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Greece Travel Blogs

Greece achieved its independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1829. During the second half of the 19th century and the first half of the 20th century, it gradually added neighboring islands and territories, most with Greek-speaking populations. In World War II, Greece was first invaded by Italy (1940) and subsequently occupied by Germany (1941-44); fighting endured in a protracted civil war between royalist supporters of the king and communist rebels. Following the latter's defeat in 1949, Greece was able to join NATO in 1952. A military dictatorship, which in 1967 suspended many political liberties and forced the king to flee the country, lasted seven years. The 1974 democratic elections and a referendum created a parliamentary republic and abolished the monarchy. Greece joined the European Community or EC in 1981 (which became the EU in 1992); it became the 12th member of the euro zone in 2001. To be updated

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By Caroline and Scott
November 16th 2009

Waiting in Athens!! Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens

Just a short one before we pick up Vic from the airport and see Greece!! So after Skopje we headed south to Stobi an ancient Roman city which is still being excavated unfortunately all the mosaics where covered with feet of sand to protect them from the winter weather, Caroline waited in the Duk and pissed and moaned about the rain. (Raining for about 4 days now without stopping). Had to pay extortainate toll road prices of a euro!! As we drove Through the Pelister nature park looking for more churches!! Lake Prespa was fantastic with almost coastal views and the [View Full Entry]

By Thirsty Hurst
October 24th 2009

Roaming around Athens Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens

Posing
Goofing off by the Olympic stadium.

After getting in late last night, morning came a bit too soon. I showered and packed up my things to store since I have to change rooms today. After leaving my things in the storage room, I checked in at the front desk and found out that there was a walking tour organized by the hostel that would leave at 10:30. About 20 of us joined the tour; mostly college aged girls, many of whom were likely studying abroad. We set out to the nearby Temple of Zeus Olympian and the accompanying sight, Hadrian’s Arch. Along the way we picked up [View Full Entry]

By sjgasser
October 24th 2009

Santorini and Paros Europe » Greece

I got to Santorini without a reservation thinking I would catch a bus and make it some where. As we came into the island I could see the famous white washed cities on the edge of the cliffs like snow on the peaks of the craggy island. We came to the port to see that it was a dock at the bottom of a cliff with a little set of Zs going up from the boats as the tourists slipped from water to wheel to float up the Zs. I got off thinking I hope o do not have to walk [View Full Entry]

By cool breeze
October 23rd 2009

My big fat greek holiday ! Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens

View from the plane.. on the way to Athens

(Ok it wasn’t so big and it wasn’t so fat a holiday- but it was a brief two day out of the ordinary one !) Flight to Athens ~ Well let me start about telling you about Amsterdam. Why ? cuz I wanna boast of course. So what if I didn’t go to Amsterdam- I did go to the Amsterdam airport! The view from the plane was amusing…. Patches of green land - all in squares and rectangles - separated by water canals / streams ! seemingly under sea level- so they call [View Full Entry]

By Thirsty Hurst
October 23rd 2009

A long day at sea Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens

Santorini
We stopped at Santorini to drop off and pick up passengers and commercial vehicles. I am amazed that the island is almost all cliffs like this one.

I left Ios today to return to Athens. Before I caught the ferry, I went down to the port for lunch. As I looked around at the sea and the surrounding hills, I was still surprised how beautiful and how grotesque this island really is. There are gorgeous white homes spread out intermittently, all overlooking the clear blue sea below. But there are also barren wastelands full of rocks and dead vegetation. The latter really surprised me about the island. And this wasn’t unique to Ios. While I waited for the ferry I connected to the Internet for the first time [View Full Entry]

By Thirsty Hurst
October 22nd 2009

People! Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Ios

The beach
A view of the beach from the road far above.

This morning I went on the same running course as yesterday. I knocked three minutes off my time from having the benefit of knowing the terrain. And no walking or stops. It felt good. After a small lunch, I returned to the same beach as yesterday. There were a few more people there today. And it also appears as if this is a topless beach. While that sounds appealing in theory, in reality it’s not. The women that go topless tend to be older and massive. Those that are more attractive tend to be self conscious, prudish or there with their [View Full Entry]

By Thirsty Hurst
October 21st 2009

Wilson!!! Wilson!!! Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Ios

Building on the point
One of the pictures I took on my run to the beach.

Last night I got some much needed sleep. Well rested, I went for a run to familiarize myself with part of the island. I set out towards the beach where I’d likely spend most of my day. Getting there was easy. There is one road that leads down to the beach and it is entirely downhill. Along the way I stopped a few times to take pictures of the gorgeous views of the surrounding sea. About 3km in, I had passed the long, deserted beach and hit a dead end. It was time to head back up the steep hill. I [View Full Entry]

By Thirsty Hurst
October 20th 2009

Where’d everyone go? Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Ios

Piraeus
Piraeus, Athens's port, is lined with ships departing to the islands, other mainland Greece ports, Italy, Turkey and who knows where else.

Last night I got a terrible night’s sleep. Trying to get to bed early proved to be a futile effort as people celebrated the nice weather out on their balconies into all hours of the night. One girl laughed like a hyena after every sentence someone spoke. Sometimes I think she even laughed at her silly laugh. And when all that finally calmed down, one of my roommates had a great snore. Now I’d be hypocritical if I said I never had a good one myself. But I’d like to think that mine periled in comparison to this one. This guy [View Full Entry]

By sjgasser
October 19th 2009

Trip to Greece and Athens Europe » Greece

I had so much fun meeting people on the trip from Bari to Athens. The first people I meet were two art teachers from university of Oregon. They were looking for the bus to the port just like me from the Bari train station. Then a Greek Canadian came and joined us, he was an out of work computer programer traveling for 9 months. They were all real nice and we all hung out once we got to the port and on the boat. When we were waiting for the boat I was a little nervous because I got a deck [View Full Entry]

By Thirsty Hurst
October 19th 2009

Ahhh, warm weather Europe » Greece » Attica » Athens

Balcony view
Buildings are everywhere nearby. Almost all of them have balconies.

Today I left Budapest for Athens and the warm weather within it. I got to the airport and made my flight without a hitch. When we arrived in Athens, we disembarked onto a stairway and were treated to the warm weather immediately while we waited for a shuttle to take us to the main terminal. It felt like 75°F here; wonderful after the 30s and 40s the last week and a half. I caught the metro from the airport to my hotel. The metro ride is a VERY long one. After waiting for 15 minutes for it to leave, it was [View Full Entry]

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