We took a taxi to the airport Friday after school. Our flight landed at the Athens airport around 8 and then from there we boarded the metro. The metro is outside near the airport in a wind tunnel. It was so cold and windy!!!
We took the tram to Monastiraki. The neighborhood is graffiti-ed everywhere!! The walk to our hostel was dark and there were a lot of homeless people in the streets. Our hostel, City circus, on the otherhand, is really nice.
We're in a dorm (which is empty for tonight) but the building is attached to a really yummy restaurant. After checking in we had a cocktail and a lemon meringue dessert that was sweet but at the same time really sour. We headed to bed around 1230, excited for what tomorrow would bring.
Sat Mar 30
Mark and I slept until about 915. Yay VK! We got up leisurely and enjoyed a breakfast of yogurt, eggs, toast, fruits and jams. We each also had a bloody mary to celebrate. Yay VK!!
After our boozy breakfast, we sat in the common area of the hostel and made a rough plan for the week. We headed out to the Varvakios Agora which is an indoor/outdoor food market in Monastiraki. The meats and butcher stalls were outrageous.
We tried a ton of different olives from one of the vendors.
After, we walked to the Monastiraki flea market where we went in and out of many, many shops. We tried to go to a local gyros shop called O Kastos, but they had sold out of all of their food. Instead we popped in a super crowded shop with spinning skewers of meat and split a gyro. It was very good, but a little surprising because here the french fries are in the gyro, not on the side. The place was packed so Mark and I were in the standing room only section directly in front of a mirror. Try eating a gyro overflowing with fries, meat, tomatoes, onions and sauce while looking in a mirror, and you'll think twice about ever ordering one again. 🤣🤷 After we stopped in a clothing store. The associate who helped me was amazing!! He immediately became my personal shopper and found me tons and tons of outfits. There were no mirrors in the dressing rooms, so I had to come out to a communal mirror to see myself for each outfit. Good thing, because when I did, my attendant would fix all of the parts of the outfit I hadn't put on correctly 😂 Sometimes when I walked out everyone would begin clapping. Ummm... I know these jeans make my butt look good but they didn't make me a celebrity! Everytime I came out the staff were always dancing and singing with the music. They even got Mark a chair and put it right next to my dressing room so he could sit and watch (yeah right!). I had so much fun there! When we left they gave us two necklaces as "gifts" 😁
We headed back to our hostel to find that they are hosting a barcrawl this evening. It starts here with a free glass of wine at 8 so we'll see how it goes. It went alright. Oh it went. 4 bars. One shot at each bar. Plus drinks. Ewwwww. Too much alcohol. However, it was spread over 6 hours so Sunday wasn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be. We ate late night gyros (thank god) which helped but that meant we didn't get to bed until 430am. Yikes. Even worse than our poor decisions?? Bars in Greece allow smoking inside. Ewww. One bar we visited was completely enclosed and had propane lamps to heat it. While people were smoking. Inside. Without ventilation.
Sunday, March 31st
It goes wihout saying that we slept in on Sunday. Once we were up we grabbed an outdoor lunch at Athena's Cook. We tried favaa (a split pea pureed dip) I didn't like it.
After I had a greek salad which was very tasty. Post lunch we walked up Mount Lyccabettus- the tallest viewpoint in Athens- to see spectacular 360° views of the city.
We enjoyed the sunshine for awhile and then climbed down to enjoy dessert at a cute local spot.
We soaked up the last little bit of the late night sunshine and then headed back to our hostel to relax and work on booking the rest of our trip.
Monday April 1st
We got up and ate breakfast at Zampano with Anika, another traveler we met. The three of us then headed to the meeting point for a free walking tour of Athens where we met Vasillus, our guide. The tour was packed with information. Something I found interesting: King Ludwig from Bavaria sent his son, Otto, to rule Athens (in a friendly way), so there are buildings in the Bavarian style.
After wandering Athens for 3 hours Mark and I parted ways with the tour because we had scheduled another tour to see the Temple of Poseidon. We grabbed lunch on the go (the sandwiches were so-so but the flavored lemonades were fantastic!) so that we could make it to the meeting point by 1:30. Its now 1:52 and no one is here...
Eventually we got picked up by a HUGE charter bus. We drove around Athens for 1 hour picking up other guests from their hotels. I napped while we did this. Once we arrived our guide took us around the site of The Temple of Poseidon. It's located on a beautiful hill with bluffs overlooking the sea.
