Monthly Archives: July 2023

Kalinikta (Good night) Athens

We’ve traveled to a lot of major European cities — Rome, Milan, Berlin, Vienna, London, Dublin, Paris, Yerevan, Barcelona and more — and while we’ve enjoyed our time here, I think I’d put Athens at the bottom of the list. … Continue reading

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Fish are friends, not food

Today is our last full day in Athens and we had no set schedule. We had a leisurely morning, popping in and out of some stores, toured the Central Market, and found another place to try hand pies for brunch: … Continue reading

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Acropolis

At 7:15am we met up with our guide Natalia and quickly made our way to the Acropolis to beat the heat and the crowds. We spent four hours with her walking through the site and the museum which was built … Continue reading

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Delphi

This morning we taxi’d outside of the city center to meet our guide for the day, Tolis (short for Apostolis.) It’s record breaking hot in Athens so we were happy to escape the heat for a day trip in an … Continue reading

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From serenity to the city

Yesterday we left the spacious luxury and calm of the resort for the congested city of Athens. But first, a few final thoughts on the Grecotel experience: The hotel drove us to our 7th and final stop: Athens!! We grabbed … Continue reading

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Cape Sounio

Cape Sounio is at the southernmost tip of a peninsula about 40 minutes south of Athens and it’s where we’ve spent the past few days of our trip. Its main site is the Temple of Poseidon, perched on a cliff … Continue reading

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Temple of Poseidon

One morning the hotel brought us to view the Temple of Poseidon, just a five minute ride from the resort. The temple was built in the 5th Century BC and is one of the three main temples in Greece (the … Continue reading

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Together again

On Friday morning we checked out of our hotel at 6am and headed to the Athens airport to drop off the rental car. I always breathe a sigh of relief when we return a rental car on one of these … Continue reading

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Meteora

The next stop (#4) on this adventure is Meteora — a UNESCO world heritage site. Meteora is six monasteries perched atop rock formations that reach upwards of 1800 feet. The word Meteora is derived from a Greek word meaning “suspended … Continue reading

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Leaving the Greek islands

Today we left the Greek islands portion of our trip. A few last observations: By 10am we drove through Lefkada Town on our way to the causeway to get off the island, and it was the first time we were … Continue reading

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Egremni

Yesterday BOTD was Egremni and similar to Milos yesterday, this beach is only accessible by foot or boat. After driving 30 minutes from our hotel, we parked at the entrance gate and walked 1 km (0.6 miles) down a winding … Continue reading

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Mylos

Yesterdays BOTD was Mylos. You can reach Mylos a few ways: From the pedestrian area where our hotel located is in Agios Nikitas, there’s a narrow dirt path that takes you up and over the mountain to the Mylos beach. … Continue reading

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Porto Katsiki

Remember when I said some of the most beautiful beaches in Greece are on the Ionian islands? Today’s BOTD was Porto Katsiki and it was absolutely stunning. Sheer cliffs, turquoise water, white pebbles leading to the water and some patches … Continue reading

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Water

Despite being surrounded by water, the country is experiencing a water crisis. Fresh water is delivered to many of the islands and they cannot keep up with tourist demands. The topography on the islands has been interesting. The mountains are … Continue reading

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Lefkada

Our third stop on this trip is the island of Lefkada, which is about the size of Martha’s Vineyard. From where our ferry docked in Vasiliki we drove to the town of Nydri where we hiked (in the shade) up … Continue reading

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The dream of the (Kefalonian) turtles

Staying in the town of Agrostoli has been great — tons of restaurants, a bustling community with a huge town square, lots of shops, fruit markets, groceries, etc. One of the Ionian University campuses is right down the road. The … Continue reading

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Zakynthos

Today we took a boat tour around Zakynthos – an island to the south of Kefalonia. For years we’ve been wanting to visit Zakynthos to see one of Greece’s most photographed beaches: Navagio. Navagio is also known as shipwreck beach … Continue reading

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Geology and Assos

Today began with another road trip in Kefalonia to see more of this beautiful island. The first stop was the Drogarati Cave where descended 60 meters to view stalactites and stalagmites in a pretty vast open cave. It wasn’t quite … Continue reading

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Myrtos beach

Search your social media platform of choice on “top beaches in Greece” and you’ll learn that the top beaches aren’t in Mykonos, Santorini, or the more popular Aegean island chains. Some of the top beaches in the country are on … Continue reading

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Ferry or cruise ship

Boarding the ferry with our Nissan Pulsar was easy thanks to a lovely energetic man who had Paul reversing up a ramp and into a spot. The ferry is like a cruise ship inside: a movie theatre, multiple styles of … Continue reading

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Mainland observations

This part of mainland Greece reminds me of southern Italy. In fact it’s disorienting. The same stucco buildings and boxy storefronts next to abandoned buildings with overgrown greenery. No clouds in the sky, corn stalks, palm trees, olive trees and … Continue reading

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Olympia

This morning we had a breakfast at our hotel of halva, eggs, breads and yogurt with various jams or honey. We hired a tour guide to take us through the museum and archeological site of ancient Olympia, where the first … Continue reading

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Geiá sou Greece!

Yesterday we began a family trip to Greece that was three years in the making: cancelled in 2020 due to the pandemic; cancelled in 2021 due to Miss M’s torn ACL. And since things happen in threes we decided to … Continue reading

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