Day one in Greece, Sunday 8 Sept 2019

Our first night was exquisite in the Sofitel Airport Hotel. We had a leisure morning, missed breakfast at the hotel, ate some snack foods to keep us going, took a taxi in to Jason Hotel in Athens.

I notice that it is good to travel with two power plug converters. For sharing and updating devices like IPad, iPhone, Iwatch.

When we arrived at the Jason Hotel we asked for recommendations for locally supported restaurants easy to find and in the area. A short walk and a few corners, we found lovely pedestrian street Adrianou …. market stalls and outdoor cafes, with indoor seating and air conditioning … all with sights of the Acropolis. Of the three suggestions, we selected Attalos for lunch. We had our first Greek salad (fresh, tasty ingredients, including capers …. with drizzle of olive oil, and shake of oregano on top of the generous slab of feta cheese …..and we shared 1 liter sparkling water. Lovely. Satisfying. Perfect sense of occasion and seat inside watching out the doorway at pedestrians going by. Greece is a great people-watching place. And listening to the foreign accents and expressions. A feast for sure!

I am fighting my sleepiness waves that come and go … it’s about 10 hours later here in Greece. So when you are all sleeping, I am walking the busy streets. We decided today we will take it easy, we are going to take hop on bus to orient to city and not get lost ..haha

We negotiated a fare for the two of us, about three pm when we started … no intention to hop off! The heat is high here, in the 30’s … kind of reminds me of Kamloops in Canada for the terrain and shrubs are similar, sparse and dry. Lots of sights to see, most covered in graffiti but pillars of old stone stand tall and proud. Many of the buildings, trains, fences, walls seem to be canvas for the graffiti artists.

I spied a Starbucks on street from bus but unable to take the time to grab a much needed and desired taste of home. Maybe tomorrow we can find it again and enjoy my fave decaf beverage in this old city.

In a few minutes we meet our tour group. We will orient to the city tomorrow and have free time to explore, maybe Acropolis is on our list! When in Rome … er … Greece!

I will try to keep in touch as we go. Thanks for reading

Pamela

“Your traveling agent”