I've been so busy since from returning from Europe! I've started a new endeavor that has sucked up most of my free time, but that's for a future post, friends.

These are my photos from our first day in Athens, Greece. Landing midday, we hurriedly checked into the King George Hotel in central Athens, so we could run out into this ancient, incredible city to explore.

My head still swimming from our whirlwind tour of Paris, Athens furthered my sense of disbelief and marvel as looked upon the Acropolis and the Parthenon that sits upon it, in the distance.

These shots were taken from the Agora, Athens' ancient marketplace that is still in use to this day.

The King George Hotel. Our trip featured a three night stay at the Five Star King George Hotel. This view, from Syntagma Square, shows just how majestic is appears in the warm, Athen's night. I will post a revise of this fabulous hotel in the near future!

My daughter and I spent many hours winding our way through the narrow streets of the Flea markets. Chalk full of shopping, bars, restaurants, and other vendors, the smell of strong Greek coffee and olives filled the air.

It seems that at every turn, ancient ruins appear. Here, in the middle of the marketplace, was one of dozens of excavated sites that captured our imagination of how life once was here. How many millions have walked these streets and seen these sights before us across the ages?

Directly in front of our hotel is Syntagma Square, or Constitution Square. All day and evening Greeks strolled, ate, drank, and chatted here in this beautiful central square. Democracy was in action as many different groups had set up shop here to advocate for their cause, celebrate, and even protest.

On our final night, we ended up engulfed in a very large march by Kurds who were protesting what they felt was poor treatment of their people in Turkey. There were hundreds of marchers with banners and bullhorns. Fortunately, the march went peacefully.

At the top of the square lies The Old Royal Palace. Used by the last King of Greece, Otto, it os now home to the Greek Parliament.

In my next post, I will treat you to pictures of a fabulous little family restaurant we ran across on our walk back to the hotel. It turned out to be the best meal I enjoyed, of many, in either France or Greece!

I will be posting about Day 2 and Day 3 very soon, so stay tuned!

Cheers!