Home sweet home

We are home!

Before we checked out of the hotel, Dimitris gave us a tour of the hotel's kitchens, they were huge and not as warm as I expected and we got to see his office space. He doesn't like goodbyes so we kept it brief but I will forever be grateful to him for taking us around and the great hospitality shown. We had a chatty driver to the airport and I killed time by claiming my VAT and buying last minute gifts.



In all, I think I liked Santorini best, it's postcard perfect and romantic; Mykonos could have been covered in 2 days and is very commercial (the Maldives have spoiled me - no other beach will do!), and Athens is so rich in history but full of graffiti. But I can finally say now I have been to Greece, there's so much more in the world to explore.

It certainly was an eventful trip, what with earthquakes in Santorini, the possibility of a ship running aground in Mykonos, and a demonstration in Athens. I checked the earthquake thing again and it was actually 5.1 on the Richter. And there was a bomb in Athens on our last day!




I didn't sleep on the plane at all, instead watched 17 Again, Hitch and Sunshine Cleaning, plus read a book. We got home at 5 am and carried the munchkin to our bed so that she saw us as soon as she woke up. Nick was soooo lovesick in Greece, always thinking about her and wanting to call, while I forgot I had a daughter sometimes!

When she eventually woke, she was groggy but still recognised us. She grinned and went back to sleep and curled up between us. It's good to be home...

Meet the Parents

In the blink of an eye, it was our last full day in Athens. Dimitris had taken the day off to show us more sights but we arranged to meet only at lunch since I had some serious damage to do on my credit card. Jane and Rena had some LV requests while I wanted to check out Prada, so after breakfast me and Nick took the shuttle to Syntagma and then walked to Voukourestiou Street in the upmarket Kolonaki district.

Thankfully the Prada and Louis Vuitton were right next to each other and I spent over an hour in Prada deciding what to splurge on. There were a few items on sale, and you know I can't resist a sale! Ended up with 4 bags and a couple of namecard holders, not all for me mind you, I'll probably keep 1 or 2 and sell the rest.



Over at LV, I picked up 2 Damier Speedys and Nick was paranoid that all our paperbags would attract unwanted attention so he went to do a bag-drop leaving me to shop in peace at Ermou Street. Bought a couple more items from Zara and H&M, before I hooked up with Nick again to take the metro and meet Dimitris.

En route to his house, we stopped to take in an aerial view of Athens from a mountain. Then we found ourselves in the town of Glika Nera where a traditional lunch awaited us. Dimitris, his siblings and their families all live together with their parents in a 3 storey building that houses 3 apartments. His cute nieces Constantina, Yoanna and Eleftheria were shy at first but soon warmed up, never mind that they didn't speak his English. His parents didn't speak English either so Dimitris had to translate everything.





Mama Sfakianakis had prepared a feast of tzatziki, cutlets, salad, roast potatoes, dolmades, pork chops, salad and fried dumplings. I tried a little of everything but stuck with the safer dishes like the cutlets and potatoes which had been baked with orange juice and prunes.




His parents were very welcoming and proud to host us, towards the end his mum gave me an apron from Crete and plucked some basil from her garden for us to grow in Singapore, so sweet.

From Glika Nera, we drove 45 mins to Sounion, which is famous for the Temple of Poseidon. It's best to view at sunset but we didn't have time to linger and after a few minutes, headed back to Dimitris house for him to change before driving back to the city.




We had dinner reservations at Intercontinental's award-winning restaurant Premiere, Dimitris' boss had invited us and was going to prepare a special menu. But before that, I pleaded to go back to Prada to pick up a couple more items. Policemen were everywhere in town, apparently there was a demonstration going on but I managed to get my stuff and get the hell out of there before any trouble started.


The view of the Acropolis from Premiere was fabulous and so was dinner. Dimitris introduced me to his boss, Executive Chef Sotiris, who fed us with marinated sea bass (it was raw but 'cooked' with the marinade), risotto with roasted sea bass and black truffle, veal with morel mushrooms and potatoes, warm chocolate cake with vanilla ice cream and fruit salad with passionfruit sorbet. Everything was delicious but I wasn't a fan of the semi-raw fish so Nick ate it on my behalf.











