Dinner at the Royal Olympic Hotel Athens

One of the Beautiful Views from the Rooftop Restaurant and Bar  Upon our return from Santorini we hopped in a cab and headed into Athens to our final hotel in Greece. We were looking forward to seeing some of the sights we had heard so much about. We knew that we wanted to have a meal at the rooftop restaurant on top of the hotel because it has views of both the temple of Zeus and the Acropolis which are both completely lit up at night. We ventured up to the bar after getting settled, and were greeted with a spectacular view of the ancient marble and limestone structures. They are breathtaking and much closer than they appear to be in...

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Santorini

The View from Our Hotel in Santorini We headed to Santorini from our hotel in Piraeus via ferry. The ferries that they have in Europe are huge, and that was a new experience for me. We were still pretty tired, and had to get up at five to catch the four hour ferry ride. There was a deli counter where you could get snacks and drinks, and there were TV's through out for some entertainment(if you know Greek.) We settled in and had half of the sandwiches that the hotel had packed for us, or as it was referred to in Greece, toast. They were made like you mother made your sandwiches for school. White bread, a thin layer of turkey, a single piece...

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First Night in Greece, Piraeus Theoxenia Hotel

Piraeus Theoxenia Hotel Our first night in Greece could have ended in disaster as it definitely started as nothing but a nightmare. We arrived, and took the hour long bus ride from the airport (which is in the middle of nowhere,) and get dropped off at the wrong stop. We arrive at our hotel after a questionable taxi ride, and instantly get sent to their "other building" to pay. In short they had overbooked, and did not tell us. The other building was a "sister hotel equal in quality," where we were now supposed to stay. They had us walking through the back streets in a not so good part of town as it was getting dark. It was sweltering out,...

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It Begins, Post 1: Mussles on the Streets of Istanbul

Two Types of Mussels from a Street Vendor in Taksim Square This first post is going to start with my recent trip to Europe. The trip took my girlfriend Terry and I from Istanbul --where I met up with Terry who had already been there for two weeks-- through Athens, Santorini, and Rome. I will be putting up posts of various meals and snacks from the whole trip. Back to Istanbul. As you can see in the picture above the mussels are different from what you would expect when ordering them here in the U.S. The first plate has fried mussels on a stick accompanied by a type of yogurt sauce. This was the first meal that I had in Turkey, and is one of...

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