My Big Fat Greek Spring Break
I LOVE Greece. It feels very different than Italy. Athens, at least, has (what I imagine to be) a Middle Eastern vibe with its aromatic and Levantine-style food, almost chaotic amount of people and “relaxed” traffic rules, on-top-of-each-other architecture, and arid climate.
I’ve been in Greece for five days and have eaten gyros every day. Maybe multiple times a day. As much as I enjoyed the Italian food earlier this week – I cannot get enough of souvlaki, moussaka, tzatziki sauce, and Greek meatballs. The ouzo (Greek vodka) is gross, though. Not a fan.
My friend Marisol and I flew from Rome to Athens on Wednesday morning, March 7th and stayed a night before meeting up with my roommate Sam in Santorini on Thursday. Here’s our adventures!
Athens
Athens feels massive, but everything you’d want to see there is very condensed in the center – you won’t walk more than 15 minutes anywhere.
We stayed right in the heart of it all at the foot of the Acropolis (the VIEWS!) at City Circus Hostel. I think I loved our Athens hostel more than our Rome hostel! City Circus is #1 in Athens in a trendy neighborhood of a hundred restaurants and bars. The neighborhood felt so cozy – narrow streets with restaurants decorated in string lights and people huddled around outdoor tables lit with candles. The hostel mimicked these vibes as well – plush couches and eclectic, colorful decorations with wooden bunk beds, a tropical rooftop terrace with views of the acropolis, and a fantastic neighborhood restaurant, Zampanó, downstairs. Zampanó has cheap, healthy breakfast, free wine nights for socializing, and incredible moussaka, meatballs, lamb, prosciutto, and gnocchi (I think I tried it all). Marisol and I made lots of friends there, and it was so fun to hear their travel stories and about their lives. Several people were on their way to volunteer on Greek islands at Syrian refugee boat rescue organizations, which I’m of course now looking into. Later that night, us and our new Australian and American friends went to a rooftop bar called Couleur Locale with breathtaking views of the lit-up Acropolis in the distance. I’m all about the ambiance, and you really can’t beat this place.
But earlier that day on Wednesday, as well as Thursday morning before our flight to Santorini, Marisol and I climbed the path to the top of the Acropolis to see the Parthenon. As you might be able to tell by now, I can sometimes get a bit overwhelmed at human achievement and natural wonders. We spent a couple hours walking around the Parthenon (me reading all the signs about the ancient Greeks, Marisol patiently waiting for me to read all the signs) and looking out around the city and the Mediterranean. My childhood dream of being an archaeologist suddenly came rushing back and all I want to do now is brush dirt off of Greek marble.
We finally forced ourselves to head back down through the crumbling amphitheaters toward the Panathenaic Stadium built for the first Olympic games. It has since been reconstructed entirely out of marble to its original state and was used for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. Super impressive, but my butt would seriously hurt if I had to sit on marble for hours at a time.
On Thursday morning I forced Marisol to get up early before our flight so we could walk through the Acropolis museum. The way the museum is designed is kind of ingenious: the whole top floor is shaped like a rectangle with large metal pillars to scale with the Parthenon. The remnants of the decorative scenes on the sides have been placed between their matching pillars (removed from the Parthenon and placed here for preservation purposes, I assume). There are glass windows all around so you can see the Parthenon and visualize where these pieces are supposed to fit on the real thing.
Finally, we hiked to the top of Filopapou Hill next to the Acropolis to see views of both the Parthenon on one side and the Mediterranean on the other. I really wasn’t expecting to love Athens as much as I did (I’m sure the sunny 65 degrees had something to do with it), but I’d go back in a heartbeat, especially with a local, to experience Athens life outside the Acropolis bubble. Last night (today is Monday, March 12th) we stayed at City Circus again where I ate Greek meatballs at Zampanó (excellent) and a pork gyro for only 2,50 euro at Souvlakia down the street (gonna miss the gyros so much!!). Definitely stay at City Circus if you’re ever in Athens!
On to Santorini!
Santorini
Unfortunately because of high winds, our flight got delayed six hours on Thursday afternoon, March 7th. Things were quickly put in perspective, though, when Sam missed her connection from London entirely and had to shell out a ton of money for a new same-day flight…better than taking an 8 hour ferry, I guess?
When we arrived to our Airbnb cave house in the town of Oía (pronounced “ee-ya”), it was pitch black except for the stars and we couldn’t see anything outside our little porch gate. The next morning, however, we awoke to jingling bells and hoof trotting. When I looked out the window, donkeys were walking right up the path in between our front door and the clear blue Mediterranean. What a wake-up call.
