TRAVEL THROWBACK 2007: ANCIENT ATHENS & TRAVEL "FIRSTS"

 

Temple of Hephaestus: Construction began 450 BCE, and opened in 415 BCE.

When was the first time you went on a major vacation?

Thinking back on my travel "firsts,"  
my maiden voyage outside the US was when I was 15 years old.

Granted, it was by bus, but that teen tour to Montreal and Quebec City 
made such an impression on me, 
I can pinpoint it as the exact moment I was bitten by the wanderlust bug.

The first time I flew the friendly skies was at 22 years old,

when a friend and I jetted down to Florida
to frolic with Mickey and Minnie. 

That's me, on the left, in Disney World.

The first tropical vacation I took

was to Acapulco with my sister, when I was 23 years old.

Me, in Acapulco, Mexico

It took me 34 years to cross the pond to Europe,

when I tagged along on a friend's business trip to London.

Looking back, why oh WHY did I wait so long?!?

 

Me and the Queen's Guard, outside Buckingham Palace in London (OMG, my HAIR! I could have flown to Europe on those wings!)

In contrast, Junior Goo Shoes was 6 years old 
when we took him to Italy for his first European adventure.

And, two months before his eighth birthday, in 2007,

we vacationed in Greece for 10 days,

which brings me to this Travel Throwback.

Our journey began in Athens.

We had no idea when we got off the plane 

that we would be there for record-breaking temperatures.

 The "European Heat Wave of 2007" literally arrived in Greece the same day we did.

Temperatures soared to 111F° and didn't stop there.
Three days later, the mercury hit 115°.

I have never been so hot in my life.

The Old Royal Palace, completed in 1843, has housed the Parliament since 1934.

The plan was to spend our first jet-lagged day in Athens at the Acropolis.

We had a perfect view of this ancient landmark from our hotel,
and it beckoned us to its summit.

But, as luck would have it, the workers were on strike,

and access to the site was closed.

This was a huge disappointment, since we were leaving for Mykonos the next morning,

and the only other time we'd have in Athens was the afternoon of our last day in Greece.

This turned out to be a blessing in disguise,

because I'm sure at least one of us -- perhaps all of us --
would have passed out atop the Acropolis in the heat of the mid day sun.

With our plans foiled, we spent the first sweltering day in Athens at the rooftop pool,

and inside our air-conditioned hotel room.

View of Acropolis from our hotel -- so close, yet unreachable.

In the evening, when it cooled down to about 100°,

we took a stroll to a lovely pedestrian area called the Plaka district.

I took a peek inside Brettos Bar,

which was truly the most beautiful bar I'd ever seen.

Too bad my photography skills were not that terrific back then,

but I did manage to get this photo.

 

Brettos Bar, the oldest distillery in Athens, opened in 1909.

Nine days later, at the end of our time in Mykonos and Santorini,

we were coming back to Athens.

Our flight was to leave Santorini in the morning, 

leaving us the entire afternoon to visit the Acropolis. 

But.......our plane was delayed........

and delayed..........

and delayed.

We didn't land in Athens till almost 6pm. 

Our Acropolis window was shrinking by the minute.

How could we have come all this way,

and go home without seeing the Parthenon?

We got a taxi at the airport, and asked the driver to wait at our hotel 
while we dropped off our luggage, and then take us up to the Acropolis.

He was insistent that we wouldn't make it --

it closed at 7:30pm.

We insisted that he try.........

and we made it just in the nick of time.

Parthenon, built between 447 and 432 BCE.

We got there at 7:00pm, and literally had just 30 minutes to take it all in.

Erechtheion, constructed between 421 and 406 BCE.

Caryatids - architectural columns in the form of standing female figures.

Junior GS and me, circa 2007, at Erechtheion.

Another side of the Erechtheion......

And another -- I think!

Odeon of Herodes Atticus, a magnificent open-air theater built between 160 and 174 A.D.
that is still used today.

Granted, we felt a bit rushed,
but we were so happy to have had even a little bit of time.......
just enough to take our requisite photos,

and go home with the satisfaction of seeing 
one of the world's most famous archeological sites.

I guess you could say our trip ended in ruins.......
and that was a good thing!

LINKING WITH:

I'M IN A SUNSHINE STATE OF MIND: DISCOVERING DEERFIELD BEACH

You know that feeling when you just need to get away from the beat of the everyday drum? 

If anyone would have told me that after I stopped working,
I'd still feel, at times, like I badly needed a vacation, I'd have said,  
"Vacation from what?"

I would have bah-hah-hah'd them from here to Florida.

 Work pressures, crazy bosses, deadlines piling up faster than a teenager's laundry...........

that's what warrants a vacation!
Certainly a non-working, blog-writing mom doesn't NEED a vacation. 

Oh, but she did. 

Even without stress of the corporate variety, 
I found myself pining for warmer climes, a change of scenery....

and a break from the day-to-day. 
Maybe the fact that I couldn't shake a bronchial virus for weeks earlier in the winter 
had me desperate to feel the sun on my face, and sand between my toes. 
Then again, I don't really need need a reason 
to pack up my travel-size toiletries, and head for somewhere.....anywhere.
Travel is my caffeine, and I crave it constantly. 

And, so when Mr. Goo Shoes decided he wanted to see his cousins in Florida,

we booked a last-minute, long weekend in the Sunshine State.

The only time we could get away was over President's Weekend,

when Junior Goo Shoes had a couple of days off from school.

