I was so relieved to finally make it to Athens after a delayed flight and literally running through the Amsterdam airport to make my connecting flight. Upon arriving at the President Hotel in Athens, I found my friends that I was meeting. After freshening up we ventured out to Taratsa, a restaurant with a fantastic rooftop view of the Acropolis and Parthenon. I totally pigged out on falafels, fresh tomatoes, pita, and hummus while everyone else also had different meats.
The next day we stopped in Syntagma Square to see the Hellenic Parliament Building and the [dance-like] changing of the guards. After, we walked up the Acropolis to see the Parthenon and the stunning views from the top. Once we returned to the bottom it was time to explore the city and get some lunch. A bunch of the girls and I decided to split a few things so we could all try them: tzatziki, spinach and cheese pies, calamari, pasta, and kabobs. It was absolutely delicious! We then made our way to Bretto’s Wine Bar after doing some window shopping [and actual shopping]. Bretto’s is a hip little wine bar that has such a large variety, but I stuck with a Greek sparkling wine and it was the perfect choice. We continued wandering the streets and exploring until we stumbled upon the Temple of Olympian Zeus, which isn’t entirely intact, but is still equally awesome.
At this time we needed to meet the rest of the group to make our way to the “secret sunset spot” so we stopped for sandwiches and wine to take with us and met everyone for our walk to this mysterious place. After climbing a lot of stairs we ended the walk at Parko Thiseio (spelled many different ways). On one side we had an incredible sunset view and on the other side we could see the massive Parthenon. After the sun went down we decided to go out so we hit up a couple local spots for a few cocktails before making our way back to the hostel.
