Culinary Excellence: Greece

I'm going to sauce out a toilet then have a kip.

Translation: I'm going to look for the bathroom then take a nap.

WE WENT TO ATHENS, GREECE.. for the weekend. 

After a short pit-stop in Germany for pretzels and sausage Miss Alex Gray and I jetted off ATHENS, GREECE.

Let’s just say – THANK GOD we speak English. Though I knew some of the symbols thanks to the greek system, KKG, DU, PhiDelt, etc… The Greek language looks like someone threw a bunch of random things together. It’s sort of like when you change the font in Microsoft Word to the one with the airplanes, dollar signs and all sorts of symbols, but real.

The trip got off to a great start! We took the bus from the airport into the city. It was a long haul, but we were able to see some of the things that make up the real Athens… automotive row, furniture row and STARBUCKS! You know, the stuff Athens is known for.

We made it to the hostel around 6pm ready for dinner and a bit of exploring.  Of course our room was occupied by 3 boys…Australian boys nonetheless. Sidenote: It seems like the Australians have it down!  After graduation they take several months to see the world (maybe I’ll have to do that too)...

The boys, Jake, Matt and Hugh invited us to join them for dinner. Who were we to say no? We were all pretty new to Athens, so we decided to wander for a bit to find a place. Strolling down restaurant row was like The Buckle challenge to get the back of the store without someone selling themselves to you. Each place we passed offered discounts, drinks, anything to get us in their restaurant. The restaurateur man ‘from California’ offered free drinks, a discount and free dessert. Sign us up!!

After a night full of fun with the boys and a group of 7 Danish guys we met at a ‘Bar Crawl’, we made our way up as close as we could to the Acropolis.We decided seeing it in the day might give us a better idea where we were to try again the next night.

So we did just that.. Friday morning Alex and I made our way to the underwhelming hostel breakfast then to the hostel tour. We saw all the sights (from the outside) and learned the history not even Greek Historians knew.. Our tour guide spoke for what seemed like HOURS at each destination. Four hours later we went exploring on our own.

Because we were in Athens and had the dream of a beautiful Greek man pulling us out of the water (like in Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2)… we decided to go to the beach. Keep in mind it is February. Great idea. hmm...We packed up a mini picnic – with the Aussies in tow made our way to the water.

Moving right along on this play-by-play blog…sorry.

Saturday was another great day of exploring. Alex and I checked out of the hostel and said our goodbyes to the boys. The last night in Athens we spent at the Hilton – best decision ever. It was AMAZING. The view, the big bed, a bathtub, rain shower: heaven.

Later that night we got all dolled up for a fancy, candle-lit dinner at Milos. It was magnificent. Octopus, Salmon, shrimp, seafood delight. Breakfast the next morning at the Hilton only continued the culinary confusion of excellence.

After we had our fill of Greek coffee, which despite my facial expression was delicious, and all the other breakfast fixins we could have imagined, Alex and I took our last stroll through Greece. Of course picking up a few necessary gifts and keepsakes.. we made our way back to the Metro station. We were a bit surprised to find riot police and a demonstration in Syntagma Square. We decided it was time to go when they put on gas masks. Scary. Then a few hours later we were home.. in Bologna. Great weekend :)

Thanks for the hat Hugh. 

View from the Acropolis

Athena

Temple of Zeus

Nighttime view of Athens from the Hilton rooftop bar.

The jumping in front of the Parthenon was a must.
We were copied by a family about 15 ft. away. Success!