Hello Europe...Nice to meet you!

Growing up very close to the largest Greek neighbourhood in North America (Greek Town on the Danforth), I have always had many Greek friends who have regaled me with stories of their upbringing at their beach house on some island or other. The tales of the blue waters of the Mediterranean and domed houses on cliffs have made Greece on my bucket list for as long as I can remember,  coupled with the fact that we were all done with Asia and needed a recharge the Lambers' were so excited to start the European leg of our journey.

I put it out there to all my Greek friends which islands to hit. We did not have a ton of time so rather then flitting all over, we decided to concentrate on Athens and the Cyclades islands (Santorini, Naxos and Mykonos).

We started in Athens, staying in an amazing Airbnb in a residential neighbourhood, close enough to walk to the tourist areas (it was great as the prices were much lower at the markets etc, but we could be in Plaka in 20 min)...we had a rooftop terrace where we could see the Acropolis - it was so incredible.

lots of antennas from the other rooftops, but a perfect view nontheless

the cleaned up version

We had 3 days and wanted to cram in as much as possible. We decided to start our day at the Acropolis..hitting as many sites as we could along the way. The entire time I was here I had a smile on my face, I absolutely LOVED Athens and was so in awe of all the history...

The very first site of the Olympics was first up...

 Followed by Zeus's temple

Then the Acropolis...the grounds are incredible, we spent hours walking around exploring all the nooks and crannies..Liv loves Greek mythology so she was as excited as we were.

this stadium Odeum of Herodes Atticus, can you imagine seeing Andrea Bocelli perform here?

the Parthenon!

Even though ot was hot and sooo dusty, we all loved visiting this wonder...incredible.

We then spent some time exploring the neighbourhoods of Plaka and Monastiraki...what I loved the most is these neighbourhoods are all built around random historical sites, in the oddest places...

The next day we toured more of old Athens, it was so great being walking distance to everything. We tried to eat most meals at home to save money, but the girls discovered Gyros and were in LOVE! They were a pretty good deal at only $4-5 we ended up eating at least 1 a day the WHOLE time we were in Greece, (on a side note I actually became a vegetarian on this trip...going amazing, not missing meat at all...but then we got to... Greece and I caved, the yummy Gyros were so good)

inside one of the many museums we visited

The most intact ruin in Ancient Greece the Temple of Hephaestus

The most intact ruin in Ancient Greece the Temple of Hephaestus

Of course Johnny set me up for this....

Lots of pictures of old stuff I know, but Athens was so interesting, a total must for everyone. we had such a  great time exploring this city, I know we did not even scratch the surface. I think we all have our mojo back...while still ready to go home, being in Europe has completely recharged us. So excited for what's to come....

Greek Islands here we come WHOOO HOOO!