They say the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree—and my daughter Liz definitely got the traveling gene! While I love taking mother daughter trips with her, I’m also overjoyed to see her taking on the world without me. She recently spent six days in Greece with her German sister Ricarda (we once hosted her as an exchange student!), taking in everything from the historic mainland to the picturesque Mediterranean islands. I was SO excited to hear about her experience when she got back. After all, Greece was one of her biggest bucket list destinations. I sat down with her this week to learn about everything she saw over those six days—the food, the islands, and the men.
Right Off a Magazine Cover
Charlotte: We have this image of Greek men being some kind of way—handsome and built (at least in the movies I’ve seen). What’s your take on Greek men?
Liz: Many of them were like abnormally handsome. You would see somebody and be like, I’m just going to stare at him until he walks away.
Charlotte: Very masculine, macho kind of guys?
Liz: Oh yeah, I don’t want to say someone should go Greece to meet men, but there were enough that you could go and say ‘I saw a lot of good-looking guys.’
Charlotte: Any hidden gems you didn’t expect to see in Greece? Any places to meet some of those men?
Liz: Go to a basketball game. The fervor of the crowd is like nothing else—it’s unexplainable. The chants, the cheering, how upset they get when a team plays bad! It’s an incredible experience.
A Foodie’s Paradise
Charlotte: Tell us about the food. Was it as good in Greece as it is in Greek restaurants here?
Liz: I think it’s probably the first food that I’ve had that is so similar to what they have at restaurants here in the States. If you like Greek food and Greek restaurants, you’re going to go there and you’re going to like what they have there.
Charlotte: What about gyros? That’s the main thing Americans think of.
Liz: I was never really looking for one, I wanted more like, dishes of things. But I will say this—you know how we’ll have people set up tailgates outside of stadiums? These guys had gyro stands! People would go over and get a huge sandwich. It might not have been exactly a gyro, but it was bread with like, thick, thick meat and tomato slices.
Charlotte: Would you tell us the names of the foods that you ordered while you were there?
Liz: I had a grilled octopus one day. I had moussaka; I had dolmades, which are stuffed grape leaves. I had pastitsio, which is like Greek lasagna. I had a lot of Greek salad.
Charlotte: Greek meatballs—that was my favorite thing when I was there. Did you see any baklava or bakeries?
Liz: I did not see a bakery like that until we were on the island of Poros. I got a type of baklava. It was almost like a little cup and it had a little bit of chocolate mousse and raspberries and things on it. It was amazing! And at that bakery, I had a cake of semolina, and then I had their spanakopita—the spinach-filled phyllo pastry thing. We had one appetizer that was like deep-fried cheese balls. I could have eaten like 10 of those!
Charlotte: Greek food reminds me of my grandmother’s cooking—soulful, delicious.
Liz: Wholesome! It feels like [food you would eat] if you had a bad day.
Charlotte: Comfort food!
Abounding Architectural (and Natural) Marvels
Charlotte: What did you think when you got your first view of the Acropolis?
Liz: I didn’t realize it was going to be on top of a hill. It made the city even more grand because I originally thought it was right there in the city. I didn’t realize all around the city would look over to this up on top of a hill.
Charlotte: Athens has lots of these architectural marvels and ancient stuff from ancient times. I find on social media, I rarely see Athens and always see Mykonos or Santorini. Why don’t you think I see millennials traveling in Athens?
Liz: I don’t know. People love experiencing a different culture, and it has a different culture. They have great food, they have tourist sites, they have history, there’s shopping and nightlife.
Charlotte: So you and Ricarda did a day trip from Athens to three islands. Tell us about those islands. Would you say to do the same islands or would you recommend spending a day on just one?
Liz: We went to Hydra, which was a little bit older. If you’ve ever seen videos of a Greek island where people are riding donkeys, it was like that. It was just beautiful. The buildings are all white with terracotta roofs. It was the island where they had the most cats. It’s just sort of funny to see cats all over the place and people walking with donkeys.
Charlotte: Do they offer donkey rides?
Liz: Yes, but Ricarda said no! On Poros, it didn’t seem as old-worldy as Hydra. That’s where I stopped into a bakery to get some treats. None of the islands were really resort-like.
Charlotte: Do you recommend people take this island getaway from Athens?
Liz: Yes! The last island we went to was Aegina. We went into a church there and did a scooter ride around the islands. If you have somebody who is a safe, knowledgeable scooter driver, it’s a really really fun way to experience the islands. Aegina and Poros are very similar, more modern than Hydra.
Charlotte: I love these [scooter] pictures! When we went to Italy a few months ago, you were wanting to go on a Vespa. When I saw you on the scooter, I was like ‘this is awesome!’ When I went to Greece in 2006 with the church choir, we went all over the place. All the churches and historic buildings. We didn’t go to any islands at all, so my memory of Greece is from the mainland. It’s nice to hear your impressions! So you do say, if you go to Greece, don’t just do the islands—get over to the mainland.
Liz: Absolutely. There’s no reason no to!
Greece: Where Everyone Feels Like a Friend
Charlotte: What surprised you most about Athens?
Liz: How friendly the people were. I never felt like if I spoke English they were going to be annoyed by it. There’s so much tourism, English is like a common language. They were some of the friendliest people I’ve encountered in travel, almost like small-town friendly.
Charlotte: That’s good to know! Is there anything else you want to throw in?
Liz: It’s my new favorite place. I’ll say again how friendly the people are. I ate at a small restaurant next to our hotel, and I asked if I could take the food I hadn’t eaten. My server said he would box up the leftovers for me, and he came back with everything in a bag. When I got back to my hotel and looked, he put my dish in Tupperware and wrapped the bread in a paper towel. It’s like your grandpa sending you home with food. I’ve never experienced that anywhere.
Wrapping It Up
With all my experience traveling as a Baby Boomer, it’s still so refreshing to hear the point of view of a younger person! I’m so glad Liz takes these trips on her own, but I’m very much looking forward to more mother daughter travel in the new year!
Sidebar
When She Went: December 27- January 4
Where She Stayed: The COCO MAT Hotel Athens (just a short walk to the Acropolis Hotel!)