Greece 2022 – An Awaited Revisit: Elika, Nafplion, and Meteora

 

When we did our RTW trip in 2019, the whole family agreed that Greece was somewhere we’d return as soon as possible, so in the doldrums of February, we bought our plane tickets and started our research, booking AirBnbs in Elika, Nafplion, and Porto Rafti on the way out of Athens. We used booking.com for our accommodation in Meteora, and it worked out perfectly.

Elika was the ideal place to start our vacation. We spent nine days in the seaside village with a handful of great restaurants, one in particular I’d been reminiscing about for three years. Every night we had delicious meals, usually starting around 9pm. A quick list: gemista (stuffed tomatoes and bell peppers), tzatziki, roasted pork, gyros, dolmas (stuffed grape leaves), chicken or pork souvlaki skewers, saganaki (fried cheese), lemony Greek potatoes, calamari, zucchini croquettes, and Greek salads every night, with the signature slice of feta on top – fragrant oregano and good olive oil was all the dressing needed.  Our AirBnb in Elika was a tiny home on a quiet stretch of road with a sandy beach. While the home was humble, it was luxurious to walk the ten seconds from the cottage into the truly Mediterranean blue water. Interlude: I dove in with my swim mask. The water was crystal clear all around me, shimmering blue light filtered in. The beige sand was uncluttered, happy to keep its wavy ridges intact. I swam for a while alone but connected to the world. It was pure tranquility.

A private beach is exquisite, but it’s also fun to secure a couple of lounges under a thatched umbrella for the day. Tortuga Beach was a one-minute drive from our place, and we’d post up, play in the warm water and reeeeeelax. Of course we enjoyed a few treats from the cantina – frappes (iced coffee with foamy milk), chips (Please, Lays, bring us the oregano flavour!) and local beers Alpha and Fix. We ventured to two other beaches: Elafonisos and Plitra, both with beautiful blue vistas, hot white sand, and bathtub-warm water. We spent our days swimming, chatting, reading,and playing Uno. Vacation life. 

We took a day trip to Monemvasia (which we had done in 2019), a spectacular town carved into a mountain-island, an ancient citadel with a panoramic view. We wandered through the quiet town, sparsely inhabited, partly in ruins, explored the fortress, and ended the evening checking out little shops and having another great supper. Like everywhere in Greece, there are always cats nearby ready to take care of any scraps. 

Our next stay was for three days in Nafplion, a small city on the water, still in the Peloponnese. Traveling with Labi, Jill and the girls, we shared a beautiful two story house in the middle of an orange grove. This large, new modern home was beautifully designed, spacious and comfortable, and had a private pool, a must when the weather was always over 30 degrees. 

When we left our luxurious digs, it was to visit fascinating ancient historical sites. We hiked around the citadel of Mycenae, constructed over three thousand years ago, an elaborate fortress with a working water source. Then we checked out the Treasury of Atreus, an ancient architectural feat. It’s a beehive-shaped tomb that was the largest dome in the world for a thousand years. 

The castle of Palimidi looks over the city of Nafplion and we toured it before supper one evening. It was a bit unnerving to be walking around with our kids at such great heights, but the views of the city and ocean were fantastic. It’s interesting to stroll through places with such strange and long histories, and to imagine what life was like when they were inhabited – if these walls could talk. 

The final leg of our Greek journey was to Meteora, which is in central Greece. It was an epic six-hour drive from Nafplion to Meteora, over, around, and through mountains (lots of tunnels). Mike did great driving our rental car. He got pretty smooth at saying “efcharistó” to the many toll booth workers. Very “daxi” of him.

The town of Kalabaka is at the base of unique, massive sandstone rock formations. The road twists and turns up the mountains and there are six byzantine monasteries built into and upon the rocks. We toured the museum sections of several of the monasteries, which remain inhabited by monks or nuns for the last 600 years. The artifacts and paintings were engaging and definitely gave a window into the effect and evolution of Christianity. It was a great place for physical and mental exercise. 

In juxtaposition with the solemn monasteries, we stayed at a family-oriented motel with pools and waterslides. We all had a blast zipping down and floating around. The kids loved their poolside smoothies. In the evenings, we enjoyed the “Feel The Rocks” restaurant vibe so much that we went there twice, and we had a great supper at Taverna Gardenia in Kastraki, the older part of town.

It was a wonderful trip, spending lots of time together as a family, hanging out with friends (Labi, Jill, Alexandra, Olympia, Dave, Sotiria, Kyriakos, and Alexandra!). The beaches, the food, the friendliest of the Greek people, all make it an easy and interesting destination. We will return one day. Resisting referring to Odysseus here is a challenge. YASSAS!

More on Monemvasia (https://www.visitgreece.gr/mainland/peloponnese/monemvasia/) 

More on Elafonisos  https://www.visitgreece.gr/mainland/peloponnese/elafonisos/

More on Meteora

 

Norway 🇳🇴 & Iceland 🇮🇸

We hadn’t seen our friend Rob in years but he’s one of those people you can vibe with quickly. He and his partner Michael were amazing hosts, taking our family in for six nights in Oslo. They made us feel totally at home, and showed us around their city. 

Oslo is #goals for other cities. It’s a scenic city on the ocean, with a river and parks, designed thoughtfully and creatively. In front of one neighbourhood library there is a converted cargo container that acts as an outdoor room for the summer, stocked with children’s books and games. To top it off, they sell waffles, coffee, and lemonade. We must’ve eaten two jars of jam as a crew. Another library was « kids only » so we had to chill outside while the girls played for an hour or so - sitting in cable cars, exploring little reading nooks, making crafts. 

