independently, and long before we met each other, the hubs and i put a trip to greece on our bucket lists. last week, as part of our efforts to "enjoy life before babies", we crossed that item off our lists. now, any vacation is in my book a GOOD vacation, but this... was really a GOOD vacation.
we spent the first few days in athens, trekking over the entire city on foot and using the metro. our hotel was in plaka, a fairly touristy neighborhood with souvenir shops and restaurants crowding the narrow streets... and, oh by the way, THE ACROPOLIS smack dab in the middle. we were struck by the juxtaposition of classical, ancient architecture and ruins amidst modern fixtures. every so often we'd turn a corner and find a little square with an impossibly old looking stone arch... i suppose that's how athenians know who's a tourist- the one taking pictures of that old heap of rocks. we also ran into a little class of maybe 2nd graders, having a field trip and learning about history while sitting in the shade of the parthenon. how cool is that??! we of course hiked the Acropolis, visited museums (New Acropolis Museum and the National Archeological Museum were must-sees), the National Gardens, sipped coffee in Syntagma square, watched the changing of the guards in front of Parliament, shopped along Ermou Street, and ate ridiculously well. Gelato nearly every day (it really does taste better in Europe! must be the cows), refined and rustic preparations of moussaka + souvlaki, gallons of olive oil with freshly baked bread, baklava and marzipan goodies... *sigh* i like to think that the hours of trekking made up for the way we ate, though the pounds that we both gained over the week would beg to differ.
then we flew to santorini. when we explore an island, we EXPLORE. we probably drove through all the major roads of the island in our little smart car convertible. we walked basically ALL of the streets of oia and thira (the major cities on santorini), most of them multiple times. we saw ancient thira, the ruins of akrotiri, ancient monasteries (one right next to an apparently radioactive military base), museums with artifacts from 17th century BC, and all sorts of beaches (red, white, black). but, lest one think that this family doesn't know how to relax, we also spent an entire afternoon lounging by the pool. we watched the sunset every single night, usually whilst lingering over a delicious dinner. and oh, the food. santorini is known for their cherry tomatoes, fava beans, white aubergine (eggplant), and we ate copious amounts of all of the above.
at the very end of our trip, we saw a brief glimpse of the rumblings that have been going through the country in the form of a very laid-back "demo" in front of a sleepy government building in thira. otherwise, we would hardly have known that the country was on the brink of insolvency, though the long periods of inaccessibility to shops/restaurants in the afternoon (from about 2pm-5 or sometimes 7pm) hinted at the "work ethic" which may have led to austerity measures. the country is primarily dependent on tourism for the economy, so i suspect we were mostly spared from whatever ugliness may be the reality for greek people... but selfishly, i was grateful. i got my greek adventure, and am having trouble adjusting to the fact that i'm not there anymore. *sigh* perhaps someday, when the as-of-yet theoretical "kids" are learning about greek mythology, we'll be able to go back... God willing.
