Our stay in Greece was pretty busy and short. Well, compared to the four months spent in Asia the two and a half weeks in Greece lasted a blink of an eye. But as the saying goes, it was short and sweet!
We were first greeted by my friend Stella whom I have not seen since we graduated high school together some twenty years ago. Stella picked us up at the airport in Rodos (Rhodes Island in the Dodecanese). It was quite a great feeling to see her again and to have a familiar face waiting for us at the airport. The long journey from Phuket (Thailand) pretty much killed us with delayed flight, so Stella was our hero! She hooked us up with her husband who works for a four stars hotel: we got a really sweet deal thanks to Theofilos.
Stella simply took charge of us the next few days being our personal tour guide, chauffeur and chef. She had all the days planned down to the lunches and picnics at the beach with her beautiful kids Angeliki and Manolis. The Greek hospitality is pretty awesome! We had lunch at her place and had so much fun learning about the local flavour, colour and sound.
Other than spending time with Stella, Rodos was definitely a highlight for its very famous Old Town. The Old Town is the oldest inhabited medieval quarter in the world. Roaming the narrow cobber stone streets was super awesome! The narrowed alleys have shops in the most unexpected corner and the salesmen are so funny and charming. We bought stuff from this one man just because he was so funny and friendly. If you’re walking and you reach a cul-de-sac, a cute patio restaurant would normally await you among the many centuries old walls of the fortress. The food is quite good here; I gained a few pounds in the first few days! The feta cheese is delicious which makes the Greek salad nothing like what we have at home. The Greek like their frappé a lot! It’s a water blended coffee whipped together. The coffee is not very strong so you’ll see them have one at all times of the day.
We went out for drinks in the evening in the Old Town and it was really cool to see it transformed into a scene of vibrant and hip clubs and bars. The ladies here show a lot of skin when they go out, and I don’t mean just going out dancing, I mean simply going out of the house! The contrast is quite strange between Cambodian women going out in public in their pyjamas and the Greek ladies in their stiletto and low cut tops at the market :o)
The sandy beaches are not as common here, most of them are pebble beaches. The Aegean Sea water is CRYSTAL clear! It was amazing how we can see every single particle of anything in the bottom. I’ve never seen such clarity. We had a great time visiting Rodos and Stella, we were disappointed to leave after four short days. We’ll definitely come back one day because Stella is a wonderful hostess :o)
Although we wanted to stay a little longer in Rodos, we were also looking forward to meet up with our friend Cait in Crete. Cait flew from Calgary to come spend two short weeks with us, it was very fun! We met up in Crete and then took off together to explore the main Islands: Crete, Santorini and Naxos. There are 1400 islands in Greece, it would take years to do them all. We also spend a little bit of time in Athens.
I loved Hania in Crete. It was a beautiful and charming harbour town at the north-west end of the Island. We checked into a really neat room in near the harbour with a nice view from the rooftop. We explored the cute shops in the narrow alleys and ate at this great restaurant. It was recommended in the Lonely Planet so we gave it a go, the food was fantalicious! It was funny how all the patrons there at that time came because of the Lonely Planet’s recommendation :o) We also pleasantly learned that after a delicious meal, it is complimentary in Greece to offer your guest a shot of raki (rachi in Crete) along with delicious desert. Raki is a strong alcohol, perhaps like a digestive. Whether we enjoyed it or not, we gulped down the shot and made funny faces and laughed at each other. My personal highlight was to be sitting on a rooftop patio with the girls and watch Spain beat Honduras on an open air giant screen.
Following Hania, we made a quick stop in Paleohora before taking the ferry to hop over to Santorini. This was such a treat! This island is BEAUTIFUL! Fira was touristy within reasons. Walking towards the cliff was unbelievable; the bright rays of light deflected from the white walls of the blue top houses were surreal. The village is literally built in the cliff. Needless to say, we got trigger happy with our digital cameras. We enjoyed a nice (expensive!) drink at a bar with the awesome view of the other islands. People also go there to catch the sunset, which we did and it was also very fun. But not as fun as watching Spain win their game over Chile while chewing on octopus, veal and mussels :o) We had a great time at the restaurant. In Santorini the dinner finale is not a shot of raki but a shot of Vin Santo. This drink is much smoother and tastes better than the raki. It’s their local sweet wine. That incited us to do a self guided little wine tasting tour the next day, it was very fun. We also visited Oia, a village not too far away. Oia is similar to Fira on all aspects so we enjoyed our time there as well.
Next stop was Naxos, another coastal town with tons of tourists. It was as charming as the other places we’ve been to. Browsing the narrow lanes of this town was very interesting, it’s a maze. The culinary experience here was also very memorable. We asked a chef what was his recipe for the delicious stuff we were having and he said: special herbs, special meat and secret sauce. Priceless! Everything here tasted very lemony, even the desert shot of digestive.
Our last stop was on the mainland, Athens. This place does not have the coastal flair or flavour but it is so rich in history! We visited the majestic Acropolis, Ancient Agora, and the other main attractions. While visiting the Acropolis, I had the same humble feeling I felt when I visited the ruins of Angkor. It was magical. The highlight was without a doubt going to a classical music concert in the Odeon of Herodes Atticus. It didn’t matter if you like classical music or not: sitting on the old stone bleachers while your ears pick up every little sound the instruments made was a fantastic experience. We were so lucky to catch the concert that night. We also celebrated Gen’s 29th birthday in Athens. My Gen had a big Fat Greek Birthday with live music and dancing. The only down side was not connecting with my other high school friend, Nectaria, in Athens. Maybe when we come back...
Our time in Greece was great! We loved the country and the Islands. The feta cheese, the olives and the octopus will forever be disappointing anywhere else in the world :o) I am grateful for seeing Stella again and travelling with Cait. Our time here was short but it gave us the opportunity to discover the islands that we want to come back to on our next visit.
Have a great summer everyone, and happy Stampeding Calgarians!
