Efharisto

I had pushed up our car pickup as I was hearing the passport control has been a mess with the new European Entry and Exit system - it now incudes biometric screening of photos and fingerprints. The queue was definitely time-consuming in Thessaloniki as the control just started on April 10th. This is separate from the ETIAS e-visa requirement that’s been delayed and scheduled to be enforced later this year. We even heard it was causing many to miss flights and a waiver for Brits leaving Greece.

Although initially we thought we were too early, the bag drop off, passport control, and security combined was time-consuming. But we enjoyed a relaxed breakfast at the lounge thanks to Justin’s credit card. It was also good because we had no problem snagging seats and as others struggled to find them later.

Our flight was supposed to be 11 hours, but we arrived more than 30 minutes early. We made it safely home and with a lot of the day left to unpack, run errands, and get settled. 

Throughout the trip, we all learned and reminisced a lot considering the contributions from Greece and Turkey on our education, culture, and society. So much of our vocabulary has Greek origins. As the dad says in the movie, “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”: Give me a word, any word, and I show you that the root of that word is Greek.

I also learned that Mama Kim gets stressed by the fancy showers as the partitions led to water leaking on to the bathroom floors and the Greeks call lotion “body milk”.

I will most definitely miss the homemade and local Greek yogurt doused in yummy honey and all the different Greek dishes we tried along the way. Hopefully, I’ll come back to Greece again - partly because we missed Patmos and Rhodes and nearby Ephesus which is technically in Turkey that would have been a part of our cruise.

But furthermore, as several people pointed out to me that Cynthia sounded like a Greek name and indeed it is! It’s another name for the goddess, Artemis who was born on Mount Cynthus on Delos island near Mykonos. Hopefully, I can visit one day!

So I leave Greece with so much gratitude due to the warm hospitality, adventures, and great food! For hopefully not the last time, Efharisto!

It’s Greek to Me

Our hotel Academias is in a swanky shopping neighborhood, but as it’s a boutique hotel in an old building, the systems were a bit of an issue. We were used to plumbing sensitivities, but a little bit of a surprise here considering the nightly rate and as the front desk associate advised, it’s like this in Greece everywhere.

But we also woke up to the electricity being out and as a precaution, didn’t take the elevators even though there was minimal electricity. We did revive ourselves with a scrumptious breakfast before heading out. The hotel does promote its Greek education roots with inspiring quotes and it’s Plato lounge and bar:









On our way to the bus stop as I walked ahead, I was able to evade a bit of water being thrown from a 3rd floor balcony and heard some Greeks calling the person above stupid. I was able to warn Justin and my mom just in time before buckets of water being thrown over - my mom thought I was yelling about a bug, but I was saving her perm and from being absolutely drenched. As we waited for the bus, we saw a person continue to water plants and just toss lots of water over the balcony. It felt very European.

We took the #230 bus through the city and passed Syntagma Square where we saw the ending of the Changing of the Guards at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. The guards were wearing navy today instead of the white we saw last Sunday. We also saw French flags paired with the Greek flags lining the road, presumably in honor of President Macron’s visit. Last night in the square, we saw an Armenian Genocide Remembrance demonstration as we cabbed it to dinner - lots going on in this historical square.

We arrived after a few easy stops at Philopappou Hill and only walked up a little to the Prison of Socrates. Traditionally believed to be where he was held, tried, and executed, but it may just be symbolic as historians believe the actual prison was near the Athenian Agora. Either way it was fun to visit:





At the summit, is the Filopappos Monument which we could see from other hills and a church. But we didn’t make the climb and enjoyed another view of the Acropolis:





We walked back down and actually in between the hills of Philopappou and Areopagus. We saw people last week climbing Areopagus and again today, as it’s where St. Paul preached. As my mom reminded me, her grandfather’s saint name was Paul. We enjoyed the buskers’ music and what appears to be Greek Boy Scout troops all over. A selfie of us walking down:



Along the hill and in less than 10 minutes, we could see the Temple of Hephaestus and Ancient Agora:





Five minutes from there and further down, we saw the Roman Agora and Tower of the Winds. We opted to look from the outside instead of entering, as we just generally enjoyed the buskers and people-watching.



