We're back after 3 pretty great weeks. I didn't take notes or blog or take many pictures on this trip. Decided to just enjoy the moments.
We spent 9 days in Crete. 2 in Heraklion just decompressing in a hotel. A week in Chania in a rented house. I love Crete and would return. As I was with my sister, I didn't do much hiking in the countryside as on previous European trips but we certainly walked a lot. Chania is beautiful and a great town to base oneself and explore the western part of Crete. We rented a car for 2 days and explored some of the villages and seaside towns. It's been a long time since I drove a manual and as I'm an anxious driver, I'm not usually the one who does the driving on our trips. But my sister felt she couldn't drive in Greece so....it wasn't so bad after an initial rocky start. Neither of us have any real sense of directions and even with GPS it took a few false turns to get out of town. We'd been warned about crazy Greek drivers but honestly I didn't find them any worse than most. I just stuck to the right and let them whiz past. The roads were fine. Driving in cities though would be a disaster for me. Good I started in the countryside.Now I'm more confident for the next trip.
I joked that the Greek economy would improve if they weren't so generous! Honestly the food portions for example were simply enormous. Honestly, we usually shared a starter and a main and that was enough. And we don't have small appetites. In Crete we always got a desert and glass of ouzo on the house.
We flew from Chania to Athens. Everyone is shocked when we say we quite liked Athens and not just b/c of the archaeological sites and sense of history. We found it clean, funky and friendly. Lots of incredible street art. We did a small tour of this form of self expression. Little pop up coffee shops everywhere. No hassle anywhere.Felt totally safe wandering around at night. And we managed to go to a couple of sketchy neighborhoods. Is it a beautiful picture postcard city? No not exactly. But it is a a lively European metropolis.
Took a 2 hour bus ride from Athens to Naphlio. A lovely town in the Peloponesus. Considered one of the prettiest towns in Greece. Sunday in the town square it was great to see all the young families with small children chasing each other. The old town is filled with guesthouses and cafes. It's a favorite getaway for Athenians.
Last stop was Santorini. By rights we should have done this from Crete but, well....Anyway, I guess it's an island on the bucket list for Greece. It's the one usually on the posters with the jumble of white houses tumbling to the sea. An incredibly beautiful location almost entirely given over to tourism especially in the main towns of Fira and Oia. One
incredible walk from Fira to Oia. Tons of cruise ships. Wouldn't want to be there in summer. October is just right.
We rented a car and drove inland to see some of the smaller less touristed villages. That was great. Personally I'd give Santorini 3 days.
Some personal observations: great for vegetarians, Pauline. A little more expensive than we thought Greece would be.
Everyone we met was extremely friendly and very hardworking. We talked with our airbnb host, young people who took us on a couple of small tours, folks we rented cars from organized by our airbnb host or guesthouse host. They all seemed to work many different jobs, were available when needed, reliable. People seemed more prosperous than I expected. No more
begging or homelessness than I encounter at home. Lots of young families with fancy strollers.
Young people are disillusioned with the political system and don't hold out much hope of change.
One reason that was suggested for the lack of pollution in Athens was that due to the "crisis" people drive less. However, still lots of traffic.
These are very subjective observations based on a quick trip as a tourist.