Get her to the Greek

Corfu

For the first of our four stops in Greece, we went to the island of Corfu. This was by far my favorite stop of the entire trip.

We started off the day traveling across the island which was heavy with greenery & was a stunning contrast to how blue the water was. I wish that this was one of our beach stops because it really was crystal clear water. Like Cody Ko said, blue a** water. Once we made it across the island, we stopped off the side of the rode to enter into a monastery. It was situated off the side of a hill on a main rode. The interior was breathtaking & the complex itself radiated a peaceful energy. My Dad said I could live there if I wanted to. Meaning I should become a nun & live out my days in the Corfu countryside. Honestly, it was a tempting thought.

Our guide then took us farther into the island where the greenery shifted just a bit and we saw a bit more muted colors with flatter land. We got off at the vineyard of the Theotaky Estate.

Here we were given a small tour of their facilities & their cellar. They were were gracious enough to seat our rather large group for a wine tasting of 2 of their whites they make themselves & provided us with aperitifs along with some of their award winning olive oil. Everything about this was a dream. It really was straight out of a movie where the main character stumbles upon the most picturesque small winery & overtime is charmed by the locals and chooses to never leave. I was secretly hoping that they would offer me a job. Doing what? I’m not sure but the specifics are not important. I ended up buying some of their olive oil & I will be rationing it out for the foreseeable future. I will probably become an Italian stereotype - only using certain things in the house on special occasions.

Our last stop in Corfu was the Old town. It was a collection of quaint, historic buildings. It was clean & not super crowded for a summer afternoon. You could probably spend hours walking through the town & looking at all of the stores. I know for a fact I will be back. Mark my words.

Crete

Now, this is where my inner nerd was just so excited to be on this trip. We went to Crete. For those unfamiliar with Greek mythology, this is the birthplace of Zeus, home of the Labyrinth, the Minotaur, & Daedalus and Icarus. Being on the island was enough for me. It was like this weird feeling I had where, I knew that everywhere we went the island itself was extremely important to the storytelling of an entire civilization. To me, that is just the coolest thing imaginable.

Crete was a beach day so we didn’t do much exploring. Our guides took us to the most stunning beach. The water was crystal clear, the beach not over crowded, and the restaurants next to us had delicious options as well. It was all around a beautiful, relaxed day.

Mykonos

Our last stop amongst the Greek islands. We began our traveling to the beach at a different part of the island. I was surprised by the landscape of Mykonos being so arid and desert like compared to that of Corfu & even Crete. Our guide probably more serious than joking said, “our main export is rocks.” Truly, that’s all I saw. It was rocks & very little vegetation.

The beach was quite stunning though. Again, the most clear water you will ever experience in your life. You were able to see some of the classic Mykonos white houses scattered in the hills around the water. The one down side was how expensive & crowded this beach was compared to Crete.

Once we were done at the beach, we were taken to a restaurant where they served us a light lunch. The dish that surprised me that I liked so much was the yoghurt with watermelon and honey drizzle. It was the perfect refreshing snack for a summer afternoon. We then wandered around the collection of shops near where we ate & went into a nearby church. My personal favorite thing was that they allowed the cats that were on the property stay inside the church too.

We never made it into town because they were going to make us carry all of our beach stuff around with us the rest of the afternoon & it was rather hot at this point in the day. So we called it. That was the end of our time in the Greek islands….. for now.

Athens

Going into our last stop of this trip, I should warn you, again, I was beyond excited. I’m a huge Greek mythology fan. Don’t get it twisted, I love love love the Roman empire more than the Greek one but the Greeks really nailed it when it comes to mythology.

(I believe I have had this exact argument over which empire is better with one of my friends & I will say I am still right - it’s Rome but I’m confident he doesn’t read these blogs so it doesn’t matter)

Athens was one of those places that was sneaky with it’s heat & that was my downfall. Our first day in the city, we went on bus tour that took us to see all of the highlights throughout the city. We saw the Temple of Zeus (Caiden you’re not naming your son Zeus), the Olympic stadium, & Hadrian’s Arch, etc. We were sitting on the top part of the bus and there had been a breeze throughout the day & I couldn’t really tell how hot I was until as we got off. It looked like I jumped into a pool. I tried to spend the rest of the night hydrating as much as I could. Apparently, it wasn’t enough.

Our last day of the trip! Quite possibly the day I waited the entire trip for. We were going to the Acropolis. Again, massive greek mythology nerd. It was an easier walk than I think we all thought getting up there & our guide had so much information I should’ve brought a notebook or something. Sadly, right as we were entering into the main area of the Acropolis with the Parthenon, it felt like someone placed a weighted blanket on me & I knew I needed to lay down. Like on the spot. So, I did. I didn’t pass out but I was probably close to it. Shout out my aunt for her gummy snacks & the random woman who lifted my legs in the air trying to help. Also, Juzzy and my mom for helping me back down.

All of this to say, my insistence I could finish the tour was vetoed & I never got actually see the Parthenon.

Afterward, we went to a restaurant that Caiden said had the best kebob & everyone agree had amazing food. That was our last truly Greek meal of the trip. I say this because, Juzzy & I ordered McDonalds for dinner this night. (and the night before)

With that, my Euro summer travels come to an end. Thank for you tuning in & following along. You’re all gems for sticking with me through this.

Please let me know what your favorite stop to read about was & give me ideas where I should go next!

Talk soon.