Greece…the birthplace of ”modern civilization.” The place that filled us with wonder and intrigue about this foreign land from the first time we opened our ancient history books, glimpsed photos of the Parthenon, heard the mythology of the Zeus or Medusa, or tasted divine Kalamata olives. Our journey to dig deeper and experience the treasures of mainland Hellenic Republic took us to Athens, Delphi, Lamia, Loutra Ipatis, Meteora and Ioannina.

Athens

Athens, where 40% of the Greek population resides, was the first stop on our mainland tour. For two nights of our whirlwind tour of Athens, we stayed in a brilliantly blue painted “Santorini” Airbnb ($27)… a 35-minute walk from the historic sights and center through the sprawling, chaotic, and gritty city streets. Athens doesn’t score very high on the walkability of its streets. However, one gem that was quite the contrary was the car-free twisty and narrow cobblestoned and whitewashed streets in the neighborhood of Plaka, which lies in the shadow of the hillside under the Acropolis. Plaka, much more closely resembles something you would find in the islands than Athens. This picture was taken from inside Plaka. You can see Lycabettus Hill in the distance which we climbed later that day.

The iconic Parthenon. It’s pretty much impossible not to stand at the Parthenon and not wonder how they could have engineered and built something so massive, so precisely, and so long ago (438 BC). It is an awesome sight. A couple of other things to prepare for before you see it, however. One, some sticker shock ($22) and two, you will not get a picture of it without people invading your shot… Thousands of other people are there to see it with you.

In the top left, you can see the view of the Parthenon from Lycabettus Hill, which is known as one of the lesser touristy places to visit for a stellar view of the Parthenon. We got the tip to head here to escape the crowds from a local Mandy met. He was right! There was even a gorgeous panoramic restaurant at the top that was selling gyros for the totally unbelievable price of 2.50€. From atop Lycabettus Hill, you can truly appreciate the tremendous vastness of this sprawling city.

There’s nothing like discovering the essence of a city than through its central market. In this case, we found a market full of divinely fresh, cheap, and high quality Mediterranean ingredients. Olive bars in hoity toity supermarkets back in the States were always a splurge we weren’t comfortable taking, here in the Athens central market they offer free samples and practically give away the best olives we’ve ever had. Usually, around .60€ to 1.50€ ($.67-$1.68) for about 200 grams (1/2 lb). Photo, at bottom right, was our Athens market booty, totaling 12.10€ ($13.50). Including: olives, feta cheese, Greek yogurt (or just yogurt here), honey, dates, baklava, lots of naturally organic fruit and veg, and a liter of tasty homemade table wine (typically sold in plastic bottles all over Greece) which costs 3-4€ ($3.30-$4.50.)

Greek people have one of the lowest death rates for cancer in Europe, and are said to be some of the healthiest in the world. Their Mediterranean diets loaded with the same fresh and healthy foods we picked up at the market are a huge aspect of this. A typical breakfast for us in Greece included yogurt (sometimes bought in these reusable clay pots from the market and you can choose from cow or sheep), topped with fruit, local honey, and cinnamon. The cow yogurt is less sour than the sheep, but both are equally creamy.

Delphi

From Athens we went on to Delphi for a night, A mountain town known for being the former home of the oracle (and center of the Hellenic world) to the ancient Greeks and one that clings very impressively to the side of a sheer cliff. But, more than that, we came to Delphi for its remarkable UNESCO ruins. Although it seems like this should be a natural progression west on our route north through Greece, getting there was a bit challenging for us from Athens with only two direct buses a day. Also, this is where we first encountered the budget busting high cost of transport on Greek buses… 16.25€ per ticket for a less than two hour ride, in this case. Driving out of Athens the bus slowly began climbing as fast highways transitioned into narrow switchbacks… we went up, up, up. Mainland Greece is apparently very mountainous.

Unfortunately the expensive busses were only the beginning of our misfortune and discontent which seemed to rise apace with the increasing altitude. We don’t normally vent about our negative experiences in a place, but Delphi will have to be a rare exception. Starting with straight away with our arrival things just went downhill. Beginning with our quite unwelcoming front desk at our hotel, then getting shortchanged by our server at dinner by 10€ with no apology when we called him on it, a shop owner wanting to overcharge us 8.47€ for only a few bananas and a toothbrush, and a very surly bus station worker. All this on our first evening. But the hits kept coming the next morning when we endured an outrageously inflated 8€ ($10) breakfast at our hotel that included two boiled eggs, four pieces of white bread and jam. The real kick in the pants, however, is when she came and took two of our pieces of bread away saying, “It’s for the other guests.” That’s it. In short, we just felt like we were a nuisance in Delphi, someone to put up with, but not visitors nor guests. An absolutely shitty experience.

Walking around the town and the view were hassle free at least.

But, wait… what about the Delphi ruins? Well, funny story. Closed.

