WOW! I have just read the whole report in one go & this is my 1st ever post on this forum!
I am British & I live on the Peloponnese (love it!), but I have to say I was in Athens from the 30th Nov-5th Dec & I was 1 day ahead of you with both Keramikos & the Benaki Museum (that jewellery is fantastic!). It was like following my own journey for a couple of days! We were wandering around Plaka though on the day you were buying your daughter's sandals!
This is an excellent report, so much detail, just a real shame about your wallet & the pet cat on Santorini.
I am going back to Athens on the 28th Dec & looking forward to seeing Monastiraki Square completely open, all work finally finished!
I only hope I don't stumble across your daughter's favourite cake shop, I have to lose some weight & that cake sounds far too tempting!
I hope you will be back soon, if you are be sure to explore more of the Peloponnese, it has such wonderful variation in scenery & so many villages & sites to explore.
Thanks again for the report that encouraged me to make my 1st contribution on here.

Wonderful report - loved your wit and detailed description of your trip. You really made Athens come alive, too - it's clear your daughter was a terrific guide.

Glad to hear that she is safely on her way home, too.

Paule

Yiassas glad to see you here on Fodors ... the trip reports can be absolutely splendid here, and if you want to read THE best ones about Pelops, Crete Naxos etc, just search under "stanbr" -- he's the Fodorite that has done those marvy slideshows of Nafplio and Naxos that I'm always linking to on TA. THey'll be in Greece same time as me in 09.

Thanks again everyone. I relived the trip writing it so it was very enjoyable. Ready to go back.

[I have no idea what that "message" was that I apparently posted yesterday. Computer grelims.]

Yiassis - we probably passed each other and didn't know it. Also, see my response on the thread you posted about taxi. Would be glad to help if I can assist.

Note to Annhig who posted 12/19 for ideas on a possible trip to Greece -- piggybacking on the end of a loooong thread like this may miss some useful Fodorites who don't scroll all the way down & thus don't see your query.

It's better to start a NEW thread with a headline that signals your question i.e. "Future Greece trip: Athens, Crete, then what???"

If you let people know what you want -- at this time of year when Fodorite "regulars" have time to post, you may get LOTS of useful suggestions.

ALSO -- it helps if you would add pertinent facts like, "we're active 50-somethings" and/or "we like (hiking, museums, beaches, culture etc") and "We would think about a trip in (month) for (# of days).

This specificity helps people avoid wasting time in recommending places that are great off-season but a no-no in High Season -- or a "ruins" itinerary for folks who just want to swim, sun and shop.

Now's a great time of year to daydream about Greece!

loved the title and really loved the trip report. Especially the food part.

I'd love to go to Greece. Merry Christmas. Theresa in Detroit.

DFR,

Thanks for a wonderful detailed and such a complete trip report. I intend to follow your steps in late September/early October 09. Had a week booked for Greece this past October but my month long trip in Europe was rudely interrupted by a health matter (: - (which has now been taken care of ) Anyway I would never have known about all the wonderful places to visit and restaurants and food to order if my trip hadn't been delayed until after your report :) I'm quite pleasantly surprised by the very reasonable Euro prices for food.

Hopefully the damage to Athens and the Plaka will have been repaired by next September.

Since my ex-husband served in South Korea I knew about their penchant for eating "our" pets. They also beat dogs to death, bury them in a bag to marinate, and then eat them - called "Kim-chi" as I remember my husband telling me. At the time I thought it must have been because the people were starving. Now I see it is something else. I also remember a Chinese restaurant being closed down in the small town I grew up in when it was discovered that the "pork" strips in their fried rice was cat. I'm wondering if Alex asked the South Koreans to leave or advised them that such a thing was unacceptable in their culture ? ? I certainly would have.

Many thanks for laying out a great travel and exploration plan.

M.

Please be more descriptive with your thread titles so I don't hvae to guess what it is about.

Mahya2: Kimchi is a type of vegetable (mostly cabbage?) pickle, it's pretty much the corner stone of Korean cuisine. It does <i>smell</i> like it is made of rotten dog but that's just a testament to what a skilled cook can do with a bucket of cabbage.