Our guide was full of interesting mythical stories, like this one: The sea is named Aegean after Aegeas. He sent his son, Theseus, to battle in Crete to defeat the minotaur. Theseus' ships left with black sails. He promised that if he were victorious he would change the color of the sails for his return trip. When he arrived the princess of Crete helped him navigate the labyrinth to defeat the minotaurs which led to him falling in love with her. He sailed back with his bride to be on the ships with black sails because he had completely forgotten his promise to his father (funny what happens when love leaves you smitten). His father saw the ships with black sails from across the sea and was so heartbroken that his son had not been victorious that he committed suicide. Upon Theseus' arrival he learned of this and was incredibly saddened, so he named the sea after his father in tribute. We also learned that the many islands surrounding Greece receive their power supply through underwater cables, the longest one being from Athens to Crete. (This I do not believe to be mythical, but after hearing our guide's first story, it very well could be 😊) After bussing back to the city we walked back to our hostel to pick up our bags. We hopped on the subway to get to the port and grabbed a quick gyro (best one yet) before boarding the ship.
I couldn't believe that driving into the ship right next to us were semi trucks and cars. How many of these things can they fit on here?? The boat is massive and way nicer than I could have ever imagined. We have our own room with a toilet. The boat is getting ready to "shove off" so Mark and I are heading out on the deck to watch. There are so so so many trucks boarding our ship. The ship is massive and there are decks on multiple levels so we can see all around. It's the first time I've ever been on a ship like this and I have to admit it's pretty cool. We spent a long time out on the deck after leaving port but eventually headed to bed as we were scheduled to dock at 6am.
Tuesday April 2nd
We got off the ship about 7am and saw a beautiful sunrise.
We then walked along the sea to our hotel, Kronos. We were welcomed, served breakfast and given our room key. Mark and I lounged around-- he had work today and I wanted to read. We showered and got ready leisurely and then headed to lunch at Cooking with Love, a restaurant I'd highly recommend. It's a mom and pop shop with a few tables. When you walk in you're ushered to the counter where the cook shows you your options for the day. She then plates them and brings them to your table. It's all freshly made that day and there are only 4-5 options to choose from. I had the fish with okra. The fish was melt in my mouth good. I'd never tried okra before (atleast not that I could remember) and that was good too. After I was given a complimentary dessert of yogurt, honey, cinnamon and bananas which was quite lovely. The yogurt isn't as cold or as bitter in Greece as it is in the states.
Mark and I then walked to the fortress on the sea. It was built in the 16th century by the Venetians. The wall surrounding it was built by the Ottomans. It is a neat fort to tour.
After we enjoyed the sun in the harbor.
Then we walked to see one of the famous churches. It was grandiose and beautiful. After we went to the Venetian Loggia which is the city hall that was built by the Venetians.
We had some gelato that was to die for and then headed to a rooftop cafe for a glass of wine.
Our tour guide in Athens told us white wine was what Greece is known for so we ordered white wines to watch the sunset. I am not a white wine drinker so I was disappointed. (I'm sure it was good though) After the sun set we went to a local Cretan eatery we had spotted during the day. It was absolutely delightful. It's been owned for over 20 years now by a lovely married couple. The wife is a fantastic cook. She made us lamb that fell off the bone with vegetables, potatoes, dry beans and rusk bread.
The family makes their own wines and olive oils. We tried a cretan wine that was really, really potent. Neither one of us could drink it. The husband noticed and asked his wife to give us traditional red wine. Then, he gave us raki for dessert (not one shot each but a vat on our table!). His wife said he couldn't be the only one to give us gifts so she made us a dessert with yogurt, carrots, honey and cinnamon. Thank god she did because it really helped cut the raki. They were an incredibly nice couple who shared a lot about their lives with us. The husband, Captain John, showed us pictures of his children and grandchildren while he talked of his many years spent at sea. The restaurant was warm and welcoming and the couple went above and beyond for us. These types of interactions with locals are the reasons I love traveling. It warms my heart in a way other things just can't.
We headed back to our hotel to show the night man the photo of us at Anchorage, because Captain John insisited they were friends. Sure enough our doorman recognized them and was so happy that we had eaten there. What a wonderful way to end our first day in Crete.
Wednesday April 3
We were up early for our wine tour. Our guide Pierre picked us up. He's from Belgium yet incredibly knowledgeable about Cretan culture, food and wine. There were three middle aged women from Minnesota who were also on the tour with us. Our first winery was a bit of a drive from Heraklion so we stopped for some mountain view photos along the way.
The property of the first winery was sprawling. They had an area for red wine grapes, and white wine grapes. They need to be grown at different altitudes because of the winds.
