Why travel to Greece? A reflection  

Ah, Greece.

Beautiful, stimulating, surprising. Expectations, taken with a grain of salt. Everything I hoped it would be.

Visiting Greece was an item on my bucket list for many many years. Finally, after graduation, Daniel and I made it happen. At that time, I was in residency, and Daniel was in the first years of a new position. Vacation time was hard to come by. It was an extremely unusual decision for us to spend two entire weeks in one country, especially in Europe, where the geography makes it so easy to country-hop. Yet, when we were planning our trip, I didn’t hesitate to spend the entire time in Greece. (Okay, I *did*, however briefly, consider an extension to Turkey. The idea was quickly abandoned.)

My fascination with Greece

Greece has long been considered the cradle of ancient civilization. From high school through to university, almost every subject we covered has some trace of ancient Greece. Reading Sophocles in English. Pythagorus in math. Hippocrates in medicine. Plato in philosophy. Not to mention the vast collection of Greek mythology and classical literature that has come out of Greece. (And Mamma Mia, anyone?) To me, Greece was both history and the stuff of fables.

In university, I discovered Santorini. My rental room in sophomore year was painted a bright blue. Channeling my inner interior decorator, I bought a matching George Meis poster when the poster fair came through campus. It remained on my wall all through my formative years. I’d look up from my desk or my bed, studying (procrastinating) long into the night, out to a view of the Aegean at its bluest.

Needless to say, I waited years to realize my Greek fantasy.

Timing our Greece travel

One of the reasons Greece was on my to-visit list for so long was because I was waiting for the perfect time to go. Back then, I traveled between semesters every chance I could, but our longest block of time off was always in the summer. July and August is high season in Greece, of course, and the Mediterranean is at its scorching-ist. For someone who spent a month in Egypt in August, I would still have gone in a heartbeat. But given the choice, we preferred to visit Greece off-season.

Late May/June was the perfect time to see Greece. Just outside the high season, it’s quieter (it’s all relative!) and the weather is toasty warm. Actually, September is probably the ideal time to visit. The Aegean was still pretty cold in June, but warms up a lot over the summer. 

Realizing a dream

Traveling through Greece was phenomenal. The landscape is diverse and beautiful, the food simple and tasty, the people warm. There are layers upon layers of history to unravel, and yet, there is a simplistic, laid-back, charming vibe.

And the sunsets. There is no sunset anywhere on earth like sunsets on the Greek islands.

Like many historically rich countries, to fully appreciate the sights, it really helps to read up on the background beforehand. Otherwise you can really just slough through piles of rocks and ruins. As pampered North Americans, traveling in Greece is not always comfortable. Many Greeks, particularly those outside the tourism industry, only speak… Greek. The hotels are small, the bathrooms (particularly showers) are frequently inconvenient, the road regulations are more like suggestions. I can be pretty self-conscious, so haggling is *always* a pain. But soon you realize that each hotel comes with an incredible view, getting lost/being hot/feeling tired is only an excuse for gelato, and each experience – whether wandering through a ruin or relaxing in a pool by the Aegean sea – makes for an unparalleled memory. 

Read more about our two week Greece itinerary.