Greece

Visited: June 1990, September 2005, July 2021, July 2022

Duration of visit: 30 days

Capital city: Athens

Population: 10.70 million (2022)

Estimated reading time: 14 minutes

• Graduation trip to Greece when entertainment and night life gained priority to sightseeing and cultural experience (1990).
• Business trips to Athens were short, but interesting experiences to understand commerce mindset of Greek businessmen.
• Overland family trip in 2021 with our own car from Slovenia:
  • Exploring Halkidiki peninsula: beautiful sandy beaches, warm sea and delicious food.
  • Driving a car through narrow streets of Athens, discovering ancient Greek inheritance: Acropolis, Panathenaic stadium.
  • Natural beauty of Crete island – visiting different kind of beach every day.
  • Whitewashed, cubiform houses of Fira and Oia clinging on cliffs above sea of volcanic Santorini island.
  • Eastern Orthodox Monasteries on the top of unique rock formations in Meteora.

Greece is the country of the first Olympic Games in 776 BC, place where democracy was born, first historian, first philosopher, miles of coastline, countless days of sunshine, more archaeological museums than any other country.

But it is also the country where there are more tourists than Greeks in the summertime. Therefore, it is no wonder that tourism contributes to about 20% of the country’s GDP, which is the highest percentage for any industrialized country in the world.

I visited Greece on a various occasion as a student, businessman, independent backpacker and with a family. If in the early stage of my exploration I didn’t appreciate the country that much, through the time and especially recently in the 2020s, I completely changed my position.

I consider Greece as the top destination for the summer/autumn holidays in Europe, where you can combine the sightseeing with beautiful historical landmarks and relaxing on a beach in a touristic environment or isolated, pristine beaches.

I visited Greece for the first time on a graduation trip in 1990. We were travelling on a train from Slovenia through Croatia and Serbia to Macedonia and continued to Greece by bus. At that age it didn’t really matter much where we were going, because the most important goal was to have fun and party. We were a group of 30+ teenagers who were about to enter the final year at high school accompanied by our school teacher, her friend and a guide.

We visited Athens, some beach towns, Acropolis, a few museums and historical monuments. At that time, we couldn’t care less for the cultural experience. Many friends started to drink alcohol and smoke cigarettes. For some it was for the first time to visit a nightclub or gain sex experience.

We were buying cheap t-shirts with extravagant designs not available in Yugoslavia at that time. I brought back home a bottle of Greek amber spirit Metaxa for my dad.

Later, in 2005, when I used to work for a London-based multinational company as a sales representative for Central and Eastern Europe, I visited Greece several times. My job was to supervise and analyze Greek market of heaters, fans, humidifiers and purifiers and push the sales of these products. We had a great distributor for Bionaire branded products, so meetings were straight-forward, well organized and efficient. I was left with plenty of time to explore DIY stores and hypermarkets that were selling HVAC products.

In the evening I enjoyed delicious Greek cuisine in fine atmosphere or just strolling around Athens. When on a business trip, I don’t really appreciate that much local attractions and it is difficult to combine business and pleasure. However, having different perspective of a country, visiting contrasting areas, malls and coming face to face with business people through commercial meeting opened me a new perspective on local life.

It can be quite chaotic driving around Athens, but I never had any bad experience with aggressive drivers, traffic jams or problems to find a parking. My trips to Greece suddenly stopped, when we realized that Greek distributers cheated on us and started to import similar products under their own brand name.

In 2021 Greece was the main destination on a one-month family trip through the Balkans. Driving a car gave us many opportunities to explore the beautiful coast on mainland and islands, moving around independently, exploring all kind of beaches, stopping at the most beautiful spots and progressing according to our mood.

It was the second half of July when Europe was still skeptical about Covid-19 pandemic situation and most of the tourist facilities were empty.

Halkidiki Peninsula in the Northern Greece, close to the city of Thessaloniki, is known for sandy beaches in sheltered bays of three fingers. We avoided seaside resorts, explored beautiful natural landscape and discovered some exotic beaches.

The water temperature raised up to 29°C, which was the highest temperature of any sea I have ever swum in. The feeling was strange and I knew it was not right. When the sea water is so hot, you just know that something is wrong with the nature on this planet.

What is the most impressive about this area of famous three fingers, are countless sandy bays with possibilities to swim and enjoy the nature practically by yourself. The structure of visitors is very different form the most famous Greek islands. Independent travelers from Balkans, campers and many locals; no charter flights or big groups that can easily occupy any beach on the islands.

If there was a list of special arrivals to any of the places that I visited on my trips, Athens night arrival would definitely take a top 5 position. The owner of a boutique hotel – Mike, gave us the indication to call him when arriving in the area, where our hotel was located. I told him that I would be fine and with navigation I would be able to find his hotel easily, especially arriving late in the evening, when the traffic should be less chaotic.

