“It’s the start of something new.” See what I did there? High school musical lovers will understand. Anyways, if you’ve been following Thoughts in Style for a longer time you know that I would always do “A Day In…” posts. But I wanted to change it up a little. I felt that those posts were more travel diaries so that’s what they are going to be called from now on. In this first one you’ll read all about my first couple of days in Athens, Greece! I have lots of stories and photos to share with you so have fun reading.
DAY ONE | Wednesday July 6, 2016
Our very first day started off very early. At 3:30 AM my alarm went off and I made sure everyone was awake (we had a little sleepover of course). We had half an hour to get ourselves ready, pack the last things and leave for the airport. Our flight would leave at 6:45 AM and since there are going on weird things in the world, we had to leave that early. I believe we only slept for two hours but that’s okay when you’re going on a holiday, right? After a three hour flight we landed safely in Athens, Greece.
Then our adventure really started because that’s when we found out the metros didn’t go. There was some type of a strike, which means no metros went to and from the airport. We didn’t know this so we had to come up with another plan. So we walked back to the airport and got tickets for a bus that would take us to the centre of Athens. This took us about two hours so I would definitely recommend to check if there is a strike with the metros before you leave.
After (what felt like) the longest bus ride ever, we arrived at Syntagma. From here we still had to get to our hotel and since the metros didn’t go, we had to walk, with our suitcases. Meanwhile the temperatures already started to get higher so you can imagine what we looked like when we were looking for our hotel. Anyways, after a little walk (I can’t even remember for how long we walked), we arrived at our hotel: Achillion Hotel. Of course we had already seen photos of it on the internet but in real life, everything looked so much nicer.
When we got a little settled in our hotel, we all decided to take a nap haha. Only two hours of sleep and traveling the whole morning took its toll so it was okay to have a little relaxed afternoon. After everyone had a little nap and got changed into a more comfortable outfit, we decided to walk to Monastiraki Square. I think this is such a beautiful square, especially when the sun is going down. We walked to this street in Monastiraki called Adrianou and had dinner at a restaurant called Moma. I have to be honest, the food wasn’t that great. We all got a pizza and they all were brought to us at different times so that meant we weren’t really able to eat together. Luckily there are lots of different restaurants around there so the next day we would definitely find another restaurant to have dinner. After dinner we went back to our hotel and went right to sleep because we were a tired bunch of girls.
DAY TWO | Thursday July 7, 2016
For Thursday we actually made some type of a plan. Since we knew we would still be tired from traveling all day on Wednesday, we thought we would just explore around Plaka for this day. So we firstly had breakfast at the hotel and then got ready for the day.
After that we finally left the hotelroom and started our exploring day. We started walking the same way we did last night because we wanted to see the fountain at Kotzia Square in daylight. It’s really refreshing to walk by a fountain and just spray some of the water on your arms and legs. You definitely need this in warm weather.
Firstly we walked through Monastiraki and at some point we ended up at Plaka. Before we went to Athens, I saw lots of things about Plaka on the internet and that’s where I definitely wanted to go. So when we saw that we entered Plaka, I got very excited. I believe this is the place of Athens where I definitely took the majority of all of my photos. Everywhere you look, you see something beautiful. In the photos below you can see all of the beautiful things I saw. Just looking at these already makes me feel so happy.
We walked around Plaka and then ended up at Ermou. Ermou is a street with lots of different stores. Of course we also like to shop so we went in some stores to see what they had to offer. I think that in other countries you can find lots of lovely items, which not many people have (which is the best). When you get back home, you don’t have to worry about seeing someone wearing the same shirt or dress you’re wearing (I always think this is so awkward haha). Anyways, we walked so much that we also ended up at the Hadrians Arch and saw a little of the Temple of Zeus. But since we already did so much this day, we decided to go there another day.
Just before dinner, we went back to our hotel to get ourselves ready. We went to Monastiraki again and this time sat down at Antica. This evening there would be a game for the European Football Championship. Since we all really like to watch football (even though The Netherlands aren’t in it this year), we wanted to have dinner somewhere and also could see the game. Of course I had a Casear Salad (so Greek of me) and this time everyone did enjoy their food. After that, France won the game (which we were rooting for), so you could say we had a lovely evening.
DAY THREE | Friday July 8, 2016
For Friday we didn’t really have a plan. We just grabbed one of our maps of Athens (yes, we got lots of different ones from the hotel haha) and started looking for somewhere we wanted to go. We had been so much to Monastiraki that we wanted to go somewhere else. So we decided to walk to the Athens Library, University and some of the churches nearby. As you can see in the photos below, the buildings are stunning. These are the typical buildings that come to mind when you think of Greek buildings. The buildings have lots of detailing and that’s something I love to photograph.
We actually walked all the way to the end of the street where all of these beautiful buildings are at and ended up at the National Garden. At first you see all of these palm trees and as you might know from our Barcelona trip, we really like palm trees haha. The National Garden wasn’t really on our ‘to visit’ list because we didn’t know it was there. So since we were already here, of course we entered the garden. And who would have thought they have a whole pool filled with turtles?
While walking around we found this little lunch spot in the centre of the garden. It felt like I was in a movie. If there were fairy lights, I would feel like a princess that was going a date but nope, we were just having lunch haha. Yes, we all got a toasted sandwich with ham and cheese because sometimes we are basic.
