Your trip to Greece!

Hey, cybersphere! And uh, Merry Christmas!

So I was a bit stumped what to write on for Greece. Trying to write something was mostly me starting vacantly at the computer willing words to appear. And with our recent lack of wifi (our hotel charges exorbinant amounts for wifi, I'll briefly grumble about that later) it made posting this even more of a challenge. Currency and writers' block, a bad mix.

Literal Writer's Block.

But a comment awhile back got my blogging brain thinking:

Greek Muses: 0. Meg Buckley: 1.

What if I dedicated a post to suggesting a trip based on what we did?

This post is also brought to you in part by MK,FW: travel agent extraordinaire. 

So before I get started, let me put out a small disclaimer.

Internationally Natalie! is not a Greece subject matter expert, professional travel agent, or accommodation guru.   Her opinions are her own.

So if you leave this post looking like this, well, I warned you.

Above disclaimer is in reference to some (mostly) constructive criticism in that I don't write in-depth on the destinations I visit. Which is entirely true. I don't spend enough time in one location. So if you understand this, then perhaps my bare-bones approach will be somewhat less heinous.  I will not try to pass off as a destination expert. Since I'm not.

And to the commenter who remarked that I sound like I write ads for EasyJet...THIS. IS. SPARTA.

So here we go!

YOUR TRIP TO GREECE: IN 1 WEEK 

When to go?

Whenever you can is the real answer, but I will be more specific. Early to Mid December is a good time (yes I'm biased) because it's off season, the weather is high 40s-60s, and it's getting into the holiday season, so you can get an idea of Feliz Navidad somewhere else.

But you can rule out swimming in the ocean...unless you're a polar bear.

But say you! Holidays need to be at home, or I don't have time then, or I've got my heart set on swimming in the Aegean. The next dates recommended would be as follows: March through May, or Late September to October. This came from Greeks we spoke to on our trip. Take it from a local. Summer is horrendous on Santorini, for example.

I have a funny feeling the scenic Santorini postcards are being taken in the dead of winter too.

Anywhere up to 13 cruise ships can be docked in port, (each carrying thousands of passengers) on top of overbooked hotels, steep summer prices, and did I mention unbearably hot?

this scenic sunset suddenly became ominous. 

If summer is the only way, it's better than no way, so don't shy away based on that. But I would stress making it the last resort. Especially if your heart is set on Santorini. I doubt I would have liked it as much as I had if I was experiencing it with 10,000 of my closest tourist friends.

What to see? (With a week's worth of time?)

Days 1-2:

Athens, to start.

No matter what you do, you're going to fly into Athens from wherever in the world.

So don't skip visiting it.

Recommended amount of time for Athens? Two days. The first day will be spent getting there. If you're flying from the other side of the world, I wouldn't even attempt trying to do much else. Because really, what are you going to remember half-stunned from lack of sleep.

I feel like I'm supposed to be seeing something....uhhhhhh....

And a packaged tour the next day that takes you to the sights is always good (especially when you're tired: not having to think too much is an advantage). I'm sure there's a free-walking tour in the summer months, but in winter, I'm not sure if they're running. 

Either way, everything is relatively spread out, so it's best to have an organized mode of transportation., whether via tour bus, or public transportation. Make sure to check out the new Acropolis museum, the Acropolis, and Agora, to be sure. Everything else will fall into  place. 

Day: 3 (4)

Well, we did Delphi and Meteora, as per our pre-arranged tour package. It was created into a two day tour: One day Delphi, and then the other, Meteora. The agency that did this (and our Athens tour) was called GO Tours, Greek-Operated. The nice part was when the tour bus' wifi worked (bus wifi, what a great concept) though it was somewhat disappointing when it didn't work on the long bus ride to Meteora.

Delphi I would recommend since, you know, Oracle of Delphi, lots of ruins, and it's an easy day trip from Athens. There's also a museum nearby that the one-day tour did. We unfortunately did not see it due to the fact we had to make it to Meteora.

 Meteora (as we were to learn) is famous for its monasteries built high into ancient stone.  Greek monks carved these impressive fortresses to keep their faith fiercely protected from outsiders, crusaders, bad guys, etc, and they managed to stay put and intact all these years. 

