We started our trip to Italy by taking a direct flight to Athens, Greece to check out some of the historic sites and food. We felt we could see the things that interested us most with a two night stay. After about a one hour delay, we landed in Athens around 11 am. We had a car service arranged by our hotel, The King George, to pick us up. Upon arrival at the hotel, which is a Marriott property, we were upgraded to a Junior Suite room.
Shortly after checking in, we met our driver and headed for a drive along the coast. Our destination would be the Temple of Poseidon.
The Temple of Poseidon is an ancient Greek temple built around 700BC on Cape Sounion, Greece, dedicated to the god Poseidon.
The drive took us along the coastline and we could see the various islands. A little more than halfway, we stopped to view Lake Vouliagmeni.
It was a very interesting lake nestled right up to a cliff side. There was a deck and lounge chairs bordering the water and people were actively swimming nearby.
We walked around taking some pictures, and then continued to our destination. The plan was to do a sunset viewing of the Temple. A short time later while driving, we could see the temple perched high atop the mountain side. The roads were full of curves and tunnels through the rock formations.
Our driver dropped us at the entry and we bought our entry tickets. We hiked up the hill to the temple. There were very few people at this time. We were about two hours before sunset since we arranged to start our tour a bit early. While circling the temple taking photos, I realized the weather would not cooperate and a sunset would not be viewable. We stayed for a short time, taking in the views, and then decided to head back.
I decided to use some artistic licensing on a couple of the photos.
Leaving early was a good choice since we were able to get reservations at a Michelin Star restaurant, The Tudor. The Tudor is set upon the rooftop of our hotel and offers a direct view of the Acropolis. Photos were a bit difficult as we were inside with glass windows. The downside of going in November is the weather doesn’t really allow nighttime open air seating. It’s just too cold. We arrived early enough to see a spectacular sunset view of the Acropolis.
As the time passed and the sun set, we had the opportunity to see the Parthenon lit atop the Acropolis.
Our meal was great, with a lot of little treats throughout service. I will do my best to label the pictures, but as there was no menu describing most of them, I had a hard time keeping track of everything.
Charcoal grilled scallops with ‘crème bavaroise’, roasted white asparagus and grapefruit sabayon
Our main courses were:
Wagyu striploin with parsley root purée, brown butter sabayon, charcoal grilled sweetbread, truffle and Périgueux sauce
Grilled saddle of lamb with caul fat, chick pea stew, harissa and lemon – thyme scented lamb sauce
Below are some of the treats served throughout the meal. We had three types of bread, A spicy chicken croquette, and a few other things that I can’t remember.
After our dinner, before we went to bed, we went outside to get a picture of the hotel’s exterior.
Tomorrow we explore Athens and hike up to the top of the Acropolis to get a close up look at the Parthenon.