Some Beaches and Ruins: A Honeymoon in Greece

by Happy Husband Berger

My wife and I recently took our honeymoon to Greece.  In the spirit of an old email about our trip to Peru a few years ago, we’ve written up a little something both to let people know about the trip and to remind us of what we did.  So here goes:

Greece’s economy seems to consist solely of olive oil and tourism, but that’s OK because its natural beauty and bevy of unbelievable ancient sites far outweighs the kitschyness of the tchotchke vendors that accompany everything.  Modern Greeks also seem to have the attitude that the locales speak for themselves, so ruins have only a small rope separating you from them (if that) and the beaches are almost untouched.  There are, of course, a zillion people roaming everywhere, but it wasn’t as bad as it could have been – the economic collapse, which we didn’t experience in any real way, accounted for anywhere between a 15% and 50% drop in tourism (we got different estimates from different Greeks).

We flew into Athens after a long red-eye the day after the wedding, so needless to say we were exhausted.  Our first day consisted of a shower, dinner, and sleep.  Miraculously, we felt like people the next day so we planned on having a rich day of touristing around the capital.  Our plan, however, was partly thwarted: our hotel manager told us to go to see the Acropolis (the huge and hugely famous structure atop a hill overlooking the city, which has, among other ruins, the Parthenon) early in the morning, so we walked there early only to find it closed because of a strike until the afternoon.  The people at the Acropolis told us the National Archeological Museum would, however, be open, so we trekked to the other side of the city to see it… only to find it closed too.  Oy.  But all was fine because we drank frappes (a strong Greek iced coffee basically), saw much of Athens, and walked back to the Acropolis, which proved to be as spectacular as we imagined it to be.  The New Acropolis Museum right next to it is also a must-see. 

Athens feels like a typical big city with small buildings – it’s sprawling and dirty, but surprisingly easy to navigate.  We can’t say that we fell in love with it (it felt a bit impersonal), but there are some terrific things to see.  You can’t go five feet without bumping into an ancient ruin.  The sheer quantity of ruins is overwhelming, and we spent much of the day stumbling from one magnificent site (i.e. the Agora) to another (i.e. many Temples).  There’s also a bustling tourist area, the Plaka, at the foot of the Acropolis with fun shops, places to snack, etc.

Tired, we napped, and had a late dinner at a taverna.  As far as we can tell, there are only two kinds of restaurants in Greece: high-end seafood joints that remind you of a good place in NYC, and tavernas, which serve traditional Greek fare like moussaka, pastistsio, and stuffed eggplant.  That stuff is delicious, and we found the food generally to be quite good, but it can get a bit old after a while.  Oh, and for lunch there’s snack shops that serve, well, gyro pitas and souvlaki.  And that’s it.  So we ate, well, about 25 gyro pitas.  There’re super delicious (most of the time), but let’s just say we didn’t lose any weight on this trip.

We did return to Athens for a last day before flying home.  Thankfully, we saw the National Archeological Museum that day, as well as stocked up on tchotchkes.  Both museums are not to be missed, and I must say that I didn’t have a good a sense of the history of ancient Greek civilizations and art until we did the National Museum.  Perhaps it would have been nice to see first to put the rest of what we would see in perspective, but it certainly capped the trip off perfectly.

On our third day we caught a short flight to Mykonos, the party island of the Cyclades (a ring shaped collection of islands in the Aegean).  We are not, as it were, in the prime partying time of our lives, so we mostly enjoyed the crystal clear water of the beach right outside of our hotel room.  After reading in our guidebook that there was a small boat that ferries people between the family-oriented beach that we were staying at and the famous party beaches, Paradise and Super Paradise, we were dismayed to be told by our gruff hotel person that it didn’t exist.  So, we made a harrowing trek along a rocky cliff to go check out the other beaches (what you’d expect: Greek versions of Cancun or the like with lots of chairs and bars), and then we watched the ferry sail by. 

There’s not much to see in Mykonos beyond three petite windmills, but the streets of the “center of town” (the island itself is pint sized) is awesome: small white buildings with tiny narrow streets winding around one another.  We ate dinner late-ish in the heart of the partying area (an amazing fish taverna where they let us survey the day’s catch in the kitchen to choose our fish) and so watched throngs of scantily-clad young people (how old do we sound?!) drinking heavily.  The club music was bumping, and we hurried ourselves back to the comfort of our room.  <

I should mention that there is no weather on the islands.  It’s always sunny, hot, and hazy.  We saw rain only once, when we were driving on the mainland back to Athens.  That’s why we’re sweaty in almost every picture we have.

The next day we took a short boat ride to do a morning in Delos, the holiest island in the Cyclades, which are so-called because they circle around the tiny island.  Delos is the mythical birthplace of Apollo and Artemis, but because of its central location also served as a big economic hub in ancient times.  As a result, the island is replete with a fantastic array of ruins.  We hiked up the big hill and took a lot of cool pictures.  It’s hard to express the almost magical feeling you get seeing these things.  It may be clichéd to say, but I know felt like I communed with those that gave birth to Western culture.  It’s really stunning to see how sophisticated they were, how powerful their attention to art and beauty was, and how like us they were. 

