Europe in a Week: Athens

We flew to Athens, Greece the morning of Wednesday, October 4th. Boarding our plane looked a little like this.  #nojetbridge

We weren’t quite sure what to expect when making plans to go to Athens– but I have to say I was pleasantly surprised! This place is beautiful!! We knew we wanted to make it to the beach while there and see some of the ancient ruins but really just get there and see what it had to offer!

We made it to our rental car at the airport and once again started our driving adventure in another country!  Let’s just say it was all good until we got into the city😅 These streets were lined with parked cars, lanes of traffic tighter than ever and to top it off we started venturing up a hill steeper than those in San Fran!  (Jess and I were known to burn rubber in the San Fran streets from all of the steep hills but I was about in tears because I wasn’t sure we could even make it up this hill in our little VW Polo).  We did and right around the corner was our destination.  Lunch was here at this restaurant with a great view of the ruins.

Then we ventured up to see the Parthenon.  We were surprised to find that the ruins we wanted to see were all in the same area–which saved on time and having to venture all over the city!  The sky and colors visible from the top of the ruins were spectacular. The marble was 👌🏼 and slippery at that! (Flip flops are a bad idea.)

After the ruins we headed to the Plaka neighborhood.  It’s known for its cobblestone streets lined with shops, restaurants and an overall Greek Island-vibe.

Our accommodations for the evening were about 30 minutes from this area, near the beach.  So we headed that way so we could check in and find a place for dinner. We stayed here, great location and price for something close to the beach! If you want to see a variety in Athens, I’d definitely recommend staying outside of the city near the beach so you can get the best of both worlds.  #lovethebeach🏝

We found a place on the water for dinner– we pretty much ate and back to the hotel we went for the evening, as we were exhausted!  This was definitely the most tired I had been all trip!  Not sure if the jet lag was finally kicking in or just all of the traveling but I was ready for bed.

The next morning we headed to the beach a couple of blocks away. This beach was really great, (then again there aren’t too many beaches I don’t like) you did have to pay to go but it included chairs and basically just worth it!  Until we saw a topless lady next to us😂 #eurpoeanculture

We laid out all day and then jumped in the Polo to head towards the airport.  #changinginthecar Nothing like sleeping on the beach all day just in time to make your flight! It was a really relaxing and fun afternoon!

Athens, Greece ✔️  Next stop Rome, Italy– but only for a layover😉 I’d say it counts though because once again no jet bridge so we had to walk outside! We flew in that evening and had about 1.5 hours there.  Enough time to sip some wine at a kiosk restaurant in the airport!  We checked our gate and knew where we needed to be (so we thought) before we set down for dinner.

We finished up and headed to terminal D to find that this wasn’t where our flight to Barcelona was– we were in terminal B!  All while I’m trying to check the monitors and ask the attendant, Jess is scrambling to find her ticket– she lost her ticket! She kept saying, “Mel, I threw it away.”  We are freaking out because once again everything seemed a little more intense in Europe airports–especially for foreigners!  She literally couldn’t find it but we had to at least make it to our gate on time and then figure out the ticket situation, or we wouldn’t have a chance at making it to Barcelona! Let’s just say we were in a full sprint from terminal D to B taking about 5 minutes.  People were staring as two blonde American girls didn’t know what they were doing in Europe!  #typical

We showed up to our gate as there were a few left in line and they had just made last call! Phew, and to relieve the stress the attendant was kind enough to just reprint Jess’s ticket!  We made it!!

Next stop Barcelona, Spain✈️