Travel – Page 17 – Snapshots & My Thoughts by Ailee Petrovic

Wanderlust December 22, 2012

And finally – the Parthenon

Our final day in Athens proved just as busy as the others, as we visited the last of the “must sees.” We ate lunch at Thanasis, which was the most Greek restaurant so far, and the meal was absolutely delicious (see pictures below). If only the house wine in the states tasted this good! We entered the Kapnikarea Church in the Monastiraki area, where we paid tribute to the living and the dead in true Orthodox manner. Afterwards, we walked up to the Parthenon, which is truly breathtaking. It was very cold and windy today, so we stopped by Piazza Duomo for coffee (Sasha went Irish, naturally). Then we walked another 2 miles (uphill, oh heavens) to the highest point in Athens – Mt. Lycabettus. We were winded when we got to the top, but it was worth it for the views. We drank tea and coffee at the restaurant, then rode the funicular to the base and wandered through the Kolonaki area on the way back to the hotel. Another amazing day – wine tour in Corinth tomorrow!
Sasha, loving his Greek beer, ready for the most authentic meal yet at Thanasis

The spicy green peppers proved too hot for my darling (a true Semple “man down”)

The most beautiful Greek salad ever

Amidst renovations of the Parthenon, with his man purse

An amazing view of Athens from the Acropolis

We finally made it to the Parthenon (but almost didn’t for the third time…)

Sasha with Mount Lycabettus in the background – our next challenge – which we conquered

Greek history everywhere you look – such an amazing city

A wet and windy day doesn’t damper our traveling spirits 🙂

A lot bigger than you think – a true Kodak moment

I loved the Turkish flag pic so much, I had to…

The entrance to the Acropolis

Deep thoughts atop Mount Lycabettus (we climbed up more than a mile, as we didn’t see the funicular – oh boy)

My wilderness man at the restaurant on top of Mt. Lycabettus

City as far as you can see

St. George Church on top of Mt. Lycabettus (highest point in Athens) – destination wedding?

Wind like you’ve never felt before

And finally, two iPhone pics:

5 o’clock somewhere – Irish coffee time

Snapshots December 22, 2012

Oh, Us? We’re Greek too.

Today’s pace differently dramatically from the first five days. We woke up late (quite a treat after many 5am starts), then walked to Avocado, which is one of the top 5 best restaurants in Athens and is a vegan/vegetarian spot (Sasha is an angel). It was absolutely, 100% delicious. We ordered falafel, a quinoa dish called Ahimsa, and the Forest Burger for Sasha – all amazing. We got a vegan chocolate pie, which tasted like heaven. Afterwards, we hauled over to Hammam, which is a relaxing bath massage place that was highly rated on Trip Advisor. The reviews were not wrong – this was one of the best experiences of the trip – my favorite massage to date. We felt so calm and relaxed after and sat sipping Chai (tea), while talking to a local Greek woman. The people here are so friendly and are helping us with our Greek. So far we’ve mastered hello (yasus), thank you (elfaristo), and please (parakalo) – not sure about any of those spellings! We wandered through Monastiraki, where Sasha got a gyro and I bought one of my Greek best friends a little gift, then I went into H&M. It is infinitely better in Europe, so naturally I had to get a few items. We drank some Greek coffee and wine at Lucafe after, then watched Greek people ice stake at the center of the square. It is obviously not their sport (see picture below) – we had a few giggles about that. After a 2 mile detour to get to dinner (woopsies), we ended up at Manh Manh – another top Trip Advisor spot. The meal was delicious – we have yet to be dissatisfied with food. Thank goodness we walked 8.8 miles today (Google mapped it out), or else I’d be very worried about my new clothes fitting when I return to the states. Hitting the big Athenian monuments tomorrow before our wine tour to Corinth on Sunday!

PS One highlight of the day was being mistaken as Greeks on multiple occasions. Sasha concluded that we are both actually Greek. I’m from the city of Kappa Alpha Theta and he originated in Tau Kappa Epsilon.

It was so good, I don’t even consider him being a “good sport”

Quinoa and veggie sausage – what more could I ask for?

The well-worth-it Hammam Bath

Drinking his tea – he’s obsessed

Relaxed and clean post massage/bath

About as far from Avocado Vegan Restaurant as you can get!

