It ends in Athens

When we initially planned our itinerary,  Mike & I thought we would skip Athens - we hadn't heard great things about the capital of Greece.  We'd heard it's dirty, that there is graffiti everywhere, that it's not the safest location to visit if you're in the country....you get the gist.  But since we weren't planning another trip to Greece anytime soon & since the Acropolis is an amazing sight - we agreed to spend just one night in Athens before heading back to the states.  We're SO thrilled we made that decision, because Athens ended up being absolutely charming and it was the ideal way to end our Greek Getaway.

We definitely did Athens right - we had a car service pick us up from the airport and take us straight to the Acropolis.  It's a life must see & a truly wondrous sight.  It's incredible to walk among ruins that are older than anything I've ever seen or visited in my life!  The Acropolis sits on a hill above the entire city, and standing up there with the view of all of Athens makes you feel like a God - a Greek God!  And you're far away from all the graffiti, sirens, honking horns, and motorbikes - on this massive natural pedestal in the sky!  We're so glad that we made the trip to see it, because it's an amazing, amazing attraction.

The only other thing on our agenda for our time in Athens was....GRYOS!  After 8 days in Greece, we had everything from octopus straight from the sea, what felt like full pounds of grouper, at least a few pints of hummus, and gallons and GALLONS of Greek wine & grappa - but not. one.  gyro!   So our driver took us to one of the oldest souvlaki stands in all of the city - Thanasis, and after one bite, I thought I would melt into my gyro itself.  It's ok that it's considered "Greek fast food" - it was delectable and I think every gyro should have fries in them, if you ask my opinion.

Our hotel for the evening, the Hotel Grand Bretagne, boasted one of the best views of the Acropolis from the breezy rooftop bar. So we had a few cocktails up there before venturing out in search of a dinner venue. Our driver gave us another tip - and that was to spend the evening in a little part of town called Plaka - or as I like to think all of it - the west Village of Athens.  It's a little neighborhood with cobblestone walkways and it is hopping with authentic Greek tavernas.  And because we had robbed ourselves of a
week's worth of gyros - we were craving more souvlaki & Greek table wine....of course.

Typically, the last evening of a trip, I tend to find myself preemptively dreading returning to the normal world from vacation life.  It happened to us when we wrapped up our Italian trip from 2012 in Milan, and we weren't fully able to enjoy ourselves on our last night.  So we were determined to milk our Greek vacation as long as we could before returning to New York - and we absolutely did, even in the "non-romantic" city of Athens.

Before we left for Greece, Mike likened this trip to a second (or third, or fourth, if you count each of our Eurotrips since we got married!) honeymoon - and it really was a dream vacation.  We're so blessed to be able to take these yearly trips that end up surpassing my wildest expectations.  And I'm extremely grateful that my husband worked so hard for so many months to plan all of the amazing details & stunning accommodations.   It's crazy that I was looking forward to this trip since March of this year - and it was dreams of a Greek Island getaway that kept me going through the harsh winter, and brutal days of work - for MONTHS.  And in the blink of an eye - it's over!  Greece was an absolute magical trip that we'll reminisce about forever.  We hope you enjoyed the pictures - and we're happy to tell you all more stories when and if we see you in person!  OPA!!!!