At this point, we’ll mention that we didn’t do a particularly good job of picking up any Modern Greek.  We can say ‘yes’ (ne) and ‘good morning’ (kalimera), and that’s about it.  Modern Greek is a bit hard to parse.  It looks like Hebrew, but sounds like Spanish.  But maybe that’s a provincial way of putting it.  So we were a bit lost at times.  We managed to get around with a flurry of hand gestures, but there were many times when we wondered if we should have brought a dictionary.   

We caught a boat the next day to Naxos, which is a big but far less touristy island.  We just loved Naxos.  We stayed in a charming pension owned by a very nice family (the uncle continually chatted me up about American technologies, which I of course know nothing about) with a pool.  Naxos also has lovely beaches.  The water isn’t as clear as Mykonos’, but there were waves, which are conspicuously absent from Mykonos’ beaches.  It’s amazing how different each island is from one another.  Despite being so close to each other, they all have their own flavor.  We spent our first day lounging on the beach and then had a terrific thrown together meal of some fresh olives, bread and cheese, a bottle of Naxian wine, and the best baklava we’ve ever had.

On our first full day of Naxos, we rented an ATV (a little four wheeled vehicle) and drove around the island.  Naxos doesn’t really have much by way of sites, though they bill themselves as having some.  So we stopped by some modest ruins, and just enjoyed the rush of fresh air as we zoomed around.  The next day we lazed on the beach some more.  <

We left Naxos for Santorini, renowned for being one of the most romantic places in the world.  Almost all of the buildings are erected on the hills of the Western side of the island, so that everyone can watch the famous sunsets from chic expensive restaurants and hotel balconies.  We quickly met up with two of our friends from college—also recently married and on their honeymoon—and ran to see the sunset in fancy neighborhood of Oia.  Everyone else had the same idea, and things were a bit crowded, but it was beautiful nonetheless.  Santorini is actually three small islands and the next day the four of us took a boat tour of the other two.  We first visited the small volcanic island responsible for the cataclysmic explosion that destroyed the ancient Minoan civilization of Crete, and then to a cove to swim in a hot spring.  That night, we drank too much watching the magnificent sunset view from our pension, and ate at one of the most spectacular restaurants in Santorini.  On our last day, we visited the famed red and black sand beaches, enjoyed a tasting of some very mineral-ly wines at a family owned winery, and shopped in the expensive boutiques. 

The next afternoon we caught a flight back to Athens, a bit wistful to be leaving the islands.  We immediately picked up a rental car from the airport, and drove about three hours to Nafplio, a beautiful small town on the coast of the Peloponnese.  Nafplio is a bit like the Greek Newport, RI, and most of the tourists are Greek.  It has small streets, expensive shops, and a little rocky municipal beach.  The main attractions are the two fantastic citadels that sit on opposing hills overlooking the bay.  We spent one day climbing up to both (the locals say that there are 999 stairs up to the higher one, but that felt like an exaggeration), shopping, and enjoying the beach.  We also drove out to Mycenae, the ancient site of the home of many of the immortal characters of Greek mythology.  The acropolis there is the House of Atreus—you know, Agamemnon, Orestes, etc.  One night we drove to Epidavrous, an immense intact ancient theater, and saw the National Theater Troupe of Northern Greece put on a modern-ish rendition of Aristophanes’ The Archarnians.  It was all in Greek, but wonderful.  Reading the Wikipedia article in advance helped and the audience laughed a lot.  There were also a lot of Greek celebrities (the guy sitting next to us said a famous comedian and pop star) in attendance, and the crowd went wild.   

We then drove across the Peloponnese to Olympia.  We were staying in a Best Western, which we figured would be  as equally pleasant but as pared down as the rest of our accommodations thus far (we were staying mostly in cheaper pensions), but it turned out to be a paradise with a gorgeous pool and outdoor restaurant overlooking a bluff.  We relaxed in our spa-like digs (a Best Western?!) before heading out the next day to visit the ancient site.  We were awestruck at just how big the site was, and we took a billion photos.  Our favorite ruins were the Podiums of the Zanes, which led to the entrance of the enormous stadium.  In ancient times, these podiums were carved with the names of athletes that had cheated somehow with their offense and punishment as a warning to incoming Olympians.  Zanes is the plural of Zeus.

We drove from Olympia to Delphi, which is on the mainland.  The town is fantastically touristy, but we managed to have a delicious dinner.  We visited the site the next day.  Sadly, our pictures from the site and our last day in Athens didn’t come out, but que cera.  Perhaps it’s better that way.  Delphi is a mystical place, and it may be better that our experiences there live on only in our memories. 

The trip was exactly what we wanted.  High and low: a little culture and a lot of beaches.  Everything was spectacular, as expected.