13 Days with 13-year-olds in Greece

Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 02:43 PM
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13 Days with 13-year-olds in Greece

This trip report covers the following:
• Traveling with 13-year-old boys (all while minimizing eye rolls).
• The areas of Peloponnese, Hydra, Delphi, Easter in Meteora, and Athens
• Driving (and lots of it)
• Family of four eating well on $60/day (including wine and dessert)

Thanks for everyone here and the great advice and help planning this trip.

We left Newark airport on a direct non-stop flight to Athens on Emirates Airlines (fantastic round trip deal—we paid $450 but I did see that they still are offering $558 round trip fares). And while true, the inflight entertainment is robust, is it possible to have too many choices?

TIP: Book directly through the Emirates website. These fares did not show up via the usual Expedia etc.

Picking up rental cars at the airport is quite easy. We got a semi-automatic diesel and in Greece, I cannot recommend diesel enough. We filled the tank once and we did a ridiculous amount of driving. Secondly, we did have a map we bought before coming but decided instead to use our Verizon International Daily Travel plan ($10/day) and Google Maps on our Iphone which got us everywhere and sometimes with an unexpected shortcut. Note: Although we brought our Iphones for Googlemap and looking up restaurants or hours to sites, the boys were not allowed to bring electronics: end of story. And we also tried to stay off of them.

TIP: Gas is expensive there: so go diesel.

Nafplio, although touristy and catering to Athenian weekenders, it really is a great base for exploring other sites in the area as all the guide books will tell you. For one, it is a beautiful Venetian town on the water with mountains and evening sunset walks by the water. Secondly, there are good restaurants and lots of pricey and not pricey boutiques to poke around after a day of looking at columns and ruins and rocks. But remember we are talking about April and I imagine it gets pretty packed in the summer.

We rented through Airbnb (Emmanouil Sofroni 11). Great location (two floors in the historical section of town and very well supplied with comfortable beds, breakfast, nice bath etc.). I recommend it. If you have a larger party, they open up a third floor for you for an additional fee.


13-YEAR-OLD-UPDATE: the boys liked Nafplio because they could go out and explore by themselves and stray cats and dogs are ubiquitous. Additionally, they liked walking to the beach and up to the forts. Souvlakis at Mitato were loved by all. Simple good food that appeals to the fussiest eater.

Epidaurus: we woke up A LOT later than we planned so we did not get to be the first people at Epidaurus as every guide book commands. In fact, even off-season we might have been the 2,000th person to arrive by 11:00 a.m. We used our Google Maps to navigate and had again, an easy drive literally through olive groves (uhm a Google shortcut), orange groves, it appeared maybe someone's back yard?, and some beautiful dirt roads that cut through fields of wildflowers with vistas of mountains. The tour groups tend to focus on the amphitheater and since it was built to hold over 12,000 people, it didn’t feel that crowded. We were treated to an Italian University tour group with a professor who demanded (and got) SILENZIO! from not just her class, but all the tourists milling around. She lectured a bit and then a student came down and sang, I think, the "Hymn to the Muse," and even at the very top of the theater we could hear her clear voice.

But I recommend also visiting the sanctuary ruins and museum as Asclepius was an important healer and people came from all over the ancient world to be healed (in fact Hippocrates is a descendent of Asclepius). First patients would dream about their cure and either hope for some divine intervention or get help from medicines administered by the priests (all this for a hefty fee of course). The small museum has some of the medical tools found as well as sculptures and pieces of the buildings. Because the center raised a lot of money in ancient times there are temples, stadiums, guest houses, baths etc. Worth a leisurely stroll (in April with all the wild flowers blooming and not in hot as hades August).

Asclepius pops up again in other parts of Greece such as in Athens as he was said to bring people back from the dead and well this irked Zeus who killed him with a thunderbolt. Good old nepotism--his dad Apollo intervened and got him deified. Meanwhile, back to our trip: by walking among the ruins of the sanctuary, we left the crowds of 2000 and were at times completely alone. But most of the ruins are really not much more than piles of rocks so keep your expectations in check.

