Greece (Athens, Mykonos & Santorini)

ranoodle31
Dec 2, 2018
4 min read

OK so here is the deal. I went to Greece with a friend back in September....yes you read that right. I am just now getting my act together (along with my motivation) to finally post some of my pictures and tell you a bit about my trip.

We started our trip with a few days in Athens. I would recommend spending 3-5 days in the city. There is plenty to do and they have the hop on and off bus tours. We only had like 2.5 days due to travel time but we sure crammed in a ton while we were there. One of the things that I don't like about traveling to other countries is the pressure you feel when the restaurants try to get you to eat at their place. My feeling is this.....let me read your menu, ask questions if I need to and leave me alone. If I want to come in I will, don't try to persuade me. A lot of the places that we ended up eating at were fantastic and we chose to eat there because we didn't feel pressured to do so.

I would suggest finding a map of the route the hop on and off bus goes to get a lay of the city and see where things are. Then figure out what you want to see and plot them on the map. Then get your tickets and get on and off where you want to. One of the biggest things you will probably want to see is the Acropolis which is amazing. See this FIRST THING IN THE MORNING!!!!! We went with about 45 min left before it closed (as we had been misinformed on the closing time) and we had to boogie all the way to the top, take quick pictures and then get ushered out like cattle. If you do this first thing in the morning you should be able to take your time and really explore all of this area and what it has to offer. Be aware that a lot of it is under construction (at the time I was there and this is being written) to help restore temples and such back to their natural beauty within reason. I was definitely awe struck standing in front of a lot of these places, thinking.....I am standing where so many people have stood before me for hundreds of years. Do you think they ever thought that so many years later people would flock to their sites to admire them? I think that is something we take for granted now for sure. There isn't a building around that I think.....hum I hope my ancestors come back and appreciate the architecture here lol. What these people build with the tools they had is truly remarkable.

The next place we went to visit was Mykonos which was fantastic!!! We stayed in the downtown Mykonos area near Little Italy and the Bondi Windmill. We loved this place most of all. We rented an Air BnB or Home away or something like that and we were right smack dab in the middle of things. What is great about this part of Mykonos is that there are NO cars!!!! The streets are too tiny and there is so much foot traffic that you can't have cars down here. The only vehicles are mini trucks that do deliveries to stores a few times a week, but that is it. We joked that you could stay in this area a whole month and still not eat at every restaurant that they have in this little area. There are TONS of shops, bars, places to eat and just take in your surroundings. If I were going to go back to Greece for a vacation, I would come to Mykonos and do more exploring outside of this little down to check out more beaches and landmarks that they had. We did go to one beach club for a day which was nice to be able to enjoy the water (which was wicked cold) and lay in the sun and have a few drinks.

Our next and last destination was Santorini! We had heard so many wonderful things about this island and we were ready to explore!!! We rented a car so that we could explore more of the island and it was pretty much a waste to do so. We stayed at a rented house with a pool that was talking distance to Oia. This island was kind of a bummer. Yes you read that right, just don't get me wrong. It was a cool island with some breathtaking views as you will be able to see from my pictures in my photo galleries but that is about it. Other than explore some of the city and me taking a long ass hike around the caldera there wasn't much to do. If you wanted to book a sunset cruise do that in advance, if you want to do a vineyard tour, do that in advance. I know all of this but I am just making sure to reiterate it to you so you know. I would love to of had dinner of the fantastic fresh seafood down in Amoudi Bay but we didn't have enough time. If you like to hike and do long walks I suggest taking the walk around the caldera. There is a beautiful church way up on the hill that has been there for hundreds of years. (Ekklisia Profitis Ilias) I actually got to meet the man whose family built the church and hear some stories about his decedents. Mind you, this was all after the big groups of people had gone and I stuck around to get some photos with NO people in it lol. Remember to take your time when you are exploring, you never know what opportunities will come to you. I happened upon this wonderful man to tell me stories, a little of young pups being rescued, countless wild animals and beautiful scenery, all if you just wait. This is something that I can't stress enough!! Take your time when you visit places, respect their areas so that hundreds of generations can appreciate and explore like you did.