We also all enjoyed in The Kon-Tiki Museum, with the actual raft on display. It brought a lot of our travel experiences together with references to Rapa Nui, Raroia, and Ecuador. Thor Heyerdahl: what a paladin — the ambition, the hutzpah, the sticktoitiveness! The Kon-Tiki Expedition remains an inspiration. Available at a library near you. 

Our three day stopover in Iceland gave us enough time to drive around and see some of its otherworldly geography. Lava fields, dormant volcanos in the distance, sweeping fields, waterfalls, active geysers, and thermal springs — and that’s just the bit we saw. 

We spent a day at one of Reykjavik’s seventeen(!) pool complexes. The kids relished the water slide and we hopped from pool to pool as the temperature suited. Geothermal heat is a swimmer’s delight. Iceland was a calm, peaceful place to wrap up our trip. It would be nice to return there for hiking someday. 

In the last six months, we’ve done many wonderful things. It has been exciting, challenging, surreal, yet very real. Home is, of course, the last stop on our trip, and we are all ready to enjoy being back in Nova Scotia. 

Venice 🇮🇹 & Paris 🇫🇷

We spent a few days in Venice, where we tried to stay cool during the heatwave days, and went exploring the labyrinth of streets in the evenings. We stayed in Cannaregio (the Jewish Ghetto), which was the perfect neighbourhood for calm walks far enough from the main roads. The architecture of Venice is eye candy, and the gelato is fantastic. Just like we did at DisneySea, we took a gondola ride. This time it was just us, and the gondolier told us about the community and its history. 

We went to Murano one day and spent time at a glass jewelry workshop. We also went to San Marco’s Square where the girls fed pigeons. 

From Venice it was actually quite a gruelling journey to Paris. We had booked an overnight train, which would have been very comfortable, but there was a landslide in France that made the track impassable. So the new deal was a train to Milan, then an overnight bus to Paris. Sadly it was one step up from a school bus and was stopped at the French border because it didn’t meet the environmental standards. We waited five hours for the replacement bus, then made our way to Paris, where there was a heat wave. 

Luckily our AirBnb was another great one, a whimsical apartment in Montmartre with loads of fun stuff to look at and toys for the kids. To beat the heat, we went to the Louvre to appreciate the air conditioning, and the art. The Egyptian section is my favourite. We also found a community pool and went there three times during the week. 

When the weekend came, we were lucky to get visitors! James and Naomi zipped over from London. What a pleasure to spend time with family, especially these two legends! We had a great time exploring the city: la Tour Eiffel, great lunch, Shakespeare & Co bookstore, an amusement park. It was fun to spend time together and we were sad to see them go. 

Greece 🇬🇷: Elika, Kalamata, Olympia, Delphi, and Athens

Greece: Elika, Kalamata, Olympia, Delphi, and Athens 🇬🇷

With two weeks in Greece, we decided to spend half our time on the Peloponnese, half in Delphi and Athens. We were lucky to spend the first few days with our friend Labi, whose family is from Elika, a small beautiful village on the coast. What a treat to hang out with a friend from home after five months on the road! He showed us around town, took us to the best beaches, and restaurants, and pointed us in the right direction for the next stops. 

Our favourite restaurant in Greece was in Elika where we enjoyed bread & olive oil, Greek salad, saganaki, slow roasted pork, eggplant tapenade, and tzatziki. Wow. The ingredients are fresh, local, and full of flavour. 

We also checked out nearby Monemvasia, a town carved into a mountain-island. We hiked up the mountain for the panoramic view of the gradient blues of the Mediterranean, and walked through ancient tunnels and buildings. 

We spent a couple of nights in Kalamata, a funky city with a lively waterfront, lots of beachfront restaurants, a fair, and a big gated play area for kids that serves drinks to the parents. (I could see this on the Dartmouth waterfront.) The downtown beach is stunning of course (that blue sea again), and the water is perfect for swimming. 

Next we went to Olympia and walked around the ruins of the ancient Olympics. We got there nice and early as to avoid a few thousand more tourists. After our tour, we splashed out in a hilltop hotel with an huge pool. 

We left the peninsula to go back towards Athens, stopping in Delphi for two nights to see the elaborate ruins at the site of the famous oracle. The mountaintop town itself is sleepy, quaint, and full of stray cats.

Finally, Athens. It’s quite surreal to get off the metro, stroll up a pedestrian street, round a corner and see The Acropolis. It’s thousands of years old and beautiful, especially when it’s illuminated at night. We walked around the neighbourhood, went to the archeological museum, toured the Agora, and on the last day toured The Acropolis itself. 

The rest of our time there we spent relaxing in our inspiringly decorated AirBnb. Our host had greeted us the first night with « the blessing », a shot of Greek grappa, and given us lots of information about the neighbourhood and sites. The next day he gave us a walking and snacking tour, where we sampled the best of the pastries, fetas, olives, etc. 

We loved Greece. It was easy to travel, and we were lucky to have great hosts along the way. My dad’s papou was from Greece, and I knew a bit about Greek culture from my American cousins, so I enjoyed the feeling of connecting to more roots. (I also have been a DHS Spartan since ancient times, and I had to stop myself from filling up a suitcase with Sparta merchandise.) 

Just a few more stops on the way home...😽