Ron and Kathy's Mid Life Adventures: Our Greek Odyssey

Ever since I met Kathy, she’s been wanting to take me to Greece. She was there as a college student in 1972. Well, we finally made it 52 years later, and I wonder why we didn’t go sooner.

What did we like the most? Everything, especially the food. With hundreds of beaches and 80% covered by mountains, Greece is the total package: Snow-capped peaks, beautiful beaches, bustling cities, quiet villages, nighttime outdoor dining, ancient ruins, history, friendly people, amazing food, and tourists—lots of them! We found it very easy to get around, and prices were cheaper than in most of Europe and the States. The busses and ferries were always on time.

And these were just the appetizers for a
memorable lunch on the Crete plateau.

Our five weeks flew by. We could have done Kathy’s itinerary in four weeks, but we would have felt rushed and wouldn’t have had as much time to savor the experience and meet more people. And unlike our Camino de Santiago trek, we spent multiple nights in all eight places.

So how did we do it?

Kathy pretty much planned everything via the Internet before we left. We took only carry-on luggage that converted to backpacks, and we almost always took public transportation. We stayed in Airbnbs for all but two nights. In the three large cities--Thessaloniki, Athens, and Heraklion (on Crete)--we arranged semiprivate walking culinary, architectural, and historical tours through Trip Advisor and Airbnb Experiences. The rest of the time we asked our Airbnb hosts, consulted the All Trails app for hiking, and befriended local merchants and waiters for must-do activities.

Here’s how our five weeks broke down:

1. Thessaloniki, in NE Greece

The 2^nd largest city in Greece. We only spent 2 ½ days there, and that was about enough. It was the least favorite of our Greek destinations, but if we had not been to the other places, we would have loved it for its history, world-class archeological museum, and our food/architectural tour. We were blown away by seeing ruins almost everywhere.

One of several monasteries in Meteora

2. Meteora in north-central Greece

Jaw-dropping! This is now one of our all-time favorite places. It was an amazing combination of natural and man-made wonders. In the Middle Ages hundreds of Eastern Orthodox monks and nuns inhabited over 24 monasteries constructed on high stone outcroppings and cliffs. Today, only six are occupied, with about 10 residents in each. And the springtime scenery was gorgeous.

3. Skopelos Island—Where Mama Mia was mostly filmed

It felt weird to be in one place for a whole week, but we adapted. We were privileged to be there for the Greek Orthodox Easter, observing processions and being the only non-Greeks at a special Easter Sunday dinner with lots of wine, music, lamb, and dancing. We also rented mountain bikes, hiked, and got reacquainted with cribbage on our balcony overlooking the harbor.

The Skopelos harbor. Our apartment was
on the far right just past the tree, and above
our favorite restaurant that befriended us.

4. Athens

As a bucket list city, Athens exceeded our expectations. The sights, the people, the history, and the food were all remarkable. Seeing the iconic Acropolis and other historical sites—some over 3,000 years old—and walking in their presence were experiences we will long remember. Unlike Egypt or India, these ruins are such a big part of our Western history, thus making them special to us.

5. Hydra (Pronounced Hee-dra), 42 miles by boat from Athens

Our Hydra apartment upstairs
on the right. Nice deck!

The charming tourist island of Hydra had no vehicles, other than a few custom-built garbage trucks, a fire truck, and an ambulance. Therefore, all we heard were the roosters, doves, church bells, human voices, horse and mule hoofs, hand carts, and pedestrians plying the steep steps and smooth stones of alleys. We channeled our inner mountain goats and hiked about 7-10 miles a day. Also, a movie taking place in the early 50's was being filmed there, which was fun to watch.

6. Sifnos

Too mountainous for an airport and with a harbor too shallow for cruise ships, this rocky gem of an island was a delight. We hiked a lot, got lost a lot, and ate a lot. We hiked to what the Sifnos tourist brochure boasts as the oldest archeological site in Greece, dating back to 4,000 BC. I sampled the Aegean Sea, diving from rocks beneath our Airbnb. I think the Pacific Ocean off the Oregon coast is warmer. We befriended Costa, who ran a Greek food specialty shop. He taught us the fine art of making Greek coffee and schooled us on how to drink ouzo and raki.

Sunset from our modernized Sifnos Airbnb.
We thought it was new, but it was actually
100 years old.

A monastery near our apartment

7. Santorini

Santorini—What can we say? It’s overrun, thoughtlessly over-developed, and ostentatious and/or tacky in parts. But it is also stunningly beautiful and has some amazing things to see and do. Kathy arrived at night by ferry in 1972 and took a mule up the crater to Fira, then wandered the alleys to find a place to stay. Now there are luxury hotels everywhere. We hiked a lot and climbed a mountain to see the ruins of ancient Thera. But the most impressive was the archeological site of Akrotiri. Discovered in 1967, it is like Pompeii, only the people escaped by ships 3600 years ago. The volcanic ash preserved frescos, vases, and three-story walls.

Buildings from 3600 years ago. The frescos
on the walls are now safely in the Santorini
archeological museum

8. Crete

We may have saved the best of our five weeks in Greece for the last. It was warmer, greener, more colorful, and had more vibrant street life than did the four other islands we visited. And oh yes, the food and wine—definitely the best! So much Greek history and mythology originated here.

Traditional windmills on the Lasithi Plateau

Located equidistant from Cairo, Italy, and Istanbul, it was the center of commerce and cultural exchanges as early as 5,000 years ago. We rented a gutless Toyota Yaris for two days and drove the coastline to the colorful old Venice port city of Chania. Unlike Heraklion, it didn’t get bombed during WWII, so we could see just how different Crete originally was from the rest of Greece. However, besides enjoying Heraklion’s nighttime street life and food scene, the highlight of our visit was driving the switchback road to the 3,000-foot plateau of Lasithi. Beautiful, just beautiful!

More Photos

What can I say about five weeks in Greece in the typical length of my blogs? Not enough! Hopefully a few of our better photos, mostly in chronological order following the numbers on the above map, will help. Click here. They're best enjoyed on a device larger than a cell phone. So, pour yourself a Greek/Turkish coffee, some mint tea, or a shot glass of ouzo and enjoy!

And if your are into food as much as we are, here is a link to some of our food photos. Don't watch on an empty stomach! (Note: you'll see a couple of gyros photos. They always add French fries to them.)

And no blog of ours would be complete without a couple of photos of 3-year old Hazel. We sandwiched our Greek trip with a two-week visit in St. Albans, UK beforehand and a week afterwards. And it was fun hanging with Shanti and Alan, and getting to better know Alan's Australian parents who were there on our second visit.