Reflections on Greece
As the first stop on our trip, Greece was destined to be as much a learning opportunity as it was a fun and adventure-filled destination. We realized very quickly the challenges of living out of two carry-on sized backpacks, which include the sometimes frustrating games of Tetris we have to play every few days and the feeling that nothing is ever quite clean. (Seriously, though, I will never take Austin’s clean air for granted…every piece of clothing smells like cigarette smoke right now. Yuck.) We adjusted to having very few moments of alone time, which can be tough when our introverted tendencies take over. We also learned that our travel paces can be quite different at times, but that actually works to our benefit in creating a balanced travel experience (as long as we’re communicating well, of course).
One of the most surprising personal moments for me in this first week was how quickly I got homesick. We’re talking day 3, I wanted to jump on a plane and drown my emotions in a bowl of queso. It was our second night in Athens. We were in the hotel room transferring photos to the laptop to start our first blog posts. Everything was exciting and lighthearted as we reminisced about all of the neat things we’d seen. Then Gabriel turned on some country music, and I lost it. haha It’s obviously not that I don’t want to be here! I just want to be able to travel and have all my favorite people and my own bed with me at the same time!
In addition to all of these personal realizations, we learned A LOT about Greece. We’ve told you about some of our isolated adventures, so now here are some thoughts about the overall experiences in both Athens and Santorini:
1. Greece has some of the best food we’ve ever eaten.
Seafood. Lamb. Mousaka. Tatsiki. Kataifi. Baklava. You could say we were in food heaven everywhere we went! Everything was also much less expensive than we had planned for, especially around Megalochori. Even in Oia, which is the most touristy/expensive area on the island, we came well under our budget. The prices for the nicer restaurants in Fira and Oia were less than a nice restaurant in Austin. The best part was that no matter where we ate – in a bakery on the side of the road or a sit-down restaurant in town – the food was high quality and delicious.
2. Both Athens and Santorini are much less developed than we imagined.
In Athens, we were surprised with how run-down the buildings all around the city were and how we couldn’t flush toilet paper or use the water from the tap. In Santorini, we had the same restrictions with the toilets and water, but we were even more surprised at how poor the roads were. In Megalochori, sidewalks don’t exist, so the walks to/from our AirBNB involved walking along the side of the road with little more than a couple of inches between us and the passing cars. Even closer to the towns, a lot of the roads we walked were mostly uneven patches of asphalt and dirt, which made wearing shoes other than sneakers a challenge. Don’t get me wrong, we LOVED Santorini and Athens. They were both just a little rougher around the edges than we had expected.
3. The bus system on Santorini is extremely frustrating.
If you ever plan a trip to Santorini and only remember one piece of advice, make sure it’s this: get your own mode of transportation! We decided to walk and use the public buses, and it’s the only decision we’ve regretted. We wasted so much time waiting for buses that were running late, watching buses drive past us without stopping, or getting frustrated when they took us to the wrong stop. Plus, not all bus stops are clearly marked, which is even worse when trying to catch them late at night. The night we went to Perissa (the black sand beaches) we walked in circles for at least 30 minutes and had to ask 2 different shop owners where to find the bus stop only to realize that it was around the corner of a building and didn’t have a sign! When we finally did get on the bus, we told the ticket collector twice what stop we needed…and the bus driver still passed it. That meant a 20 minute walk in the dark along the side of the road (remember: no sidewalks). It was not ideal. So, we cannot recommend enough that you rent a car, scooter, or ATV if you visit, especially if you’re staying in the outskirts of the towns.
4. The archaeological sites in Athens are worth all the walking and all the crowds.
And the archaeological site pass is worth the price! If you haven’t checked out this post and this post detailing our visits to the sites, we recommend you do to get the full affect. I’m not sure what else to say except that you will walk a lot, you will be sweaty and hot at the end of every day, and you will be with a lot of tourists, but you will not regret seeing these pieces of history! It was magical.
5. Santorini is even more beautiful than in photos and movies.
It’s also much more diverse than the clusters of white and blue houses on the cliff that it’s famous for. We were surprised at how open the area around Megalochori was. From our patio, we just saw a winery, a grocery store, an art studio, a couple of churches and houses in the distance, and the ocean. Thinking back on it, we are so glad we got to see all the different sides of the island. The black sand beaches were also much prettier than expected and the perfect place to relax because each restaurant/bar had chairs you could rent with easy access to food and drink. You could just show up with swimsuit and towel and be just fine! Of course, the crowning moments were watching the sunsets in Fira and Oia. There are few things more perfect than sitting on a patio with a glass of wine, across from the love of your life, watching the sun dip into the ocean. <3
Greece, it was a pleasure to get to know you. We hope to be back someday!
Hugs from Italy,
Juliette