No, REALLY! I absolutely, positively fell in LOVE with this country!
I just got back 2 days ago, and what better way to commemorate the trip than by blogging about my experiences there and giving, to anyone interested, my opinion on the quality of services rendered at the places I stayed, the facilities I used, and, of course, the airlines that took me there and back....
I know, you're probably thinking, "You went to Greece, now? What with all the political hoo-ha and 'stuff' going on?"
I've had reports from people in the States, though not very detailed, that Athens made the news here, and that there were fires in the southern part of the country.
What better way to keep people spending money Stateside than to make them think it's unsafe to go anywhere else? Like Mexico for example? (I have a friend that was there recently enough and said it was the best time ever to go to Mazatlan!)
I witnessed no hoo-haa-ing going on, or fires, and felt safer to explore there on my own than I do in my own backyard.
First of all, the locals are fantastic. Despite their economical hardships, everyone one of them that I was blessed to meet expressed that although times are hard, they love their country, and generally conveyed a sentiment of deep gratitude and acceptance of their individual situations. Admittedly, I did my best to learn to speak a little Greek, enough to be polite and show a little effort, and I personally think that that goes a long ways towards getting a welcoming response from any local, in any country. The response I got from everyone, everywhere I visited, was overwhelmingly kind.
The first few nights I spent with friends at the Westin "Astir Palace" Resort, south of Athens. Not what I would call cost-effective, but if you book on-line even 5 minutes in advance, you recieve a substantial discount. The facilites there are wonderful, and include a swimming pool overlooking the sea, plus a netted in swimming area in the sea itself, dotted with gazebos, tanning chairs, and accompanied by a poolside snackbar/cafe. The rooms were clean, the beds were more than comfortable, the restaurant foods were good, but expensive (I would suggest eating in Athens, or nearby Glyfada, it's more authentic, and cheaper), but more importantly, the staff at the Astir were positively friendly. On a scale of 1-10, they all marked 10. No one imparted the feeling that they hate their job, despite the fact that we recieved notice the day after arriving that room-service staff would be going on strike on Thursday. Apparently the hotel has made some pay-cuts to staff, and not everyone was going to take it laying down. Nevertheless, we experienced no lapse in service, and I personally was quietly cheering for the folks with the cahones to say "enough is enough", though I thought their strike would have made more of an impact if they had performed it during a busier time, like August, instead of towards the end of the season. I'm sure they had their reasons.
The second day there, a friend and I ventured into Athens and checked out the Acropolis museum. Aside from the glass floors that you can look through and view excavation sites, it was a little blaise, very museum-esque. Don't touch ANYTHING! There are guards everywhere! I almost made it through the whole museum keeping my meddling little hands to myself, but somewhere on the second floor I just couldn't help myself from getting the feel of a large life-size horse head statue placed conveniently at touching-level. I didn't even have to be obvious about it, me petting the beast was probably not even noticeable to most folks, but the discerning eyes of security caught me in the act and I was sharply reprimanded! It still brings a smile to my face! Reprimanded or not, I still got to put my hands on a stone piece of artwork in the shape of my life's passion that is older than the country in which I reside by thousands of years!!! Exploring the museum itself took the better part of the entire afternoon, followed by a delicious lunch and Greek coffee (liquid crack!) at the museum's cafe. My traveling companion grew weary and we did not make it to the Acropolis itself that day. In fact, I barely made it to the Acropolis at all, saving it for the very last day before our departure back to the States. More on that later on.
The highlight of our trip was actually a camp-out on the sea in a 4 bedroom Catamaran chartered by a dear friend with a captain's license! To get to Vounaki, south of Paleros, where we charted the boat from, we rented a van, which when arranged was supposed to be a Mercedes Veto, but upon arriving turned out to be an Audi, or some other type of van that was very un-noteworthy and a rather large disappointment to my van-loving friends. Not only was it a disappointment, but it had a mismatched rim and some dents on the front of the passenger side that we jokingly mused may have been caused by an accident with a goat! My buddy tried to back out of the deal when he saw what came to be called "The Goat Herder", but the folks renting it roped him back in by informing him that he could take it or leave it--they had already collected payment through his credit card! Hard to argue with that! So what if it wasn't a Mercedes Veto--it had character, flavor, and bore the brunt of more than a couple of jokes...plus, we definitely didn't look the part of tourist, traversing the countryside in The Goat Herder!
We drove the long way around to Paleros, partly because we wanted to go through Delphi, and partly because we got a little lost in the evening hours after our Delphi adventure. But first, Delphi: WOW. That about sums it up. You can see and feel why this was picked as a place of power. For centuries and then some, everyone who was anyone came to Delphi before making an important decision to seek the guidance and wisdom of the oracle. What an incredible feeling to tread this ground, thinking of the thousands that have come before me, people who made history, and people who didn't. Somehow it made me feel complete. Connected. Part of a larger whole. Like we as humans have more to our tale than can ever be told. The mountains around Delphi are breathtaking, and if you look closely, you can make out figures and faces in the rock formations. You don't even have to take any drugs to see them! Hahaha! I felt as though the eyes of the past were upon me. Maybe we just came at the right time of year, because the crowd of fellow tourists wasn't that large. Or maybe most folks just don't make it out to see Delphi--after all, to see its' entirety, you have to scale the side of a mountain, almost to the top, but every last step is worth it. The road to Delphi is bordered on either side, about five or ten minutes either direction, by quaint villas like only Europe has. Despite the rallying from the passengers of the Goat Herder, we didn't stop in the first villa, but used food and potty breaks as a means to achieve our goal in the second town. The food was tasty and filling, followed by, of course, Greek Crack, I mean, Coffee, and some poking around the neat shops that lined the streets. When I go back, I would like a couple of days there at least, with the opportunity to take pictures of Delphi at sunrise and sunset.
