Athens

We made it to Athens! This is where we begin our Greek adventure. From car to plane to plane to train, and after only (only!) 19 hours we arrived. And boy, let me tell you, it’s quite a sight to arrive in Monastiraki Square on a gorgeous Friday evening in August! The place was hopping. Or, it IS hopping, because even now as we are falling to sleep in our hotel room at 11pm I can hear the bass thumping in the distance. It’s easy to forget we started off with a flight delay at Dulles…thankfully it didn’t have the same result as our delayed flight to Portugal a few years back! Here we are keeping ourselves busy at the airport:

After a mercifully easy trip with only one flight delay and plenty of sleep on the plane for the girls, we checked into our perfectly clean and modern hotel and still had energy to get out and about. The first stop was souvlaki row, an atmospheric and touristy street lined with traditional Greek souvlaki restaurants. We easily snagged the best table in the joint and had a blast people watching and enjoying the not-too-pushy touts and street musicians. But most importantly…the souvlaki was superb! Easily the best pita and tzatziki I’ve ever had, with delectable meats and salad. Diane wasn’t interested in much other than the pita and fanta, but the rest of us were in heaven! Even the cheap, chilled red house wine grew on us when paired with such a feast. 

We then strolled through some really fun shops, checking out all the Greek god paraphanalia. Melina has been obsessed lately with the Percy Jackson books (think a lesser Harry Potter only with Greek gods instead of wizards), and timing couldn’t be better with this trip on the horizon. In support, Zach and I also read the books and as a family we read the great old standby D’Aulaires Book of Greek Myths to the girls as well. So we are well versed in Ancient Greek mythology and the girls have decided it is their new religion. In fact, Melina now gets offended when she sees goofy depictions of the gods (like the board game “Zeus on the Loose” or the t-shirts here in Athens with spoiled rotten kid versions of Athena & co). I actually think getting offended easily gives her new belief system merit, because honestly, isn’t that what religion is all about?
We then grabbed some gelato and sat on the square admiring the views of the Acropolis and watching the crowds. 

We were mesmerized by the glowing whirlibirds that street vendors kept slingshotting into the sky, where they would then float down into the crowd like jellyfish or wayward UFOs. When we got up to leave we went to pick up our empty gelato cups off the steps we placed them on…to find them swarming with cockroaches. So. Gross. 

But recovery is easy when you have a spotlessly clean hotel room to return to! When putting the girls to bed they kept remarking at what a great day it was. Diane’s quote was the most adorable, though: “Daddy, do you know what the most amazing thing in the world is? Travel. And do you know what else is the most amazing thing in the world? Parents.” That kid just melts me.