Kalimera Greece!
Alas, we come to the end of our European travels, unless we can somehow swing London in July for the Madonna concert in Hyde Park and/or the Olympics. This last week we took a trip to Greece - visiting Mykonos, Santorini and Athens. On the first day we slept at a hotel in the Athens port because we got in pretty late (there's only one Easy Jet trip a week to Athens from Geneva) and had to take an early boat to Mykonos. For dinner we started tasting the local food. Well I tasted the beer and Jose had his first of MANY, MANY gyros.
Next day we took an early boat to Mykonos and checked in to this beauty of a hotel (Argo Hotel Mykonos).
If it was up to me I could've not moved from there for the rest of the vacation! But Platis Gialos (Gialos Beach) was only a few steps away so we had to venture out and enjoy the food, surf and sand.
At night we would go to the center of Mykonos to enjoy some delicious cuisine (more gyros for Jose of course), desserts and drinks. After a couple of nights in the Mykonos hotel we took another early boat to Santorini and headed over to this other beauty of a hotel, Antaliz Hotel and Suites. BTW, if you want to know my husband is the travel planner of the family and he SWEARS by Booking.com.
Of course lots of Santorini sits on a cliff (which provides the most spectacular views and sunsets around) so beaches are not really the norm like they are in Mykonos. But the kids where more than happy with the hotel pool, especially because our room was right to the left of where Gabi is standing (or her right) so you could just walk out the door and go straight to the pool. The water was freezing (I am very sensitive!) but Gabi didn't care. Again at night we would walk around finding the local cuisine and stuff ourselves with food, drink and desserts (I could get used to this, but now that means I'm officially on a diet again).
Jose says he preferred Mykonos of the two islands because there was more of a lively scene (and it's not like we partied or anything). And of course Mykonos has the advantage of the beaches all around which you don't get in Santorini...But I don't know Santorini kinda stole my heart -- those views and the way the town sits on a cliff are just really unique and make for a very interesting experience (even if the water's too cold in the pool!). And there are so many more islands to see, if only we could spend a whole month there hopping from one island to the next (although I don't think my skin could take it, or the good old wallet ha ha).
After a couple of nights in Santorini we took a flight in Aegean Airlines to Athens, where we checked in to the Hotel Plaka, which had the most spectacular view of the Acropolis.
The next two days we spent with our wonderful tour guide, Jordan. He took us around all the key sites in Athens on the first day and provided lots of historical perspective and local flavor. On the second day we drove south of the city and saw some more wonderful sights, stopping along the way to visit fish markets. Jordan was like a grandfather, lots of stories to tell, sometimes he could get a little grumpy, but overall totally lovable. He was quite taken with Sebas and kept calling him Sebastianos which is how you say Sebastian in Greek. He was not afraid to shush him when Sebas was being loud which was too funny. By the end of our two days together Sebas would run back and forth to him all the time and hug him, so cute! At any point I fully expect Sebas to say "let's go visit the grandpa in Greece". :)
Jordan painted an all too clear picture of how bad things are in Greece right now and people like him make me really sad for the state of things, I really hope the country can bounce back. He is such a hard working man and people like him all over are feeling the intense pressure of the economic crisis. We saw kids on the street while having lunch one day trying to sell all kinds of stuff and it really broke my heart, kids Gabi's age trying to make any money they could. And meanwhile we were living the high life staying in the most beautiful places I've seen and eating the most wonderful food.
Our last day before going to the airport we went to visit my friend from MIT, Vicky. I've only been able to see Vicky a few times after we graduated so I definitely wanted to take advantage of the fact that we overlapped in Athens for a few short hours. Her Mom made an incredible feast for us! All kinds of Greek delights that we hadn't tried before (all home made) as well as three different types of desserts (back to the diet!). It totally reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, they stuffed us full of food, showered our kids with treats, and sent us to the airport with take away food for the kids in case they got hungry on the airplane even though there was no chance of that happening after all the food we had just consumed!
