Greece

Greece is a fascinating combination of ancient and modern. Modern-day Greece is actually younger than the United States (officially becoming a country in 1832), but the Greek language has had minimal changes since ancient times.

As we looked around, we saw ruins of one of the great civilizations that built Western knowledge in one direction and a massive chain restaurant block in another. It is similar to Italy – a relatively small space where one could spend months and still not see it all. And, I know I could live on filo dough pastries and Greek coffee without complaint for quite a while. We spent about 3 weeks relaxing, eating good food, and enjoying the sites.

Athens

To grossly oversimplify history, after the fall of the Ancient Greeks, Athens was basically abandoned until it was made capital of modern day Greece in 1834. It is technically one of the longest continually occupied cities in the world (~5000 years), but very few people lived in Athens after the fall of the Greek Empire. As a result, modern day Athens is predominately a bunch of skyscrapers built over the awe-inspiring ruins of a great civilization. As we wandered around, we walked over clear sidewalks revealing the ruins underneath, some subway stations had ruins on display, and public parks have chairs from ancient temples set out as the standard park benches.

In addition to the ruins we stumbled across, we also visited the major sites such as the Acropolis and the Temple of Zeus.

Greek food is some of the best food in the world and Athens is home to a fair number of Michelin stars. We checked out Nolan, a restaurant with a Bib Gourmand recommendation, and were not disappointed – absolutely delicious! They are a Japanese-Greek fusion restaurant which was quite interesting.

Mykonos

Mykonos is home to the most beautiful beach I have ever visited. The sand is the perfect consistency and the water is crystal clear. It is easy to see why the island is such a popular tourist destination.

However, since it is such a popular tourist destination, the main town felt like one massive gift store. We found two places that felt genuinely local. It seemed like the tourism of the town had grown around these two lovely places –

• Gioras Wood Medieval Mykonian Bakery – delicious bakery.
• To Maereio – a lovely taverna owned by 2 brothers with some of the best Greek food we’ve ever had.

Our airbnb on Mykonos had a beautiful view and we loved watching the sunset. We also enjoyed exploring the historical sites of the town. We visited towards the end of October, the very end of the tourist season, and it was still very busy. I can’t imagine what it would be like in July or August and honestly would not recommend visiting during peak season.

Santorini

We took ferries to get to the islands. A lot of travel blogs had warned that ferries are terrible and the perfect way to get seasick. Thankfully, we didn’t have any issues and actually really enjoyed our ferry trips. The boats had lovely views and were much faster than all the hassle of taking a plane.

The island of Santorini is much larger than I thought. There are multiple towns and sites to visit – you could easily spend 4 full days here and not get bored. Anyone visiting for a day as part of a cruise will miss the majority of the sites. There also aren’t very many blue domes. A few of the highlights –

Kamari

Kamari is home to some of the black sand beaches. It is where we based ourselves so Carey could work on his dive certificate at the diving school. The beaches are lovely, with a beautiful view of the mountain and Ancient Thera. It is also home to a fun outdoor cinema.

Fira

Fira is the main city of the island. The Museum of Prehistoric Thera is in Fira is one of my favorite things on Santorini. A volcano erupted about 4000 years ago and preserved the town of Thera, similar to what happened to Pompeii about 2000 years ago. The museum in Fira has many of the artifacts found as well as frescos from the walls of homes. The colors of the frescos were preserved by the volcanic ash. It is amazing to see these 4000-year-old pieces of art that decorated homes.

Fira is also home to some amazing views and one of the most creative breweries I have ever visited. Santorini is known for growing lovely cherry tomatoes. This brewery, Ftelos, took that to the next level, making a cherry tomato basil gose that was actually amazing.

Akrotiri

The site of Akrotiri is one of the ancient cities preserved by volcanic ash. As we walked through the site, it was crazy to think about someone laying the bricks of their home 4000 years ago. The pots have not been moved for 4000 years. One of the homes even has a lavatory with a proper pipe system, which was incredibly advanced for the time.