However, it is very, very far north in mainland Greece.The entire 2 day tour felt like it was 85% spent in a bus driving to the monasteries and  then getting back to Athens. I did not feel it was worth it for the sheer amount of time spent in a bus.

If I had wings, on the other hand....

My suggestion would be do Meteora if you're exploring Greece longer than a week. Otherwise, skip it.  There's Greek Orthodox churches in every Greek town. You can easily see a fine example of the beautiful art and architecture locally without hours and hours of driving.

A replacement for Meteora....

Why not a day trip to SPARTA??

Google claims its 95 miles away.  I have not done research on the ability or logistics of doing this,but I would imagine it might be a little more satisfying (and a lot closer to Athens.) And imagine the amount of THIS IS SPARTA quotes you could abuse. Oh the possibilities.

Or, I would suggest adding more time in the islands, which naturally, lead to:

Days: (4) 5-6-7

GREEK ISLANDS!

Well, we were only in Greece for a week, so cruising around the Greek Islands was limited to a ferry ride from Athens to Santorini to spend 2 days there.

Awww yeah.

Yes, believe the hype, the islands are stunning.  Santorini was the highlight of our trip.

How to get there? There are flight and ferries from Athens, and Crete.  My suggestion would be to fly into either one of the islands from Athens (Santorini, Crete), spend 2 days in (1) location, sail to another island, spend two days there, then fly back to Athens. There are also overnight ferries, so perhaps a hotel night can be saved sleeping on the ferry. Ka-ching.

Or on the beach. Your choice.

Accommodations:

Athens? My recommendation would be to look for a hotel that's central/downtown, and uh, DOESN'T CHARGE FOR WIFI.

Our pet-peeve: unleashed.

Our Hotel was very nice otherwise, location was splendid (with a killer breakfast selection,) but me and Mom just have issues with wifi that costs dinero. (which is ironic, because here we are in Israel, once again spending money on wifi... the issue is there are many cafes/hotels with free wifi, so charging for wifi seems archaic.) We stayed at Titania Hotel if you'd like to look at it personally.

Meteora I'm not going to bother with (since I don't recommend factoring it in with so little time), so I'll dedicate to the Santorini hotel we stayed in:

Dana Villas. Love love love.

Can't say anything bad about this hotel. It's a little walk from downtown area, but you are coming to Santorini to get away,so that should not be a huge issue. Prepare for lots, and I mean lots of stairs. Rates jump in the summer, and weddings are held there regularly, so it's not to too far-fetched to imagine there's a nice view every day from your own balcony. And oh, the wifi is free.

FREE I SAY FREE.

In conclusion:

Did we plan/manage this out on our own? Nope. If you're going to come to Greece, I think you're honestly best off doing a pre-organized tour, versus trying to figuring out the logistics of it all if you're wanting to maximize your time. Greece is pretty spread out, so it'll help, tremendously, in getting where you want to go.

Especially on limited time.

The tour agency we used: Fantasy Travel of Greece. They were pretty good, and I'm willing to bet if you communicated some changes (ie, swapping out Meteora with something else) they'd be ready to help out. They're also Greeks, so you know, you're supporting Local. And they have tours for every budget, (since being a pseudo-backpacker, I'm all about that) so you can go from 3 to 5 star accommodation and all that jazz.

We're all about local.

Up next is a combination of Jordan and Israel,  which should be fun. Holy Land ahead. And once again, Merry Christmas!!

All around Italy.

So hey Blog, it's been awhile!

               I'd like to say I took break from blogging and did a soul search, but that would be false. 

Over the last two weeks, I've seen more of Italy than I have any other country since starting this world tour.

Well cripes.

The reason for this? A combination of travel practically and of course, location. Italy has been high on my visit radar since, well, I started traveling. Think of all those must-sees associated with Italy:

 

        I'm taking a wild guess that I don't have to name any of these.

So for place like this, time was favorable. And I think we had just the right amount. But as many travel-goers can attest, the best experiences came not necessarily from the 'must-dos', but rather, some of the other bits. I made them in a nice little list. Let's call it a top 10,. SHALL WE BEGIN?

Internationally Natalie's Italy: Top 10 Experiences.

1.) Home-cooked Meal.

This fish was delish.