Pete,

not to upset everyone all over again, but perhaps that was the vegetable they served with the &quot;delicacy&quot; Since my ex DH is a dog lover, I dont think he would make up such a story.

Thanks all.

Mahya - with regard to food prices, one thing we learned from daughter as well as Fodorites and some guide books is that it is relatively easy to find very good moderately priced tavernas, many of which are not in usual tourist areas. But some are. Like most places in Europe, we just checked the menus posted outside.

FWIW, daughter is already going into food withdrawl, so tonight she's fixing all Greek meal for family and relatives!

Loved your post and the title. It caught my attention because it was so different.
I hope to go to Greece next year so I will be rereading this info. Very helpful with the details.
It is wonderful you could share some of this with your daughter and her with you. My daughter has traveled on most of my trips with me. I keep telling her I am spending her inheritance money on her now in taking her to travel with me. My daughter was a Biology major also-especially now working in the area of air pollution measurement. I can always see she is checking the air pollution in every place we visit. First remark after she had gone to the top of the Vatican-the air pollution here is bad.
Like others the cat story was upsetting to me as I am a lover of cats. Even more so the info shared by another post of how cats in Greece are not taken care of during the off season.

Thanks for sharing the trip.

I'm reminded that when I visited Rome, a guide was pointing out to us
the (wild) six toed cats, descendants of the ones Cleopatra (the Greek Cleopatra) brought with her to Rome.

Makes me wonder if those cats in the streets of Greece are also the six toed....

maryanne - thanks. Good luck with your trip planning. It's a fascinating country. There are so many good resources these days.

&quot;Spending inheritance money&quot; - understand that.

Understand Athens has really taken steps to clean up its air. Daughter said she really didn't experience any problems while she was there, but time of year could have made a difference.

dfr - thanks for the great trip report. DH and I are planning a month-long trip for June and will definitely use alot of your suggestions for the Athens part of the trip. I've been surprised at how many folks on travel board recommend only 2-3 days in Athens. I know big European cities like Rome, Paris are expensive and dirty and crowded, but the HISTORY makes them worthwhile. I think we could happily spend a week there, you seem to have enjoyed it?

I have to know: what school did she attend? My hubby is univ professor, and we always tour a college of some sort whenever we can. And of course then we could enjoy the wonderful meal you had at Mikri Vouli (&quot;Little Parliament&quot;). AND WHERE IS THAT BAKERY? Must try the chocolate cake!!!

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

What a terrific all-encompassing report. My significant other and I are travelling to Greece for the 2nd time in May/Jun 09 so I'm deep into research at the moment. Your detailed, insightful rpt is much appreciated.

We were already planning nearly a week in Athens because I think it's v underrated &amp; people rush thru in a day or 2. But now you've made me think we need to find time for Napflio too!

And thanks to the other respondents for caring so much about one single cat when so many animals are struggling for survival. I don't know what the answer is but I appreciate your acknowledgment (whether I like it or not) that other cultures view matters v differently.

CeeJayTx and rcw - thanks very much for your comments.

CeeJayTx - we really did enjoy Athens and thought it's often underrated. Of course, we had/made the time, but we certainly never lacked for things to do. We love cities like Munich, Paris and London, but liked Athens for different reasons.

The school was part of Arcadia University (based in Philadelphia). The full name of the program was &quot;Arcadia Center for Hellenic, Mediterranean and Balkan Studies&quot;. It had been approved by her college in Ohio.

As for the bakery, it was located around the corner from her apartment which was at 26 Embedokleus St. near Prof. Illia Square. It was next to a grocery store, the name of which escapes me.

Enjoy your planning. BTW - we live in Texas.

rcw - I would certainly put Nafplio on the list. It's a beautiful town and a totally different experience from Athens. The whole area was a great trip. We're were just sorry we didn't have more time to explore the Peloponnese - but that's for next time.

Bookmarking to read more carefully later. We're planning our second trip to Greece this spring. We liked it very much the first time.

wow - I really enjoyed the details of this trip report, include food, sights, prices, personal experiences, etc.

Thanks for sharing!

Did you ever get some photos posted?

kathy - thanks. And not yet on the photos. Still sorting.