Mia

June 1st to 2nd, 2022

We became more acquainted with our tour group on the bus ride to Delphi, chatting with each other about our trips and what led us to take this trip. A few couples seemed to want to adopt my sister and me, and we were glad for the advice and the group meal companions.

As the city turned to the countryside, our tour guide regaled us with a re-telling of Greek myths and the modern history of the country.

We stopped to take pictures and I have never smelled anything as good as clean air and wildflowers in my life.

We then drove into the scenic town for lunch, where Anna and I made friends with one of Greece’s many stray cats and enjoyed some delish fresh vegetables at tzatziki. I had never had tzatziki before, and now I think I may talk about it a bit too much. 

Delphi is a gorgeous town, but a small one. We got to town with some time to explore before our tour and group dinner (and some time for my sister to paint) and we were able to explore most of the shops and streets in about an hour. 

The museum held many treasures that I didn’t expect to see. Anna and I went through the museum a second time, to spend some more time looking through the pieces. Then we set out for the archaeological site. We first toured through the site as a group, and then were given time to split up and choose if we wanted to go all the way up to the stadium or not. Of course, my sister and I did the hike to the top. 

Luckily, after the hike, we still had time to walk down to the fountain and get some of the drinking water, which we were told possessed healing capabilities. I was definitely feeling like I needed some healing after all the walking we’d just done!

And there was only going to be more where that came from.

Once we got back to our hotel, Hotel Leto Delphi, we had just a few minutes to rest before heading to our group dinner at Taverna Vakhos, where we were treated to a gorgeous mountain vista, and our first sight of the coast!

May 29th to May 31st, 2022

We booked an extra in Athens on either end of our trip, and I’m so glad that we did, especially in the beginning. It gave us a chance to orient ourselves in the city (and the country) and to see some things of our own choice. We stayed at the Acropolis Select Hotel, which had a lovely rooftop garden and view of the acropolis.

Athens is one of the most confusingly laid out cities I’ve ever been to, but it’s small enough that by the end of our time there I had walked through most of it, and learned my way around very well.

My sister Anna had been to Greece before, and she directed me through the subway, leading me out at the Acropoli stop. When I walked up the stairs, I turned and saw the acropolis for the very first time, and I’ll admit I cried a tear.

I couldn’t believe I was finally here.  

 Our first morning in Athens, we walked to the Agora. We got there as soon as it opened and were the first ones in, meaning we had the place practically all to ourselves. 

Anna is an artist, and she spent time on our trip capturing sketches that she later turned into oil paintings. 

For our next stops of the day, we bought sandals from Melissino’s Sandals, which ended up being the shoes we both wore across much of the country. See how many times you can spot them in our pictures! We also went to the Cycladic Museum. 

That afternoon, we had our welcome dinner and met the wonderful group we’d be traveling with for the rest of our time in Greece. I couldn’t have asked for a better tour guide then Ionna or a better group of traveling friends than the one we had. 

The next morning, we got up early and walked to the top of a hill (this became something of a theme for us) and watched the sunrise over the city.  This was a perfect start to a perfect day because today was the day we were going to the acropolis and the acropolis museum.  

Being both obsessed with archaeology, classics, and history (my sister is fine arts major + art history minor, and I am an environmental studies + history major), exploring Athens was a dream come true for us. I don’t think anyone else could’ve kept up with the two of us! 

We went to Hadrian’s Arch, walked through the Athens National Garden, saw another archaeological site by surprise, and had a lovely dinner and a lovely evening in the city, before turning for a good night’s rest!

Our time in Athens was over until the very end of our trip; the next day we’d be taking a bus into the mountains.