Dec 1, 20224 min read

Greece

For our latest adventure we headed out of the country to visit Greece. No, we didn’t go to any Greek islands, instead we spent the week traveling around the country via a Globus guided tour. This was our second Globus bus tour, the first was in November 2019 around the north of Ireland. Once again, the Globus tour was fantastic. We stayed at a different excellent hotel each night, visited fascinating places along the way, ate too much, drank a good bit of ouzo, danced like Greeks, and had an all-around great time with our 30 traveling companions. Our tour guides, Elena on the road, and Beverly in Athens, were amazing. Smart and beautiful Elena was a never ending fountain of knowledge whether the topic was temple building 3,000 years ago, present day Greek economics, or anything in between. Meanwhile, bawdy Beverly was the perfect hostess and party catalyst as we ate, drank, and danced our nights away in Athens. They were a terrific team, making our trip totally funducational. The third member of the Globus team was our bus driver, Panos, the Greek God of Asphalt. He routinely called upon his godlike powers to negotiate the Peloponnese’s steep mountain roads or its towns’ implausibly tight streets. We always felt safe and secure with Panos at the wheel. Needless to say, we give Globus five stars again, and look forward to traveling with them in the future.

I can write volumes about the amazing places we saw, the fascinating people we met, and the ouzo we drank, but I’ll just share with you the five big things we learned on our unforgettable trip.

#5. We did not find any old taverns, somewhat odd for a place with 3,000 years of history, but we did meet lots of bartenders. Greek bartenders typically are aloof and very businesslike when you first sit down, having been conditioned by serving thousands of annoying tourists. Adding to this feeling of aloofness is the common practice of presenting you a bill with every round of drinks, rather than one bill at the end. You know, the experience is a lot like having a drink at an airport bar. This practice gives one the impression of being rushed. However, once you get them talking by asking a couple of questions, they open up and start sharing stories, cooking recipes, Greek language lessons, weather forecasts, and just about everything under the sun. They are a wealth of knowledge and we give a big shout out to bartender Evaggelia and host Hercules at the Thesis 7 in Athens. Of course we had to meet a Hercules in Athens. We had a great time with them while tapping their vast local knowledge. Meanwhile, Gregorious, in the Amalia Delphi hotel bar, entertained us until well after closing time. Big thanks to him for teaching us that “Se agapo” means “I love you” in Greek. Last, but certainly not least, was bartender Harry from the Zafolia Hotel in Athens. We were lucky to spend three evenings closing the bar with the dashing Harry. If you find yourself in Athens someday, please stop by to say “Hi” to Harry and have an Old Fashioned on us.

#4. Greece has lots of rocks and lots of steps. It’s inconceivable how the ancient Greeks were able to build such impressive structures in such remote places. Getting to and from the ruins is often difficult for even the most able bodied person. We were always sore at the end of our days — days full of climbing up and down hundreds of uneven steps, and miles of seemingly endless steep hills. However, the effort was well worth it as we saw unbelievable scenery and soaked in sights like the Parthenon sitting high on the Acropolis, the spot in Olympia where the torch is lit for every Olympic Games, and the temple of the Oracle where the future was foretold for centuries. The captivating history and impressive ruins were truly amazing! It became blurred as to whether men built the structures or if they were done by otherworldly beings. Oddly, though, we found that the Greek engineering geniuses either had the day off or outsourced the design of their hotel showers. Every hotel bath tub had the shower in the middle of the tub instead of at the end. This often led to a flooded bathroom, and a very unsatisfying shower for anyone bigger than an Oompa Loompa. Trust me, the design just doesn’t work

#3. We learned a lot about Greek culture. During our travels we learned all about Greek dance, whether it be traditional dances in a formal class with our professional instructor, Constantinos, or from Israeli tourists showing us their belly dancing moves at Taverna Aris. Speaking of Taverna Aris, we had a great time there, eating octopus, drinking wine and ouzo, and dancing away to live music. What a blast we had! Oh, I digress, back to the culture. Besides dancing, we learned how to make tzatziki, how to drink ouzo the right way, and how olive trees, olives, and olive oil…extra virgin olive oil that is…play an integral role in Greek culture and history.

#2. Traveling with a group of strangers is a load of fun! Strangers to begin the trip but lasting friends at the end. Getting to know the 30 other travelers is probably the best part of a Globus tour. We had a wonderful time learning and exploring Greece with all of our traveling companions. We loved talking to and sharing experiences with the Golden Girls, the Philly Fanatics, Jamie the organizer, the Three Sisters, the note takers, Dan & Joanne, the Canadian girls, the researchers, and like us, all the fly by the seat of the panters. Everyone was wonderful and we had a great time getting to know them all.