13-YEAR-OLD-UPDATE: The boys enjoyed running around and taking photographs of lizards and insects and finding a litter of puppies. So, whether or not they read the dry-as-bones descriptions available around the site, they enjoyed being outside and exploring and did think that the idea of sleeping in a temple basement possibly with snakes to dream of cures was kind of cool.

TIP: Pack water and a lunch

Google maps gave us a new route home avoiding the backyard and we picked up a big bag of oranges from a farm stand. The house has a juicer so we enjoyed fresh squeezed OJ for the next few days. By this time, we started to encounter the Greek driving style of extreme tailgating so we just followed the protocol of moving to the far right and letting them do their thing: passing on blind suicidal curves: che sarà, sarà

13-YEAR-OLD-UPDATE: Surprisingly, picking out worry beads became a preoccupation and we did end up in a shop with a nice older man who made all the worry beads himself and helped the boys each pick out a set in my price range.

Myecenae: Ok this time we did get up early enough to beat the crowds and surprise surprise, the parking lot was already filled with tour buses of class trips. A bit disappointing but most of the tours don’t go much beyond the lion gates. I was glad I had listened to a podcast about ancient Mycenaean culture before we arrived because there was not a lot of signage and the signage text in the museum was again, DRY-AS-BONES!! Definitely bring your guide book so you know what you are looking at and go to the museum first. I am making this sound dreadful but it is an amazing site with beautiful views and it is remarkably well preserved considering it is a late Bronze Age civilization, from the 15th to the 13th century BCE. And also surprisingly well preserved considering it had been sacked by pirates. Once you get beyond the gates and start to walk around the rest of the ruins, you lose the hordes.

13-YEAR-OLD-UPDATE: Bring a flashlight so that you (or just your kids if you have claustrophobia) can walk down into the ancient cistern. OK for me, walking down some dark stairs to look at a puddle wasn't so thrilling but the boys enjoyed it a lot.

TIP: Pack a lunch because between the drive and all the walking, everyone will get hungry and irritable at one point. Make sure you have a guide book that provides a map of the site.

We had gone to the supermarket and made sandwiches which we ate on a bench and then headed down the road to The Treasury of Atreus, or Tomb of Agamemnon, a well-preserved beehive tomb. As we pulled into the totally empty parking lot, a tour bus pulled in right behind us. Drat! We hustled looking over our shoulders and hoping to beat them to the tomb, but no such luck. This group was on a tight schedule and quite fit and literally SPRINTED past us at a breakneck pace and then almost immediately did a 360 and sprinted back to the bus.

After a break and a cocktail at our Airbnb we took a walk along the water and then headed up the 1,000 (actually 886? Steps) to the fort. It was closed by this time but the views were beautiful as we huffed and puffed our way up. We were passed by a few fit Naflplions using these steps Rocky-Style by running up them. I managed to hold my breath and not look completely winded as they zipped passed us. We earned our dinner that night Sardines, Octopus salad, Greek Salad.

13-YEAR-OLD-UPDATE: Headed to the much touted Antica Gelateria di Roma and we were all in agreement that this place is way over-rated. Next night we hit Gelataria Da Roberto and the consensus was this place was better. Although really I am going to say it, Gelato is not a Greek specialty.

Mystras: This was a beautiful but long haul from Napflio to this UNESCO World Heritage site (1.5-hour drive through wild mountainous terrain, goat and sheep herds, lonely monasteries perched on cliffs). But overall an easy drive as the highway was empty. We packed a lunch and snacks.

