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Published: August 25th 2022
A society grows great when old men plant trees whose shade they know they shall never sit in… ~ Greek Proverb
Yassas people!
Well. Here we are. We honestly can’t believe we are actually writing this prologue, and are about to leave on an overseas trip! To Greece (via a short stopover in Dubai)! So much happiness. 😄
The last time we travelled overseas was in January 2020 – when we managed to return from Laos just on the cusp of everything in the world going majorly pear shaped. I don’t think we can even begin to quantify just how much the world has changed since then, not to mention how much travelling has changed!
We are lucky to have only missed one (calendar) year of overseas travel, and we are also very grateful that we have come out the other side of this pandemic madness relatively unscathed. However, like many people who love travel, we have been seriously busting at the seams to get going again.
This trip is a big birthday trip for Ren, and Greece has been on her ‘top five birthday destinations’ shortlist for a few years now. Before the pandemic, all five shortlisted destinations more or less had equal weighting… but since the pandemic hit, it’s become a different world for
travellers and our criteria for determining countries we’d like to visit has changed drastically.
The two main factors when considering this trip were a country’s current COVID situation as well as their border situations (especially their border relationship with Australia). Obviously, we want to feel safe and comfortable when travelling, but we also didn’t wish to put anyone else at risk or be a burden on another country’s health systems. It was only after these two considerations were grappled with that we contemplated the issues we’d normally ponder before we chose a travel destination… the weather at this time of year, vaccinations required, airfares, internal stability, safety in general etc. Greece won out on all of the factors we considered.
Even though we had been talking about this Greece trip for a long time now, the actual booking of flights and accommodation was only finalised a few weeks ago! We had to navigate very complicated work and life commitments before we could be sure the trip could go ahead… and thanks in very large part to Andrew’s persistence and determination that Ren should have the birthday trip she has been quietly (or not so quietly!) lusting after –
behold, we are about to embark on a trip to Greece. 😊
Here’s a quick snapshot of Greece: It’s a parliamentary republic with a President as the Head of State. The population is just over 11 million, the capital is Athens and the currency is the Euro (EUR). The official language is Greek (which obviously uses the Greek alphabet script). The official religion is Eastern Orthodox Christianity, and is practiced in varying degrees by about 92% of the population. The rest of the population is made up of Greek Catholics, Muslims (Greeks of Turkish heritage) and Atheists.
Greece is in the Balkan region in south-eastern Europe. It’s a country with a mainland, a couple of peninsulas and thousands of islands that are spread over the Mediterranean, Ionian, Aegean and Cretan Seas. It shares borders with Albania, North Macedonia, Bulgaria and Turkey.
The mainland and peninsula terrain are varied, but being predominantly mountainous, the landscape is shaped by steep peaks, deep gorges and towering karsts. Most of the islands seem to have hilly terrains too, with their dramatic cliff faces dominating most tourism photos.
Given this physical geography and its latitude/longitude, there is considerable climatic variation across
the country – ranging from mild Mediterranean to semi-desert to cold climate mountain forests. We are going in late summer / early autumn, so hopefully the southern mainland and islands would have lost their hot stinging sun, while the mountainous destinations shouldn’t be too cold.
When planning any trip, we try to identify what we feel are the main aspects of that country and culture. The aim is to experience as much as we can; and we like to leave with some semblance of understanding how the country works, as well as have an appreciation of things that are essential to the local people. So as per usual before a trip, the Lonely Planet Guide has been a constant companion in the last few weeks. We have been immersing ourselves in Greek books and films and also brushing up on our Greek philosophy and mythology.
And not at all surprisingly, we’ve been readying our appetites by eating as much Greek food as we can get our hands on. Unfortunately, there are very few Greek eateries in Hobart… a couple didn’t survive the COVID closures, and of those left, not all are brilliant. We really shouldn’t compare the situation
in Hobart to the plethora of amazing Greek restaurants in Melbourne – which is home to the largest Greek community outside of Greece! 😊
All this preparation has got us daydreaming about exploring archaeological sites and their magnificent museums, visiting ancient spiritual places, experiencing urban street culture, immersing ourselves in island life and strolling along idyllic beaches. But most of all, we have been eagerly visualising ourselves savouring the regional food and wine in small family run tavernas, devouring tapas-like small plates called meze, and frequenting
ouzerie (ouzo bars) that serve free meze. 😄
With every Greek region and each Greek island claiming to have its own personality, landscape and culture, we are certain that we are in for a seriously tantalising travel treat.
As you have probably already guessed, we are very excited – probably more excited than we normally are before a trip. But if the absolute truth be told, we are also slightly nervous, and possibly overthinking things that had been relatively straightforward in the past. This could be because it’s our first-time travelling overseas since the COVID shutdown, but it could also be because it’s been nearly 32 months since we last travelled
and we aren’t as travel match-fit as we used to be! However, we have taken all the precautions we can take, and we will be as careful as we can be while travelling… the rest is in the hands of the various travel gods. May they be kind.
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The travel odyssey has begun! 😊
Ren and Andrew
Travel viewing / Films that set the scene for this trip... Rembetiko, directed by Costas Ferris (1983);
Shirley Valentine, directed by Lewis Gilbert (1989);
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin, directed by John Madden (2001);
Before Midnight, directed by Richard Linklater (2013);
The Two faces of January, directed by Hossein Amini (2014);
The Durrells, TV Series 1-4 (2016-2019).
Travel reading on this trip... Lonely Planet Guide Greece;
Mani: Travels in the Southern Peloponnese by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Andrew);
Roumeli: Travels in Northern Greece by Patrick Leigh Fermor (Andrew);
Captain Corelli’s Mandolin by Louis de Bernieres (Ren);
Greek to Me, Adventures of the Comma Queen by Mary Norris (Ren);
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller (Ren);
The Two Faces of January by Patricia Highsmith (Ren);
Zorba the Greek by Nikos Kazantzakis (Ren).
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DaveandIssy
Dave and Issy Sheehan
Greece
We’re in the same country! We’ve been in Naxos for a week (beautiful!), and we fly to Athens today for four days.