Vacation in Greece

[President Camacho]

Going to Greece for a little fun. I was wondering if anyone had been or had any ideas of what to see while there. I'll be in Athens on the 16th! I'm very excited.

[Suzanne]

I'm excited for you Pres! Have a great time

I went to Greece on a french class trip in HS. I was 16. At that time you could actually walk around the Acropolis and other structures, nothing was roped off. I also remember not to pay full price for any items in the stores. The shop keepers expect negotiation. Delphi was my favorite destination and the Plaka was a blast.

Would love to see pictures when you return!

[writerjohnb]

I went to Greece twice in the early '70's, on a small oiler that was assigned to fuel the Greek navy's patrol boats on exercises. I imagine some things have changed, but most of the countryside will be the same. We were based out of Athens, and I enjoyed taking buses down the coast to the south. Best was the Greek islands, Corfu and Mykonos. We went to many islands, but those were my favorites. If you can afford a day trip to the island of Santorini, it's home to one of the most beautiful and scenic towns on earth.

I hope you have a wonderful trip.

JohnB

[oblivion]

Pres, extremely hot there at the moment so be prepared. And don't be surprised if the food is luke warm (it's supposed to be). My daughter will be on San Turin for her best friend's wedding at the same time (send happy thoughts). And don't confuse dried capers for pistachios )
Have fun!

[President Camacho]

Suz, thanks for the advice! I hear much is 'roped off' now.

writer, I def. plan to visit Santorini!!!

obliv, I'll try to remember that!

[heledd]

Never went to Athens but went to a lot of small islands. One of my favourite countries, I'm sure you'll enjoy. Yes they think hot food is bad for you . . .and don't forget not to put the toilet paper down the toilet, or you will block everything up

[heledd]

Oh the Minoan site of Knossos, southern crete. Amazing.They had a better drainage system then than they do now. It's very near Santorini

[Chris OConnor]

I fear I'm adding these comments a bit late but I am really excited for you, Mr. President!

About 5 years ago my wife and I spent 10 days in Greece and we've been talking about it ever since. If we could go back we would love to do an entire summer on Santorini. Have you see the movie "Summer Lovers?" It was shot in 1982 on Santorini and hardly anything has changed since then. You really MUST hit Santorini! It is gorgeous beyond words.

My wife is 100% Greek, speaks the language fluently, and felt like going to Greece was a magical experience. This was her first time and she actually was crying as we landed. Powerful stuff to visit your parents homeland for the first time.

Athens is simply awesome. We stayed at Hotel Attalos http://www.attaloshotel.com/ and loved it. From our room we could see the Acropolis and Parthenon clearly. And from the rooftop bar we could enjoy a bottle of wine each night looking out over Athens and the Acropolis.

August 15th is the busiest day of the year in Greece. We were there on August 12th through about the 20th. On August 15th it was our first night in Santorini and we struggled to find a table for dinner. Everything was reserved. Turns out August 15th is a Greek holiday of some sort. We finally got a great table, had an amazing dinner and watched the fireworks out on the center island from our restaurant on the caldera.

The nightclubs in Santorini are just amazing. But don't arrive till after 11:00 pm or better yet midnight. We didn't know better and we showed up at like 9:30 and we were the only people in the damn place. But the cool thing was we could look around and see everything before the party started. There was no ceiling so we could see stars. And damn can you see stars when you are on Santorini. No city lights to pollute the air.

I believe the club we spent our night in was called Mahal. http://www.greeka.com/cyclades/santorin ... l-club.htm They had this very attractive belly dancer and my wife, being a great dancer and Greek, got up and held her own pretty well.

If you get the chance to walk along the top of the caldera from Fira to Ia go for it. It is 1,000 feet down the face of the caldera and an amazing view. A path winds along the top all the way from one city to the next.

I hope when you get back you share some photos!

[heledd]

Lovely pictures Chris. Your wife looks very Greek and beautiful. I expect President Camacho has arrived there now

[writerjohnb]

Thanks for sharing the pictures. Brought back a lot of old memories.

JohnB