Mystras is an intact Byzantine town that once had about 20,000 people and was a Byzantine artistic and intellectual center. It was built from the ruins of Sparta (in the valley below). The town was laid out on a steep (let’s try thousands of steps-steep-OK?-so-wear-comfortable shoes-and-bring-water-steep) hill with ruined churches and their faded frescoes, houses, the remains of businesses all crammed together on narrow cobblestone streets behind the protection of the city walls. There are breathtaking views at every turn. After looking at the lower town and getting a sense of life in those times as well as seeing the small museum, and church frescoes, we ate lunch and drove to the upper town. Glad we drove because once we parked, we still had a long hike up to the Kástro. It is strenuous walk but the view is spectacular. Remember: we are talking about April and I cannot imagine all that walking in August heat.

TIP: Seriously bring water and wear comfortable shoes. Again, lunch is a good idea to pack because once you are in the ruins, you are kind of far from any restaurants.

13-YEAR-OLD-UPDATE: all those stairs tired them out and I didn’t see one eye roll. They enjoyed the upper town a lot with the crumbling castle walls and views of the mountains. One really seem to get the photography bug and took a lot of great photos.

Next up: Drive to Metochi: boat trip to Hydra and long drive to Delphi.
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 03:46 PM
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Interesting report. Nice to see how your sons enjoyed it. Will you be posting pictures also?
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Old Apr 22nd, 2017, 07:25 PM
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Great report. Greece is on my top five list and I will likely have a couple of teenagers in tow when we do decide to visit.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 08:57 AM
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This 1.5 hour drive to Metochi was more challenging on winding mountainous roads and often with no guard rails. I have really never seen dangerous road curve signs depicting bowline knots before. But again, there was nobody on the road so we took our time on these curves with beautiful views. We chose Metochi to catch a ferry to Hydra because there were more options in April. I

Tip: In Metochi we did use the locked car lot for $5/day. Since we were only going to Hydra overnight we decided to dump most of our stuff and bring one small duffle bag. We locked our bags in the car (they were hidden) and took anything of value with us. If a thief wanted dirty laundry, god bless them.

In Hydra we stayed at Achilleas Pensione and rented the family apartment. It was a good, quiet location with comfortable beds and nice views. The only downside is that the kitchen had nothing: no coffee, tea, or any other basics. So for one night, we were not going to stock up on basics again (that we had left in the car). We looked out our window and saw all the other guests enjoying what looked like a great breakfast in the courtyard (not included with the apartment) and we drooled. I ran to the grocery story and grabbed some biscuits. It appears I really like grocery shopping when I am not at home.

13-YEAR-OLD UPDATE: Cats, Cats, Cats! My sons bought some cat food at the grocery (you can buy it by weight) and enjoyed feeding an ever-expanding number of cats. Second tip, I did give my kids a break from Greek food by getting pizza at a tourist trap on the harbor and we sat and people watched for a while. They really enjoyed it. Even at the tourist trap, my Greek salad was good.


There is not a ton to do in Hydra and that was the point. A lazy Aegean break from ruins. No cars and with no cars that means no big hotels or developments. Just stairs and cobblestone streets and walking paths. And while at first the boys thought they wanted to take a donkey ride, once they saw the donkeys they thought of the sad horses in Central Park and decided no.

For dinner, we went to Ostria away from the Harbor. The owner, a lovely, garroulous woman tells you what is good for the day and it is best to follow her advice. Fresh grilled red shrimp and a mountain of sea greens [WHAT? YOU DIDN’T LIKE THE GREENS? Why you not finish the Greens?” “Because there was enough for a family of 8?”] my sons had grilled pork chops that were amazing. For desert we wandered in circles in the dark until we found Tsangaris Patisserie for ice cream. For us, Hydra was worth an overnight trip. After the cruise ships leave for the day, Hydra is very peaceful. And it was a good break to take a boat ride and to not even be able to find a Greek column anywhere.

Metochi to Delphi
This drive was more challenging in that there was a fair amount of traffic heading out for Easter weekend and we ended up on a two-lane truck route for some reason (that reason is called Google Maps). A lot of crazy passing. Even my husband started to get into the passing thing which caused stress in the car to say the least.

