So sad we weren’t able to stay in Athens longer, I feel like we only scratched the surface. But, we did hit the biggest tourist attraction, the Acropolis. A lot of the statues/structures are not original. Due to the decay and desire to preserve the artifacts, the originals are in the Acropolis Museum.
After touring the Acropolis we toured the Acropolis Museum. Gotta see the originals! Below are the original Caryatids. You’ll notice one is missing and there is quite the controversy associated with it.
Lord Elgin (Thomas Bruce) was the seventh Earl of Elgin and became the British ambassador to the Ottoman sultan in 1799. Not long after he sailed to Greece he requested a firman that gave him the rights to take away the artifacts of the Acropolis, although the ambiguous language in this document in now debated.
Originally, he had them in his home but when he ran into financial strife he sold them to the British crown. The term Elgin marbles refers to the collection of marbles that Lord Elgin took from the Acropolis in 1801, that are now housed in the British Museum in London.
The collection includes about half of all the marbles that remained of the Parthenon, including just under half of the frieze and much of its pediment. Elgin also took a caryatid from the Erechtheion and parts of the frieze from the Temple of Athena Nike.
We stayed at a great hotel, The Modernist. It was located in an upscale neighborhood. It was very quiet but a good 20 minute walk from the center of Athens.
We visited some of the top bars in the world; The Clumsies (#19), Baba Au Rum (#20), and Barro Negro (#52). Our favorite was Barro Negro. It is a tequila bar so of course I loved it but Adam was a fan too.
Barro Negro
Baba Au Rum – This bar was really cool. I loved how it was decorated but the drinks were just okay.
The Clumsies – I have no idea how or why this is a Top 20 Bar in the world. To each their own.
We found another great bar, CV Distiller. They are known for their bourbon selection (which most Greeks don’t drink) but they also had an awesome spicy margarita. I have to give a shout out to their snack mix. I devoured this and those little glowing orange cheese balls were divine!
I heard Athens was dirty and most people skipped it and went straight to the islands. I loved it. It was such a lively, vibrant city. It felt very safe and we found some really cute neighborhoods.
Sometimes you just want a reminder of home and we found a really good Mexican restaurant, Mamacita, while in Athens. I loved how it was decorated too.
I would highly recommend visiting Greece. They have beautiful scenery, tons of history, great food and drinks, amazing cheese, delicious wine, and everybody speaks English. We stayed eight nights which was just the right amount of time.
We are definitely stepping up our travel game in 2023. So far we have booked trips to Paris, Brussels, Belize, Norway, and Bali. I can’t wait! First up is Paris and Brussels. I have already plotted out the entire trip. All restaurants are bars have been reserved and we are going to visit Versailles, The Louvre, Musee de Orsay, Chateau de Malmaison, and throwing in a couple walking tours. One of my favorite parts of traveling is the planning process and Paris was a handful. I can’t wait to share the highlights with you.
Spotswood House 