Greece 01 Sept - 05 Oct

"The rosé goes down easy in this country" L. Padilla, nightly in September

Well this place doesn't suck...

September flew by way too quickly. WAY too quickly.

I never had Greece on my ‘Must do’ list. Stupidly, I think it was because I have never liked feta cheese. Or Moussaka. You’d think with such a cool sounding name that it has to taste good, but I really don’t like eggplant so it definitely shouldn’t be used in anything anyway. But for years now Greece has been number one for Lyd. So I wasn’t really that thrilled that she wanted to spend SO much time here. And I was really enjoying Africa and could have traveled around there a few more months.

For the record, I was really wrong about Greece and feta cheese. Greece is amazing and apparently I have only ever gotten bad American feta cheese. Greece just vaulted to the top of my "I could live here" list. But I was right about eggplant - still gross.

More words at the bottom, if you can get through the mountain of photos!

Chania, Crete

Athens

Kea Island with Michael

Meteora

Delphi, Napflio, Mycenae and Corinth

Kimolos, Naxos, Santorini and Paros with Bev and Jackie

We’ve heard horror stories about the crowds in Greece in the middle of the summer, like Rome, Madrid and Paris, they’re all really crowded with tourists, rightfully so - they're all amazing places. So much so that prices are escalated, hotel rooms can be hard to find and all of the major sights are uncomfortably packed. For that reason we waited until after the August rush, once all of the kids went back to school and the Americans went back to work on their 4th quarter projections. It was still crowded but not uncomfortable…and the temps started to drop slightly as September progressed. It was still great beach weather, with no rain and only a few slightly cloudy days. Towards the end of the month it started to cool a bit in the evenings but was still warm during the days. If we could have picked perfect weather, this would have been it.

Our first stop was Crete, which is the largest island in Greece. We intended to rent a car the entire time but found our little town of Chania so charming and fun that we didn't think of exploring the island until the 4th or 5th day. Probably should have given this island two weeks and explored a lot more, but the parts we saw were beautiful. Chania is definitely a charming tourist town, with all of the shops and traps and ice cream parlors, but the people were friendly and the beaches were excellent, so we simply wandered a lot. This was also where we discovered Grecian Rose. I am usually very late to trends, so when our favorite local wine shop in StL, 33 (that's the name of the bar) started pushing Rose one summer I never really got on board. It was the same way with skinny jeans...I never really liked them until I wasn't so skinny anymore and now they just bind up where they shouldn't. There are. just some things that 'mature' men shouldn't wear. But Rose is another story. Maybe it's a setting type thing, also...you know, when in Greece at the hot beach, a cold crisp wine becomes wonderful-er. So to summarize Crete, there are TONS of amazing Rose's. And some other beautiful stuff also.

But we did take a short break from the professional wine tasting and rented a car to explore part of the island. If we went to Crete again, we'd definitely make it to the SW side of the island for a few days - the beaches we saw were stunning and much less populated. And driving through the interior of the island revealed why there is so much wine and olive oil everywhere - the mountainous terrain is almost fully covered by olive trees and grape vineyards.

I have looked forward to Athens for years. Like Rome, it is an ancient city that has embraced its history. You can walk forever and never lose sight of the Acropolis sitting high above the city. On many streets, you'll find a thick glass sidewalk or floor that is meant to show off an ancient ruin or mosaic uncovered during a previous excavation. Looking down from the Acropolis you spot ancient Agoras, Temples and roads in nearly every direction. The modern city has been built around it pretty seamlessly, making it easy to get to all of the major sights. I get a little star-struck when I'm in Rome and Athens and Madrid. It's easy for me to daydream while standing on these ancient grounds and think about what it might have been like to walk in the same spot, but 3000 years earlier. About how they were able to create these huge monuments without modern machinery. About how the world has changed and how it, sadly, has remained much the same. I'm amazed walking through museums and seeing elaborate statues, reciepts for construction projects, proclamations of heroicism and athletic awards, all etched, by hand, on big marble tablets. There was no cut and paste. No Command-C. No laser cutters. It was all by hand and it still stands.

I loved Athens and easily could have spent a few more weeks there. Lots to do and lots to see, but it can also be seen in 5-6 days from a tourist perspective. Or less if time is limited. Fortunately, most of the major tourist sites are fairly close together. The Acropolis and the adjoining museum and the separate Archeological Museum a few km away are definitely must-see's. And wandering through the ancient Agora and the The Temple of Hephaestus, especially at sunset, provided some beautiful views. We also really enjoyed the waterfront to the north of the city - lots of nice beaches and marinas with luxury yachts to gawk over. We made it to Athens a couple of times during the trip and I got to see the Acropolis both during and after some restoration work, as they took down the mountain of scaffolding between our visits. I know that doesn't sound all that exciting but if you've ever gone to see a bucket list item and it is in constant renovation for years (Sagrada Famiglia) or the waves are gone (Nazare) it can take a little of the thrill from the experience. The Acropolis is on a tall hill overlooking the entire city, and the views both of it and from it at sunset are worth every elbowed tourist and idiot Instagrammer you have to maneuver around.

The Greek islands are everything they're billed as. After Athens we met our StL/NYC friend Michael at his and husband Tom's house on the island of Kea, a less touristy island to the SE of Athens. We rented a cool little convertible in Athens and took it on the ferry to the island. Ferries are always interesting and fun - they rush rush rush to get you on as soon as they hit dock and then are away again in a matter of minutes. It felt like we were still parking the cars as they pulled away from the dock. Wedging a car in to a tight ship hold in the waves is fun and a little nervy, as you're hyper sensitive about hitting other cars, walls, motorcycles, etc, all with only inches between you and the next vehicle.

Tom and Michael's place had us looking into the Greek laws on squatting/hijacking...if I were to build a house on a beautiful Greek island, I think this would be my blueprint. The pics of us around the pool overlooking the sea only slightly masked the severe scheming we were doing to find a way to overstay our welcome by a few months...

Tom was back in StL working so Michael showed us the island, introduced us to his friends and gave us a tour of the new properties they were preparing to renovate. Kea is a fairly small island, you can drive around it in a couple of hours so the views from the hilltop plots are stunning.

After leaving Kea on the return ferry we drove north on the mainland to Meteora, which is famous for a group of ancient monasteries perched high atop crazy looking rock towers. The towers look similar to Gaudi's structures on some of his Barcelona buildings, but 100 times taller. It was well worth the 4 hour drive, especially on a nice sunny day in the convertible. Like the Acropolis, I'm in awe of the ancient building choices - how hard it was to get materials up the sheer rock face.

Leaving Meteora, we drove to Delphi, famous for the Oracle and the Temple of Apollo. The hillside temples have been largely demolished through time but the oval track and seating appears still in decent shape...

Will finish the writing project later...wanted to finally get the pics out there...