This was a long drive and we really NEEDED a break. The first break was a farm stand. With the few words I memorized before we left, I was able to get some honey and marmalade. People overall in Greece are very nice and this old man followed me and kept handing me oranges to take.

Second stop, I wanted a cappuccino and my son needed the bathroom. My husband kept flying by one cute taverna or bakery after another. Finally, I don’t care WHAT is next, we are stopping. We pulled into a café that had seen better days…. like perhaps 1935. The sign was faded and falling off the building and there were some dilapidated café chairs outside, while inside looked dark and foreboding. We were in the middle of doing a U-turn to get out of there, when a very VERY old man appeared and started to direct us into a parking spot in this very very LARGE and very very empty parking lot. We got out of the car and were greeted by a snarling angry mangy dog. We ordered cappuccinos and headed into the darkness of the cafe to the restrooms. The bathrooms were huge, perhaps made for a former dancehall (except there was no dancehall and we were in the middle of nowhere). Row after row of sinks and toilets. If only the George Gershwin theater on Broadway had this many toilets. The place was a mystery. Long story short, the cappuccinos were delicious and as we left, the old man grabbed my hands and squeezed them hard as he kept saying “Good luck to you. Good luck to you. Good luck to you.” I was glad we stayed.

Our AirBnB in Delphi was off the main drag up on the hill and that was a blessing with all the high school kids on tours, many in the stores buying Vodka and Beer and ready for a night of partying.

We did hire a guide for Delphi and not sure it was necessary. She was very nice but I don’t know if she went much deeper than what I read in the guide book. And with a guide, I felt a little rushed in the museum which was pretty good. But she did bring alive the Oracle and the boys found it very interesting so maybe money well spent. Nothing more interesting than hearing about someone being poisoned by noxious gasses and speaking in tongues.

Next Up Meteora for Easter
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 09:35 AM
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LOving it! Glad our tips worked out OK Cant wait for Teen Take on Athens.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 10:16 AM
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This is great so far! Love your humor. I am bookmarking and sending the link to my twin.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 10:23 AM
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Thank you for taking the time to write this ..... Great writing and very informative, especially on Mystras. We are planning on going there in the fall and your comments were very helpful. Thank You!
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 11:30 AM
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Beautifully written with helpful advice. I love your notations on the boys' experiences!
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 05:45 PM
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Thank you. I am trying to post some photos and will finish the Meteora installment this week.
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Old Apr 23rd, 2017, 08:03 PM
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Excellent, thanks for sharing. Looking forward to the photos and the next installment.
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 03:00 AM
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Great report, thanks so much for sharing. We spent three nights on Hydra last year and really enjoyed it. We love Greece and the people. Looking forward to reading more about your adventures!
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Old Apr 24th, 2017, 05:40 AM
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Really enjoying the report. Will be in the Peloponnese in a couple of weeks so delighted to read about your adventures there.
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 03:46 PM
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As we continued our drive into Meteora, I was feeling pretty skeptical about this being a “spiritual, magical, extraordinary, or breathtaking” experience. Car dealerships in a drab flat valley looked more like Rt 17 in Ridgewood, NJ than nature’s grandeur.

Our Google Map was getting confused and we meandered about a bit before finally finding Alsos House in Kalambaka where we had rented one of the “apartments.” This particular apartment with views of the rocks is really just a very large room with a lot of beds, a tiny kitchenette and a nice bathroom (darn, didn’t know about their 1-2 bedroom apartments when we booked which seem to be available through AirBnB). The kitchen was well stocked for a closet and (take note Achilles Pensione) breakfast included!! The owner Yiannis is extremely helpful and will suggest walking paths for you—one which starts pretty much right behind the hotel.

