HALF A YEAR IN GREECE
Our six-month retirement journey in the land of our birth: Greece
Category: Greece
THE ENDURANCE OF THE GREEKS
The strength of any country is its people. The ability and stamina to carry on is inherited in the Greeks. Evident in their struggles to overthrow invading armies, occupation of foreign powers, wars, economic turndowns, and day to day living that is simply called life.
The Beautiful Tavernas of Greece
Tavernas and Kafeneeos are the center of Greek life. They are embedded in Greek culture and history.
This is where people meet for a quick cup of kafe or to linger over a meal. No matter how small a village is, there is always a taverna or two. They date back to ancient times when men would sit and philosophize about life, politics, weather, and the like. In many places, especially in rural areas, rooms are attached for those who don’t want to venture far from the village square.
When we arrived in Athens, we were eager to have Greek food…alas, the city was in lock-down and the only thing we could do was get it delivered. If we ventured out, it was take-away. Delicious nevertheless, but the menu options were limited.
CROPS IN – LET’S EAT!
On our recent retirement journey throughout Greece, we enjoyed delicious meals everywhere we visited. The freshness of the food did not surprise us. Food to table is how the Greeks have eaten since the beginning of time. Many take their home-grown products to the open-air markets (the tomatoes are outstanding!), which take place in almost every city and town, and some grow them for their own use!
EVERYBODY LOVES GREEK FOOD!
I started to write this blog about the amazing, delicious Greek food we enjoyed throughout our retirement kick-off journey throughout Greece and there is so much to say and show I’ve got to do it in two separate blogs!
MY GREEK COUSINS!
Throughout our travels we made some stops at places – basically a night out, a drive through or a few days stay while we were waiting to fly home. These come to mind as I reflect back to our journey throughout Greece. The best part of being there were the family members we visited with and sharing the experience.
KALAMATA
Ever eat those delicious black olives in your Greek salad? This is where they come from. Those olives are called Kalamata Olives, so there you go!
MY TWO VILLAGES
There was no way we would come to Greece and not go to the place where my parents were born and raised. To me, this is where I feel most connected to this land. So we packed up and hit the road.
EVIA – KAVALA – THASSOS
After an overnight ferry ride back from Crete, we drove about an hour and a half north of Athens to the island of Evia. We settled in our hotel outside of Eretria and planned our excursions. This included plenty of down time relaxing around the pool and on the beach as well as hitting up other popular towns, Kavala and Thassos.
CRETE
Majestic. That is how I described Crete on our previous trip to this island and…