October 21 through 27, 2022
We finished up our tour of Morocco with a lovely dinner at Rick's Cafe in Casablanca (we're fans now :-). The flight to Greece went well; we connected through Istanbul and even got fed on both flights (even though the Istanbul to Athens leg was barely an hour). When we arrived we were picked up by Art's backgammon friend Tony and his wife Maggie. There's nothing like being greeted at the airport in an unfamiliar country, even if we barely knew them (Art says he'd never met Tony in person before). They have turned out to be the most gracious and hospitable people we've ever met. It's like they are the welcoming committee for Greece.
We wound up going out for Greek food (best lamb chops ever!) the evening we arrived although we said we'd already eaten. We ate again anyway 😄 Tony and Maggie's house is in a suburb of Athens and is absolutely amazing. It's got 3 floors and an elevator (!), a pool, a jacuzzi, and lots of acreage. The views of the Aegean Sea from the terrace are amazing (already added to my numerous sunrise and sunset photo collection). The next day they took us to Athens to check out the flea/artist markets, see the Acropolis (from a distance, we'd been there before), and have an amazing Greek lunch (kebabs etc) with Tony's daughter and son-in-law (one of their 6 kids). Lots of meat in this country, all of it delicious. Art got to play lots of backgammon with Tony (and Maggie who is also a serious player) so he's a happy camper. And as an added bonus, they have an adorable 1-year-old dog named Memphis so Deena's a happy camper too 🐶
After spending two nights at their house, the two of us flew off to see 2 Greek islands (Santorini and Mykonos). Probably the most popular and populated, but we hadn't been before so we just had to see them. Turns out end of October was a great time to go since the tourist crowds are mostly gone and the season is nearly done (bargain sales!). I loved Santorini which is very picturesque; we checked out the famous Akrotiri ruins (similar to Pompeii) and took a sunset sailing cruise ⛵. It was a quick visit but worth it! Mykonos was even quicker (we took the 2-hour ferry from Santorini and stayed just one night); we had time to check out the famous windmills (I knew nothing about them before), eat delicious food, and get a Greek massage (just me!). Might as well check out all of the world's massage techniques, amiright? The food was excellent on both islands and our hotels were high-end (since Tony booked them for us).
Side note: the hotel in Santorini was built into the side of the cliff (like many hotels there) so every time we wanted to go anywhere we had to literally hike up a mountain. Maybe it was only about 5-10 minutes and perhaps 30 steps but it felt like many more. Made us think more efficiently about going places 😆
Second side note: Strange thing about Greece is that you cannot flush toilet paper down the toilet 😕 Not my favorite thing and kind of odd in a country that is largely developed and very tourism-driven. At least we can use the water to brush our teeth (but not drink??) and credit cards are much more widely accepted 👍. I'll take my wins where I can find 'em.
Anther side note: I finally discovered the primo photo spots in Santorini (thanks Google) so we got up super early to catch the sunrise there, which was definitely worth it! I wish I had my new zoom lenses for my iPhone (would have really helped) but they are still half a world away thanks to customs issues. I expect I'll have them in December 😞.
Last side note: Everywhere in Santorini there are signs prohibiting drones. I'm guessing they take away from the photo experience for everyone else, plus they're just annoying. We didn't see any until the day we got up for the sunrise (!). I'm sure the locals have a love-hate relationship with tourism, even though it is truly their bread-and-butter. 😑
We have a few more days in Greece (so there will likely be a part 2 blog 👍). Right now we're at Tony and Maggie's Athens apartment which they loaned to us (for free!). This weekend we'll be going to their Halloween toga party (the only reference to Halloween we've seen so far here), playing more backgammon, and then going to see Meteora next week. Stay tuned!
Deena and Art
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