Staying in Kalambaka is a great option because it is a real town where you can walk just about everywhere, including to decent restaurants, bakeries, and yes, a supermarket! And since Alsos House is not in the center of town, it is quiet at night and peaceful

After we checked in Yiannis sent us off on the footpath behind the hotel leading up to the monasteries. We got a late start and headed out knowing the monasteries were closing. The path meandered through sandstone buttes but I think the terms clamber and scramble might be more apt than walking (where you might wrongly picture a leisurely stroll and chatting). The hike was obviously going UP and I was glad I had brought water. Once at the top, there were quite a few people, many sitting on the edges of rock cliffs, feet dangling. If this were the US there would be DANGER signs and guard rails but being Greece, if you want to perch on the edge of a cliff? Well, go ahead. To return to Alsos House, we took the no-longer-used dirt road back down which really was a lovely leisurely walk (with chatting) past fields and farms. And the boys found their first tortoise so they were pretty thrilled.

13-YEAR-OLD UPDATE: clambering and scrambling is a great activity for teens. Additionally, there was a playground right around the corner from Alsos house. Yes, the boys are way too old for a playground, but they seemed to like to go over there and just hang out.

We got up early to hit the monastaries before the tour buses arrived, especially at the popular Great Meteoron monastery, which is the oldest, biggest and highest (2,000 feet above sea level). The Macedonian frescoes here are really well preserved and the chapels are beautiful and intricately decorated. There is a no photo policy which I understand (and many wrongly ignore), but there are not any good books of reproductions available in which to go back and look at some of the wonderful art again. In addition to frescoes, there is the ancient kitchen, the lovely grounds with views, a weird museum of WWII images and costumes, and another room with intricately carved crosses and some beautiful illuminated manuscripts.

13-YEAR-OLD UPDATE: In the Narthex, the frescoes depict the myriad ways of martyrdom of early Christians; boiling alive, burning alive, flaying alive, eaten by lions alive, beheading (alive)--you name it, they did it. This was a riveting room for the boys who spent most of their time in there.


The Holy Monastery of Varlaam, the second largest monastery and right down the road from Great Meteoron was our next stop. By this time it was 11:00 as well as the day before Easter and the crowds were growing. Before leaving this monastery, remember to visit the tower to see the old preserved net used by the first monks to get hoisted up and down the cliff (until it would break on some unlucky Monk’s ascent or descent). Maybe this is where Greek’s got their c'est la vie attitude towards safety.

Tip I think by now, you know where this is going: pack a lunch! We often went to bakeries and got pizza (would eat it cold) or spinach pies or whatever looked good. We ate our lunch outside of Varlaam sitting on the wall and then got an espresso from a Lavazza truck. Secondly, get there early or late in the day and definitely try going to some of the smaller less popular monasteries if you want to avoid crowds. Last tip, if you want to get really great photos, drive around the monasteries around sunset when the lighting is golden and it will take some real effort to take bad picture.

Although the Theopetra Cave is closed until further notice, we were going to see this archeological site one way or another. And since my sister has had a life-long love of Neanderthals (she is their biggest defender), I wanted to take a picture of a Neanderthal-eye view for her from the front of this cave site. This site has had continuous human inhabitants from 135,000 BC to 4000 BCE and the footprints of several Neanderthal children were found inside. Additionally, the stone structure in the front of the cave is believed to be the oldest known man-made structure in the world. Getting a sneak-a-peak was going to require some creativity, some Google Maps, and a little derring-do as they say. I won’t say how we got our look but I will say it required a very narrow dirt road through someone’s farm and climbing a fence. (Please note we did not break INTO the cave as we would not want to compromise an archeological site).

13-year-old update: The sneaky adventure of hiking and peeking into the ‘forbidden” cave was a highlight for teens.