This particular winery is family owned. The founder is a civil engineer by trade. At the age of 50 he decided that he wanted to try his hand at wine making so purchased his brother's land and started growing grapes. At the time, this was a very novel idea. Fast forward to now and the winery has seen huge successes. They make organic and natural wines. Organic wines have no pesticides while natural wines use no sulfates. The wine brand is called "three women, one wine" which stands for the two daughters plus one wife and the wine which is their father. Touring the winery was really interesting. Once the grapes are ready to be picked it's done by hand with help from those in the surrounding community. The grapes are transferred straight into the vat and the process begins. This family relies on gravity to do the work and therefore has huge, tall containers for the fermenting. The cellar underneath the property is all stone so stays naturally cool, even during the hot summers in Greece. The barrels are rolled along long white beams in the floor which are filled with water for temperature regulation. Did you know noise is bad for wine? All of the finished product is kept in a storage room alongside the cellar. The wine here is free from noise, light and movement, which are all things that may disturb it (sounds kind of like a baby...)
The bottling process includes a huge machine that bottles, corks and labels.
The bottles are then turned for 48 hours to make sure that the natural corks are set. We sampled 5 wines plus raki (an alcohol that's made from the skins, seeds and leftover flesh from the grapes post wine making.) It's served everywhere in Greece and it's considered rude not to drink when a host offers it. Woof. The wines were delicious.
A 10 minute drive and we were at our next winery.
This winery was much, much newer, having only owned their property for less than a year. There was an adorable puppy that would not leave Mark and I alone during the tour (and we were A-OK with that!)
This property only had a few vats plus a bottling machine. The cellar downstairs was much smaller and controlled by cooling units. This winery had barrels from the US, France and other parts of Europe.
Here we were served cheese and meat, tomatoes and bread with our wine. We were given 5 tastes (no raki this time 😁) and all were delicious. We bought a bottle of red for later and continued on to lunch.
First we sampled 10 or so different olive oils and a handful of Greek honies. The oils had different herbs and spices as well as different levels- oil, virgin, and extra virgin. After we had an amazing spread of meze (appetizers), mains and desserts, each paired with wine. We sampled haloumi cheese and olive fritters which were two of my favorites. I was stuffed by the end.
The local restaurant owner had opened that day just for our tour (it's still considered "winter" in Greece and official tour season doesn't start until next week (we were the first tour of the season for the winery as well). Overall the tour was fantastic. We talked with passionate winemakers, tasted their products and enjoyed beautiful views of the landscape. We sampled homemade olive oils and chatted with a local chef who fed us in his small restaurant that looked out into the town's main square. We met women from the states who we shared travel stories with and enjoyed a guide who is passionate about sharing his knowledge and promoting the small businesses scattered around Crete.
Thursday April 4th
We were up early yet again (two days in a row! this is hardly feeling like a vacation 😉) This time we were picked up in a land rover by an enthusiastic Brit with a big accent. We picked up another couple around our age who were honeymooning from Philadelphia and a middle aged couple from the UK and then we were off. Our first stop was a small Cretan village where we were given fresh made bread with olive oil and oregano (a traditional cretan village breakfast). Here we also tried loukoumades which are small fried donuts, and sampled 6 different kinds of flavored raki (breakfast of champions!)
We entered a beautiful church. The woman there was incredibly friendly and inviting and even though she spoke no english her hand signals said it all.
We walked on a bit farther to a cemetery. Greek Orthodox tradition says that bodies need to be buried within 24 hours of death. When a family member passes, the priest is the first one contacted. The priest arranges for the burial and then flyers are made and posted around the town (sometimes 2 and 3 towns over depending on the size and proximity to one another) notifying when the burial will take place. There is then a one month ceremony, three month, six month, nine month and twelve month. On the twelve month anniversary one of the family members digs up the casket to see if the body has decomposed. If it has the bones are washed individually and placed in a small box which is then buried in the family crypt (these are above ground caskets, much like the ones in New Orleans). In certain mountain villages in Crete, if a woman is widowed, she is expected to wear black as a sign of mourning and to never remarry. Some villages are more progressive and if a woman is widowed she is expected to wear black as a sign of mourning for seven years and to not take a boyfriend during this time. Men on the other hand are expected to wear black, abstain and go unshaven for a period of 40 days and then are allowed to remarry. We drove farther up into the mountains, this time using our jeep for its true purpose and off roading. We were climbing higher and higher on small dirt and gravel paths. The views were incredible but the edges of the mountain were dangerously close. Our guide had scouted our route earlier in the week. He said that because of rain there was danger of falling rock so staying to the outside of the path, closest to the edge, was actually the safest place to drive. 😦😯
Our next stop was a shepherd's village. He and his wife owned hundreds of goats that roamed in the mountains. He used the goats to make milk and cheese which he then sold to all of the surrounding mountain villages. Outside of the home a small fire was lit-- too hot and it would burn the liquid, too cold and it wouldn't separate. A huge pot was placed on the other side of the wall, inside the home. The liquid was added and stirred and stirred and stirred until it separated. It was then left to sit. Finally, the shepherd takes strainers and filters the cheese curds from the whey (the whey isn't used by the shepherds but one of the guides collects it and uses it for protein-- if only the shepherds knew they could export this to the states and make a killing!) The cheese is then salted and left to dry on the shelves of the home. The rind is cut and some cheese is eaten, then it's replaced on the shelf. The next time the shepherd's are ready for a taste they just cut away the exposed "moldy" part and eat the fresh cheese underneath. We sampled three different types which were all delicious!