And then it was time to explore more things in Athens, Greece. One thing Isabella was very excited about was the Olympic Stadium but since this is completely outside of Athens, we found the Panathenaic Stadium to go to. As we walked up to the stadium you could already see the flags. We didn’t pay to get inside because you could already see everything from the outside. I think it is a very impressive building to see, don’t you?
On Thursday we already saw the Temple of Zeus from a far but we also wanted to see it from up close. This is definitely a good representative of an old Greek building. As you can see in the photos above, the columns are huge. We look so small compared to the temple. Also, the detailing is amazing and if it wasn’t illegal, I would definitely want to take one of the columns home haha (as if it would fit in my suitcase).
At night we had dinner at a restaurant in Monastiraki again. Here they played live Greek music so we had some entertainment while having dinner, which was fun! And that was already part one of our Athens, Greece travel diary. I am excited to share the rest of our trip and you’ll see that blog post next week, so get pumped! Have you ever been to Athens, Greece? Which of these places is your favorite?
Love,
Neeltje
It was so much fun!
Xx
Author
❤️❤️
I love how you edited these photos!! So aesthetically pleasing! It was so interesting to read about Greece since I’ve never been there. Will there be any more travel posts coming up because I love the style of these?! ??
Author
Aah thank you so much! Yes, next week I will be posting the second part and in August you’ll see a lot more travel diaries on here ?
Wow these pictures look amazing! hope you had a good time,
Fowzia|Crazy4ties
xoxo
Author
Thank you! I definitely did. X
Very interresting history. Beautiful pictures.
http://www.nancysfashionstyle.com
Author
Thank you!
gorgeous! I want to go to greece! <3 please check out my blog <3 <3 https://enjoybypaula.com
Author
If you can, you should 🙂 X
Love this so much! Your photos are beautiful!
sincerelylinds.com
Author
Thank you so much! X
I really love your blog. You are awesome
xx
Hadasah Love | http://www.styletolove.com
Author
Ah thank you!
Amazing photos, everything just looks so perfect!
Anika | anikamay.co.uk
Author
Thank you! X
amazing post! really love it!
http://www.alovelystyle.com/
Author
Thanks!
Looks beautiful. I’m going to Athens tomorrow and so so so excited, will check out some of these places.
XO,
Maria
MariaOnPoint http://mariaonpoint.com/ | Find me on IG https://www.instagram.com/mariajabad/
Author
Ah I hope you have lots of fun! X
AMAZING photos!
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Author
Thank you!
LOVE LOVE. SO CHIC
NATALIEOFFDUTY.COM
Natalie Off Duty
Author
Thanks 🙂
It’s a long time since I was in Athens, this blog post really tempts me to return there. The photos are amazing!
Author
Ah, did you have a lovely time when you were there? Thank you 🙂 X
I love this topic girl! Greece is such a wonderful place 🙂 Your amazing pictures make me wanna go back asap!
xx, Carmen – http://www.carmitive.com
Author
Ah thank you so much! X
Wow, your trip looks so amazing! I’ve been to Greece myself last month and absolutely loved it 🙂
http://www.pennyanddash.com
Author
It really was! I am glad to hear you also had a lovely time 🙂 X
Great pictures! Seems like a whole lot of fun. I’d really want to see Athens someday. Maybe you can make a blogpost about your itinerary and the cost of it all. So people that would who’d want to visit there would have an idea of how much to save. Haha 🙂
Author
Thank you! That’s a great idea. I could definitely do that 🙂 X
The pictures are beautiful – looks like an exciting trip! Sucks about the Metro though – that would’ve made your lives easier, lol.
-Clarissa @ The View From Here
Author
Thank you so much! Ah yes, I know right… X
INDEED!!!!!
“To move, to breathe, to fly, to float,
To gain all while you give,
To roam the roads of lands remote,
To travel is to live.”
― Hans Christian Andersen
http://sepatuholig.blogspot.com
ig @grace_njio
Author
Such a great quote 🙂 X
Beautiful photos 🙂 I’m glad you had such a lovely time!
xoxo
http://gingersnaphattie.blogspot.fr
Author
Thank you 🙂 X
Very nice !
http://www.falifo.com
Author
Thanks!
Prachtige foto’s!
Author
Dankjewel!
These photos are beautiful. I visited Athens long time ago and I hope I will get back soon.
XX
Miri
http://currentlywearing.com
Author
Thank you! Xx
Looks so so stunning!
xo
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Author
Thanks! X
pretty photos!
TheVogueWord
TheVogueWord
Author
Thank you!
So amazing to read about my hometown from a different point of view! Frankly I would never travel in July to Athens, it gets so hot all you need is an airconditioned room haha!! Your picture editing is beyond amazing :O great job!
Author
Haha it was really warm but not that bad. Airconditioned rooms are the best tho haha. Thank you!
Thanks for all the great information! As others have mentioned, your photos are beautiful. Can you share how you edit them?
Author
Thank you so much! I am definitely thinking about making a blog post where I show how I edit my photos 🙂 X
Your photos is making me to plan one more trip to Athens. Stunning pictures! Captured the essence of the place
Author
Thank you so much! You definitely should 🙂 X