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| The night time view from our hotel |
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The Rio-Antirrio bridge, an engineering marvel connecting mainland Greece to the Peloponnese
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| Katie and I at a Hydra Island high point monastery site overlooking Greek isles |
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| We were fortunate enough to enjoy lots of spring flowers in bloom |
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The Parthenon view from our hotel restaurant as the sun rose during breakfast
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We've just finished a three week trip to Greece (March 27-April 16), which included six days in Athens, the birthplace of democracy.
Despite the hordes of tourists, the ancient monuments were a refresher course in history.
For two weeks we traveled with a group that included Australians, Canadians, Filipinos and Chinese. They all expressed their horror at what's happening to democracy in the U.S.
There were daily checks by all of their bank accounts being hammered by President Trump's tariffs.
All of the foreigners said that travel to the U.S. is now out of the question, a combination of the President's actions and fear of widespread the prevalence of gun ownership.
I put that aside to immerse myself in a primer on the development of Greek culture while visiting where the Mycenians, Minoans, and Cretans developed western civilization over 7,000 years ago.
We caught a glimpse of Mount Olympus on a gloomy, drizzly day. We hiked to the Delphi Oracle site and, of course, the Acropolis in Athens.
Greece revealed itself not only as a historic place, but a scenic one as well.
Many of our friends have cruised the Greek isles.
We traveled inland on land, but hugged the scenic coast lines as well. It is a ruggedly mountainous country.
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| The Oracle of Delphi |
Five of our city stops were outstanding: Athens, Thessalonika, Naphlia, and Hericleum and Chania on the Isle of Crete. We also took a boat to the Isle of Hydra, where we climbed to within 300 feet of its highest mountain.
The city of Thessalonika, Greece's second largest, impressed me the most for its location near where Albania, Bulgaria and North Macedonia meet. It is a modern, seacoast city with great museums and scenery.
Athens is full of antiquities everywhere you turn, but it is a city overrun with vehicles that present a constant hazard. Houses are built on top of each other, even atop and into ancient walls. There's no such thing as a yard and boulevard trees are scarce.
We found very affordable lodging at the Acropolis View Hotel, a 10-minute walk from the Acropolis and Parthenon. It served a wonderful breakfast included in the cost of the room, and stunning views of the nearby Acropolis. The staff was friendly and beyond helpful. I highly recommend this hotel.
My wife, Katie, did a daily blog of the trip which I offer here: whereiskatie.weebly.com
I found that my knowledge of the Cyrillic alphabet was somewhat helpful in reading Greek signage as it shares some of the letters of the Greek alphabet.
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| It's all Greek to me |
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| Katie climbing the 1,000 stairs to fortress atop Naphlia |
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| The Naphlia fortress/prison |
Greece felt like a country heavily influenced by its proximity to Turkey. The Islamic, Roman and Byzantine architecture revealed its dominance by those cultures.
I was fascinated with the numerous Greek Orthodox monasteries, some built off the grid on high mountain or precipitous locations. We reached one on a trek on the island of Hydra.
The orthodox churches were resplendent with colorful icons that reminded me that Greece is not entirely a western country, although it belongs to the European Union.
The country is rightly proud of its olive production, only second to Spain, and the trees were everywhere. We toured an olive oil factory as well as a winery and a honey farm.
One of our most interesting stops was to a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Vergina where Macedonian King Philip, the father of Alexander the Great, is buried in a museum built under an earthen mound.
I was unaware that Athens was not the original selection for the capital of modern Greece. We spent two nights in Naphlia, a coastal city with an island fortress and a massive prison towering over this ancient city. We hiked up to this castle, covering more than 1,000 marble steps for lofty views.
We flew from Athens to the large island of Crete, the southern-most part of Europe, where we spent four nights, two each in Heraklion and Chania. Chania was the most beautiful city on our trip. When I was told the mountains there were in the 8,000 feet range, I didn't think much of it. That is an average elevation mountain on the Rocky Mountain Front. But when I finally saw these snow-draped peaks, called the White Mountains towering over the sea, I realized that they were 8,000 feet above that nearby sea. Our Front mountains rise a mere 2,000-4,000 feet above the Great Plains.
Greece is a cat-tolerant nation. I've never seen so many feral cats wandering around on the islands as well as the mainland.
Each European trip deepens my distaste for the tourist model that has been developed: getting the tourists into areas to buy stuff and eat expensive meals. It's particularly bad for cruises, where tourists coming off immense ships hit land and immediately are swamped by a wall of trinket sellers.
Give me the small towns and their markets for an authentic experience.
Food? A bit of a disappointment. A Greek salad is a thing with tomatoes we'll never see in the U.S. However, so much of the diet is meat, fish and cheese, that I hungered for a vegetable stir fry or tofu. We found good pizza and in Athens a top notch Indian eatery. The street food was passable, with the falafel gyros the best. Baklava ---- top notch.
We saw and experienced so much on this trip that it will take some time before I've digested it all.
Greece is a great destination.
We found antiquities everywhere, raising the questions for me as to where did they find so many artisans, and who and how were the massive temples constructed.
Some impressive sculptures from a museum in Athens:
