Mountain Views News          Saturday, June 30, 2012

B7

Traveling The World

 Mountain Views News Saturday June 30, 2012

PETER DILLS’ GREEK VACATION

Thomas Wolfe wrote a book titled ‘You Can’t Go Home Again’ but throughout the years there 
have been different variations of that familiar title. Ah but this man lived in an era that didn’t 
include airbuses now did he? 

It has been some 40 years that I 
departed Greek Soil. I recently returned 
to Greece and am excited to share my 
experience with you. 

If it is history that you seek, there is 
plenty of that to enjoy, if you are looking 
for relaxation then this your spot, how 
about superior cuisine? I will attest that 
the worst meal of the trip wasn’t really 
all that bad. Yes, Greece has something 
for everyone.

Getting There: It’s a long flight, with 
choices of airlines and layovers in 
Toronto, Washington and New York. 
We traveled on Air Canada and 
had a layover in Toronto. As a beer 
drinker, a few Molson’s at the airport 
restaurant helped make the time go by 
fast. One warning though, if you are 
using dollars they will give you back 
Canadian currency, so my suggestion 
is to use your credit card. Unless you 
want to have a couple of dollars as a 
keepsake. Once you make it to Athens, 
you’ll have the choice of a taxi, renting 
a car, or if you are on a tour like we 
were then someone will greet you at the 
terminal. My suggestion is that if this 
is your first trip a taxi or hotel shuttle 
would be prudent. However, if you are 
on the islands, renting a car is safe and 
easy.

Where to stay: In Athens there is a list of 
five star, four star and three star hotels. 
We stayed at the Metropolitan just 
outside of Athens, and while the hotel 
was clean and a great view of the port, I 
wouldn’t say it was five star. But I liked 
that it had a view and was away from 
downtown Athens that is congested 
and a bit dirty with graffiti and scooters 
everywhere. Once in Santorini and 
Mykonos, the accommodations are 
very nice, in fact while our hotel in Santorini El Greco, wasn’t on the beach it reminded me 
of staying in a storybook village: very upscale and with four different pools. In Mykonos 
there are many small/boutique hotels very close to the beach, while our accommodations 
were close to being cramped, I will call it cozy. 

To tour or not: If you have traveled to Athens or any other surrounding Islands before, 
I don’t see any need to sign up for a tour. We did and I am glad we did, but it was the 
consensus of our group that if any of us were to return, that you could easily do it on your 
own. We agreed that once if you have seen the ruins and the stadium, that none of us 
would spend much time in Athens. 

Getting Around: Big difference in getting around in Athens and getting around in Greece. 
First of all it’s much hotter in Athens then it is in the islands, and as I mention in when to 
go July and August have is severe heat. My mother to this day reminds me of the 100+ day 
in July when I was born on a US Army base. The buses in Athens are usually filled with 
locals and would opt for taking a taxi or even the tram. On the Islands I do recommend 
the buses, many of them are new, air-conditioned and dependable, a bus ride is about 
$1.40 euro. On the islands you can rent a scooter by the day, it looks fun, but I was warned 
that many a kid has seen the hospital by crashing into the wall on a narrow road. Getting 
from island to island is done by Ferry, a boat that costs about $45 euro. There are airplanes 
that do fly from the Athens Airport to Santorini/Mykonos, and when I return I will take 
advantage of them, but for your first visit it adds to the fun of the trip. Bring a book or a 
crossword puzzle. If you aren’t on a guided tour tickets can easily be purchased at the port.

When to go: Athens is hot, I mean temperature hot, in fact many workers and vendors 
take off August to visit friends and families elsewhere. If you are there to relax and get a 
tan, then by all means July would be OK, however just visiting the Acropolis in June we 
were overheated and water was our best friend, I couldn’t imagine a July tour of Athens. 
My suggestion is early June or late September.