How wrong I was!

The local neighborhood was full of narrow streets, tables with chairs and people on the side streets in front of restaurants and bars. After receiving Google instruction to turn left on a street that seems as a pedestrian area and being filled with tables and people sitting in the thoroughfare, I decided to call Mike for help. He showed up in no time on a motorbike and indicated to follow him in my car.

We were only 100 meters from the hotel, but had to pass through narrow alleys, interrupting people during their dinner, moving chairs and tables to open a way for us.

Due to Covid-19 restrictions it was not allowed to sit inside restaurants, consequently the dinning areas were extended well over usual boundaries, especially at night.

Next day, it was time for Acropolis, Panathenaic Stadium and other historical monuments of Ancient Greece. I wish we could have started to walk toward Acropolis earlier, but the kids were still tired from previous night long drive. It was for the first time on the trip, that we came along crowds of international tourists, especially Americans. It was hot and guards were annoying, screaming and giving orders all the time. Nevertheless, Acropolis is an outstanding sight.

An ancient citadel is located on a rocky outcrop on a hill above the city of Athens, offering beautiful view of all other highlights of the city: from new Olympic stadium to Panathenaic Stadium, Acropolis museum, Plaka, ancient Agora, Mount Lycabettus, Hellenic Parliament, etc.

Built during the second half of the 5^th century BC, The Acropolis, and the Parthenon in particular, is the most iconic monument of the ancient Greek civilization.

It continues to stand as a symbol in many ways: the symbol of democracy and the Greek civilization, the beginning of Western civilization and the icon of European culture.

The Parthenon was dedicated to Athena Parthenos, the patron goddess of the city of Athens and goddess of wisdom. From the time of its completion, the entire Acropolis had been sacked, burned, blown up, and eventually reconstructed multiple times over. The last restoration was finished in March 2021, only a few months before my visit.

If there is another main historic attraction of Athens that I would like to emphasize, then it would be Panathenaic Stadium. Originally built in 330BC, rebuilt I marble by 144AD with capacity for 50,000 seats and later in the 4^th century largely abandoned. Following several transformations over its long history, it eventually became the home of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896.

Panathenaic Stadium hosted the opening and closing ceremonies and 4 of the 9 contested sports. Walking around historical stadium, the only one in the world built entirely out of marble, is special.

During audio tour I was explained all the historical landmarks, enjoyed the most spectacular views and posted as an Olympic winner on the podium. The bravest and strongest are allowed to run or walk the full length of 178 meters around dromos at midday heat.

Athens is a city that can be explored for a few days easily, especially by history lovers. I am not very keen on Greece history, the heat wave was just beginning, the kids preferred the sea over museums. Therefore, the next move was … back to the beach.

Among many islands in Greece it is not easy to chose which ones to visit. After a long analysis I decided to choose two that would represent the extremes. The island of Crete – a big island with many opportunities for independent exploring, swimming on beautiful beaches, mountaineering, driving around unexplored areas. Santorini Island - ranked the world's top island by many magazines and travel sites, visited by an estimated 2 million tourists annually. They could not be more different.

We hired an apartment outside of Chania in the northern coast of Crete. The whole area seemed as abandoned, almost nobody on the beach, apartment building was empty and cruising around the island traffic was easily manageable. It was not for the first time in Greece that apartment complex owners could hardly speak some English. I am surprised how it is possible that people, who work in tourism and deal with international tourists, cannot communicate in English.

There are three things that I will never forget from Crete Island:

1. Balos Beach is the most photographed beach in Crete, a very favorite subject of all tourist guides for Greece. Everything is famous about this beach or a bay actually: many celebrities were seen there, the famous turquoise waters, the wild natural beauty and the beautiful exotic scenery.

The light turquoise water in the lagoon slowly changing to dark blue is stunning. Also, the crowds at the beach in the main touristic season.

Even though we have not seen many tourists around Crete, we decided to drive to Balos early in the morning. The last 10 kilometers of the road were a tough challenge for a small sedan car, but we were happy to meet only a few dozens of cars at the parking lot. A short walk on the plateau until a magic view over lagoon opened in front of us. We were all flying downhill to jump into calm turquoise water of the lagoon, that is rather shallow and warm.

The sand is mostly soft and occasionally pink, a phenomenon resulting from millions of tiny, crushed shells. Snorkeling in the open water outside of lagoon was nothing special though. In the early afternoon more and more people were coming, but we didn’t realize this, until driving back and noticing a few kilometers long que of cars that were parked along the road.