For the May Day holiday. Without warning. The whole site and museum were closed and locked up tight. Haha! We stood at the gate staring at the “Closed for May 1 holiday” sign for probably 10 minutes. Silent. Before erupting into strings of cursing to ourselves and speed walking back to our hotel to merrily make our way out of Delphi. Next! Please!

Lamia

Okay from Delphi, we took a two hour bus journey north through the winding mountain roads to Lamia, where we paused for two nights to try and take care of some housekeeping things like stocking up on meds (we learned that, within reason, you can pretty much walk into a pharmacy in Greece and get a prescription you need filled), eat a good dose of Asian food, and try and find Greg new shoes. Lamia was a turn for the better for us from Delphi, thankfully, a very nice town with a lovely square, and we had much more pleasant hosts at our Airbnb. Lamia, however is not necessarily a touristy town you should seek out when visiting Greece, but its pleasant enough and ringed by mountains… it worked for us nicely as a transit hub.

Loutra Ipatis

For the next two days from Lamia, we went westward one hour by bus to the tiny mountain town of Loutra Ipatis. Why here? Well, it is famed for its thermal springs and peaceful mountain setting. The promise of a spa day and relaxing healing thermal waters didn’t exactly become the diamond in the rough we were hoping for, however. The thermal baths we set at the edge a lovely forested large town park. The actual hot spring erupts thousands of gallons of water from the ground in the town park at what the locals call the “volcano.” In what is probably one of the oddest displays of city planning and over-engineering of a would-be tourist attraction that we have ever seen… the town has built a huge glass and concrete structure over the “volcano” that completely encloses and obscures it. We could only speculate and wonder at the amazing natural wonder laying behind the perpetually fogged up glass. We had to press our faces against the glass at just the right angle and spot to get a ‘sort of’ glimpse inside at the possible “volcano” underfoot. So… no photos. The thermal water from the springs is piped to the nearby thermal baths building for the public to enjoy. Once we made our way into the rather drab and stark communist-era looking building holding the thermal waters and paid the entrance fee (10€) to grab a private tub of thermal water we were rather disappointed that the thermal waters didn’t have much “thermal” in them. They were…not exactly…hot. The water temperature probably peaked at 20C (72F), although we did both feel some strange tingling sensations which could’ve just been goosebumps instead of any health benefits we felt pretty disappointed at the experience. Especially when the staff cut off and unplugged the water leaving us shivering and, um, not very relaxed.

What Loutra Ipatis did have, however, was a gorgeous mountain setting and peace And quiet.

And good walking opportunities. At least until groups of marauding dogs came into the picture again.

Kalambaka & Meteora

The next day we were off to northern Greece, to Kalambaka. Home to the outstandingly beautiful and majestic UNESCO Meteora monasteries, and lots of walking and hiking opportunities. The otherworldly rock pillars of Meteora beckoned to us from the moment we stepped off the train. And shortly after checking onto our hotel we excitedly set off hiking up into the rocks to giddily get in a closer look.

The amazing thing about hiking in Meteora is everywhere you looked was a new vantage point that easily could have been plucked out of a fantasy novel or a Game of Thrones set. This is a place where myths and legends are created.

The name Meteora actually translates to “suspended in air” and looking at the monasteries perched precariously atop the monstrous rock pillars, it’s obvious to see how this name came to be. Twenty-four of these virtually inaccessible monasteries were incomprehensibly built on top of and into several naturally formed sandstone rock pillars during the 15th century despite incredible (and obvious) difficulties in having to rely upon rope and pulley systems for accessibility.

The monasteries are built in such a way that you don’t always know where the rock ends and the monastery begins, as if melded seamlessly together by nature or some other divine force. In times of peril the ropes and ladders were simply pulled up for defense. Only six of the monasteries are still accessible today where about 24 monks remain. The decline in population and community has sadly been a result of over-tourism, as you can imagine, the hubbub that the many thousands of daily visitors bring with them is not exactly conducive for a quiet monastic life.

In the Byzantine era when they were built, in addition to the obvious strategic defensive positions settling in the rock pillars gave the Greek Orthodox monks and nuns, they also found the advantage in being closer to God.

One of the dramatic walkways winds its way up the side of the pillar leading up to the monastery resting on top. Most of the steps were added in the 1920’s. You are not allowed to enter the monasteries if you’re wearing shorts or sleeveless shirts. Women had to wrap (provided) long skirts around their legs if they were uncovered, or showed “too much skin”, even in the slightest.

Pictured is the “Monk’s Prison”, which may or may not have even been an actual prison for monks. There seems to be some speculation in internet land. One idea we read is that monks who did not obey monastery rules had to stay in the ancient cells or on wooden platform until they changed their mind. Probably the ladders were removed so they could not escape.

