Athens

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Although I lived in London for 3 years, I never found the right time to go to Greece… now I know what you are thinking, there is never a wrong time for Greece. I will be honest though, as a seasoned traveler, the thought of isle hopping was a bit daunting to plan.  I had heard about the unexpected ferry strikes and wasn’t exactly sure where to stay or how to get around. Ideally, I didn’t want to cram the trip into one week and I wanted to find the right person to travel with.

I am a firm believer in everything happens for a reason, and there being a right time for everything. Queue me meeting my now husband; a man with an intimidating (at first glance) Greek last name, who had never left the US prior to meeting me.  The moment I met him I knew I was going to marry him and we would eventually Honeymoon in Greece.

I am proud to say, 72 hours after becoming Mrs. Karanikas, I finally took my trip to Greece with the perfect travel “hubby”.

We spent 12 days in Greece:

• 2 days in Athens
• 3 days in Mykonos
• 3 days in Naxos
• 4 days in Santorini

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In Part 1 of 4, I will describe to you how exactly we spent those 2 days in Athens.

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Day 1

Designer Hotels, Plaka, Mount Lycabettus, Dinner with Views and Fresh, Fresh Food

We landed in Athens around 9 am, but by the time we got through customs, met our driver, and got to the hotel it was around 12pm.

We stayed in The Plaka at New Hotel. New Hotel had a lobby unlike any we had seen before; intricate and abstract art covered the walls of the lobby, every different floor, and each of the 79 rooms. The lobby walls were arranged with pieces of wooden doors, banisters, and handrails. While our room had a wall that contained an array of Greek evil eyes, which served a dual purpose; decoration and nightlight.  

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Since most visitors only spend a few days in Athens, it is suggested that you stay in or near the Plaka. The Plaka is very walkable and has a village feel with its narrow cobblestone streets lined with souvenir shops, sidewalk cafes and tavernas that stay open late.  

While presented with many great options for lunch, my husband and I had decided on To Kafeneio, just on the edge of the Plaka. Here we sat outside and shared an extra-large Mythos, olive bread, a Greek salad (my husbands first time learning a real Greek salad contains no lettuce), fresh Kalamata olives with oregano, homemade dolmades, and meatballs with THE sauce (a special red sauce, created by Nikolas, the first chef at To Kafeneio. The recipe dates back more than 100 years). The tastes were authentic, the food was fresh, and for our first meal of the trip, it didn’t break the bank.

After lunch, we wandered the Plaka and explored some of the ruins in the city center. We strolled through Kolonaki (the trendy area) on our way to Mount Lycabettus, where we took in an astonishing view of Athens. To get to the top of Lycabettus you can either hike or take a cable car.  Our intention was to walk to the top, as our travel agent had assured me it was “just a short walk.” However, as my husband and I approached the base of this mountain, me in Toms and he in Nikes, we began to wonder what the Greeks considered a hike if this was a “walk”. Needless to say, we opted for the cable car.

At the top of the Mountain, 277 meters above sea level, sits a restaurant, a church, a Greek flag, and an AMAZING view of the city.

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Upon our decent, we saw more ruins, passed the Panathenaic Stadium and made our way to dinner with a view of the Acropolis.

I had made all of the reservations for dinner via email ahead of time. Most of our reservations were for 7:30pm; a little early for the locals but we found that it was an opportune time to get seats with the best views in the restaurants. We successfully booked reservations to most of the restaurants we wanted to try, with the exception of Strofi. Instead, we ate right across the street at Attikas Greek House. The food was just all right, the views of the Acropolis were amazing, and the Baklava was huge! My husband and I also shared a bottle of Greek wine nearly every night of the honeymoon, this night we tried Katogi Averof and just like the food, we found it to be just all right.

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After dinner, we took 15-minute stroll back to the Plaka and had a night cap at Brettos, a bar with multi-colored bottle décor and a large drink menu.  

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Day 2

Over Sleeping, Tour of Acropolis, and the Panathenaic Stadium

My husband likes to claim that jet lag doesn’t affect him, but that claim was easily dismissed on day 2 when we over slept and almost missed our 9am, half-day, private walking tour of Athens!