2. Falasarna Beach is located on the Western part of Crete island, where waves and wind seem to be at its highest. Voted as one of the best 10 beaches in Europe, was pure fun. Huge and constant waves are not good for swimming, but they are excellent amusement for kids and adults., who want to play with the restless sea. I have never seen so many people on a beach laughing and joking, while the sea was turning them around, bouncing, submerging and pulling them without control.

3. Watercity Waterpark outside of Heraklion can be just another aquatic park as many others in the World. But when it is almost empty, the fun is exponential. The whole family turned to a bunch of kids, having fun on great variety of slides until parents couldn’t track the kids any more. Another benefit of restrictions that were brought by Covid-19 pandemic.

Ferry network in Greece is spectacular, efficient and easy to use. If the first ferry from Athens to Crete was huge, comfortable and slow, the second speed boat to Santorini was quite the opposite.

As soon as the captain ordered the release from the pier and the ship sailed out of the calm bay area and speeded up to a cruise speed, we started to move big time. All passengers who were overpaying for extremely expensive coffee a few minutes before started to scream and curse unnecessary expense.

I have never seen so many people throwing up, looking pale and being desperate to reach the final destination.

Cleaning crew was busier than the captain, offering plastic bags and collecting them a few moments later filled up with load. I was one of a handful of survivors without using a plastic bag.

Santorini island is simply fantastic. One way or the other, it is a must see. It looks as if all foreign visitors were there, renting ATV’s or watching the sunset at Oia. There were hardly any cars with international registration on the island, so my Audi A4, year 2004 was the star. Majority of the vehicles were compact, since the roads are narrow and island is pretty small (76 square kilometers).

What is the main reason that the number of visitors easy exceed the local population at 15.000 people?

Santorini does not enchant visitors with the most beautiful sandy beaches in Greece, but with breathtaking landscapes, stunning sunsets, whitewashed buildings, and blue-domed churches in towns of Oia and Fira.

If the wind in Crete was blowing at every single spot of the island, in Santorini the strength of it was at much higher level. Especially in the viewpoint on the western parts of the island, the wind was blowing so strong that I didn’t have any desire to get out of the car.

Sunset in Oia is probably the most overrated attraction of Santorini. It could have been beautiful, but with so many people around sitting on every centimeter of tight little streets and winding steps around town it is absolutely impossible to enjoy the sunset. I used that time to stroll around the colorful village, which is perched on the cliffs of volcanic caldera on the northern tip of the island.

The village is a listed historic monument; its residential alleys and lanes carved into the face of the caldera housing sailors and crew have been converted to boutique hotels, restaurants and souvenir shops or ateliers.

The most photographed scenery of Santorini and probably the whole Greece are blue domes churches located in Oia.

They are built at the edge of the cliffs, somehow difficult to spot. Many instructions, how to find them, how to access them and where the best spots to photograph them, can be found online. I preferred just walking around, getting lost in a dead-end alley, window watching the art shops, passing by luxury restaurants and finding quiet spots from where the beautiful scenery of white houses, blue domes and rough nature can be savored.

Santorini is famous for grapes, wine and vineyards, especially in the southern part of the island. Due to volcanic rocks many of the roots found on the vines on Santorini are centuries old. Vines are kept unstacked and trained low to the ground in a basket shape that helps protect the grapes from the fierce winds and heat of the island.

Many vineries, wine museums and wine tasting tours are showing that this industry is not so insignificant in Santorini.

One of the very few places that I remembered from my high-school trip was Meteora, with its Orthodox monasteries on the top of strange rock formation. I wanted to visit it again in 2021, when driving north – back to North Macedonia.

It was hot, the kids were desperate and bored, but we still manage to enjoy three monasteries, including the Great Meteoron Monastery and Holy Trinity Monasteries. Being the biggest, it doesn’t mean they are the most attractive, but they have the best view to others.

It is actually more rewarding finding a good view point from where you can observe the monasteries that are built on immense natural pillars and hill-like rounded boulders. It is amazing how these important structures could have been built between 12^th and 16^th century with quite basic tools, but the inspiring energy and dedication.

Greece is unique. From its historical importance for the whole humanity, through military dictatorship in the 20^th century, to sorrowful economic collapse in 21^st century.

Made up of numerous islands, blessed with 18 UNESCO World Heritage Sites, surrounded by sea from all over, sunshine, exquisite cuisine and laid-back atmosphere. it attracts every year twice as much tourists as local habitants – over 17 million.

Interesting enough, there are still remote places, where I was able to enjoy the real Greek ambience far away from tourist attraction. Even if I am not a history, nor museum lover, I highly appreciated historical monuments from Ancient Greece: Necropolis and Panathenaic Stadium.

Bottom line, I fell in love with Greece and I will visit it again soon.