Back from Greece and back in Abaco…Again
We are now back at our winter home in Hope Town on our sailboat on Elbow Cay in the Bahamas. Two weeks ago, we were on a cruise ship crossing the Atlantic Ocean where we departed from Rome, Italy. Two weeks before that we were in Greece touring several great spots.
The Greece trip was a celebration of our 20th wedding anniversary. For this trip we decided to visit the small village in the Peloponnesian area of Greece where Dena’s grandparents grew up. Of course, when you travel this far, you should spend the time visiting other areas of Greece as well.
Dena on the west side of Corfu, Greece
Except for Athens I had not been to Greece before and, frankly, I did not have really high expectations for this trip. But Greece turned out to be a fabulous place to visit. It does not have the spectacular historical items on every corner like Italy, but it does have a lot of history and many interesting things to see both in the famous tourist spots and other relatively unknown areas. Other than the historical sites, there are two things that make Greece a great place to visit.
First, it is even less expensive than most other areas we have traveled on the Mediterranean. All-in travel costs (except airfare of course) of $170 to $180 per day was easy to do in Greece, even when eating a meal out on most days.
15th century Monastery in Meteora, Greece
Second, like Portugal, almost everyone in Greece speaks the English language well. They study English starting in grade school and continue all the way through high school. This not only makes Greece easy to get around logistically, but it also allows you to get to know the Greek people and learn about their culture and way of life.
The most surprising aspect of Greece that I did not know is the Greek mainland is a very mountainous country. It is mountainous everywhere, both on the coast and inland as well. This fact makes Greece, scenically, a very beautiful country in its own right. The waterfront vistas were spectacular everywhere we went.
View of Harbour from Fortress at Napflio, Greece
However, this mountainous terrain of Greece, in my opinion, is the only real drawback to traveling in Greece. We prefer to travel in Europe by train, but the mountainous terrain makes train service in Greece not nearly as widespread as in other European countries like Italy and France. As such, traveling to small towns in Greece mostly requires either taking a bus or renting a car, which we do not find nearly as relaxing as taking the train. Never-the-less visiting Greece is a great trip that everyone should have on their “bucket list.”
One last positive aspect about a Greek trip is the weather is perfect. We were in Greece from Mid-September through most of October and the weather was spring-like. It was warm enough I wore shorts every day, even at night.
Rather than continue on glowingly, I recommend you do your own research about Greece and view the pictures on this blog post to motivate you to plan your own visit.
Northeastern View from Island of Hydra, Greece
Dining on the harbor of another beautiful Greek island (cannot remember which one)
Dena having a snack on cruise ship halfway across the Atlantic
Satisfaction strapped down for hurricane season in Green Turtle Cay just before launching
Sharks off the end of our boat in Hope Town (Best not to swim today)
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Ted, I really enjoyed reading about your Greek adventure. As soon as I saw the sharks,however, I reverted back to my initial “fear” from the movie JAWS. Thanks for sending this to me. Happy belated anniversary and remember, treasure every minute together.
Love, Connie