In Venice, Italy, Mom and I had the pleasure of staying with a friends Kaisa and Massimo.They were excellent hosts, and needless to say, the best meal in Italy I had was the one that was prepared and served at home.Thank you Chef Massimo!

2.) True love conquers none all.

 10 points in the grim department.

So Verona, Italy is the setting place of Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet, if you remember. ( I did not.) This is a great place to go aside from the story - with absolutely fantastic shops and sights- but we maximized efforts here in the fiction department. Where else can you see Juliet's tomb and terrorize Romance-seeking pilgrims from her infamous balcony?

THE PRINCESS IS IN ANOTHER CASTLE.

3.) The Quest for Turkey.

Florence is famous for its art. I don't think it's famous for its turkey, but  it was Thanksgiving when were there, so turkey had to be found. Luckily our family friends the Springfields were in Florence the same day we were (crazy coincidence) and were savvy in finding this plucky bird. It came in the form of a rather large sandwich. But holiday tradition was accomplished. Happy Turkey-day, everybody!

4.)The un(?)intentionally odd art

Ok, ok, maybe this falls under the must do-s of Italy Travel, with y'know, the Renaissance art. But look at this picture.

Look at their faces. I MEAN WHAT IS GOING ON.

Now in this case in Naples, (which is the city of pizza and Nativity decorations), I'm fairly sure this was 100% intentional. And cute. In an odd way.

I just don't remember a pizza-baker in the Nativity.

5.) RELICS!

St. Valentine's Skull. My anti-romance jokes continue!

I have a fascination with the tradition of relics.  Italy's a great bet to find them. The Capuchin Church in Rome (which didn't allow photos, so Google is again your friend) had a monastic order who decorated their church with bones and body parts from their deceased brothers to make an strange ossuary. In Naples, a cave full of abandoned bones were turned into a sort of a ritual-going place for residents, who decided to adopt skulls and pray over their souls.

They even prayed asking for lottery numbers. This is a great idea.

6.) Scoring tickets to see the Papal Audience.

This was neat. I'm not religious, but the idea of seeing Pope Francis in flesh-and-blood was too good to pass up. Actually getting the tickets was a fun experience alone, as it was a quest in itself. Basically, from our hands-on research, you can get tickets if you approach the Swiss Guards around St. Peter's Basilica the day prior to the audience on Wednesdays (granted, don't try this in the high season/holiday, as you'll likely be disappointed) and then ask them. Nobody tells you this stuff. For Mom and me, it was trial and...success!

7.) Time-Travel.

 According to a depressing theory, someone would have come back to the past by now if time travel will ever be invented, so I have glum predictions for the future. But Roman Ruins are the next best thing. Just ignore the guys dressed up as Roman Soldiers wandering around asking to take a photo for money and the moment will not be.... ruined. Bada-tss.

Ruins, ruins everywhere. Ruins in the road. Ruins in the park. 

Ruins in the subway. Ruins in the room. Oh no, those are my shoes!!!

8.) Taking Instagram-worthy pictures.

I talked about last post how I recently developed an Instagram addiction. (Thanks Brian.) This was not helped by the particularly scenic pictures I got in Tuscany and Naples. And the color saturation tool definitely is abused makes for awesome shots.

Technicolor dreamland~...

9. COFFEE WITH FACES!!!

Oh, and Italian cuisine.

I'm on a carb-free, cheese-free, sugar-free break at the moment. But it was tasty.

10.) Feeling smart about art.

Lastly, art smarts. Italy was like a continuous game of Clue. You'd see something, and go, AH-HA! That's famous. Where is the Know Your Italian Art Jeopardy when I need it.  This is in contradiction to my usual experience in art museums which is spent wandering around vaguely nodding at pictures, but I digress, I felt like an art wizard.

Is art wizard even a thing?

Nothing says I know Italian Renaissance painters like being able to recite 

their names by their Teenage Mutant Ninja-Turtles association.

 10 points to Mom's Art History Class.

Great experiences are to be had in Italy. There's really something for everyone: Art, history, religion, drama, science, shopping, overusing Gladiator quotes, people watching, seashore escapes, and tasty food. And more Italian leather products than anyone would ever want or need.

Next on our continue dive into the Ancient World, Greece! Fire up the machine, we're going further back in TIMEEEEEE