We also got to feed the goats. Each goat has a slightly different sounding bell around its neck-- goats of the same family have the same bell so the mothers can find the kids while roaming in the mountains. It makes for one loud hilltop while the goats are penned together.
During winter the goats are kept close but during the summer they are allowed to roam free. We were visiting the shepherd at his winter home, because official summer season tours don't start until next week (this seems to be a common theme) Did I mention the shepherd also poured each of us some of his raki? We were expected to sip this with him. I really do dislike how hospitable the people are in Greece 😉 I couldn't sip it so the new wife and I shot it together--- atleast we still took it, right?! We continued our off road mountain adventure, this time heading toward the birthplace of Zeus (there had to be some mythology on this tour, right?!) On the way we learned about some of the attrocities the Cretan people faced during wartime. During WWII the Nazi Army was relentless. The mountain we were driving in has a huge plateau at about 1000 meters. Hitler decided this would be a perfect placw to land his troops. The people of Crete took big stones and boulders and covered the plateau so the planes couldn't land. Hitler was furious so he ordered his troops to jump. Little did Hitler know, all Cretans carry guns and so the boys and men jumping out of the planes were shot and killed before making it to the ground. Hitler vowed revenge. We heard many stories of his ruthless generals who slaughtered entire villages. One particular story included a teacher and 27 of her students. Hitler's generals duck marched the students and the teacher from the school to the main square. They told the teacher to give up the names of those leading the resistance movement in her town. (Little did the generals know, there was no resistance in that particular town. They had miscalculated and were 45km away from the actual resistance town) So, when the teacher told the men that there was no resistance they shot every child in the back of the head in the square. This town later became one of the fiercest recruitment areas for the resistance movement. Not only were there countless horrors committed by The Nazis but during the Turkish invasion and occupation as well. The Turks were adamant that the Greeks must convert to Islam or they would be executed. In one particular village a Turkish general raped a 9 year old girl. Two young shepherds overtook the general and used his own sword to behead him. They tied his head to his horse which then ran swiftly back to the military camp. The shepherds were nervous about being found with the body so they buried it and all of the townspeople covered the spot with rocks. To this day, the burial site is always covered in rocks (we even contributed to the pile when we passed by). Unfortunately, the Turks slaughtered 300 men and boys from the village to avenge their general's death. To this day, the entire village still wears black in mourning. We made it to Zeus' birthplace and were in need of a little mythology to raise our spirits. Never fear, Jason was here. The story goes like this: the god of all gods was reigning over mount olympus. Kronos, the son of the god of all gods was jealous of his father's power. He however, was not the eldest son in the family, so he would never be all powerful unless... he killed his father. So Kronos did just that. He sliced his father's throat and became god of all gods. He took a wife but was paranoid each time he had a child that he would be betrayed, just like he had betrayed his father. To solve this problem, each time Kronos' wife gave birth he immediately ate their child. This happened five times before his wife finally escaped. She found a desolate cave in Crete and begged the gods for help. They sent her 10 protectors. The protectors watched over her while she gave birth and then vowed to protect her son, Zeus, and raise him in the cave. Zeus' mother was so thankful, but knew Kronos would be incredibly angry, so on her way back to Mt. Olympus she found a baby goat, snapped its neck and wrapped it in swaddling cloth. Sure enough, Kronos swallowed the goat whole, thinking he had eaten his son. 18 years passed and Zeus began to question his protectors. Where were his mother and father? Why was he being raised in a cave? Zeus learned the story of his father and was livid. He immediately went to Olympus and confronted his mother. Once she confirmed the stories the protectors told him, he went straight to his father, Kronos, and slit his throat. Then he sliced his father's stomach and found that all five of his siblings were living in there, fully grown. They were all very grateful to their brother Zeus and claimed their rightful places on Mt. Olympus. Ok, maybe it wasn't exactly spirit raising, but at least it had a somewhat happy ending? Anyway, in we went to the infamous cave, the birthplace of Zeus. We admired the stalagmites and stalagtites and then headed to lunch.
