Greetings from Athens!

Brad here - Hello from Athens! And the start of another family trip.

The Acropolis - which we will explore tomorrow! 

Our flight from Montreal was smooth and uneventful. Not only was the plane half empty (with plenty of extra spaces in our rows), but it even featured a pretty incredible aurora show!

An unexpected northern lights show enroute to Athens (photo taken near Greenland) 

And on the way into Athens as we arrived around 11am local time, we had a beautiful view of the nearby Greek islands.

Obligatory photo from the airplane window on our approach to Athens

Our home for the next few days is a nice little Airbnb (complete with a balcony and a rooftop patio) that is located about a 20-minute walk from the Acropolis and surrounding attractions. That being said, I'm not sure how much use we will be getting out of the rooftop patio given the temperatures in the high 30s over the next few days! Now I know what people mean when they describe a "dry heat." 

Zoe checking out our little balcony

The first day of the trip is always a tough one with the jet lag, so after checking into our Airbnb and finding lunch nearby, most of our family opted to retreat to the air conditioning of the Airbnb and squeeze in a short nap. I however filled up my water bottle, slathered on some sunscreen, and went out to explore in the mid-afternoon heat. 

Lunch from Karminio, a little spot just a few blocks from where we are staying

After lunch I set out in the general direction of the Acropolis Ticket Office just to scope out where we are going tomorrow morning, but ended up taking a detour to a lookout point that provided a great vista of the Acropolis, as well as a panoramic view of the city of Athens extending out into all directions as far as the eye can see. After that I ended up checking out a market in near near Monastiraki Square, and even an old Byzantine church (Holy Church of the Virgin Mary Pantanassa). 

Holy Church of the Virgin Mary Pantanassa

First impressions: Athens is a big, hot, busy place. A little rundown in places, with graffiti on every corner. That being said it feels safe and it has its charms, from the lime trees lining the sidewalks to the stray cats everywhere taking naps in the shade (to the delight of our girls). 

Lime trees everywhere! 

After dinner we came up to the rooftop and discovered it was significantly cooler after the sun bad set, so we hung out for a while and admired the view (and even saw a couple of shooting stars thanks to the Perseids). 

The girls are really digging the rooftop patio

 

That's all for now! Time to get a good night's sleep and then do some early exploring tomorrow before the heat chases us back into our air conditioned apartment. :)