Spring Break 2026 – Greece – Days 1&2

This year’s Mardi Gras break trip is to Greece! We will be spending 9 days total- 7 days in Greece, 2 traveling.

We started out Thursday evening after Norah got out of school and I was done with work- on a flight out of New Orleans direct to London. This was exciting because every time we fly international, we usually have to make the 5 hour drive to Houston but being able to fly right out of NOLA was *chef’s kiss*.

After the 8 hour flight to London we had a couple hours in Heathrow – Norah got a burger but nothing else to really write about.. then we got on our Athens flight- another 3.5 hours and by this point we were all sleepy-eyed. Most of this flight was just us sleeping.

By the time we got to Athens, it was 6:30pm local time. It took about 40 minutes to get through passport control… but our taxi was there waiting for us. Drove us the 45 minutes from the airport to our hotel on the north side of Athens- the Brown Acropol.

I was a little apprehensive because we were watching a YouTube guide to Athens and the guys was like “don’t book a hotel north of xxx street” and when I checked the map, we were two blocks north of “that” street. ha I had read a hundred reviews or so of the hotel prior to booking and the reviews seemed good and no one talked about it being a bad area. So we decided we’d show up and if we didn’t like it, we’d just get an Uber somewhere else. It was just fine….

On arrival at the desk, the guy asked if we would like a complimentary Prosecco while we check in- we said sure. And out came 3 glasses of prosecco. One for Kegan, one for me… and one handed to Norah. hahaha I 100% told her she could drink it if she wanted. She was served champagne, she could drink champagne. lol Miss Rule Follower waited until we got into the hotel room, then tried a sip and promptly handed it to me. haha

Our room is basically a big 2 bed apartment with 2 bathrooms, a kitchenette and an entry room.

There is a little record player in each room with a library of vinyls in the lobby you can swap out.

The room has two balconies- one off of each of the bedrooms

Norah enjoyed the disco ball in the hall and dances to the music every time we leave.

Since it was already late, we just crossed the street to a little restaurant with good Google reviews and were not disappointed. The guy talked us into ordering way more food than we planned to because he said he would make “for 1 person size” lol he did NOT in fact make “for 1 person size” the meals were big. and cheap. Each plate was $12 or under.

Meat sampler for Kegan – chicken souvlaki, pork souvlaki, grilled sausages of some sort. It was all excellent. We all ate off of each other’s plates until we were miserable and thirsty from all of the salt. ha

After dinner, it was back to the room around 11pm and time for bed. I was out about 5 seconds after my head hit the pillow.

For Day 2, which is really our first day in Greece, we started with hotel breakfast on the roof with a view of the Acropolis. It had a good spread for a hotel buffet breakfast – rasher bacon, eggs, sausages, norwegian specialties like pickled herring, anchovies and smoked salmon, cold cuts and cheese. Greek specialty pastries and breads as well as juices and coffee – and it was included with the room price, so it was fine with us.

Our first stop after breakfast was the National Archeological Museum.

It was a large museum with TONS of ancient pottery and small pieces. Here were some of my favorite items:

The Jockey of Artemision. It’s from approx 140 BC and cast in bronze. Found in a shipwreck, which explains why it survives since almost all bronze was melted down over the years for weapons and war.

Mycanean death mask of Agamemnon – we’ll be visiting his tomb where this was discovered on Day 5

Bronze sword with stone and gold inlaid handle.

The Antikythera Mechanism – the world’s first “computer” – discovered in a shipwreck after 2000 years under water in 1901.. with mechanical dials that could track multiple celestial events and calendars. This technology wouldn’t be seen again for 1500 years after the age of this piece.

Norah’s favorite- the derpy short horse.

Preserved frescos from Santorini from the Ankrotiri site.

Norah isn’t a huge museum person… but she usually sits patiently on whatever bench she can find until we’ve seen what we want.

After leaving the museum, we walked through the city to some other sites. I love all of the orange trees lining the streets.

Kegan told me to pose so I could be a part of the pictures today.

Panagia Kapnikarea church – an 11th century Byzantine church amazingly still standing in the middle of a modern square

Next Norah decided that a gelato shop we passed looked good so we stopped…and this was a great decision. Maybe the best ice cream I have ever had… a chain called Kayak Pure Magic Ice Cream. I recommend you look it up in Athens.

I had the Dark Forest Fruits Chocolate with glacé cherries and raspberries in a rich dark chocolate ice cream that was so rich and thick it tasted like a truffle. Amazing.

Kegan had the Cream with Pistachio, Anthotyro Cheese and Fig – and it was awesome, too.

Norah had a bubble waffle coated in Nutella with a scoop of tiramisu ice cream and was thrilled. ha

Next was the Holy Church of the Virgin Mary Gorgoepikoos and Saint Eleutherius

Next to the cathedral is the old Byzantine church known as “little Metropolis” and was Athens’ cathedral during the Ottoman period.

We walked past the site of Hadrian’s library. I believe this site is included in our tour of the Acropolis and the Agora on Day 4…so we didn’t pay to enter- just got some photos from the perimeter. Many cats which Norah loves.

We also saw a turtle roaming around the Hadrian”s library grounds. So random, but cool.

The West Wall of Hadrian’s library that remains standing.

Lunch was at a place called Zisis which had take-away cones of fried fish. We had this in Venice and loved it, so why not give it another shot.

We ended up with Squid, small Shrimps, sand smelt, anchovies and fries to share.

We carried it back to the hotel and ate it on our balcony.

Kegan was sitting on the balcony and spotted this stumpy little fire truck and thought it was funny.

After a late lunch we had a two hour rest in the hotel and then headed out to catch an Uber to our evening activity- a 3 hour escape room at Paradox Project.

With no spoilers- the basic idea is that our uncle had invited us over to the mansion, but when we arrived, we found that he had been kidnapped and we have to find clues to help him and find his hidden jewel. Once we found our way through most rooms, we learn that he actually faked the kidnapping and we are being framed with a fake jewel while he escapes with the real one… and we have to solve more puzzles before the police arrive.

We escaped and completed all puzzles. Our game master said she was very impressed with us. We were a great team and did better than almost all teams. We didn’t tell her we’ve now done over 100 escape rooms. ha

We didn’t want a whole sit down meal at 11pm, but we wanted something…so we stopped by a little turkish food stall right outside the escape room venue.

I forgot to take photos until we were halfway through eating… but we got a couple pizza boat things with egg and bacon, and pepporoni, a sausage filled phyllo dough rope thing ( on the right above) and a pig in a blanket hot dog thing. They were all greasy but good, and total was $15 for everything plus drinks.