We had bread with dips (We learned that the hard bread that is made in the mountain villages is called rusk. It's easy to preserve and store because it's hard. Right before consumption it's dunked in water and then topped with olive oil, tomato, oregano and cheese. This pairing is called dakos.) We were also fed greek salad (of course!) and then meat from the bbq spit with potatoes. And of course, lunch wouldn't have been complete without raki, so we had some of that as well.
Our final stop was in a small town with a world famous tree. The tree pulls toxins from the air and stores them in its bark. Then the tree sheds its bark and repeats the process. This particular tree is 2500 years old and still kickin (but is completely hollow in the middle!)
Near the tree is an aqueduct, built by the Romans and updated by the Venetians. It provided fresh water from the mountains to the surrounding communities for years.
On our way home our driver told us all about the small memorials along the side of the road.
If there is a roadside fatality family members are responsible for erecting a small memorial chapel (a lit box with photos of saints and the deceased) as a memory to their loved one. The light inside the box must always be lit to represent the eternal light and love for the deceased. I think our driver waited until the end of the day to point this out to us so that we wouldn't be worried while driving along the mountain roads all day long. Wishful thinking on his part. After all that driving Mark and I felt like we deserved some sweet treats so I enjoyed loukoumades with sugar while he enjoyed ice cream 🙂
Then we grabbed our bags and headed to the overnight ferry that would be bringing us back to Athens.
Friday 5 April
Our boat docked about 6am so by the time we walked from the docks to the trains to our hostel it was 730, which still was too early to do much of anything, including check in. Mark and I caught up on some reading and booked a few flights in the lobby before heading out for a day filled with ancient ruins. We bought the euro pass which allows us into 7 of the biggest ruin sites. First we hit up The Roman Agora, next, Hadrian's Library, after that was The Acropolis Museum followed by Zeus' Temple, The Olympic Stadium and finally The Acropolis. Dun, dun, dun. So. Many. Ruins.
We squeezed lunch and a few bathroom breaks in there too oh AND Mark got pooped on by a bird 🤣.
It was a day full of climbing and exploring and trying to avoid massive groups of school children. We made it back to our hostel around 5 to check in and get settled for the evening. We showered and headed up to the rooftop terrace of our hostel. The view of the lit up acropolis was lovely.
We met Norek, an armenian american around our age who had quit his job in December and was planning on traveling for a year. We hit it off and after a beer on the roof we headed to dinner together. Unfortunately the first few places we stopped at were totally packed, but eventually we found a spot wih outdoor seating. I enjoyed mussels and Mark tried moussaka. (And yep, I had a bite just to confirm that I still don't like it)
A few others from our hostel met us for a drink after but we still made it home for midnight (My kind of night out!!)
Saturday April 6
It rained. ALL. DAY. LONG. We spent the day at the hostel catching up on work, blog posts and books. Late afternoon rolled around and a few of the guys we'd met from the previous Saturday were just making their way back from the islands, so they joined us for cards and a beer. That evening (once the rain finally stopped) we headed to a traditional greek taverna for live music and dinner. I had fish and Mark had aubergines- both were delicious. After dinner we stopped at a huge greek restaurant with a band and dancing. We had a lot of fun watching the greek women circle round and round the dance floor, changing their steps with each new song that was sung. Our last stop was at a small coffee bar with a great soundtrack- the dj was playing english tracks from the 80s. It was a great last night in Greece for Mark and I.
Sunday April 7th
We had breakfast at Zampano one last time and then checked out of our hostel. We explored the Ancient Agora, the last of the ancient ruins on our list. This one was quite nice because it was a vast expanse of ruins scattered throughout green grasses, shady trees and wildflowers.
On our way back to the hostel we wandered through the markets. I was on the hunt for a tree of life bracelet. Although I didn't find one I liked, I did find some stackable silver bracelets to go with my world traveler bracelet Mark got me for our wedding. 😁 We picked up our packs from the hostel and waved goodbye to Athens as we trained it to the airport.
We loved our time here, and hope to make it back to a few of the islands come summer.
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