Up until they stamped us through at immigration in Athens, I really didn't think this trip was going to happen. Back in the early summer when we thought vaccination was going to be the end of serious COVID concerns, I suggested to my mom that we go somewhere together this September, and she suggested visiting a few Greek islands. By the time the Delta variant and vaccine hesitancy became big concerns, we already had plane tickets for the trip, but I kept expecting it to get canceled and didn't even make hotel reservations until a few weeks ago. Didn't start booking any tours or activities for us until our negative COVID tests came back, 24 hours before our flight.
But, amazingly...here we are! So exciting. I'm with my mom, my aunt (by marriage) J, and J's sister S for 2.5 weeks of island-hopping (plus Athens) and then if all is still well, COVID-wise, when they fly home at the end of the month, I'll move on to a couple weeks in Italy before heading back home myself.
Our first stop is the fabled island of Crete, which I've been really eager to visit since reading "Natural Born Heroes" (Christopher McDougall). We flew from Athens into the western Cretan city of Chania (I'm not going to try to give you the Greek alphabet for any of this, so there could be spelling inconsistencies in applying the Latin alphabet to Greek places/words) and staved off jet-lag the evening of our arrival by doing a guided walking tour of the old city. The view from our hotel is lovely...
...and the view at street level is, too.
We learned a bunch about the Cretan tradition of knife-making (and -carrying, with a peek into this knife-making workshop)...
...and began learning about the Venetian and Ottoman history of the island, particularly the way the two cultures/religions have not-so-peacefully coexisted here over the years, and the inseparable relationship between religion and government in Greece.
Aunt J and my mom enjoyed sips of honey-and-cinammon-infused raki...
...and we all enjoyed the beautiful streets of Chania at sunset.
Much more to come, but for now...welcome to Greece!
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