A race back to Meteora before the monasteries closed to visit St. Nikolaos Anapafsas Monastery. We decided to try before closing to beat the crowds and also chose this smaller monastery because with all the cat feeding action on this vacation, we wanted to see the fresco “Naming of the Animals”. This monastery is built vertically with one level on top of the other to compensate for the small horizontal surface of this rock.  Some sources say these murals by Theofanis the Cretan are the best in Meteora. As we started to climb the stairs, we could see and hear a storm coming which added a little drama—did we want to be on top of a rock on a mountain in a thunderstorm? Whether it was the closing time, the impending storm, or the smaller size of the monastery, this place was empty. And for a monastery that is supposedly no longer in use, we could hear the monks chanting along with the whistling of the wind, and not so distant thunder. We found our ‘magical’ at Meteora.

Tip: if you think you can get away with photographing the frescoes, think again. These monasteries may be old but they do have hidden cameras to catch shutterbugs.

At 11:00 pm that night, all the church bells started ringing and we jumped from bed to check out the hub bub. Outside nobody in town was asleep and in fact, like a zombie apocalypse they were all heading slowly to the center of town with unlit candles. We followed them to the main church which was overflowing into the churchyard and into the streets with people for the Vigil of the Resurrection. At midnight the church bells started in again as the priest came out from the darkened church with a lighted candle and passed it to the crowd to light their own candles and share the light. After that everyone walked home in the darkness with their lit candles and the once mysterious atmosphere now felt like a bit of a party with lots of laughter and people greeting friends and catching up.

13-YEAR-OLD UPDATE: “Mom this is really mysterious and beautiful”

Final hikes in Meteora on Easter morning. Yiannis told us about a few paths into the heart of Meteora and past the original hermit structures (caves on cliffs with wooden ladders). We walked past a LOT of lamb being grilled on open pits both in town and along the road to the trailhead. In fact, there was a smoky fog over Kalambaka as we packed our car and headed to the airport to drop off the rental car before heading into Athens. Our final stop on this trip.

Since we were not finding any “hidden gems” as far as restaurants and pretty much followed the guide books, no point in listing those restaurants here. Suffice it to say, the food was good.

Stay Tuned: Athens
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Old Apr 25th, 2017, 07:57 PM
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"Hub bub." Did you not know about (or did you forget about) Easter? Maybe its not what is practiced in your faith tradition, or mine (I'm a Quaker), but am surprised that, with all the prep you did, you didn't know of this important part, the vigil til midnight, of the MOSt important holiday of all, for Greeks. (and I hope no Greek is reading that line comparing churchgoers to a Zombie apocalypse). I'm more with the 13 year old on "mysterious & beautiful".
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 03:38 AM
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Travelerjan I didn't mean to be offensive, I was just being jokey. As an atheist, the extent of my Easter celebration was coloring eggs and eating chocolate. I knew Easter was a big deal in Greece but I never heard of the Vigil of the Resurrection (atheist upbringing). We all actually loved it and was glad we were in a small town and experienced it.
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Old Apr 26th, 2017, 05:08 AM
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Being Greek, i didn't find it offensive at all...
easter is the biggest religious celebration of the Orthodox church ( which includes more countries than Greece).

While the way Greeks celebrate it in bigger cities is nice & interesting for non Greeks , there's nothing like living the Greek Easter in a village or a small town... There are many regional differences, but the best and most traditional Easter Sunday, is being celebrated in Southern Greece ( Peloponnese, Sterea Ellas and Thessaly )
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Old May 3rd, 2017, 07:53 AM
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Hello RubyTwins,

I'm really looking forward to the rest of your very informative trip report and I hope you may find the time to finish it. Thank you again for taking the time to write , I know many people come to this site for honest information and your report has been very helpful.
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Old May 7th, 2017, 05:58 AM
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I also hope you are able to finish the rest of your trip report. I am curious as to how Athens compared to the rest of Greece. I was in Athens as a 13 year old (back when there were 30 drx. to the dollar) and loved it, but as an adult I don't spend much time there anymore as I prefer the country side better.