Walking in Meteora is a paradise of trails weaving in and out of the roads into forests and thankfully away from the dozens of tour buses that buzz visitors packed with selfie-stick wielding tourists from one monastery to another. We easily put in 15k each day of the two days we were hiking in Meteora. None of the hiking we did was ‘too tough’ and it is THE WAY to see Meteora to get a true sense of the humbling monolithic stone giants above your head and the effort in must have taken the monks to build their monasteries! In the top right you will see a monastery on the bus route and the coinciding bussed-in crowds. Each monastery cost about 3€ to visit.

One of our favorite little ‘hidden’ gems we discovered was the trail of the Holy Spirit, which we found thanks to Mapy.cz, our directional app savior for so much of our travels. The trail goes up a narrow winding cliff where you have no choice but to cling onto the provided handrails. After hauling yourself up the rock ravine 200 meters you come to a diminutive chapel called Agio Pnevma carved out of sheer rock in the year 980. The inside if full of religious artifacts, and memorials. There are also prayer candles available.

Nearby we found a ladder that took us up onto a cliff with a stunning view overlooking the town of Kastraki. In the 10th Century a little church sat on this perch where today only a bell and cross remain.

Mandy can’t resist getting a better (and higher) look.

Walking back toward Kalabaka, you come across more little churches and “monk jails.” In the top right, you can also see another miraculous monastery built into the rock.

Hermit caves built into the rock.

Another monastery. You can see the once-used rope ladder on the left. Can you imagine how death defying that would be to use on a regular basis!?

Gazing into the breathtaking valley of Kastraki.

Greg trying to hide out from the relentless rain. Did we mention that in a land with 250 days of sunshine, this is the rainiest spring on record?!

While here, it seemed like a good time to crack open some gigantic beans…one of our favorite things about Greece. We like big beans and we cannot lie…you other legumes can’t deny!

Glad to know the goats still have a good home in Meteora.

Our favorite monastery, Ypapanti, from 1367 with the only way to get there being on foot, was literally off the beaten path, and required a little extra leg power (Probably an extra 4K round trip.) There was no charge (only donations) and no people in this exquisite monastery constructed entirely into a rock cave. Worth it!

Inside Agios Dimitrios. Wow!!

Watching a couple of rock climbers from a distance. Meteora is unsurprisingly a rock climber’s paradise.

One good thing about the rain is everything was SO lush and verdant. And everywhere you turned another monastery perched itself on a rock tower to say hello.

One of the baskets used for monks to carry supplies to the tops of the monasteries as a rudimentary elevator.

Ioannina

After Meteora our next destination was Albania, but to get to Albania from Greece your transit options are very limited. In our case, we found we had to catch our once daily Albania bound bus in the Greek city of Ioannina.

Luckily, Ioannina was an enchanting city with a beautiful fortress, colorful architecture, a lovely lakeside promenade and lots of shopping and restaurants which all made for a pleasurable layover before catching our Albania bus the next day.

A disclaimer about shopping in Greece… Greg wanted to try and find shoes while in Ioannina. But like other times we’d tried to do this in Greece, shopping was oddly frustrating. In addition to Sundays off, most Greek towns also pretty much close entirely from 2-5 for siesta every weekday (or mandatory ouzo time; we weren’t sure?) On Wednesdays and Thursdays and Saturdays shops do not reopen after siesta… at all. So, to clarify they’re closed after 2 the whole rest of the day Wednesdays and Thursdays. Greg found some shoes he wanted to buy but when he went back to buy them it was 3:30 and guess what? Closed. Wouldn’t you like to have these working hours?!

Another oddly frustrating Greek system for us to try and wrap our brains around was the traffic laws. It seemed to be kind of a make-it-up-as-you-go mentality. Although you can’t see the extent of it in this picture on the top right, what is pictured is a SEVEN-WAY intersection without a single stop sign, or road marking, or roundabout, or any indication of the “lawful or preferred” way to proceed. Again, so the driver (or pedestrian in our case) enters the intersection and… makes-it-up-as-they-go?

Another (albeit less healthy) staple to the Greek diet is Ouzo, a dry anise-flavoured aperitif. It tastes somewhat similar to absinthe, but more pepperminty due to the anise and goes down a bit smoother. Although we’re not huge spirits drinkers, we did enjoy having a sip here and there.

The most beautiful mosque we saw in Greece…Fethiye Mosque. It was built in the 1430’s after the Ottoman conquest of the fortress.

Alas, it was time to wrap up our five weeks in Greece. Like many, from an early age, we fantasized about visiting Greece “when we grew up.” But everyone knows those childhood dreams don’t always live up to reality. Perhaps the Gods were against us, the unseasonably bad weather simply drove us mad, or we simply shouldn’t have tried Greece on our budget because to be honest, Greece was tough on us and really tested our resolve. Ah well, onto the next adventure!