When in Rome? When in Greece...

Nuns Watching the Sunset Over Athens

Dave and I arrived in Athens late on Friday afternoon. An hour delayed flight, a long wait for luggage, a 40-minute very crowded train ride into the center of the city, and a misdirected walk to our hotel left us with just enough time to plop down our sweaty backpacks and catch the Acropolis for an hour before it closed. While I wish we had arrived earlier, giving us more time to explore the impressive sight, we got there just in time to see the sun start setting over Athens and as the lights of the city were beginning to glow. When the Acropolis closed we followed a small crowd of people to a nearby rock/lookout point where we sat and watched the rest of the beautiful sunset. We sat there until the sky was officially going dark and then finally headed back to Plaka, the area of Athens where we were staying.

View Over Athens from the Acropolis

Plaka, upon first glance, seems to be extremely charming. However, it is, in fact, completely overpriced and a bit of a tourist trap. It's a great place to stay for one night in Athens (which is actually all you need) as you are very central, close to all the sights, and as an English speaking tourist it is very easy to navigate. However, I would not recommend spending any more time in Plaka than perhaps a few minutes to wander a few of the little side streets. Also, be very careful as not to be lured into one of the touristy, overpriced restaurants with mediocre food. The managers of these restaurants are extremely good salesmen, spilling over with beautiful compliments and offering up free glasses of wine with our dinner. However, if you walk just five minutes outside of Plaka, you can find the same menus for half the price. This is exactly what Dave and I did. We found an adorable little restaurant on a side street and had a romantic little dinner that consisted of Greek Salad (of course) and Dorada which is the local fish here so it's very fresh and very cheap! After dinner we headed to Ermou street for a beer. The street was packed with hundreds of locals, young and old, sitting at outdoor tables at the dozens of bars and cafes, drinking everything from Espressos to pints of beer. The energy was amazing. This was also the first taste I had of the “Greek schedule” where everything starts, well, late…to put it mildly, even by New York standards. We had trouble getting a seat for dinner at 11 PM and the area where we got drinks only seemed to be getting crowded around 1 AM. Dad, I can see why you love Athens so much. You would fit right in! We headed back to the hotel at a decent hour (um, 3 AM) as we had to wake up at 6:30 AM to catch our ferry to Paros.

Street in Plaka

The ferries in Greece are an experience unto themselves. They literally feel like cruise ships with restaurants, shops, cabins, and in some cases, even casinos. I would tell you more about the 5-hour ferry ride to Paros, however, I spent the majority of it sleeping under a table in the lounge area of the ship. Needless to say I was just slightly tired from the two and a half hours of sleep I got the night before.

We decided to come to Paros instead of our original plan of heading to Mykonos at the suggestion of my sister, Karina, and her information was right on point. Paros is a perfect alternative to Mykonos. Paros offers all the beaches, food, and nightlife for half the price and half the "I Heart Greece" t-shirt wearing tourists of Mykonos. Everything just feels a bit more authentic here as this is the place where all the Greeks come for their vacation. At first this made it a bit tough to meet people as there was a serious language barrier, but, of course, Dave and I eventually managed to make quite a few fantastic Greek friends!

Noussa Town, Paros

We arrived in Paros a place to stay, as we were told it's better to just book directly with a hotel owner who would approach us at the port entrance. Little did we know what we were really in for. It's like having 100 sweaty and smelly auctioneers screaming things at you all at once, trying to get you to “bid” on their hotel room. It was nuts, but Dave and I are tough. We threw a few elbows and managed to work out an amazing deal for the most perfect place just 5 minutes outside of Noussa. I can tell you now, Noussa, is absolutely the BEST place to stay on Paros. It is a quaint, yet hopping port town filled with shops, galleries, and restaurants and bars galour. The little streets and alleyways are packed with young people, as the older, wiser generation watches from balconies above. This is exactly what I pictured in my dreams of Greece. We are staying at a guesthouse called The Young Inn. We have a little studio apartment with a bathroom, AC, and a little kitchen for only 30 Euros a night! We also have a little terrace that sits in the garden with a table and chairs where Dave and I have been eating our breakfast every morning. In the evenings we have occasional visits from the other guests and guesthouse staff members, who sit at our little table for a beer and perhaps a bite or two of our food. This may sound rather invasive, but it’s just perfect for Dave and me. What can I say? That’s how we roll. Cooking our own food for many of our meals has saved us SO much money. Dave has also already mastered making Tzaziki and Greek Salad, so I am not missing out on anything. We have gone out for food in the lively port twice, but generally that has been for our second dinner that is generally eaten around midnight. Last night we had a fabulous “second dinner” with a few of our new friends who guided us through delicious local fare such as fried calamari, grilled octopus, stewed lamb, and my favorite introduction: Marides. Marides are little fish, not unlike Sardines, that are fried and eaten whole. They are delicious! Especially when washed down with a few glasses of Ouzo.

Dave Making Tzatziki

Our days on Paros have been spent exploring the island by way of our trusty rental moped (the only acceptable method of transportation here). We have done a pretty good job exploring many of Paros' beaches. We were told Golden Beach on the southwest coast of the island was the most beautiful beach on Paros, and indeed it was. However, what we were not told is that Golden Beach is also the windiest beach on the island. It's rather hard to relax and just take in the beauty of a place when you are being whipped by sand and dodging flying umbrellas. So while Golden Beach is as beautiful as they say, I would recommend heading to the equally beautiful Santa Maria Beach instead. Yes, it's a bit more crowded than Golden Beach, but it's also a lot more exciting with activities such as beach volleyball and several restaurants and beach bars to choose from. And it is possible to avoid the crowds here if you head to the far end of the beach. This was the only beach we went back to twice!

Santa Maria Beach

This is a great time to actually explain the schedule (or lack thereof) here in Greece. It took me a little while to catch onto how things work around here, but I believe I finally had my "when in Greece" night last night. The days go something like this: wake up around noon and ride your rented moped to the beach. Bake in the sun for about 6 hours, only getting up to cool off in the water, grab a beer, or if you are really ambitious, play a game of beach volleyball. Leave the beach around 7 or 8 PM (when the sun starts to go down) and head to grab a light "first dinner" before heading off for a nap until about 11PM. At midnight you eat your “second dinner” which generally lasts until about 2 AM. After dinner you go to one of the 19230829014 cafes (I really have never seen more cafes in my life) to have coffee BEFORE heading out to the bars and clubs. Mind you, this means you are sitting down to a relaxed coffee at about 2am. Then you dance your ass off until 5am when the clubs actually close (that surprised me, I have to say). Not to worry though! The party continues after you head to the store to get more food and beer which is then taken to the beach where you watch the sunrise over the Agean Sea. You finally role into bed around 7am, sleep until about 11am, and do it all over again. This was our night last night. I am slightly surprised I can even write at the moment.

So you say "when in Rome", I say 'when in Greece". Seeing as we are heading to Rome next week...I can only imagine what we are in for!

We leave tomorrow for Santorini which, as most of you know, is supposed to be one of the most beautiful places on earth. This will also be the place we celebrate Dave's birthday (the 11th)! I will share more from there.

Until then…

As always, I love and miss you all!!