Our tour guide was a local archeologist who was very knowledgeable about Greek history. She led us down some of the neighboring streets of the Plaka, beautifully covered in those infamous pink flowers that everyone pictures when they think of Greece. We walked towards the Tower of the Winds, an ancient Greek octagonal tower that was considered the first meteorological station. This marble tower featured sundials, a wind vane, and a water clock. The ancient Greeks used to tell the time by measuring the amount of water inside the tower at any given time. The inside of the tower was marked with lines and if for example it takes one hour for the water level to drop one inch, then a two-inch drop in water level meant that two hours had passed. A fun little extra sight, we didn’t know we would see.

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We followed the streets around to the entrance of the Acropolis. This is where our tour guide told us one of my now favorite traditional Greek myths. She told us of the contest between Athena and Poseidon for the name of the capital city. Poseidon, god of the sea, had promised the city protection via the seas and the strongest army to win every war. Athena, instead, produced an olive tree and explained how the city would be sustained by selling the olives, using the oil to burn and cook with, and the bark from the trees to build houses with. Athena’s proposal was more sustainable and therefore favored by the people, the city is now called Athens.

The Acropolis is a fortified ancient city located upon a rock that sits 490ft above sea level. It is most known for the ancient and historical buildings within, the most famous being the Parthenon, the temple dedicated to Athena.

As we walked up the rocky cascade toward the Acropolis we stopped for a photo at the Odeon of Herodes Atticus (an ancient stone theatre with great acoustics), we passed by the Temple of Nike (a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena Nike), through the Propylea (the gateway to the fortified city) and got our first view of the Parthenon.

We were left to wonder the Acropolis by first heading north towards the Erechtheion, a temple dedicated to both Athena and Poseidon. I like this temple not only because it has an olive tree growing next to it (ode to Athena) but it also has the famous Porch of the Caryatids (Maidens). We were able to see the maidens later in the museum.

We took in views of Areus Pagas/ Mars Hill, a marble hill next to the Acropolis. Snagged a few photos in front of the Parthenon and headed back down to meet up with the tour guide for the final part of the tour.

We walked along the Dionyssiou Areopagitou Street, saw the Theater of Dionysus, and ended in the New Acropolis Museum, which housed fascinating history and art and had an amazing view of the Parthenon.

Kevin and I found the museum particularly interesting because when we visited the British Museum in London the year before we got to see all of the stones that wrapped around the top of the Parthenon. Greece has been trying to get those stones back for years, and they built the museum so that they are ready for their return.

All in all, we really enjoyed the walking tour and would recommend that anyone visiting Athens take one. Unfortunately, I didn’t note the name of the tour company to recommend to you.

After the walking tour, we made our way back to the Plaka on the lookout for Thanasis Souvlaki which is supposed to have the best souvlaki in all of Greece. We struggled to find it and instead grabbed lunch at one of the sidewalk cafes, Adrianos. We were starving, since we woke up late and missed the hotel breakfast, so we both got traditional pork gyros.

After lunch, we hopped in and out some of the souvenir and jewelry shops and headed towards the Panathenaic Stadium, home to the first modern Olympic games. Tickets were only 5 euro and the tour very informal. We had some fun running around the track, and up and down the steps until it was time to go back to the hotel to change for dinner.

Before our 7:30pm reservation at Lithos Taverna, Kevin and I found a cute all-day sidewalk cocktail bar where we grabbed a before-dinner drink.  Kalimeres Bistro has a simple, yet elegant set up, and serves a really good assortment of cocktails.

Kevin and I both won dinner on night two when he ordered the special Mediterranean Sea Bream with a lemon, dill, and olive oil sauce and I enjoyed a Seafood Youvetsi. We started with a fresh Greek salad and some olive bread. The wine was better on night two when we ordered a bottle of Naparka, that is my best English translation as there was no English on the bottle.

Night two of the Greek honeymoon couldn’t end without an after-dinner drink, so Kevin and I headed back towards our hotel and enjoyed a few glasses of wine at By the Glass. By the Glass is one of Athens’ first wine bars and with more than 60 wines to try, they have done well acquainting visitors with Greek wine.

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When we go back to Athens, Kevin and I would like to head out of the city to Meteora and Delphi. We have also heard great things about Cape Sounion, the Temple of Poseidon. We would also love to try some of the restaurants we didn’t get a chance to:

• Avocado – light, vegetarian fare
• Telaro – light meal and coffee
• Strofi – Great Acropolis views
• Spondi – Gourmet Dinner
• Thanasis Souvlaki –Best souvlaki in all of Greece

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Now, I want to hear from you!

Have you been to Athens? What more do you recommend? Leave your comments below or send me an email!