Mom & Dad finally go to Europe

Here we go!




Day 1

On the road at 6:30 am to get to lauderdale only to find out our flight to NY is delayed about 3 hours. Since that doesn’t work with our connector we rebook  a flight to Atlanta then Athens   Once we load and get to the runway our pilot informs us the check engine light is on and we have to go back to the gate. After delta maintenance ‘fixes’ the issue we prepare to take off again 

Day 2

Or at least I think it’s day 2. We’ve been in the airbus for approximately 8 hours and landed in Amsterdam. Now Amsterdam was nowhere near our vacation plans. But after our delays they left us no option. Fly to Amsterdam. Wait another couple hours. Then hop on a flight to Athens   Now hot off the press we’ve just been informed that for some reason we’re not allowed to leave for another 45 minutes. Something about the hot weather in Greece   But they figured let’s board these suckers so we’re ready to go. Nothing like sitting in a hot aluminum tube for an extra hour   Soon (4 hours) funny how your definition of soon changes after being abused by Delay (I mean Delta) for so long, we’ll be in Athens and let the fun begin 

4B4. Our first hotel

Tiny. But coolsville 





First dinner. We had dakos salad. And Cajun marinated chicken with sweet chili sour cream and chunky tators 




Ended the night with a glass of wine on the hotel rooftop with a view of acropolis in the distance 

Dinner rating 10. Hotel 8




Day Friday 

On bus for our first tour

Probably the highlight was seeing the very first site of the Olympic Games 




Held in 1896

Capacity 50,000.  Hard to believe it’s almost as big as Heinz field. But I guess since all the seats were one huge slab of marble they could’ve fit 100000 if they wanted 

Little side note. Participants were all European except for the U.S. team. And the US won the most gold medals. USA USA!!!

So after the city tour we went to the Acropolis 

And the Acropolis museum. So much history. Now I’m not a history guy, but this amazes. 

The Parthenon, the temple of Athena and the rest that pretty much all got destroyed by the Persians   
























Now the tour guide said this statue of a Greek athlete is a perfect specimen (the picture below. Not the guy in the blue shirt above) Nancy said she didn’t think so. I don’t know what Nanc is talking about 




Forgot to take a picture of our lunch. Our first authentic gyro   




Taken off the internet. But this is exactly what they were shaving to make our pork and chicken gyros. They put French fries in there. I think they stole that from Primanti Bros in Pittsburgh   But I’ll keep their secret. Delicious 

Off to Mykonos 







Maiden voyage. What could go wrong 

Been on this ferry for almost 5 hours  Could’ve been waiting to take off on a Delta plane in that time

Land ahoy!

First thing we see


Walking to our hotel




Dinner at Yialo-Yialo  Mmm mmm good 10 stars  I notice the waiters here are so much more polite than Americans  Never bothering you, never asking if you want another drink to pump up their tip, They wait for you to ask them over. And they expect 5-10% not 18 20 or 25 like those greedy Americans. Just an all around pleasant experience 


Appetizers anyone? Anyone? Oh yeaaaahhhhh! Chi Chicka Chickaaa!


Saturday 


Mykonos 


Walking down the ‘streets’ of Mykonos 


Now I’ve seen skinny streets before.  But this is ridiculous. I’d say 2 inches on either side is all the room these cars and delivery trucks have  one false move and BAMM  One broken mirror 



And if you’re walking, you better get outta the way. It seems the cars have the right of way around here

Lunch time


Another round of delicious chicken and pork gyros Somehow these were even better than yesterday’s 

Afterwards we decided to work off some of those gyro calories so we decided to climb a tree


And another break for weary momma

Lunch for 2 anyone?




Now for the real workout.  We decided to save 10 bucks and walk the 3.5 km home. Now let’s not forget momma is dealing with a crazy foot, a hurting shoulder (I held the backpack being the gentleman I am) and eyes that aren’t the sharpest at the moment. These streets are just as skinny as the shopping district we just left. But now we’re dealing with uphills and downhills, gravelly surfaces, traffic, holes in the road, no sidewalks and… well, you get the idea. One slip down these harrowing roads and momma is down and out. But momma being the trooper she is made it!

Now that’s a well saved $10

So now we’re back at Pelican Bay
Enjoying my big fat Greek wine
And the views





Sunday. Happy mom’s day!

Santorini 

Ferry to Santorini 



No  not that one





This one


Some shots of our cruise to the island 








Pure madness getting off the ferry  Thousands rushing down the steps to grab their bags from a sea of luggage to run off and grab their transfer 

Hotel Kallos Imar




I thought our last hotel was a 10  Gonna have to downgrade it to a 9 so I can give this one that 10

The day begins with a hike to the Red Beach in Santorini  One of the most stunning and picturesque beaches I’ve ever seen  The towering reddish cliffs combined with the reddish hue of the sands and pebbles combined with the volcano in the distance make for an unforgettable afternoon 









We then stopped at Akrotini archeological museum. Remains from some prehistoric city in 500bc. I think. It’s an impressive collection but to be honest it didn’t really hit with us 



But now  For the highlight of the day  

We hiked and weaved our way up this white stone path to the highest point in Santorini to have a sunset dinner overlooking the island Along the way we saw a couple of donkeys who deliver goods to the shops and restaurants in the area


Francos Cafe

So peaceful quiet quaint romantic Just an unreal atmosphere  The staff can’t do enough for you  And speaking of that, we could probably say that about everyone we’ve met here so far So happy to do whatever they can to help you






Monday 13


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Santorini

Image
 Today is our all day sunset cruise to Oia. The land of mythical sunsets. We bus to Athinios Port Hard to tell but that snake road those huge buses had to navigate was pretty impressive. Not much room for error. One tiny mistake and see you later We board our boat ‘the calypso’ and set sail  avoiding the pirate ships that await us  ‘I'm the captain now’ First stop  Nea Kammeni Island  Bring a bottle of water with you if you go (we didn’t)  We climbed this uninhabited island up its gravel path to reach the top of this volcano They say it erupts every 75 years  Last eruption 1950  Using my advanced math talents I figure it’s blowing its top any minute now If you look closely bottom left corner you’ll see a stunning women standing there  She looks like she’s checking me out too! Some more pics from on top of this lava blast just waiting to happen  Next we go to the island of Therasia   Population 300 Lunch time! Enjoyed a Greek salad and a swordfish souvlaki  with an ice cold Mythos  
Read more

My name is Luka

Image
  They say a pic is worth a thousand words So here’s your 6,000 words Dad tossing a coin with perfect form into the Trevi Fountain  Today was just a travel day. But we enjoyed the walk  from our Hotel Bettoja  to St. Peter’s Square  and Trevi Fountain  And of course, a pizza and a bottle of 🇮🇹 best white wine at a cozy sidewalk cafe Not a fan of the Hotel Bettoja. Ancient as hell. I think Marcus Aurelius might have stayed in my room at one point 16/05/24 Thursday  Ok. NOW we’re fans of Roma.  Early in the morning we walked to the Spanish Steps and of course climbed the 135 steps to the top. And what American wouldn’t do the Rocky pose at the top And mom posing by her hero. The Virgin Mary What better way to start the afternoon than with a food tour We first go to a cozy coffee shop and have a delicious pistachio croissant and a marocchino, Italy's chocolate espresso. What a perfect combination. Pure bliss!   We then progress to a tiny little deli called Masio Check out that menu.
Read more