mission: greece day 1

the entire time i was in greece, i had no access to the internet (and to be honest, it was kind of nice being disonnected for a while. so now i get to recount all of the fun adventures patrick and i had in the big olive for the next several blog posts...hope you enjoy them!

day one began after a long overnight flight. this, in theory, would have been nice if i were the type of person who could sleep on a plane. alas i cannot (subway, yes any day of the week...plane never), and so i hazily made my way through customs and baggage

claim wanting so desperately to snuggle up in a bed.

anyway, our first stop on our trip was the westin at astir palace, located on the vouliagmeni penninsula, which about 15 miles

away from downtown athens. while we were waiting for our room to be cleaned, we were served some complimentary coffees and cookies and enjoyed soaking in the gorgeous view of the surrounding beach and resort property. the lobby of the westin is located at the top of a cliff, so we could see pretty much everything in the surrounding area.

after our coffees, we further explored the hotel, chilling out in some lounge chairs while listening to the soft lapping of the waves against the rocks. it was so serene, and so perfect i could have stayed there all day. but patrick wanted to check out more of the area, so we walked up a path and found a little field overlooking the agean sea. patrick climbed down some of the way, and i took this picture of him.

when we were finally able to go to our room, the first thing on my agenda was to take a bath, bubble of course, and the second thing was to take a nap. upon waking up, we felt refreshed, got ready for our dinner, set up by greek celebrity chef maria loi, and took another walk. this time we walked along the road and found some beaches (we didn't go to them because we had to pay and it was too cold outside), and finally arrived at our restaurant, ithake (pronounce ee-tha-kee).

dinner was lovely and the perfect introduction to greek cuisine, and the view from the restaurant was divine. we could see the resort coastline and with the moon high and bright, everything romantically glimmered. anyway, the food...patrick and i shared a nice salad and some calamari. my entree was a filet of grouper that was cooked to perfection and seasoned very simply. it was fresh and clean on my palate, and i ate it alllll up. our dinner was paired with a delicious white wine from santorini (and later on we got to see the vineyards there). dessert was a traditional greek pastry with honey and phyllo dough, but it wasn't baklava. similar but not the same. i think we were there for about three hours total because the greeks really value taking time to enjoy a meal, to be with the ones you love and truly enjoy the food and good times. this way of life could really suit me, and i wish that nyc was more like that at times rather than feeling pressured to leave as soon as my meal has been consumed.

patrick and i then left for our hotel, sauntering all the way back. the rest of our vacation was ahead of us, and i couldn't wait to experience more of this beautiful country.

this is beth signing off.

mission: accomplished.

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