Unfortunately, it's the most popular (translation: expensive!) week of winter to travel.
As we we didn't book this trip until January,
 I didn't hold much hope for finding a hotel room, 
 let alone one that didn't cost the equivalent of a semester at college.

We were hoping to stay in the Delray Beach area,

as close to the ocean as possible,  
but everywhere I searched, I was met with virtual "No Vacancy" signs.  

When a hotel popped up in Deerfield Beach,

I had to google-map it to see exactly where it was.
Located mid-way between West Palm Beach and Ft. Lauderdale,
and only 15 miles from Delray, it seemed like a good destination.
It was a tad risky, as we knew nothing about the area.
What if Deerfield turned out to be more like Drearfield?

  
We needn't have worried.
 Deerfield Beach proved to be a fantastic location!
 
 We stayed at the Embassy Suites Hotel......
it wasn't fancy, but was nice enough for the purposes of this trip.
It met several criteria:

Beachfront.
All suites
Pool.
Breakfast Included.

An all-suites hotel was a win-win:

 Junior GS could have his own room, bathroom, and TV,
and we didn't have to deal with his mess.
It was a very spacious room, had a narrow balcony,
and a partial ocean view.

Considering its oceanfront location, and the fact that it was a holiday week,
the rates were quite reasonable.  
The free breakfast buffet was impressive,
and included made-to-order omelets, if you didn't mind waiting.
I minded, so I stuck with oatmeal.   
(Okay, to be honest, I was rationing my calories for alcoholic beverages). 

Junior GS preferred to sleep late, and skip breakfast.
Fortunately, the pool restaurant opened for lunch at 11am,
and he had no problem with buffalo chicken wings being his first meal of the day. 
When he couldn't finish them, I polished them off,
and I must admit, they make a fine mid-morning snack.

The beach was just across a narrow street from our hotel.

Mr. Goo Shoes and I consider ourselves something of beach connoisseurs, 
and this one was fabulous!

Junior GS walking down the beach.

The beach is public, so chairs were not supplied by the hotel.
We had to rent them from a third party.
They didn't come cheap ($12 per chair, $12 per umbrella, $15 per cabana),
but at least we were able to charge them to our hotel.
It would have been more economical to purchase inexpensive chairs and umbrellas 
at a local store, and toss (or give) them to someone when we left.
Had we done that, 
it would have guaranteed that we'd have rain for the remainder of the trip.
Better to spend an arm and a leg to keep our limbs from getting sunburned,
  rather than risk jinxing the weather pattern
(which turned out to be perfect, by the way 😎).

That's Junior GS, in the lounge chair.

We didn't realize until we arrived, that our hotel was on the quiet end of the strip,
This was totally fine with us, as it was only about a half-mile walk 
 down South Ocean Way to the main hub of Deerfield Beach.

The small "downtown" area was quite lively.
The restaurants and bars, all within a walk-able distance of each other, 
were hopping at night.

One of our favorite restaurants was JB's On The Beach.
Unfortunately, we didn't get a table outside on the deck,
but inside was pretty cool, with a giant Hobie Cat hanging from the rafters......
 and the cocktails ......er, I mean, the food -- was great.

JB's On The Beach

 
The main attraction in Deerfield Beach is the pier,
right in the center of all the action.

 The $1 fee to walk on the pier
was cheap entertainment for our last night in town. 

Junior GS seems to have lost his head.

The view from the pier.

It wasn't until we got home that I found out there were three live webcams set up at the pier,
including one in the water where you can watch the sea life swim by.
Cooooooool.

One night, we took a ride 15 miles north to the very happening town of Delray Beach.

Anyone who is anyone, and everyone who is no one
(meaning, us) was on trendy Atlantic Avenue that night.
With Junior Goo Shoes on a one-teenager quest to find the ultimate burger,
we skipped the fancy restaurants and headed straight to The Office, 
an upscale gastropub with expensive casual food and craft beer.
Junior GS had to forego the beer, 
but he did proclaim the burger to be one of the best he's ever had. 
I had a tuna steak sandwich, 
which was actually like a giant piece of sashimi on a bun.
Yum!
It's rare that I allow myself an order of french fries,
but when the waitress said I could "upgrade" to truffle fries,
well, friends, all I can say is, I'm only human.

It's hard to a get a good picture at night without people snarling at you,
so this blurry one will have to do.  

After telling the waitress we were too full for dessert,  
we waddled across the street to It's Sugar, a candy store.
If you know anything about me at all, 
it's that I have ZERO self control when it comes to sugary confections.
It does not help matters at all, that Mr. Goo Shoes is as bad as me.
Fortunately, Junior Goo Shoes was there to slap our wrists:
"Mom, Dad, that's ENOUGH candy!"

All Junior GS wanted was some salt-water taffy,
and we all had a good laugh when this is what he found.

All in all, Deerfield Beach was a terrific place to stay.
Next time, I'd LOVE to stay at the swanky boutique hotel -- Royal Blues,
or rent a gorgeous condo right on the beach. 
But, I've got no complaints about this last trip.




It was just long enough to change my
New York state of mind into a sunshine state of mind.
 
   

Resources:
Deerfield Beach, FL (official site)
Deerfield Beach Live Webcams
Embassy Suites Hotel, Deerfield Beach
JB's On The Beach, Deerfield Beach 

Cafe Med, Deerfield Beach

The Office, Delray Beach 

It's Sugar, Delray Beach 
Royal Blues Hotel, Deerfield Beach

   

LINKING WITH:
Best of the Weekend
Our World Tuesday 
Take Me Away