Under the Grecian Sky

We're on our way to Greece. Before starting our research on Greece, we knew little about it, except as with many countries in the Mediterranean, it has a long, and at times, turbulent history. Over the past few millennium, it's often been occupied by one militarily strong European nation or another. However, their current struggle is very different, as they try to find a way to survive financially.

Our first week will be in Athens. We hope to focus on their history,  specifically in the Acropolis area and the Parthenon. The city of Athens has about 3 million people, and is one the most well known tourist meccas in the world. In light of the economic uncertainty, our best case scenario is for tourism to be down, demonstrations under control, and business as usual at the airports, car rental agencies, grocery stores, gas stations and the like.

While staying in Athens, we also have a day trip planned to the Island of Ydhra, one of the thousand or so small Greek islands. The Island of Ydhra is about 10 kms  long and very mountainous, with apparently no vehicles, not even bicycles. The transportation options are limited to walking or riding a mule on their few roads but plentiful trails. We expect to don our hiking boots to see what we can see.

For our second week, we'll be on the Island of Crete which is the largest of the Greek islands. We'll be staying in a self catered villa in the  mountain village of Kerames. It is  located on the south side of the Island and not too far from the sea. We expect to eat some Grecian food, drink a little wine, and be challenged by the Greek language, as it uses a different alphabet. We also hope to spend some time beachcombing, hike a couple of scenic gorges, and of course, just relax in the mountain air, soaking up the local culture.

Now, in as much as we've roughed out a plan, we're hoping for a little adventure. With some luck, there will be the unplanned, the unexpected, and maybe a treasure or two to be found on the beaches, up in the mountains, or elsewhere under the Grecian Sky.

Click here for the Athens series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2015/07/first-impressions.html

Click here for the Crete Island series:
http://travellingwithsteveandmarlene.blogspot.ca/2015/07/our-villa.html

As always, we'd love for you to join us.