My big fat Greek trip

Prologue: Suvexa and I were invited to a wedding reception (well Suvexa was, and I was the plus-one) in Greece. I had never been to Greece and thought it would be foolish of me to turn down the opportunity to visit, so of course I said “Yes”.  

Greece, here I come! Since I was working all night, I had to pack in panic before making my way to the airport at 12 pm, which resulted in missing very important essentials. Even after all the rush, I was early by an hour and the first one to be in Gatwick, waiting for Suvexa to arrive.

Both excited and hungry, we decided to have lunch before boarding whilst waiting for Maria and John who were apparently occupied with some shopping at the terminal. A few people were rushing and one woman in particular was in such a rush that she had to take off her sandals and sprint with her luggage. That brought back memories of our Barcelona trip when we were freaking out and running towards the gate like crazy. Top tip: if you have checked-in your luggage then just remember, the plane will not leave without you for safety reasons.   

We reached our gate, there was still a long queue for boarding and suddenly! There she was; the sprinting lady barefoot. We still hadn’t seen Maria or John or to rephrase, I still hadn’t met them and had no idea how they looked like or where they were. Since they bought fast track tickets, they were already on-board and nowhere to be seen. After nearly 4 hours, we reached Athens and I had my long awaited introduction to the bride, groom (his mum and dad too) and Yorgos; who came to pick us up. It took about an hour to reach the destination, Dilesi, where Maria’s family reside. We were greeted by Maria’s dad, Demetrius and mum, Kyriaki. And the welcome dinner was just exquisite, and I regret not capturing more photos, as I was busy indulging myself in some finger-licking good Greek cuisine.

Saturday, the big day: Since it was a wedding reception, I dressed smart, however, both myself and Suvexa were a bit overly dressed! Well, its better to be over-dressed then under-dressed, right? Then there was FOOD! Seriously! Lots of food!

Wow! What a feast! Great place, great food and great people, what more anyone could ever ask for? So many to choose from then there was that succulent spit-roasted lamb! I think I panicked a bit on what to start from. After all those delicious food, there was a sudden realisation that maybe I should have worn a t-shirt rather than a slim-fit as the buttons were struggling to hold on. And of course! There were a buffet of desserts, which mysteriously found their space in my stomach.

Yorgos and Demetrius working on that succulent lamb. I was eagerly waiting behind, contemplating on when to devour it.

Homemade lamb sausages!

Food! Glorious Food!

Athens trip, Sunday: The big day was over; Maria’s family were kind enough to drop us at Athens city. We went to a little café to quench our thirst and I ordered some freshly squeezed lemonade. And it was LITERALLY just lemon juice; 1 whole glass of squeezed lemon juice. After just one sip, even my face squeezed, even 5 packs of sugar could not expunge its sourness. That was one helluva lemon juice! Haha.

After a little refreshment, we went to a restaurant for lunch. This was a very peculiar restaurant with its owner’s photos all over the wall with some celebrities (probably) from Greece. The restaurant was jam-packed with customers, with Greek live music and some delicious food.

Some clicks just before lunch. I had the best time with these lively people. 

I think we might’ve ordered a bit too much as most of us could only finish half of it and the plates could barely fit on our table.

John, Frank (left) and Demetrius (right). Now that I see this pic, Demetrius forgot to smile.

These magnificent ladies sure know how to smile.

Monday: Half a day for sightseeing and we nailed it. Now that I think about it, Athens is quite small, or did we skip our tour? Btw Suvexa, you remember the time where you could not stay still. hahahahahahaha.. 

Acropolis of Athens

The amount of tourists in Acropolis was too damn high!

View of Athens from Acropolis

So much history has been made from here to all over the world, it is sad though now that all we see are pillars of ruins.

The Parthenon

Theatre of Dionysus, the birth place of European theatre.

Ancient Agora of Athens

Half- naked, amputated with killer abs statue.

Maria, thank you very much for the unforgettable time. I will always treasure the time spent with you and your family. My gratitude and love to you all.