I was lucky enough to travel to Greece in July 2019 before the Pandemic and Covid-19 was even a thought in anyone’s mind. I traveled with my high school through a company called Edu-Ventures. Edu-Ventures is a New York based company that helps teachers, students and parents bring educational travel to fruition. I traveled to Greece from July 9th to July 17th, 2019.
We started our trip in the city of Athens. Our tour guide took us on a bus all around the city and our first stop was at the Panathenaic Stadium. The Panathenaic Stadium is one of the main historic attractions of Athens and it is the only stadium in the world built entirely of marble. After we stopped at the stadium, we went to watch the changing of the guards in Syntagma Square. Every Sunday morning the guards have their official changing ceremony.
As the day went on, we traveled over to the Acropolis and the Parthenon. We made our way over to the Acropolis Museum after we walked around exploring the Acropolis and the Parthenon. It was so cool to be able to see such an important ancient ruin and part of history up close. We made other stops through Athens along the way such as to the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens and the Temple of Athena Nike.
On day 2, we started our cruise around the islands on the Celestyal Olympia. Our first stop on the cruise was at Mykonos. We mostly explored the town square, walked around, and went into the little shops. We stopped at a little gelato place called Trio Bambini and it was arguably better than any ice cream I had ever had. Mykonos has many photo ops with all of the white buildings and blue doors. We walked towards the top of the island and got to see the view from the Windmills of Mykonos.
On day 3, we traveled over to Kuşadası, Turkey. After we were greeted at the port, we took a bus over to Ancient Ephesus ruins. Ephesus is an ancient city in Turkey where the excavated remains reflect its history from classical Greece to the Roman Empire to spread the word of Christianity.
After we visited the ruins of Ephesus, we went to a carpet maker to watch the entire process from start to finish. Our tour guide showed us how silk is made and taken from the fiber to the process of creating and designing a carpet. Later on that day, we got back on that cruise and sailed to Patmos.
In Patmos, we went to the Cave of the Apocalypse, which was located up the mountain. This grotto marks the spot where St. John of Patmos received his visions that he recorded in the Book of Revelation.
On our next day, we went to the island of Crete. In the morning, we walked around and shopped at a little market in town. We were able to pick up any little trinkets or souvenirs we wanted. As the day went on, we moved on to the Minoan Palace of Knossos. Knossos is the largest Bronze Age archaeological site on Crete and has been called Europe’s oldest city. Settled as early as the Neolithic period, the name Knossos survives from ancient Greek references to the major city of Crete. The Palace of Knossos is most famous for its connection to Greek mythology. Namely, the tale of the Labyrinth and the Minotaur and the one of Daedalus and Icarus.
Labyrinth & Minotaur were
Later that night, we got back on the cruise and traveled on over to Santorini. I took the Cable Car up to the top, but you were also able to ride a donkey or walk. I spent the least amount of time in Santorini because it took so long to get to the top waiting for the cable car, although the wait was worth it. Santorini has beautiful views, as well as photo ops. I highly recommend stopping at the Ario Lito Mansion Hotel for pictures.
The next morning we got off the cruise and headed back towards the mainland. We took a bus and went to the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounion. This was the temple that was dedicated for the Greek God, Poseidon.
After we visited this ancient ruin, we headed over to the beach for our only relaxing beach day. We went to Paralia Anavyssos and got to swim, tan, and lounge around for a couple hours. The water was very clear and the beach was super clean. That night, we went to Tavern Kalokerinos where there was dinner along with traditional folk dancing, plate throwing, and belly dancing.
On our last full day in Greece, we went to see more ancient ruins. We went to visit Delphi and its archeological museum. We saw many ruins as well as the Ancient Stadium of Delphi. The ancient ruins and artifacts are so cool, being that they are from thousands of years ago.
As we left Greece and headed home, I can definitely say that was a trip of a lifetime. I highly recommend to anyone to travel to Greece. Although, Athens and the city would not be my first recommendation. I would much rather have stayed on the islands the entire time. Mykonos and Santorini are beautiful, as well as Crete. Greece has many things to do from visiting ancient ruins, to shopping, to going out to eat, to going to the beach, to sailing from place to place. I would say Greece has been my favorite place I’ve traveled so far.
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