I’ve been on an adventure lately as you can see. Three countries in three months — that being said, in May, I visited Greece.
Kendra wanted to celebrate her birthday some place new and Greece was chosen! I got an amazing price for my flight from NYC to Greece (directly). The airline of choice was Delta and their customer service on my 9 hour flight was spectacular .
We first arrived in Athens, took the x95 from the airport to the Plaka area of Athens. (6 euro) Where we stayed in Plaka was extremely walk-able and we never had to take another mode of transportation because of our location.
Let me start by saying that Athens, like most major cities is DIRTY! What shocked me the most about their city dirt, was the graffiti. There was graffiti EVERYWHERE! For such a historic city, I expected Athens to look way more “well-kept”. We stayed here for two days, visited the museums and the Acropolis (which was amazing to see). Hundreds of people visit the Acropolis site daily and for good reason, the structure is still standing strong and i can only imagine how magnificent it was then. Dining in Greece also presented different trials for us, for example, some restaurants charge you for bread (1.50 euro) and water (1 euro) but will not let you know this ahead of time, you’ll just see it on your bill. (big hell no for what we’re used to in the states)
The next city was Mykonos, gorgeous island! We only stayed here for one day (there isn’t that much to do here beside eat and go to the beach). So we rented ATVs for 20 euros for one full day and explored the island. Taxis are extremely limited so that’s a better option if you want to save on the cost and have transportation at your disposal. Mykonos has most of the traditional Greek homes that you see in the magazines because of an ordinance where they must have white homes and blue doors and windows. It is just as gorgeous in person as you see in pictures. We also went to Paradise Beach but it was a bit too cool for me so we barely got in.
The last city visited was Santorini, and boy was it beautiful. This was the most luxurious of the three cities. Lush cave homes (which we stayed in), hot tubs, massages, fine dining and even finer people – we had a great time exploring Santorini and an even better time eating. If I had to choose my favorite of the three, it would definitely be Santorini. (Look at the views)
Here’s where we dined
ATHENS
- City Zen – local hot spot where we had brunch. Brunch was good, and decently priced but i was shocked that hot chocolate was so expensive (4.50 euro on average in Greece)
- Tzitzikas and Mermigas – we had an awesome dinner here. The grilled salmon and risotto were delish! My sister loved her green balls from this restaurant.
- Greco’s Project – We ate here more than once, one because it was so close and secondly because I LOVED their caprese salad. So delivious. We ate here for brunch also and their pancakes reminded me of my mom’s!
- Jing Asian Restaurant – it’s asian food but hey! if you want great fried rice and some chicken, visit here
- Maiandros – Six of us ate here, six of us disliked our food. Really salty, seemed rushed. Would not eat there again
MYKONOS
- Nikos Taverna – The grilled fish my cousin had here was great but my food was undercooked, i had to send it back 🙁 (We were charged for bread here, 1 euro per person)
- Mourayio – Themis, our server was attentive! Great food, would visit here again, we got a free bottle of wine! How can you beat that?
- Captain’s
SANTORINI
Surprisingly enough, I did not feel like an exotic bird here. The men did show us a lot of love but I was not as uncomfortable like in Panama. Even rolling with three gay women, they were never once harassed! So that’s a plus for Greece. I’d definitely visit here again. Greece took a lot out of us this time so no new country for June but stay tuned, I still have some action in store 🙂
I love how you’ve shared your visits with us. Can you give tips on findings cheap tickets and how to plan ahead for an exotic trip out?
So, so proud of you!!!