My wife and I are heading to Greece tomorrow and will be going to Mystras, Kardamili, and because it is going to be hot and sunny, a couple of days in Tolo.
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Old May 7th, 2017, 09:10 AM
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Having a little trouble posting.
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Old May 7th, 2017, 09:37 AM
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The roads on Easter Sunday were empty and so we had an easy drive to the airport using Google Maps to drop off the car at Budget. The only stress was wanting to return the car on empty and gambling how far we were willing to drive with the fuel gage light on. I realized I am less of a gambler than my husband.

With four of us it was the same price to hop in a cab to our apartment rental as it would have been to take the subway. And cab drivers seem to be much saner drivers than what I am used to in NYC (I strapped myself in waiting for crazy tailgating and weaving in and out of traffic but we had a leisurely ride). Our apartment (HomeAway #6861258) was conveniently located near the Akropoli station (behind the Acropolis museum) in a much less noisy and less touristy area than the Plaka and yet also centrally located. I recommend this apartment also for families (as the owners thoughtfully provide a bin of toys). AND there is a spectacular bakery (Takis Bakery) around the corner and you guessed it—near a grocery store. That being said, the owner also had left us some breakfast bread and marmalade. It was Easter, but there were some restaurants open in the Plaka, a short walk away.

A jam-packed next day because we had a lot to see during our short stay. We started by walking toward Agora (near Mars hill) and there were a ton of craft vendors out that day. Some stuff was tourist-junk but I love the wallet I bought and my son got a very nice key chain. From there we went to Agora and ended up using the Rick Steve’s podcast tour which was helpful. The museum of Ancient Agora is very good with many interesting artifacts of early Democracy (good reminder of how short lived it was). I like museums that show how the day-to-day things worked in the past: how juries were chosen and how the women were stuck in the house and spent a lot of time like the Real Housewives of Athens primping. It is worth it to read the text (in this case NOT textual harassment or dry as bones, but very informative).


The boys decided at the Temple of Hephaestus that Hephaestus was a lot like certain politicians today (they shall remain nameless) who grope women and then get honored. And surprise, even outside the Temple in the center of Athens, they found another tortoise.

We did end up going to Souvlaki Row for lunch and it was more than decent but more expensive than it was worth. My tip would be if you want to sit here outdoors in this busy square, to share a plate (it was a lot of meat) or stick to the Souvlaki sandwich. Otherwise walk three blocks from there and get a good lunch for half the price.

OK mad dash to the National Archaelogical Museum by subway (which as a New Yorker, is in a neighborhood that I would avoid at night). This museum is MUCH bigger than expected and much better. It needs more time to do it justice. We did have those two 13-year olds in tow but, nevertheless I was determined to see everything which meant they would suffer and I would endure some eye rolling action. Note: there is really nowhere to sit for the first quarter of the museum which was a bit of a problem. This museum has all of the amazing objects found at wealthy Mycenae: the gold, the pottery, and the bronze sculptures (fun fact: for every marble sculpture you see, there were 7 bronze ones in ancient Greece eventually melted down). The objects start from Prehistoric antiquities to archaic, classical, hellenistic, to the assembly line marble busts of Roman. Glad we saw all this artwork after visiting so many of the sites where it was found.

We managed to get the boys to survive 3 hours by taking a break at the café in the basement which was very good. They were happy with a cappuccino and cake and so were we.

We dragged ourselves back to our apartment and decided there was just no way we could go out to eat. Hello supermarket! Got a jar of pasta sauce, pasta and a bottle of wine and ate at home.

Next day we met our tour guide Aristotle (http://bit.ly/2pkdKq9) for the Acropolis tour and this was one of the highlights of our trip (if only we had not miscommunicated while planning, he would have been great at the Agora). Are you interested in history? Do you have a lot of questions you want answered? Tricky questions about Greek history? Myths? Daily life? Life for women? Do you want to walk around with an engaging and passionate archeologist? Then I cannot recommend Aristotle enough. Since he is not only an expert on ancient Greece but also "Star Trek" and "Star Wars," he was a hit (despite the completely vacant expressions on the boys’ faces, they quoted back a lot of stories and facts. Even today at lunch, one month later, we laughed over the story of the boy who was “healed” at the temple of Asclepius).