After dinner, Dimitris showed us the restaurant's kitchen and then we called it a night. Nick and I went back to the room and packed our stuff and here are today's purchases.

The Acropolis

Whilst having breakfast this morning, Dimitris popped by to say 'hi'. Though he sports a chef's uniform at work, he doesn't actually do any cooking these days. He does more administration as assistant to the Executive Chef, and is in charge of inventory and ordering all the food, beverage and cutlery etc that the kitchen needs.



Today was Acropolis day. I had wanted an early start but we overslept and took a cab to the sacred rock. The taxis outside the hotel are a rip-off, charging 7 euros for what I am told should cost less than 5. Oh well.

We passed by The Odeion of Herodes Atticus, built in 161 AD and which served as a venue for many ancient Greek events.



Then it was on to battle the crowds and the blazing sun at the Acropolis. Tickets cost 12 euros each but entitles you to visit several sites in the vicinity such as the Ancient Agora and Philopappou Hill, but we stuck with the Acropolis. The place was infested with tourists at 10 in the morning and we were herded along like sheep by the attraction's minders.


As the temperatures soared, so did Nickypoo's patience. He was not pleased having to snap pictures of me at various angles and locations whilst melting in the heat! But I ignored him and continued snapping away! We asked someone to take a picture of us together at the Parthenon, but the twit backed up so far that we are tiny in the shot. Idiot!





I liked the Erectheion a lot, a temple built from 420-406 BC and the distinctive feature are the maiden figures (Caryatids) supporting the roof. The ones here are copies but 5 of the 6 originals are displayed in the new museum, which we saw later. Last stop was the Ancient Theatre of Dionysus, the most ancient theatre in the world dating back to the 5th century BC.



We cooled down at the new Acropolis Museum which reopened to the public on 21 June so our trip timing was good. It's built above archaeological ruins of old Athens, and one of the most important displays was the original Caryatids. There were also a lot of pottery and statues that used to decorate the Parthenon.






As we left the museum, there was a small group of protestors striking outside. Don't really know what they were upset about but we headed to the Plaka, the oldest neighbourhood of Athens. The place was charming with a lot of neoclassical houses and there were plenty of souvenir shops. We bought a few items and paused for lunch at an Asian restaurant we spotted. The food sucked, I had a chicken and corn soup while Nick had a chicken curry that was too sour for my liking. And the chicken had been frozen and was rubbery.





After lunch, we passed by the Athens Cathedral which was undergoing renovations and landed up at Monastiraki, which is popular for its flea market. There was one particular souvenir shop at the end that had the cheapest goods compared to all the shops I patronised.



We walked back all the way to Syntagma but missed the hotel's shuttle back and so took the tram instead. Had a quick chat with Nat before meeting Dimitris for a spot of shopping. Along the way, we passed by a Marathonas Avenue that was apparently part of the route taken by a messenger in a Greek fable and how the marathon originated. Cool!


I had been looking forward to checking out the factory outlet store near the airport but was majorly disappointed when we arrived. Had high hopes for the Prada and Fendi it sells but they were actually just a handful of clothes. There were a lot of other mid-priced brands too but nothing caught my eye except a couple of things from Accessorize.


Dimitris then announced he was taking us to The Mall at Maroussi to meet his good friend, which is in the vicinity of the Olympic stadium built for the last games Athens hosted. I had about 10 mins before the stores closed and was desperate to buy something, anything, after the disappointment of the factory outlet. Walked into a Zara Home and bought a quilt cover in 5 mins! So these are my purchases for the day...




His friend Limonya was a very bubbly lady, they are dating but not a couple. They are quite cute together - he's skinny and serious while she's chubby and cheerful! She's a chef too, and works at the Acropolis Museum cafe and we were telling her all about Singapore and why she should visit. It was another late dinner, Nick had a pretty decent burger and I had a whole pizza and they were just 5.95 euro each!