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Falling in Love in Greece
Part 1: Athens
If you are ever wondering if you are in a good relationship, or want to test your bond and problem solving skills with someone, I highly recommend taking a vacation together. There are a lot of things that people do while travelling that aren’t their normal style, but are either brilliant and efficient, or more irritating than you could have ever imagined a human you once enjoyed so much could be.
Luke and I met in September of 2016 and we were both all in right away. Of course both of us already loved to travel and we wanted to start seeing things together. While I was in Ireland over Thanksgiving that year, I got a notification from Kayak that there was a mistake fare available to Greece that just so happened to fall over Luke’s spring break. This was only the first time I called him over FaceTime in the middle of the night asking if we could book plane tickets for an adventure.
So, less than 6 months into our relationship we hopped on a plane and headed to the other side of the world together.
It’s definitely comforting travelling with someone who protects people for a living. 
Made it to Michigan! 
We were pretty tired by this point.
The flight to Athens was long, with two stops on the way over. We got to Athens around 3pm and decided to fight to stay awake. It turns out Athens is like any European city, and the airport is about a 45 minute train ride from city center.
Nerd Word: If you don’t want to pay for an international data plan use free wifi whenever you see it. You can use Google Maps to find directions where you’re going, and your blue dot will update whenever your phone sees a new network. You can also take screen shots of the route and zoom to find easy landmarks and street names to follow.
We were exhausted by the time we made it to our hotel, Hotel Attalos. Exhausted and a bit disoriented we were both confused why the water glasses were so small… until we took a drink. Que our introduction to Mastika, a Greek liqueur that that is sweet and smooth and a little bit dangerous. Safe to say we stopped at the welcome drink on our way in, and out, every day.
Nerd Word: If your hotel has a breakfast buffet, eat there and load up on carbs and proteins to have energy that lasts as long as possible. Hotel Attalos had an amazing breakfast where we would eat fresh rolls with salami and cheese, and big bowls of Greek yogurt with honey. After breakfast we could explore the city until mid-afternoon before needing to eat again. We’ve used this same model on every vacation since.
The places we saw
The nice thing about Athens is you can see the Acropolis from everywhere, so you think you can find it. It turns out finding it is harder than walking to the base of the hill and hoping you can get up. Since this was the first time Luke and I had travelled together we were still trying to figure out what the other person liked to do. We didn’t know it then, but we like all the same things. While trying to get up to the Parthenon we happened to find the Acropolis Museum which was still pretty new having opened in 2009. We had no idea such a museum existed, and 10/10 would recommend checking it out before going to the Acropolis.
Nerd Word: The most important thing I’ve learned about sight seeing is that you want to buy your tickets ahead of time, and do some research. If there is something really important to you to see, buy a ticket before you get there. You won’t get stuck in long lines, and you definitely won’t run out of time if you have a scheduled date. You can also get pretty good deals if you buy for multiple attractions. I like to use Viator and Musement because both of them give you an option to save to your digital wallet, meaning you don’t need to print anything and you don’t need Wifi or data to use your ticket.
That was all our first full day in Athens. On Day 2 we got up early and started walking back toward the direction of the Acropolis (we realized that’s where the action was). The first place we came across was the Roman forum. It consisted of gorgeous statues, one of the ‘prisons of Socrates’, some smaller temples, and a small museum with a shield from Sparta (Luke’s favorite part). Arriving and buying tickets at the forum was when we realized that we had screwed up not buying tickets ahead of time and could have saved some money if we bought one ticket for all the Acropolis attractions.
We later left, started wandering, and found tons of ruins like Hadrian’s library, stopping for a cup of coffee on the side of the Acropolis with a beautiful view of the city. It’s moments like that on a trip, where you get to stop, and relax, and enjoy some calm hidden away from the big tourist cafe’s and busy streets.
The moment I knew I was in love: Luke and I were at the Acropolis wandering around the outside of the Parthenon and the other ruins on the hill. We had come up a back entrance and eventually found the front entrance, that came with a lot of warning signs and “Do Not’s”. One of those was “Do not introduce animals in the Acropolis”. Well, Luke happened to wonder aloud if you could get kicked out for talking to the stray dogs, i.e. Luke: “Hello, this is dog.” Guard: “Sir, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”
It was one of the stupidest things I have ever heard, but the prospect of being kicked off the Acropolis for talking to a dog was too funny not to laugh. Needless to say it’s been the running joke every time we pick up a new stray on vacation.
At the Roman Forum 
At the Roman forum 
Hotel nighttime view of Acropolis 
From inside the Acropolis Museum
The food we ate
As mentioned before, Luke and I saved a ton of money by eating a huge breakfast at the hotel every day. We typically only ate one other meal besides that in the mid-late afternoon. Greece is where we discovered the Doner Kebabs. In our (humble) opinion, kebabs are the perfect travel food. They are inexpensive, portable, tasty, and super nutritious. It’s straight protein and carbs which hit your body fast and stay with you for hours. On top of how good they are, they are cheap and easy to find. Kebab shops are all over Europe and you are guaranteed to run into one if you walk around enough.
We also went to a nicer upscale restaurant one night to try some traditional Greek food. Luke wasn’t so adventurous and he ordered Lamb Kebab’s and a salad. I, however, ordered what I was told was the most ‘traditional’ dish: Moussaka.
Okay, so I finally realized what Hades was talking about in this scene. Moussaka is an interesting dish, I would equate it to a combination of Shepherd’s Pie and Lasagna. Considering I don’t like either of those, I’m not sure why I ordered it.
I have made it a general rule to try something from local cuisine no matter what it sounds like, or how you think it will taste.
Nerd Word: If a traditional food is not something you enjoy in the country of origin, it’s not going to be better anywhere else. I’m glad I tried the moussaka, but I probably won’t be having it again.
The first stray we adopted abroad
Luke and I have made a habit of adopting animals while we are travelling, including giving them names. Greece was amazing because the stray animals there were actually taken care of. They had food and water bowls, and we saw public employees checking on dogs that clearly lived in the streets. While we were at the Roman Forum we found an extremely friendly cat that decided he was going to follow us around all day. We named him Bobtail and we frequently remember him. It has become a habit to adopt and name a stray wherever we go, Bobtail was just our first.
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