Greece Vacation Pics: Day One

Ah, Greece, I do miss you. We were there only 4 days (in reality only three full days if we don't count the travel time. The trip back to Paris was especially long as we had to make a stopover in Munich) but I feel like I lived a dream and made memories that I will cherish forever. I have a lot to share and I have decided to breakdown the account of the vacation by day, as I lived it.

We arrived in Athens on a Saturday in the late afternoon. The subway ride from the airport to our destination was very easy and pleasant (the subway system is very recent and modern, in particular the line that goes to the airport that was completed for the 2004 Olympics). We started to chat with an old man (who spoke a perfect English) who basically told us all this life and how he managed to send his two sons to good universities in the US (engineering and economics) only to have them end up being artists. That was quite entertaining and set the tone of our vacation.
The hotel was an easy walk from Syntagma square that you have probably heard of because it is where the Greek Parliament is. Since it was a special occasion I picked one of the best hotels in Athens, if not the best, the Electra Palace. It was expensive for Greece but we could negotiate a special rate for our room due to the length of our stay (tourists in the summer season usually spend one or maximum two nights in Athens on their way back from the islands, while we stayed 4 nights). This hotel really made our stay special. It is a 5-star and while the service was top notch it had an understated presence that I really liked. The location was just in retreat of the Plaka district (the touristic area) so that you could easily walk there but you were not in the middle of it.
As soon as we arrived we went and checked out the pool that from my researches seemed to be the biggest attraction of the hotel, with its view on the Acropolis. I was a bit anxious because I had "sold" the hotel to my husband (who is always a bit reticent to pay more for hotels and hotel rooms) based on the reviews and the website pics and I have to say that it didn't disappoint. It was small (as you can expect from a rooftop pool) but as you can see the view was just amazing and mesmerizing (especially at sunset), I couldn't stop taking pictures:

The view from our small room's balcony was nothing less amazing (the hotel had few rooms with a view and we contacted them before our trip to make sure that we would get one of those. As a general rule it is always a good strategy to contact the hotel before your arrival with special requests as they will be more likely to accommodate them). Our routine involved drinking a glass of wine (we found a welcome basket in our room with a bottle of red and a few fruits) before calling home (Paris, where we had left our daughter at my MIL) and going out for dinner:

Cheers!

After that we went out to discover Athens by night.We ate in a very touristy "taverna" in the heart of the Plaka with live music and I have to say we didn't have the best meal ever but the atmosphere was great and we were just happy to be there. Then we wandered around and it was fun to try to guess what we were seeing for the first time, after reading about the sites in the guide (Is that the ancient agora? What's that temple there?) Athens is a beautiful city but especially beautiful at night when all the historical sites are illuminated and wherever you are you can look up and see the Acropolis and the Parthenon. Paris is overrated ladies, I think Athens is the most romantic city in the world:

 

On a fashion-related note, I LOOOOOOOVED this outfit even if the shoes weren't the best to walk on the somehow slippery cobblestones of the small streets and in fact were never worn again:

Top: JCrew
Pants: Calypso

That's it for Day 1. Day 2 was the busiest day with the visit to the Acropolis and also a very special happy hour. Stay tuned!