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Published: February 27th 2011
Hello all! I know it has been ages since I wrote (literally!) but it has been a very busy few months. Since I last wrote my Barecelona blog, I have been to Seoul, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau, home in NYC, Costa Rica and Greece, and I am currently in Australia... know I have a lot of backdated entries to catch up on but I thought I would start with Greece since it's so fresh in my mind, so here goes!
So I left the bitter cold of January in NYC to arrive in Athens, Greece in the 65 degree weather. Although 65 degree weather seems wonderful, unfortunately it is not the ideal time to be in Greece as the Greek Islands are not only dead in the winter- flights could get cancelled and ferries don't run. I was initially a little disappointed (Santorini seems to be a dream location for me) but anyone who knows me knows that I always try to make the best of things and decided I was not going to allow it to ruin the trip and (after a few under my breath curses to my scheduling manager who put us in Greece in the
winter instead of in the summer months) decided to embrace Athens and Greece for what it is outside of the high tourist season- and i was not disappointed in the least! Turns out, that January is actually an awesome time to visit Greece as you can actually experience the country for what it is, and not just as one of thousands of tourists jamming up the restaurants and causing insane lines at the attractions. I was in Greece for three weeks, and spent the whole time in Athens, except for a weekend in the mountain ski resort of Arahova near the famous Oracle of Delphi. As per my title there are four things that really stick out in my mind when I think of my trip to Greece- the History, the food (feta in particular), the beautiful sea, and of course the immense pride that the amazing people of Greece have of their culture and their past.. read on!
History- Athens is an amazing city- it has the old world feeling of a city that embraces one of the first civilizations, historic ruins and of course the amazing Acropolis. Conversely, steps away from the Acropolis you can find trendy
cafes/bars, all the worldwide major retailer/shops, wonderful restaurants and the best souvlaki I have ever tasted in my life! Although some areas in Athens may seem from the outside eye a bit run down, there is much more then meets the eye. First off, the Acropolis is quite a spectacle- as the highest point in Athens, you can essentially see it from every restaurant that advertises "best view in Athens" (which I would say about 70 percent of Athens downton restaurants advertise). Along with the Acropolis, other sites include the temple of Zeus and the first Olympic Stadium. These are the types of sites that you see and it really hits you- just like being at the pyramids in Egypt or the Coliseum in Rome- just how amazing it is that these structures have stood for thousands and thousands of years. It really puts life into perspective and it brings a harsh reality of just how relatively "new" all the United States history is in comparison. On the weekend from Arahova, we visited the ancient oracle of Delphi (see pictures) and that was truly fantastic. Set in the middle of a mountain top, what used to be a grand oracle
is now only a few remains, however the pure beauty of what remains is truly amazing. Visiting Delphi in January was by far the highlight of being there in the winter- there were soo few tourists there at the time that it really had a mystical feel to it- it was like you could hear the wind blowing and just lets you imagine what it was like in the BC times. Truly amazing and worth the trip from Athens!
Feta- I have always liked feta cheese. I would buy the Athenos feta from the grocery store, put it on salads, make a baked feta dip, order it on sandwiches, etc. In Greece, I didn't like feta. I LOVED feta. They serve it everyway possible- grilled, baked, fried, fried with tomatoes and peppers ,fried with honey, on eggplant, stuffed in peppers, in salads, with hash browns at breakfast. There were actually some meals where I realized everything we had ordered on the table had some element of feta. Not that I am complaining- this feta is NOTHING like the kind you buy at the grocery store in the US (call me a snob- but im going to have a really
tough time going back to the US standard now). Its so fresh and delicious- and especially good with lemon on top. (Not going to lie though- after our first week there eating greek food every nite we had to take a break and had indian- necessary break in the middle of the trip.) On top of the feta, the vegetables were all delicious, wonderful eggplant dishes, chickpeas, tzatziki, peppers, spicy cheese. The meats were not always my favorite - they were mainly just traditionally grilled meats and could be semi dry and lacking in flavor but the other options on the menu more then made up for it. The most "interesting" thing that they eat was in Arahova where we were confronted with what they call the best food you could possibly have- some type of intestines- that although the Greek's raved about it- we just couldnt get ourselves to try! (see pictures and let me know if you would eat it!) Greek wine is also surprisingly very good, and their very big on after dinner drinks such as Misteha and Ouzo.