They were carrying supplies on their backs because repairs and construction of hotels was happening to prepare for the summer high season. March is still considered winter low season for the island, which has its positives and negatives. On one hand, almost everything was closed and at times the island felt completely abandoned. This was a real bummer sometimes because some restaurants and shops I’ve read about don’t open til April, the water was too cold to swim, construction is loud and everywhere, and the buses only run once every couple hours.
On the other hand, everything is heavily discounted. Our Airbnb with views of the Caldera cost us $100 per night, normally over $200 or more, and we booked 30 euro wine tour tickets the day before to the most popular cliff-side winery on the island, Santo Wines. Most importantly, we have one of the most beautiful islands in the world to (mostly) ourselves. This alone outweighs everything else in my mind. What can be a white girl Instagram haven or couple’s paradise in July is a solo backpacker’s dream in March. In my opinion, I’d probably wait a few more weeks until April or May (or September) to go, that way more will be open but the tourists won’t be in hoards yet. We also got very lucky with the weather. March can be an extremely windy and stormy month for Santorini (it was stormy only the day before we got there), but we had sunny 65 all three days. The island was absolutely magical.
Even with much closed, we managed to time it right and do everything on my list. On Friday, we got in for free to see the ruins of Akrotiri (a Pompeii-like situation where the island’s volcano erupted and buried the ancient town), explored the red rock cliffside of Red Beach, and drank the spicy (from the volcanic ash) white wine at Santo Wines.
On Saturday, we took the bus from Oía to the main town of Fira, where a lot more shops and restaurants are open. I would probably recommend staying in Fira during the winter and spring because it’s much more lively, but I was also happy to get back to quiet Oía for our afternoon beach adventure. We descended 239 steps to Amoudi Bay, where we walked a dirt and rock path around a bend with our friendly neighborhood dog to a giant rock for cliff diving. I, however, did not cliff dive because I am lame and cold water is probably my least favorite thing ever. Sam and Marisol braved the Titanic-level ice water, however, and swam out to the rock only to jump right back into it. Although it sucked that the water was so cold, we had this whole area to ourselves – I’ve read that in the summer it’s packed to the brim with swimmers.
Afterward, around 5pm, we hiked back up 239 steps to change and watch the sunset. Many shops and restaurants open around this time, because all the tourists stand atop the Byzantine Castle ruins to watch the most gorgeous sunset I’ve ever seen in my life. As for restaurants, we ate at Lotza, Skiza, and Blue Sky for our three nights there. These restaurants are open year-round and though I don’t know whether they’re the “best” Oía restaurants, I really enjoyed the moussaka and pasta I had there!
Yesterday (March 11th) before our flight to Athens that afternoon, I got up early by myself to bus to Fira. I read that one of the best things to do in Santorini is take the 11km (6.5 mi) hike from Fira (the middle of the island) to Oía (the northern tip of the island) along the dirt Caldera path. I am SO glad I did! This is the part of the trip that really made me happy I came here in the off-season. In the summer, hundreds of people walk this path every day. In mid-March, I passed maybe three groups of people in the two and a half hours it took me to go from one side to the other. The island is shaped like a crescent, so the views from the path around the inside are stunning.
Except for two major hills, the hike was a relatively even elevation and it was incredibly peaceful. I put in my earbuds and listened to my fav wanderlust bands, Lord Huron and Dispatch, as well as a Spotify playlist by my sister, and maybe some of the Mama Mia soundtrack. I loved being alone. The radiating beauty of the world along that hike is incredibly healing. Or, as my nerdy British Fantasy Literature professor would say, it’s the SUBLIME!
Although I’ll miss Italy and Greece more than I can say, I am SO excited to be going back to London. There is so much more to do and less than two months to do it!! As much as I’ve enjoyed my travels around Europe, having free weekends in London is absolutely the best. There’s something new every day and I relish my time in this city.
Travel has been a constant desire in my life for as long as I can remember, and actually living it every day has been a dream, despite its various annoyances or frustrations or missing the people back home. Last semester was a pretty rough one for me, and though travel isn’t an excuse to leave problems behind, I’ve ultimately found myself more at peace with the way things already are, and the power to let more things go. I know it’s easy to say that after being on a carefree European vacation this week, but I’m looking forward to all the adventures even beyond this study abroad experience.
Cheerio and back to (but not really) reality!