The Tower of the Winds, at the other end of the Agora entrance is an ancient octagonal meteorological station. With sundials and a water clock, it also had a wind vane that merchants used to estimate when their next shipment would arrive in port:



Then we found ourselves in the heart of Monastiraki Square and walked up to Varvokias Agora or Central Food Market. Super authentic and local, it smelled fishy but you could tell it was all super fresh:





Then we meandered through shopping alleys and streets and stopped in for iced coffee and freddo cappuccino at a café. It wasn’t even 1 pm yet, but we had leisurely done a big loop. The weather was absolutely ideal for our last full day in Greece. After our rest, we returned to the hotel for some midafternoon respite.

Five minutes from our hotel and on our way to dinner, I suggested drinks at the rooftop bar of the Hotel Grande Bretagne based on a suggestion by my friend Jamie. It’s one of the oldest and fanciest hotels - surprisingly, there was a lot of security but they let us through so we could enjoy the epic views and the sun preparing to set with heavenly rays:









Mama Kim had fun taking photos as we were getting tipsy and enjoying the vibes of our last night:







I had booked Nolan Athens for dinner which is a Greek-Japanese fusion restaurant. Being a bit tipsy, we refrained from alcohol, but I enjoyed this olive lemonade:



We shared cucumber salad with a goat yogurt and shiso dressing, a fresh crab salad with merengue, seabream tartare with pistachio, Pilmeni - a seafood noodle in beef broth and lemongrass, scallops, Thai-style shrimp, rice cakes with miso and goat cheese, skirt steak, and chocolate dessert. All “nostimo” and hit the spot!



On our walk home, we walked through the Greek food and beverage festival being held in Syntagma Square. We enjoyed some live music and dancing!



My mom said she’s being waiting for an opportunity to yell “Opa” and smash some plates on this trip. I said I think they only do that at weddings and if she wanted to, she should just do it randomly. Obviously, I was joking but the festival definitely felt very authentically Greek!

By Air, Land, and Sea

The morning views as I walked downhill to the gym:









And from the treadmill:



We had a leisurely breakfast which we opted to have in the restaurant instead of our balcony. Photo credit to Mama Kim:



We relaxed and sunbathed until our late checkout until 2ish and headed to the airport for our 4:30ish flight. The flight is just ~30 minutes to Athens and upon arrival, our terminal bus passed a lot of fancy cars and a press corps on our way to the gate. A local let us know French President Macron was arriving and our driver was a little delayed due to a police checkpoint.

He eventually dropped us off at Academias Hotel. I had picked a different hotel in order to mix things up for our second weekend in Athens. Here’s a rooftop view of the Acropolis:



Originally, I had reservations earlier as our cruise would have returned us around 8 am, but in trying soak in Santorini and afternoon flight, I was able to push back our reservation at Cookoovaya. We shared sea bream carpaccio and a cheese pie, and for mains we had lamp chops, skirt steak, and grouper and a peach tart for dessert:



I’m grateful we have successful traveled these last 5 days in having to call an audible on our canceled cruise. With planes to and from the islands, car rental in Crete, and ferry from Crete to Santorini, I told my family we have conquered Greece by air, land, and sea!

Santorini

We woke up and walked essentially across the street to our high-speed Seajets ferry that transported us about two hours from Crete to Santorini. The ferry was new and clean, and we had a doughnut and yogurt for breakfast. 

Here’s a photo of the boat in the old port in Santorini and people disembarking. As our private tour guide, Joanna and our trusty driver, both locals, drove us up the mountain, we could see the boat off for its next island then eventually Athens. 







The name "Santorini" is a contraction of Saint Irene, after an old church in Perissa and due to Venetian / Italian influences. But the official island name is Thera - it is the largest island of a circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera and the southernmost member of the Cyclades group of islands. It is essentially the rim of an old active volcano and only Thera and Thirasia are inhabited. 

