I had read so much about the islands filling up with locals over the Easter holiday, I decided to spend extra time in Athens before taking the overnight ferry to Crete. Having seen the ferries heading away from Athens overflowing with passengers, I wasn't surprised by how quiet the capital became. Even before the holiday, I had felt that Athens' bad reputation was undeserved. Perhaps in August, the advice to see the Acropolis and the Archaeological Museum and get out would be valid, but in April I enjoyed pleasant temperatures, decorative flowers and bearable crowds.
True, much was shut down for the holiday, but I had already seen all the museums on my list, plus the market, and I had no trouble finding places to eat. Monday, I took the funicular up Lykavittos Hill and walked down, all of Athens spread out before me. I even did a little souvenir shopping. My younger sister collects owls, and I could hardly leave Athena's city without buying an Athenian owl for her.
At first I planned to start my visit to the islands with Santorini, but I seemed to be traveling too early in the season to be sure of a ferry from Santorini to Crete, and flying meant backtracking via Athens. Crete won out because I wanted to hike the Samaria Gorge before I got any older and more decrepit. And then I just had to visit Minoan Knossos, even older than Mycenae. The Samaria Gorge easily exceeded my expectations, and the glimpse I had of Crete's remote southern coast put it firmly on my "next time" list.
The islands were a very different experience to Northern Greece and the Peloponnese, not least because I encountered many more tourists. Especially on Rhodes when a cruise ship docked. But staying in the old town let me avoid the worst of the crowds, and really soak in the atmosphere of yet another historical era, the aftermath of the Crusades.
Aside from the very evocative Asclepion, I visited Kos as much for its easy access to Turkey as for the island itself. After six weeks in Greece I was ready to move on, from Turkey I would fly to the Crimea, and then take trains and buses to Moldova, Romania and Slovakia, among other places. You can read about the rest of the trip here.
Am I glad I finally made it to Greece? Was it worth waiting for? Do I hope to go back? Absolutely!
Several thousand years of civilization - both of Greeks and of occupiers - have left evocative ruins and stunning museums. Geography has gifted the Greeks with both the most beautiful sea and the most inhospitable hills. But what most surprised me about Greece was its unexpected diversity.
You can spend a morning in big-city Athens, walking in the footsteps of Plato, and the evening on the isolated rock of Monemvasia, once home to the Venetians. In the north, Turkey is just across the border, and in Kos, it's just over the horizon, and the years of occupation have left their mark. On Rhodes, the occupiers of note were the Knights of St. John, while on Crete the museums record the German invasion of WWII.
From Thessaloniki to Gerolimenas, from Delphi to Kos, the language and the food and the people were Greek, but each place was unique.
While I traveled on my own in the north and on the islands, with little difficulty, I'm still glad I visited the Peloponnese with the tour group. I enjoyed sitting back and letting someone else take care of the logistics - transport, hotels and many meals were problems for David and Spiros, not for me. And aside from the local guide in Mystras, all the guides were fun and informative.
Sharing a bedroom was never a problem, and sharing the discoveries with a well-informed and well-traveled group was a bonus. Will I travel with a group again? No question. Do I recommend this tour? Also no question, especially now it's going to Hydra instead of Spetses.
Happy travels!
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