Rachael On The Geaux

When we first got to the hotel in Athens we were exhausted. So we showered and took a much-needed nap since neither of us slept well on the plane from New Orleans. We were fine and happy to do this since we heard you don’t need much time in Athens, which we agree with.

We stayed at Athens Christokopidou Residence, which was very nice! Our room was small, but we didn’t mind because we tried to save some money on our Athens hotels, since we knew we would spend more on the others. The hotel used an app to provide you with your room key and a key to get into the hotel. They also had a bottle of champagne in the room waiting for us to celebrate our honeymoon!

Once we woke up it was time to explore and find dinner. We headed toward Monastiraki Square, which was close by and had shops, restaurants and bars. After we walked around we headed to O Thanasis for dinner. Cody and I both got the Thanasis Kabab, which is what they are known for. And it was delicious! It was 4 juicy kababs, with pita, onions and tomato. We also got a side of fries and tzatziki.

At dinner, the waiter warned us not to leave our phones on the table, that someone would try to take them. But, we never felt like we were going to be pickpocketed or unsafe, still it was nice of him to tell us. After dinner, we walked around more and stopped for some ice cream on our way home. 

Back at our hotel, they provided us with a questionnaire asking what we wanted for breakfast the next day. You had 2 options, have breakfast on the terrace or delivered to your room in a picnic basket.

We selected fresh fruit, milk, croissants, hard-boiled eggs, meat and cheese, and orange juice! The orange juice everywhere was fresh squeezed and delicious.

Today all we had planned was to see the Acropolis. From the hotel, we walked to Monastiraki Square and hopped on the Metro. It was recommended to us, to go before 10am, that’s when it starts to get very busy. We were taking our time and maybe made it out around 11ish. It wasn’t too bad but was still busy. Make sure you bring water too, since it can get hot and there was only 1 vending machine we saw for water.

After we finished walking through the Acropolis we walked toward the museum and stopped for a small bite to eat at Spezie. And by small bite, I mean we had a crape with ice cream. It was delicious and it looked like the other dishes they were bringing out looked so good! The Acropolis Museum was great! You were able to see sculptures, recreations and more ruins.

After the museum, we walked through Plaka and stopped at Kosmikon for a real lunch! We had a variety of dips, which included tzatziki, eggplant, spicy cheese (which tasted like pimento cheese), and tarama (which tasted like mayo). We also had the gyros, which was a mix of pork and chicken, this was the best tasting gyros we had all trip!

We then walked back to our hotel to relax and get ready for dinner at The Old Tavern of Psara. The views from out table were amazing and the food was delicious. Cody’s dish was way better than mine. He got the linguine with shrimp and honestly I can’t remember what I got but I think it was veal. We finished the night off with traditional baklava, which was delicious. We were told to try ouzo, but we weren’t fans because it tastes just like black licorice which neither of us like.

After dinner, we walked around and went to a couple of bars. The first stop was MOSTROU restaurant & roof garden for some wine and a great view of the Acropolis and then 360 Cocktail bar, which was packed and had a view as well.

The only negative about our hotel was that it was right next to a nightclub, Copal, that played loud music until 2 am. There are probably other rooms that aren’t right next to it like ours was, that would be quieter. We were so tired the first night that we didn’t even care, or notice, how loud or long they played the music.

Since we hit Athens as our first stop and our last I’ll continue the rest here. We didn’t feel like we were missing anything from Athens on our first stop so when we came back we really had to look for things to do.

Once we flew in on Olympic Air from Milos we went straight to our hotel. For our second round in Athens, we stayed at New Hotel Athens, which was a Marriot so we were able to use points! Our room wasn’t available so we went to the hotel restaurant and had some drinks and lunch.

We then went to our rooms and took our COVID tests so we would be able to fly home. When booking out flights we found out about United’s partnership with eMed. We were able to pre-purchase tests to bring with us and take while a doctor watches and reviews your results. They send you an email with your results that you can show to prove your negative test.

Once we received our negative tests we went out to explore Athens! We walked past Zappeion Hall and through the gardens.

Next, we walked to the Temple of Olympian Zeus. Honestly, you could see the ruins from outside the gate, but if you wanted to get a closer look it was 8 euros.

Next to the temple is the Arch of Hadrian, which was cool to see and read about.

For dinner, we went to Aiolou 68, which was a little off the main road but it was well worth it! We started with the shrimp grilled with truffle oil. And then had the grilled Sol with lemon and olive oil.

After dinner, we walked around and stopped for Lukumades. They are like donut holes and you can top or fill them with anything on the menu. We got the bugatsa cream filled and topped with strawberry chocolate. Like any other meal we had, they were delicious!

As for weather and types of clothing. Athens was the warmest place we went to. The city has cobblestones and a slope so I don’t recommend heels, you could probably get away with some platform shoes. Most people wore sundresses and sandals. The Acropolis was rocky and dusty so I was glad I wore tennis shoes.