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Say hello to The Clumsies and Baba Au Rum!
My buddy Dave and I started a tradition several years ago that if we happened to be in a city that had a 50 Best bar…we’d try it out. Lucky for us…Athens has 2 in the top 20 and they were within a few minutes walk to our hotel The Grande Bretagne. There is another one called The Line that we didn’t make it to, but would certainly visit upon another trip to Athens. You can go here to read about the 50 best bars in the world.
The Clumsies –
We hit up the Clumsies our first night in Athens and lemme tell you…you won’t be disappointed. If you don’t have your radar tuned, you’ll walk right by the entrance. It’s a bit hidden, and the actual bar is down a discreet walkway.
I thought we were going to get turned away, but without reservations, we walked right up, even got a seat at a corner table, and enjoyed incredible cocktails that didn’t break the bank. Cocktails at one of the best bars in the world for 10 to 12 Euros – ummm when can we come back? Funny enough, we came back after going to Baba Au Rum.
I tried The Conch and their signature Aegean Negroni. Both were very good; however, I must admit I’m not a massive negroni fan so I didn’t order it again when we returned later that night for food. The mezcal based drinks were way, way too good, and I could have easily sipped them all night. The vibe is seen to be seen in the bar area, and casual cool in the back which is inside/outside.
Baba Au Rum
I was a bit disappointed with Baba Au Rum if I’m being honest. The vibe was disjointed – I couldn’t tell exactly what they were going for? Mayan? Mexican? 60s US Diner?
We had an avocado tequila based drink that just didn’t hit the mark. Perhaps we ordered wrong, came on the wrong night, but shortly after arriving we settled up and headed back to Clumsies.
Overall
Both bars are within a few minutes walk of eachother. I’d certainly give Baba another go, and undoubtedly if I returned to Athens I’d go back to Clumsies. Excellent drinks and a cool, local, energy.
Chase Sapphire Preferred® Card
The Chase Sapphire Preferred is a great starter card that earns Premium Ultimate Rewards that can be transferred into over a dozen partners many of which are US based.
Welcome Offer
60k Points after $4k spend in 3 months
Annual Fee
$95
Points Earned
Transferrable Chase Ultimate Rewards
If you carry this card alongside Chase’s cashback cards like the Chase Freedom Flex℠and Chase Freedom Unlimited® or the business versions: Ink Business Cash , Ink Business Unlimited you can combine the points into Preferred account and transfer into hotel and airline partners
Annual fee is quite low at $95 a year + you get a 10% anniversary bonus on points + $50 hotel credit in Chase travel.
- 3x on dining
- including eligible delivery services for takeout
- 3x on select streaming services
- 3x on online grocery purchases
- (excluding Target, Walmart and wholesale clubs)
- 5x on all travel purchased through Chase Ultimate Rewards – Chase Travel Portal
- $50 Annual Credit on hotel stays purchased via Ultimate Rewards/Chase Travel
- The begins immediately for new cardmembers and after your account anniversary for existing cardmembers
- 10% Anniversary Bonus
- Every year you keep the card, your total spend will yield a 10% points bonus. If you spend $10k in a year, you’ll get 1k bonus points
- Chase Sapphire Preferred® continues to redeem at 1.25c in the Chase Travel Portal and the slew of other benefits remain in tact including primary rental car insurance, purchase protections, etc.
- Points are transferrable to 13 Ultimate Rewards partners
- Redeem in the Chase Travel center for 1.25 cents per point
- No foreign transaction fees
- Suite of Travel and Purchase Coverage
- Primary rental car coverage is my favorite
We keep an up to date spreadsheet that lists the best ever offers: You can find that spreadsheet here.
Historically 80k is a very, very good offer and hit in both 2022 and 2023. In 2021, we saw the offer hit an all time high of 100k. Who knows if that will ever come back.
Main Cast:
Cards that earn flexible points and should be used on the bulk of your purchases.
Supporting Cast:
Cards that earn fixed points in the currency of the airline/hotel and can not be transferred at attractive rates. These cards yield benefits that make it worth keeping, but not necessarily worth putting a lot of your everyday spend on.
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