The islands are absolutely incredible. They are almost exactly as I imagined them. I visited two Cycladic islands and stayed in Cycladic homes. What exactly is does that mean? When you watch Mamma Mia and you see the cast running through stone streets with narrow staircases and tiny blue windows scattered throughout, that is exactly the type of architecture I’m referring to. While exhausting at times (I averaged around 55 flights of stairs daily), it was magical. Pink and red bougainvillea growing at every turn with little street cats running at your feet. The two villages I stayed in date back to around 2500 B.C. How crazy is that? I need to come back to the islands in the summertime. Even though the average daily temperature was 65 degrees, this is wintertime and the off season. Everything near me was closed! I had to trek into villages slightly bigger than where I was staying to get food, or in the case of Kastro, to see other humans. It has been an eye opening experience, but a lovely one. I have to say that the hospitality of the Greek people as a whole has been amazing. They have gone above and beyond to make me feel welcome here, despite the language barrier. I stayed on the beach in Kastro and one day was walking to the next town (2 miles uphill) in search of food and WiFi. An older gentleman passed me on the road on his scooter, then stopped and offered me a ride to my destination. My legs were thankful! The next day I was sitting on a stone bench in a little plaza near a church, reading and waiting for my bus. A man came out of his home and gave me a cushion to sit on, and then after a while insisted that I come in for coffee and snacks. We couldn’t talk much because my Greek consists of greetings and his English was about the same, but thanks to Google translate we had a small conversation about our families. I am still in awe with how friendly everyone is here. Today I will return to Athens where I will spend three more days before I head to Rome. I’m going to eat as much Greek food as I can, soak up the culture, and maybe win a game of backgammon before I go.
1 Comment
11/5/2022 04:22:36 am
Election school assume stuff. Assume nothing discussion last travel strategy. Yeah several any age say west.
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AuthorTaylor is a travel enthusiast and recently left her job in Denver to travel throughout Europe. Archives
November 2019
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