We did it, we packed up our masks, hand sanitizer and Covid vaccination cards and safely traveled to southeastern Europe to visit what some call the cradle of civilization: Greece. Surrounded to the north by Albania, Macedonia and Bulgaria and to the east by Turkey, Greece consists of a peninsula mainland and over 200 islands. We had the good fortune to visit Athens on the mainland and the isle of Santorini. Good fortune indeed: it makes me smile just thinking of our new favorite European country.

We spent 5 days in Athens at the Athens Was boutique hotel. The location was right off of the plaka (old town center) so it was perfect for walking everywhere. The only times we hired transportation was to get to the ferry port and to the airport. The rooftop restaurant had a great view of the Acropolis.

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We toured many of the sites around Athens: Cyntagma Square, Parliament, National Gardens, the Acropolis and Parthenon, Acropolis Museum, National Archeology Museum, the Ancient Agora, Temple of Zeus, Olympic Stadium.

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We did our share of people watching.

Brian is a great photography partner and once again he helped me achieve the coveted shot: the Parthenon lit up in the night skies. To obtain said shot, we took the funicular up Mount Lycabettus, the highest peak in Athens. We watched the sun go down and waited for the sky to darken, taking shots along the way. We hiked down afterward and stopped at the (New Orleans) Jazz in Jazz bar for a drink.

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We watched the Changing of the Guards at Parliament. There were many extra police guarding Parliament due to a student protest that we watched march by just before the changing of guards.

We walked the meat, fish and produce markets…

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SANTORINI

We took the ferry from Athens to Santorini. The passenger ferry was very comfortable and took about 5 1/2 hours with quick stops at 5 islands. It was nice but we would likely fly next time to save time.

Our 5 days in Santorini were heavenly. Santorini is a caldera or volcanic crater. It’s one of the most beautiful places we’ve been. We stayed in Oia (pronounced eea) at the Esperas hotel overlooking Ammoudi Bay. The view was stunning from every direction. We started each day with a nice long exploratory walk before the tour/cruise ship traffic arrived followed by breakfast on the terrace, then reading by the pool, watching the sun set over the island of Thirasia /the Aegean Sea and then we enjoyed dinner out. Simply fabulous times.

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We spent a memorable evening watching European football with locals at Edwins Pizzeria. I was the lone female in the crowd of about 30 national football fans. The pizza was outstanding and we found out later that the game ended 0-0.

The cats and dogs of Oia have our hearts…

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Santorini is a photographer’s dream and I took well over 600 pictures with Brian’s help. Isn’t digital photography grand?!

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Following Santorini, we ferried back to Athens for a final night and meal at our favorite restaurant, Marvo Provado/The Black Sheep.

From start to finish, we loved Greece: passionate people, delectable cuisine, astonishing history and unfaltering beauty.

Like most, we had concerns regarding travel during this COVID-era and in the end, we had an extraordinary trip. If you are considering a trip, we have the following suggestions to share:

1. For Greece, the primarily cobblestone walkways and never-ending steps require a solid pair of shoes. Also, you might study up on your Greek mythology.
2. The free VeriFLY application found in your mobile phone App Store saves a lot of worries by allowing you to have your travel paperwork (vaccine records and test results ) verified prior to travel.
3. The Rick Steves audio app provides great guides for popular sights and also general travel tips. It’s free and found in your App Store.