The whole trip introduced me more than anything to a wonderful set of people, while the sights were incredible and the food delightful it is the great people of Greece that will really stay with me. I think somehow Puerto Ricans and Greek must be related because I felt like I was right at home. I really hope the country bounces back and I hope we can visit again one day to keep exploring and meet more wonderful Greek people. Kalimera Greece!
Next day we took an early boat to Mykonos and checked in to this beauty of a hotel (Argo Hotel Mykonos).
If it was up to me I could've not moved from there for the rest of the vacation! But Platis Gialos (Gialos Beach) was only a few steps away so we had to venture out and enjoy the food, surf and sand.
At night we would go to the center of Mykonos to enjoy some delicious cuisine (more gyros for Jose of course), desserts and drinks. After a couple of nights in the Mykonos hotel we took another early boat to Santorini and headed over to this other beauty of a hotel, Antaliz Hotel and Suites. BTW, if you want to know my husband is the travel planner of the family and he SWEARS by Booking.com.
Of course lots of Santorini sits on a cliff (which provides the most spectacular views and sunsets around) so beaches are not really the norm like they are in Mykonos. But the kids where more than happy with the hotel pool, especially because our room was right to the left of where Gabi is standing (or her right) so you could just walk out the door and go straight to the pool. The water was freezing (I am very sensitive!) but Gabi didn't care. Again at night we would walk around finding the local cuisine and stuff ourselves with food, drink and desserts (I could get used to this, but now that means I'm officially on a diet again).
Jose says he preferred Mykonos of the two islands because there was more of a lively scene (and it's not like we partied or anything). And of course Mykonos has the advantage of the beaches all around which you don't get in Santorini...But I don't know Santorini kinda stole my heart -- those views and the way the town sits on a cliff are just really unique and make for a very interesting experience (even if the water's too cold in the pool!). And there are so many more islands to see, if only we could spend a whole month there hopping from one island to the next (although I don't think my skin could take it, or the good old wallet ha ha).
After a couple of nights in Santorini we took a flight in Aegean Airlines to Athens, where we checked in to the Hotel Plaka, which had the most spectacular view of the Acropolis.
The next two days we spent with our wonderful tour guide, Jordan. He took us around all the key sites in Athens on the first day and provided lots of historical perspective and local flavor. On the second day we drove south of the city and saw some more wonderful sights, stopping along the way to visit fish markets. Jordan was like a grandfather, lots of stories to tell, sometimes he could get a little grumpy, but overall totally lovable. He was quite taken with Sebas and kept calling him Sebastianos which is how you say Sebastian in Greek. He was not afraid to shush him when Sebas was being loud which was too funny. By the end of our two days together Sebas would run back and forth to him all the time and hug him, so cute! At any point I fully expect Sebas to say "let's go visit the grandpa in Greece". :)
Jordan painted an all too clear picture of how bad things are in Greece right now and people like him make me really sad for the state of things, I really hope the country can bounce back. He is such a hard working man and people like him all over are feeling the intense pressure of the economic crisis. We saw kids on the street while having lunch one day trying to sell all kinds of stuff and it really broke my heart, kids Gabi's age trying to make any money they could. And meanwhile we were living the high life staying in the most beautiful places I've seen and eating the most wonderful food.
Our last day before going to the airport we went to visit my friend from MIT, Vicky. I've only been able to see Vicky a few times after we graduated so I definitely wanted to take advantage of the fact that we overlapped in Athens for a few short hours. Her Mom made an incredible feast for us! All kinds of Greek delights that we hadn't tried before (all home made) as well as three different types of desserts (back to the diet!). It totally reminded me of My Big Fat Greek Wedding, they stuffed us full of food, showered our kids with treats, and sent us to the airport with take away food for the kids in case they got hungry on the airplane even though there was no chance of that happening after all the food we had just consumed!
The whole trip introduced me more than anything to a wonderful set of people, while the sights were incredible and the food delightful it is the great people of Greece that will really stay with me. I think somehow Puerto Ricans and Greek must be related because I felt like I was right at home. I really hope the country bounces back and I hope we can visit again one day to keep exploring and meet more wonderful Greek people. Kalimera Greece!
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