What a wonderful weekend this was. Exactly one month ago, we left for Athens on Swiss labor day and I found myself daydreaming about this lovely weekend for the rest of the month. Take me back, if not for the food alone!
I felt like it was a bit of a romantic trip because it was in Athens that Kay met our friend Laura who introduced us in 2007. Kay had been visiting Athens by himself and had no idea that he would come back eight years later with his wife because of a chance encounter on that trip.
When we left on Friday morning, it was pouring in Switzerland with a terrible forecast for the weekend, so we were overjoyed to be greeted with blazing sunshine and cool ocean breezes!
Of course, because it was labor day, the public transportation system was on strike, so when we arrived, we needed to take a bus from the airport instead of the metro. No biggie. I dozed on the bus as per usual in moving vehicles.
Most places were closed on labor day, which did not surprise us in the end, so I’m happier that we decided to fly that morning instead of the night before.
We could still walk around the Acropolis a bit on the first day, although we could not go inside and up to see the Parthenon. It looked so majestic from down below.
Kay also humored the five year old in me by buying me an overpriced cold lemon ice reserved for the tourists. Mmmm.
We stayed in an AirBnb very central to Syntagma. Kay was impressed with the location because it made getting around on foot very easy. Since the metro was on strike when we arrived, we ended up walking around most of the time and only bought a ticket at the end to go to the airport.
The second day of our trip it was a little more overcast, but that was fine because I’d booked a food tour which lasted most of the day. When it was over, we headed back to the Acropolis to go inside this time.
Even with a bit of cloud, it was still very warm. We had temperatures around 26-28º that weekend and I was even able to wear just a sweater to dinner in the evening.
The views over the city were beautiful. Athens is such an expansive city.
Also, I am still all about the selfies with the Mr. on our weekend trips. I sent this to a friend who was visiting rainy Paris for the weekend and she was so jealous that I was sleeveless!
To me, visiting the Parthenon is a bit like seeing one of the wonders of the world. It is an amazing structure to behold with all its history. I love to imagine what it was like in the ancient world and what kind of people lived in Athens at that time.
We did hear some murmurings of “slave labour” from a nearby tour guide. That’s always a topic that pops up in my thoughts when we visit monumental feats like this. I just imagine how it would absolutely impossible and unpayable to create such a structure in today’s world. That’s why you don’t see anyone building new pyramids, Parthenons or Colosseums.
Can you imagine what it would have been like to be one of the free men or slaves helping to build this?
Soaking up that sun!
I loved all the tree lined paths around the sites in Athens. The foliage was so delicate and charming.
We shared a midnight stroll after dinner to walk by the acropolis in the night and take in the city sounds.
The next day we visited the Temple of Olympian Zeus.
We wanted to go to the Acropolis museum too, but when we realized that it wasn’t included in our Acropolis ticket, we ended up leaving instead of standing in line again and went instead to the Agora to enjoy more of the outdoor weather and those gorgeous tree-lined paths.
I could stare at this view all day!
Temple of Hephaestus below.
Enjoying the last rays by the Syntagma square fountain.
There was so much sun, we actually burned a little bit on the last day. Kay has more sensitive skin and he burned his head and neck, while I crisped one shoulder up a little too much. Luckily mine was fine the next day, but Kay was a little pink for a few days.
It actually reminded me of our original trip to Paris where I burned after telling Kay that I never burn, I just tan, and how he teases me mercilessly for having a “piggie nose” ever since then.
There was definitely something a bit magical about Athens. I feel like part of our story began there because if it weren’t for his trip there, Kay never would have met my friend. It just makes us very happy that we did meet. 🙂
Have you got a magical spot like this that reminds you how lucky you are to know your partner?
They didn’t offer so many gluten free options at dinner. The gluten-free menu was only in Norwegian, but it wasn’t too hard to follow along with the English menu. My pizza was fine, but maybe a little boring. I was really stuffed in the end though. We had an appetiser and it was just SO much food in the end.
The next night we thought about just going back to Egon Restaurant again because it was insanely convenient to just pop down from the hotel there, but we thought maybe it is a bit lame to eat all our meals including breakfast at our hotel restaurant basically.
We didn’t realise quite when we sat down, but outside of Brazil, this is the best churrascaria that either of us have been to… and that’s saying something coming from the Brazilian himself.
They also made a mean caipirinha. Kay was really afraid about the costs of alcohol because Norway has notoriously expensive alcohol and their cost of living is on par with Zurich, but they worked out to 15CHF a piece, which is honestly pretty fair. Back home, you can easily pay 20-25CHF for one of these drinks.
The only thing I couldn’t really partake in was Kay’s dessert, which was a chocolate mousse with normal flour somewhere in there. I’m sure I could have ordered something gluten free, but to be honest, I was SO stuffed from all the meat by that point, I did not have room.
We both left, so, so full. And even with the drinks, our meals only came out to around 80CHF per person, which in Zurich is also pretty darn fair, especially considering all the high quality cuts of meat we ate, the unlimited buffet food and the drinks and dessert.
