Overall
A trip 5 years in the making, finally happened. Even if everything was super last minute, right up to work, packing and getting on-board. Thankfully a few things fortuitously fell into place for P particularly to make this happen
Super awesome place, picturesque everywhere, organized, neat and made for tourism – warm, polite, and very helpful people
In a way, April end turned out to be perfect time for the travel from a crowd perspective; not too crowded but at the same, things were also open. That being said, even in the few days that we were there, we could gradually see the crowd building up
Weather was also almost Bangalore like. However, it gets mighty windy and feels really chilly at times. Jackets had to be deployed in Santorini – so bear that in mind before traveling
As is true for anywhere in Europe, be prepared to walk/ hike a lot. Most of the places are so made for walking that you easily clock up 14K-16K steps without even realizing. If the Apple Watch had a 4th circle, that would also be smashed very easily
Greece is a place steeped in history and every place harkens to it. Most places in the world have it but Greeks take great pride in that & go to great lengths to preserve and showcase it
Best part was the availability of free & public WiFi in a lot of places and with decent speeds to boot as well
The payments nerd in me was super happy to see how widespread the acceptance of tap technology was. Merchants were almost bemused when I had to say mine was a chip card (ICICI really needs to upgrade their travel cards to be tap enabled). That said, the all ubiquitous QR that we see in India is hardly present there. Digital India 😊
Greek visa & paperwork
So so so so super painful, its like they don’t want us to visit only despite the boost to the economy tourists are likely to give (maybe Indians don’t give as much boost). Almost borderline saying like we don’t trust you to return to your country (I definitely want to, if not for anything just to ensure that I get full value out of my streaming apps that don’t work in Greece)
And then there are complexities introduced just for Greece; why the heck does the marriage certificate need to be apostilled (I didn’t even know that this was a word until we had to scramble to get one arranged just before the visa interview)
It was such a thick stack of documents and inevitably they will ask for that one document or part of document that you wouldn’t have included as part of the stack & you have to scramble for it
Worst part of the process is the patriarchal nature displayed. Even if it was P who was sponsoring the trip, the travel guys refused to believe it and said I had to be sponsor for the trip; unbelievable even in this day or age. I am not sure if its just an Indian thing or something that Greece insists on
At the end of all the struggle when you get the visa, its almost exactly for the days of travel and not even a 6 months one at it (despite it being my 2nd visit to Europe and having innumerable visits to US and UK prior to that)
Ultimately, they didn’t provide the most important question that needed answering – whether we wanted to visit a country that doesn’t use a jet spray 😊
Greek people
Warm and helpful people in light of prior racist episodes in Italy (specifically Naples)
Very willing to help and provide directions and especially helpful if you speak a word or two in Greek. The linguist in P was over joyed and she ended up using a few of the common local phrases to the delight of a lot of people she interacted with
Almost everybody associated with the travel sector we spoke to, did talk about how difficult things were from an economic standpoint. Most folks had another job apart from being a guide especially as tourism is pretty much a 8/9 month job for the year. Tour guides in a lot of these places actually majored in archaeology and always had a treasure trove of Greek myths and stories to share
Tourists aside, it’s a delight to see so many elderly local people actively & enthusiastically visiting a lot of these locations – Their zest for life is pretty much inspirational
Greek food
OMG, the food is spectacular especially if you are vegetarian or vegan. We didn’t face any trouble finding good food anywhere
The food in Greece, be it Moussaka, Souvalaki, Spanakopita, Gemista, were all uniformly lip-smackingly good - Naxos fries made with potatoes sourced from Naxos was particularly awesome
Vegan food joints were literally everywhere and its not like a fad or something; almost part of life
What I quite didn’t get was the ubiquitous nature of the burger culture in Greece; as in, whats the connect between burgers and Greece. I anyways wasn’t complaining as I possibly had the best veg burger of my life in Athens and that too with a charcoal bun. And delicious well made potatoes
Desserts – OMG – be prepared to shelve any calorie counting plans. It is as heavenly as it is sinful and temptations abound around every corner
If you love dessert wines, Greece is the place to be. Vinsanto, the local dessert wine from Santorini is incredible. I also found Moscato to be far more easily accessible than I did in Rome
Ferry
Ferries are pretty much the lifeline of getting around the island. Flights are anyday quicker but ferries are kind of integral to your Greek experience and more importantly, have wifi 😊
Through the trip, you definitely know that you are in a foreign country – be it the walking friendly nature of the cities, the cost of food 😊, the wrong side (or maybe the right) side of driving among others but the ferry loading and unloading make you feel like there are things that are familiar. Chaos, absolute chaos was the name of the game there and its possibly the one place where you do have to be very careful. Its impossible to state just how bad it was and you had to load your luggage before the ferry took off almost instantly
We took the flight back from Santorini to Athens and the flight journey was so short that it took more time for us to reach Athens city center from Athens airport. Now that’s a Bangalore traffic joke if you have heard one
Part 2 - Athens, the islands, a small world…… (Part 2)
#travel #travelogues #food #Greece #Athens
Summed it all so well! Looking forward to Part 2 - I am waiting 😎
Hi Vinay,
Your writing is so beautiful. you have chosen the right word for the right moment. Great Job. Your have created curiosity. Expecting more in future. God bless you.