Dollar v. Euro: Those looking for bargains, we found that even though Greece is in a 
financial crisis, they haven’t put out the distress flag yet, when shopping you can always 
ask for the best price. I was warned that dinners can easily run $60 euro, while I did see 
that price tag, it was very few and in between. I did notice that the restaurants closest to 
the water were pricier. A tip is to go to supermarkets, not the markets and buy beer, water 
and fruit and have it in your hotel refrigerator. The fruit there is some of the best I’ve had. 
The beer and sodas at the hotel can be twice or three times as much as getting them at the 
market or a Kiosk.

Dining in Greece: Originally I was going to give a few reviews of the restaurants that I visited, 
and after collecting business cards of places that I dined, I came up with this conclusion, 
where ever you go, you really can’t go wrong. You want affordable dining? They have it. 
Want to dine on or near the beach? Yes, fish and chicken are the most popular items that 
we came across both in Athens and in Santorini and Mykonos. The items on the menus at 
each restaurant are very similar. You won’t find too many steaks or burgers, yes, they are 
available but there are no beef cattle being raised in Greece. We enjoyed the Greek Salad 
and the Rocket Salad pretty much with every meal. You’ll find that the Greek Salad has 
no lettuce, and is made up of cucumbers, olives, tomatoes and Feta Cheese. Something I 
found odd, the extra charges on the bill, first when they ask if you want bread, we always 
say yes, there is an additional charge of 2 to 3 euro. Plus sit down restaurants have a cover 
charge, no not the night club admission, this is a sitting charge, this charge gives you the 
privilege of sitting at your table for as long as you want, I think this was initiated more 
for the locals that like to sit for hours and conversing over cigarettes and espresso. Note.. 
everyone smokes, even while they are working. One spot that did stand out in Athens, near 
our hotel was Restaurant Kalypso. The food was above average and the waiter even assisted us 
with our Greek language lessons. We returned there while waiting for our flight home.

Tipping: This isn’t as big of a deal that it is in the states. Workers are working for what is called 
a “living wage”, don’t ask me to explain a living wage, I am restaurant reviewer not workers 
rights lawyer, however you won’t get the typical service that you’d expect from the waiters, it’s 
not bad, it’s “are you ready to order” your food is brought and you might not see your server 
again, at least until you flag them down/ and I did a lot of flagging down. My suggestion is 
10 to 12 % tip. Taxi Cab drivers same thing, a couple of euro are sufficient. As with any trip 
leaving the chambermaid and if you are on a tour, a tip is suggested.

Sightseeing: The first day is full of sight seeing, visit the Acropolis, Zeus Statue, Temple of 
Poseidon, and the Stadium, an afternoon at the beach in Athens is also a pleasant way to end 
your day in Athens, a day in Athens? Yes, ! I found Athens to be hot, congested and plain 
dirty. If you want to see the ruins, I took a boat trip to the Island of Delos. There is a small 
admission charge once you get there, but you will get a sense of the history of Greece. One 
of the highlights of the trip was our seven-mile hike on The Santorini; we started at Fira and 
ended our walk in OIA, beautiful walk looking the cliffs and sights of the Volcano’s and the 
Aegean Sea. Two other musts while we are on Mykonos we took a small boat along the shore 
and you have your choice of five beaches, a beach for everyone, a party beach, a topless beach, 
we opted for Elia, plenty of sand and chairs to enjoy a relaxing day sun bathing. Santoroni 
has been voted top ten sunsets in the entire world. We took the Sunset Cruise that was quite 
relaxing and is a must; another bonus is the boat stop briefly at one of the volcanic hot springs, 
hot? No, but quite warm. 

Is Greece Safe? : Yes!! On our first day on our vacation we stayed just a few miles from 
downtown, it wasn’t till we went to downtown did we see any police presence, 

you are more likely to be hit by a scooter then witness any crime that goes for the Islands of 
Santorini and Mykonos as well.. In fact on the Islands we noticed no police at all, I mean none. 
I was surprised by the text messages and facebook postings asking me if I was OK? Just like 
Los Angeles, some areas are better then others, if you are looking for a demonstration I am 
sure if you wait long enough you can find one.

Opal!!! Pack your bags save your money and head to the Islands of Greece. The locals are waiting 
for you with open arms and a glass of Ouzo.