*I’ve made this into a 4 part blog post for those who want details about certain cities*
Last summer I turned the big 3-0 and boy did I celebrate like a queen. My wonderful MCM took me on a lavish Greek getaway planned by moi and no expenses were spared. So let me begin….
Scott travels every week for work so he racks up those miles on his American Airlines credit card (did I mention, he is ALL about the points). Right before my birthday came around he was able to purchase two round trip tickets from DC to Athens only spending a couple hundred on taxes. Let me tell you, it ain’t cheap to fly to Greece out-of-pocket, even right before high season.
So here we were jet-setting away to Athens on a Tuesday afternoon. I am a good flyer, maybe I should rephrase, I am a good sleeper. Right after dinner was served I was out. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for my better half. I woke up about two hours before we were going to land to see Scott hunched on top of me. I was glad he got some shuteye but it seemed to be at the expense of four Tito’s and soda. I guess whatever works, right?! As my prince charming awoke from his cat nap I could tell he was ‘no bueno’.
It was time to deplane and all I wanted was to get off this tin can. I always pack as efficiently as possible to avoid lost luggage and having to wait at baggage claim. Once off the plane we got out of the airport in a snap. I had read that it is easier and cheaper to take Uber than use the local cabs. The Uber took us to the King George, A Luxury Collection Hotel in downtown Athens. This is one of my top three hotels I have stayed at (this list includes the One Hotel Miami and Edition NYC). I am all about modern hotels because it is totally different from my own home decor but this hotel oozed classic vibes with pops of modernism. It was a sweet delight. It didn’t hurt that this was our only free hotel due to points and that they upgraded us very handsomely.
The room wasn’t ready so we took a coffee break, which was a must for Scott because he was D-E-A-D. We walked down some alleys into Monastiraki, Athens flea market (I will get into more detail about the flea market later). We sat at a quaint coffee shop and soaked up the morning sun. Immediately, we wanted what everyone around us was drinking. We learned iced coffee are the Greeks jam. I wish I remembered what they called it but it definitely was the cool thing to do. After our caffeine kick we took in our amazing suite. It featured a huge marble bathroom, herringbone wood floors, a sitting room, a king sized bed, wainscoted walls… it just smelled of aristocracy and we loved it.
Once settled, we walked over to the Parthenon. We aren’t really history buffs so we gave ourselves the abridged tour. Lets start off by saying there’s a lot of stairs and it’s pretty dusty so wear comfortable closed toed shoes. It was also really crowded so people got nasty. We got to the top, read a few signs, took some photos and went right back to our hotel and NAPPED.
When we woke up a few hours later we got ready for our tasting menu at Aleria. We took a cab to a narrow street flanked by homes. I thought we went to the wrong place but then I saw the sign. They walked us into the most adorable courtyard. The weather was perfect and we were ready to eat. We opted for the pre-fixed menu . Compared to the tasting menus we have had in DC this was reasonably priced and nothing far from delicious (nostimo is how you say delicious in Greek in case you were wondering ). The one course that totally stood out was a braised ox tail and pasta dish; it was melt in your mouth goodness. I wish we didn’t just snapchat our meal away and actually took some good photos but I promise this restaurant won’t disappoint. From there we took our full bellies straight to bed.
We woke up early to get a good breakfast at the hotel before flying to Mykonos. Breakfast at the King George was like walking into a pastry shop. There was bread, rolls, muffins, turnovers and any thing else you could image on top of a fine selection of breakfast items. The best part of eating here was the killer view of the Parthenon from their sun room. It was absolutely breathtaking.
We checked-out but were excited to be coming back for the last leg of the trip. An Uber whisked us to the airport and on a small plane we took off to Mykonos.
RELISHED FANCIES 