We've been back from Greece for over a month and I'm just now getting to post this! I have LOTS of pictures and many have asked for details, so I'll do my best to recap as best I can. Part 1 will be Athens, and then later I'll post part 2 that will be Santorini.
Oh, and if you're wondering why we went to Greece? Santorini has been on the TOP of my bucket list for years. I've seen pictures and just said "THAT'S MY DREAM VACATION". Leave it to Nate to make my dreams come true ;) He's good at doing that!
We left Friday night and flew from Chicago to Istanbul and then to Athens. We got to our AirBnb at about 10:30pm on Saturday in Athens. We grabbed a quick bite to eat in Monastiraki Square, which was about a block from where we were staying.
We stayed at the coolest location because we always felt safe and Monastiraki Square was the place to be at night. Tons of restaurants, vendors, goodies, etc. The lighted up building at the top of the picture is the Parthenon.
Saturday we got up early for our day tour of Athens. Nate is a huge history guy and his only request on this trip was that we really take in some of the history in Athens. I figured it would be fine, but I found myself enjoying it A LOT more than I thought. I probably don't remember anything (because mom brain. My memory stinks!) but I can almost guarantee you that Nate does.
The Parthenon was a big part of the tour and it was incredible. It was so beautiful and you could see so much of Athens from there!
After the tour, we hit up lunch in Plaka which is the old area of Athens. It is BEAUTIFUL. It has tons of shopping, little restaurants, etc. It just has a relaxed but fun feel to it. After lunch we walked around for awhile, did some shopping, stopped for a drink, you know...vacation stuff. Also, let me just throw this in there that shopping slowly and just holding hands with Nate was SO nice. I'm usually shopping on the kids time, making sure they have a snack, some water, pushing my stroller in and out....etc etc. This was just so EASY and a nice change of pace ;)
Our Air Bnb hosts were super helpful and recommended a cool little restaurant for dinner that was like a 10 min walk from our place and had a view of the Parthenon while eating outside on the patio.
After dinner we found a dessert place called Hansel & Gretel's. It was so cute inside and their specialty was Chimney Cakes, a cinnamon sugar cake that was rolled out thin and then put in a circular shape and then you could pick 2 things to put inside-- they had ice cream, chocolate, jelly beans, sprinkles, etc. I picked Nutella + sprinkles and I kid you not it was one of the best desserts I've ever had. Don't mind my dumb face in the picture...I was in shock of how good it was! 😊
The next day in Athens we didn't really have any plans and so we decided to check out some more of the historical sites that we didn't get to spend as much time on during the tour. Nate really wanted to go to Areopagus (also known as Mars Hill), which is where Paul spoke to the Athenians. It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been. I kid you not...Nate and I just stood there and took it in for awhile. There were blue skies, 75 degree weather, a slight breeze and here we were...at the same place Paul was. Nate read the bible passage that talks about this location, and we just took it all in.
We spent a lot of time walking around Athens more, checking out the Temple of Zeus, and a couple other sites as well. There are LOTS. Athens is so pretty because it's a big city and has lots going on, and then randomly, right next to the highway is a historical site that is SO OLD. The one thing I learned in Athens that I won't forget? These people are SERIOUS about preserving these special places. Athens wasn't on my list of places to go, but I found myself loving it way more than I expected to 💓
In the evening, we ate at one of my favorite restaurants in Athens, The Greco's PRJ. It was in Monastiraki Square again and we both ordered gyros. Although the dinner the night before was "fancier", I promise the best food you'll find is a cheap gyro. It was SO good and just thinking about it makes me want to fly there just to have one more ;)
We walked around a little more, taking in more of Athens before heading to bed. The next morning we had to get up early to take the ferry to Santorini ;) I'll share more on that later!
xox,
Naomi
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