One final point on food in Greece- everyone always thinks that hummus is Greek food. So much
in fact, that on the plane over I was sitting next to an Advertising Producer who was shooting a commercial for Athenos Hummus and wanted it to be as "authentic" as possible so they were shooting it in Athens with real Greek actors. Apparently they, along with plenty of other Americans, myself included did not get their facts straight. I did not see hummus ONCE on a menu in Greece. Hummus is a middle eastern food- and is not of Greek origin, in fact I told the Greek people how surprised I was to find no hummus and they acted as if I was crazy for thinking it in the first place! So just a little trivia next time that you call hummus greek food its not correct!
The Sea- As I mentioned, January is not the ideal time to be in Greece because you can't really get to the islands. In fact a co-worker and myself tried one day to take the ferry to Hydra, only to find that the ferry wasn't running due to wind and lack of customers in the 60 degree/party cloudy weather. However, once again, as anyone who knows me knows, I love the
Arahova
Such a cozy villageocean and if I am in a location that well known for the water- I will find a way to enjoy it. Luckily, the people in our Greece office were EXTREMELY friendly and offered to take us outside of Athens for a day to show us the coastal towns. Let me just say- 25 kilometers outside of Athens, (which is in some areas a semi dirty, graffitti filled, historic, crowded city) there was some of the most beautiful coastline I have ever seen. We drove to the town of Vouliagmeni- where Athenian's have summer homes, or live year round right on the water. It was a beautiful drive down the coast to an awesome sea side town with cafes, bars, restaurants ,water clubs and some of the bluest water I have ever seen! At the end of the drive, we arrived at an ancient temple called Sunio, that overlooks the sea and once again is from BC times. It was honestly completely breathtaking. It was everything I was hoping for when I came to Greece and more! One day I will make sure that I return to Greece to get a tour of the islands, but it is amazing to
see that so close to such a major city is some of the most beautiful sea scape one could imagine! I was so jealous of my colleague from the Greece office, who explained he lives in his apartment in Athens during the 4-5 months of "winter" (never reaching below 40 degrees) and then the remainder of the year in his summer home in Vouliagmeni, where he can commute to work in just 40 minutes- definetly a life I could get used to!
Greek Pride- The thing that really made Greece for me were the people. They were so warm, friendly, happy, inviting and really had a pride for their culture and their country that makes any visitor feel welcome and makes foreigners love it there too. Almost everyone speaks English, and I find their accent to be one of my favorites! And the best thing is how no matter what it is, in their mind- Greeks either invented it, took it to the next level or they do it the best! The best example I had was when I was told that Greeks do better in medical school in the US then other people, because so many medical terms
Acropolis
One of many views stem from Greek words, since Greek invented medicine, that the Greek students can relate to the words better so they understand the illnesses! Funny way of thinking- but it really makes you feel like you are in a place that the locals love so much that it makes you love it as well.
So, at the end of the day, even though my winter trip to Greece did not include sun bathing in Santorini or partying in Mykonos, I still do not have complaints. I was pleasantly surprised with how amazing Greece was regardless of it being the off season, and I think that it is high on my list of my favorite places. I will definetly make sure that I return again one day though to experience the other parts of the country because if Greece was this amazing in the off season- I can only imagine how wonderful it is when its at its best.
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D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
Greece in January
Your blog back some wonderful memories of our trip to Greece. I would not have considered going in January until now when I hear yours stories. Early May was a wonderful time to go before the crowds showed up. One of our favorite memories of our trip was the feta. In the states it is too salty. We would love to have that wonderful fresh feta here. Happy travels. Can't wait to read your next blog.