03 am

    I’d love to know more about the flight package y’all got! I think I remember seeing it was hellacious getting there, but you got a good deal right?

    • Reply
      Jess
      October 25, 2016 at 1:44 pm

      Hi Katy, thanks for the curiosity! We booked through Lufthansa to get to Athens and back which was amazing service! The flight that sucked was between Athens to Santorini through Ellinair. They left 50 minutes late for a flight that was only supposed to take 45 minutes and the landing was scary af. We’d recommend Ryanair based on what others used that we met along the way! Hope you make it out there, it’s magic.

Leave a Reply to Katy Cancel Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.