As the port is in the south and our hotel is in the north, I decided to book a private and customizable tour to essentially have a one way transfer, to kill time before afternoon check-in, and to sightsee the southern part of the island. Knowing us, I knew it would be difficult for us to leave the hotel or go too far after settling in. 

So first, we learned about the white wine grapes which are protected by having the vines wrapped like wreaths. The ring formation protects the grapes from the wind and the sun, and never watered as the volcanic earth and pumice rocks soak in water from the sea and rain and replenishes the vines. You just saw rings of grapes all over the island…



We then walked through Megalochori, a well-preserved village in the southern part of the island and with its classic Cycladic architecture:









We stopped for this panorama viewpoint and where we could see the circular ring of the caldera:



In the middle, Palaia Kameni which is inactive on the left and Nea Kameni island which is an active volcano on the right:



There was only one cruise ship in the harbor. Joanna said the most she’s seen is 7 at the height of tourist season and for this island population of just 15,000. 



As we parked at the southern Akrotiri Lighthouse, we saw a whole slew of Koreans across two cars, but didn’t talk to them. I thought my mom would as she hung back while Justin and I walked up and enjoyed the views: 





The small island in the front and left is called Aspronisi or “White Island” as it’s made of pumice:



Next, at the Red Beach we enjoyed a violinist and took in the deep red cliffs due to the volcanic landscape:





Although we initially declined it, we ultimately decided to pop into the Akrotiri Archaeological Site. We learned then Joanna majored in archaeology at university in Crete and her grandfather and great grandfather were involved in the original excavations of this once-flourishing Minoan city, buried in volcanic ash for over 3,500 years. Here’s a model:



Then the covered ruins with an easy viewing and accessible platform: 





It’s several stories deep - we also learned Santorini buildings today can’t be higher than three stories due to the possibility of earthquakes:



And more large original jugs like we saw at Knossos:



For lunch, we were brought to Taverna Perivolos where we ordered Santorini Fava, a local dish of fried tomatoes (Santorini is famous for their tomatoes), grilled octopus, mussels, and calamari washed down with a Radler. We were also shown Greek hospitality with espresso liquor:





The tavern was in front of Perissa Black Sand Beach. In addition to Red and Black, there’s a White Beach only accessible by boat - all three colors are due to the varying volcanic sediment:



After passing several Venetian castles and windmills, we visited the capital, Fira with its busy shopping streets and square:







Then we drove to our hotel passing by the terraces that are no longer used for farming as everything is now imported and eastern views from the very high highway: 





Here’s our hotel, Mystique, awashed in the signature white of the northern Oia village with many steps on this hillside:



After the welcome lemonade drink and being checked in by the front desk associate who loves all things Korean and BTS, we were shown our 2 bedroom suite which was white on the inside and cavernous:





With a nice, but drizzly and cloudy view:











I managed to motivate and hopped into the jacuzzi which soothed my aching shoulder (it was diagnosed as being impinged right before this trip):



I tried to convince the others to join, but they rested in comfy beds. Mama Kim did play photographer for a bit:





The cliché activity is to watch the sunset from Oia town. Although it was cloudy, we decided to go as it’s our only full night here. We called a taxi for Mama Kim and headed to the town center where we saw lots of people from around the world. But it wasn’t that crowded as there were no cruisers. 









Here’s Thirasia island, the only other inhabited island in the caldera:



Mama Kim hung back while we walked up to the panorama point where I caught her taking photos of us:





Photos from the sunset panorama point:







Recommended by my brother’s friend, we ate at Lotza Tavern where we ordered a salad, mixed seafood and rice, mussels saganaki, and spaghetti: 



Then we popped into some souvenir shops and contacted the hotel for a taxi. These days, the hotels and concierge contact you via WhatsApp and it makes communication pretty seamless. We then navigated the hillside steps back to our room…