This man is my gyro (beard and all!)

Home sweet home!

Apparently Greeks are not ice skaters

Stumbled upon this stadium on our walk back to the hotel

Snapshots December 21, 2012

Opa! in Athens, Greece

We arrived in Athens around noon, bought metro tickets, then realized the metro workers were on strike. Go figure – only in Greece! It was a pain at first, but then we realized it was just “typical Greek,” so laughed about it and hopped in a taxi (a nice yellow Mercedes CL500!) to go the hotel. We ate at the nearby Oroscopo for lunch and had a baked feta cheese appetizer that was to die for (see picture below). Afterwards, we walked about a mile and a half to the Acropolis to see the Parthenon, which was already closed so we took a bunch of pictures from the base and went to the Acropolis Museum, which is a must see. We ate dinner at Strofi, which overlooks the entire Acropolis – absolutely stunning. They served us complimentary kefi, which is a Greek liquor. Our meal was amazing – Greek salad to start (of course). Sasha had a craving for frozen yogurt, so I googled it, thinking we’d have little luck, but we found one a mile away. We walked to Yogolicious – real Greek froyo – unparalleled anywhere else. We found ourselves in the Monastiraki area, which is totally hustle-and-bustle. Lights, people, music everywhere – we loved it. We have heard mixed reviews about Athens, but it’s truly one of my favorite cities in the world.

Baked feta cheese with fresh tomatoes – we had to have this as our first Greek appetizer – it was heavenly!

Guards protecting the President’s house (with pom-pom shoes on)

This is my trademark: climbing trees in foreign cities

Sunset on Athens

The cliffside view of the Parthenon – going back today for pictures and viewing!

In the Acropolis – at the base of the Parthenon

Strolling through the streets of the Monastiraki area at night was amazing – lights, people and Christmas music!

Above is the real Greek frozen yogurt shop we found when wandering home. And a few photos from my iPhone: Strofi, where we ate dinner, had a rooftop room with the most amazing view of the Parthenon. And deadly Greek liquor (complimentary – geez, thanks!).

Snapshots December 20, 2012

Cappadocia, Turkey

We’re in Athens now, and I absolutely love it. We heard a lot of negative things about the city, but we don’t agree with them at all. One place we didn’t hear one bad word about is Cappadocia, where we spent the last two days. It’s in the middle of Turkey, on the Asian continent. We stayed at Gamirasu Cave Hotel, which was literally the coolest hotel I’ve ever been to (see pictures below). One the first day, we went to an underground cave city that is five levels into the ground. It was built in 400 BC, and later used by Christians to hid from Muslims during war times. We ate the most delicious meal at the hotel and called it a night after Sasha built a very impressive fire (Instagram pictures to prove it). The following day, we slept in and then had a driver take up to the Goreme Open Air Museum, Pigeon Valley, the Ugurp Castle, and Imagination Valley – all of which were breathtaking. Lots of pictures below as evidence!

Hot Turkish red wine – absolutely incredible

Snapshots December 19, 2012

Day Two in Istanbul

I’m playing catchup with pictures, as we don’t have the best wi-fi so it’s hard to upload pictures. Sasha and I just arrived back in Istanbul after spending two days in Cappadocia, which is in the middle of Turkey (Asian continent). It was incredible, and I’ve got lots of unique pictures to share tomorrow. As for now, I’m posting the photos from our second day in Istanbul. We did a private tour with True Blue Tour in the morning – Yilmaz was the nicest, most knowledgeable tour guide. We rode up a mountain on the Pierre Loti cable car, drank authentic apple tea, went inside a mosque and learned all about Islamic rituals, got a personal tour of the Egyptian Spice Market (met the Turkish Al Pacino – see pic below), tour a boat tour along the Bosphorus, then we on our own for the rest of the day. We bought hot chestnuts from a street vendor, walked through the Grand Bazaar, ate at the amazingly delicious Amedros Cafe, then bought lots of presents for family at the markets. We walked back to the hotel after dark and ate locally, given that we had to be up at 5am to go to the airport in the morning. I’m totally ready for friends to plan a trip to Istanbul so I can share lots of tips! More pictures to come tomorrow.

Best halloumi cheese and portobello mushroom dish on planet earth!