The Acropolis was just ridiculously crowded. But with Aristotle giving us interesting insight, we endured the crowds. Because we had already done the Agora we went from there to Hadrian’s library which without a guide, would just be a pile of rocks. But Aristotle carries with him notebooks with images of what the sites looked like, he pulls out ancient coins from his pocket and whatever it takes to bring ancient Greece to life. As a librarian, I was excited to share with my colleagues how noisy libraries were in those days since all reading was meant to be done aloud. With various people reading their books aloud in different alcoves, one could visit the library and walk around and listen: like a live book on tape. Aristotle pointed us away from the tourist area and we had a great lunch and then decided to “shop” for gifts back home. We must have been in the wrong place as I just was not excited to buy anything and I am really not a shopper.

13-year-old update: Da Vinci Gelato may be a chain but the gelato was much better than anything we had had so far in Greece and we managed to take the boys there yet again. My husband did the honey tasting there and then we went to our local grocery store and stocked up on the Thyme Honey for 1/3 of the cost. Gift shopping done.

Our last half day in Athens, my husband and I got to the Acropolis museum at 8:00 a.m. and left the boys in bed. The architecture is stunning with some of the floors made of glass to look down into archeological excavations and that alone is worth the cost of admission (not included in the Acropolis admission ticket by the way). As you enter and walk up the sloped walkway, the cases contain artifacts that were found along the slopes of the Acropolis as well as objects that Athenians used in everyday life from all historic periods. The collection of the archaic period has some remnants of friezes of lionesses (once my favorite animal) and perfectly preserved votives that I never saw before in my art history classes. I really wanted to take a photo or two but the guards are incredibly vigilant about photography and so I had to settle for the official Acropolis Museum Guide which isn’t bad. Anyway, after the total destruction of Athens by the Persians in 480 BCE, Athenians were emotionally destroyed too and instead of rebuilding, they buried the remains of their sacred buildings and sculptures on the site which ended up protecting and preserving them. Eventually they rebuilt over the buried remains with the Acropolis. Definitely check out the videos explaining how the staff recreate the original paint and colors used on the marble and stone sculptures and you can see some of them repainted in the bright (sort of disorienting) palette. There are also many beautiful bronze votives of dogs, lions, birds.

On the third floor is the installation of the frieze of the Parthenon on a rectangle that has exactly the same dimensions as the actual Parthenon. But with most of the marbles in the British museum, I really felt the exhibit was more about what is missing than what was there. And British Museum, hey, they belong back in Greece. But there is a short video that shows HOW the artists and artisans created the various friezes: from sketch to transfer to carving which was interesting.

TiP: I would have liked one more day in Athens. Maybe not if it was August and sweltering but in the spring the weather is lovely and with another day we could have checked out some of the smaller museums.

We had a couple hours before needing to leave for the airport so we just decided to walk around. Started at the Central Market and poked around. Assumed we were not allowed to bring home any of the spices or nuts so just looked. My husband was determined to get some Governor olive oil so we hunted around and found that.

Tip if you happen to stay at the apartment where we did: Tacis bakery around the corner has DELICIOUS sandwiches which we bought and brought to the airport to eat before boarding. Even though Emirates gets great reviews, airline food is airline food.

And as we finally walked back to the apartment to pick up our luggage, at the last minute I stumbled upon a rug shop and found a souvenir for me: an old woven rug remnant from Peloponnese which is now a pillow cover on my couch. I look at it every day and wonder when will I return to Greece. It was a great trip. Delicious food. Rich history. Warm people. I am not sure I would have changed anything about this itinerary.
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