Oia

Oia is the most famous city on Santorini. As a result, it was FULL of people and we honestly weren’t huge fans. I don’t think the locals are fans either – they have had to put up signs like these to remind people to respect their space.

One place we loved in Oia was Atlantis Books. It is quite famous (on par with Shakespeare & Co. in Paris), but one of the most fun stores I have ever visited. Their motto seems to be Plato’s “life must be lived as play” and they truly embrace it.

While it wasn’t our favorite city, it is a beautiful place.

Ohi Day

We happened to be in Greece on Ohi Day, a national holiday celebrating Greece’s rejection of Mussolini. It was fun to see the festivities! In Kamari, they celebrated by having the children from the local elementary school put on a parade.

Santo Wines

Santo Wines are relatively easy to find in the States and are popular Greek wines, but their location is phenomenal for sunset. If you are ever visiting Santorini and want to avoid the crowds in Oia, just go to Santo and order a lovely glass of their assyrtiko, a cheese plate, and enjoy the view.

Small Towns

We rented a car while on Santorini which made it a lot easier to explore. Even though Santorini is small (it takes about 30 minutes to drive end to end), there are a lot of hidden sites that can’t be reached by public transportation.

Thessaloniki

After our time on the islands, we headed to Greece’s 2nd largest city – Thessaloniki. Very few tourists from outside of Europe visit Thessaloniki because it isn’t the prettiest city, but within Europe it is famous for having the best Greek food. The people and the city have gone through a lot over the last 100+ years and the city embraces relaxing at a cafe with the determination that everything will work out. With this attitude, the city is the perfect place to get lost and relax.

Anyone who knows us and our love of good food will not be surprised that Thessaloniki was our favorite place in Greece. We loved wandering the city, stumbling across ancient ruins from the Roman era, and trying out yet another amazing snack. We had the chance to talk to multiple locals and asked them all for their favorite restaurant. Every single person we talked to eventually came up with an answer, but said we couldn’t go wrong anywhere because all of the food in the city was so good.

Mt. Olympus National Park

Mt. Olympus is the tallest mountain in Greece, standing just below 10,000′. The national park looks a lot like Colorado and is a beautiful place to explore. We didn’t see Zeus, but loved getting a glimpse of fall. In our travels we have been quite removed from the seasons. While I will never complain about consistent 70-80 degree weather with minimal rain, few things are as beautiful as a forest in the fall.

Meteora

Meteora is home to six active Eastern Orthodox monasteries that were built between the 12th and 16th centuries. It is one of the most beautiful places we’ve ever visited. Each monastery sits on a natural pillar and provides stunning views. We visited four of the six, with the Monastery of St. Stephen and the Monastery of the Holy Trinity being our favorites. The Monasteries of St. Nicholas and Rousanos were also beautiful. The Great Meteoron and Varlaam are the most famous and tend to be full of tour groups so we avoided them. All but St. Stephen’s involve a fair number of stairs.

Delphi

Between ~600 BC and ~200 AD, Delphi was one of the most important cities in the western world. The Oracle of Delphi was one of the most powerful individuals in the ancient world. Very little is actually known about how the women were selected to be the Oracle, but we know that once selected, individuals would travel thousands of miles for an audience with her.

The city lies at the base of Mt. Parnassus, an absolutely beautiful part of Greece. The theatre, treasury, Temple of Apollo, and Temple of Athena have held up relatively well. In the agora, we were able to see the areas for old tourist shops (and yes, archeologists have found evidence that even in 500 BC tourist shops existed).

After our time in Delphi, we drove through the countryside back to Athens. Our main takeaways from Greece –

• Greek pastries are just as good or better than French pastries. Bougatsa is one of the most delicious culinary creations in the world.
• We enjoyed mainland Greece more than the islands. The mountains are stunning and it is much less crowded.
• Greece is much more enjoyable at a relaxed pace. Many Greeks spend 3 or 4 hours enjoying a single cup of coffee at a cafe. When visiting this country, it is worth taking the time to relax.