The morning began with a bittersweet farewell to Jay and Emily, our fabulous travel companions, as they headed off to Munich and Salzburg for the last leg of their trip.
Finding ourselves with a whole day left in Athens, Jack and I headed out to catch in some sights that we missed yesterday, beginning with the Temple of Zeus, which turned out to be down the street from our hotel. You'd figure that a temple to Zeus, Greek God of all Greek gods, would be more of a draw, but this is pretty much what's left of it. It's only briefly mentioned in my Frommer's guide.
From the temple, we took a 15 minute walk to Kolonaki, the trendy neighborhood you go to see and be seen. It's a super posh shopping district filled with expensive stores and many things that were way out of our price budget, and since it was noontime on a Saturday, it was jammed with wealthy Athenians, sporting their leather jackets, stylish sunglasses and ritzy cars. We were able to find a nice cafe for lunch (we were only able to get seats because we sat inside, whereas everyone else was sitting in the jam packed sidewalk patio) and ordered our last (sniff sniff) Greek salad, this one loaded with rusk, a crispy bread from Crete and tons of Feta.
After lunch, we hiked a steep street and caught a funicular ride up to Lykavvitos Hill, a vantage point from where we were awed by panoramic views of the entire city.
On our way down, we stopped by the flea market, a few long streets crammed with small vendors selling pretty much everything.
And also made our last loukoumades stop, this time at a cafe called Doris. The place was on a desolate side street and the name was written in Greek letters (thank goodness we took Calculus in high school!) and the entire menu was Greek to me, but all we had to say were 2 words- "Loukoumades please!" and a broad grin spread across our waiter's face. They made them fresh for us, 5 to a plate, and since it was our last day, we each ordered 1! They were definitely the lightest and crispiest ones we've eaten so far, but also by far the oiliest, and who would have guessed, beer washes down an oily loukoumadi really well! Forget the coffee!
We stopped by Fantasy Travel to see if Dina, the terrific agent who worked with us for this trip was in, but she had the weekend off. All we can say is, if you go to Greece, book your trip with these guys! It beats the hassle of trying to figure out the mysterious and everchanging ferry schedules on your own, and Dina was super friendly, organized and patient with all of my questions. And no, I'm not being paid to advertise. They were super!
On our way back to our hotel, we stopped by the Olympic stadium, where the games were held just a few years ago. From the street, it doesn't look that big, but when you actually look inside, holy cow! It's like an Olympic stadium!
We took a short rest back at our hotel, and then headed out for our last night on the town. For this occasion, Jack had done some research and booked us a dinner at Spondi, which earned a Michelin star last year. We were seated in a beautiful stone cellar with vaulted ceilings, accented by some interesting chandeliers. And at 8:30pm, we were the first diners for the evening. Most people didn't show up for dinner until after 10:30pm, which is true for most of Europe.
A 7 course eating extravaganza ensued... below is a picture of our amuse bouche, which doesn't count in the 7 courses, as, apparently, neither did 3 other small plates of food that appeared before us!
We rolled out of Spondi just after midnight, slightly drunk, much too full, and joyfully delirious with the memories and experiences of the past week and a half. Greece was like a dream.When I tell my students where I went over spring break, I find myself trying my hardest to convey the beauty of the white washed houses, the turquoise blue roofs, the magical sunsets, the warmth of the people... but inevitably someone will say, "Isn't that where that movie '300' took place," or, "Hercules is from Greece, right?" And so, instead, my 2nd graders walked out of my room today, remembering most of all, that in Greece, there is a magical food called loukoumades, and that Mrs. Chen ate a whole bunch of them over spring break.
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