A Greek Escape

Walking down the streets of Athens, I was often confused on whether I was back in Italy or not–but store signs written in an alphabet made up of math signs and triangles reminded me I was just across the Adriatic sea. For the first time in my life, I visited Greece. 

Despite it topping the list of European traveling destinations, I never took the opportunity to go there and for a long time I was not quite ready to give up my passion for traveling up north. But after three months of living in Denmark, two weeks back in the Mediterranean were exactly what I needed and somehow, a Greek escape made me feel as if I were back home.

It wasn’t just the heat and the friendly, open people that reminded me of Italy but the entire atmosphere and vibe of Athens that entire week. From the architecture to the ancient ruins at every corner, the chaos all around–it all made me realize that at this point, I was nowhere near Scandinavia.

A Greek escape promises good food. This comes as no surprise given its geographical position. “Here, we produce the best olive oil,” our AirBnB host, Pantelis told us when he showed us the small locally produced bottle of Extra Virgin olive oil we could use to dress our salads, “never believe the Italians when they say they do.”

Originally my dad comes from the region where Italy’s best and most exported olive oil is produced. I still clearly remember all those times when we would carry litres and litres of olive oil back to Rome each time we visited my grandfather. Once a 10-litre container spilt all over the car’s trunk while we were driving on the highway to the capital. Our car smelled of bruschetta for the rest of its lifespan.

Athens is packed of “Tavernas,” typical, (often) family-run, restaurants filled with smoking Greeks and delicious food. Following the country’s tradition, Pantelis and I would order a set of starters each time, and share our dishes. Upon arrival, Pantelis explained how in Greece, people don’t ever really order their own single dishes at a restaurant, but share multiple starters: from the famous salad to grilled Feta, it was for sure the easiest and most delicious way to taste the varied cuisine this mediterranean country had to offer. It was in Athens where we managed to find the most local, tourist-free Tavernas which served the tastiest food.

When moving to the second part of our Greek escape–Rhodes and Santorini–prices soared, tourists appeared, people started becoming unfriendly, more impersonal. In Athens, every morning, we would walk to our local bakery, where the owner, Magda would serve us her delicious pastries and always treat us with something new each time. On the islands however, most Greeks were less friendly–clearly used to the massive flow of tourists invading their land seasonally every year. Nevertheless, we visited stunning locales. While Rhodes (apart from the beautiful Medieval town where our B&B was located) was extremely deserted as the tourist season had not started yet, Santorini was one of the most spectacular places I had visited in a while: Imagine approaching an island made up of 300m high cliffs, topped with blue-roofed white houses looking like a thin layer of snow covering a mountain top.

Our ferry arrived there at midnight when the full moon was illuminating the volcanic rocks while we were making our way into the island’s crater. Once you get there don’t expect beautiful beaches because you will be disappointed–what Santorini is famous for is its stunningly beautiful, simple, and elegant architecture. On the edge of the cliffs, the main towns of Oia and Fira were constructed of white stone houses with roofs painted in cobalt blue. We spent one afternoon on the terrace of one of these stone houses on the cliffs of Oia. The view was breathtaking. Many gather for sunset on the tip of the island, carrying their tripods and sitting there till the sun has sunken behind the sea line. There was applause at the end–as a sign of recognition of how spectacular nature can be (I personally found it slightly exaggerating, but people travel from all over the world to Santorini to witness its sunsets).

We learnt however that the Islands live solely on tourism. It was increasingly hard to find good local restaurants or cheap cafes. All you get when walking through the streets are Greek men persuading you to dine in their “exclusively delicious” restaurants or buy their “unique” jewelery. The island of Rhodes was the biggest expression of the tourism-business. When we flew in from Athens, we thought we landed on a deserted land recently affected by a devastating plague. All stores were closed. There was hardly anyone around. Most buildings outside the town centre looked completely abandoned. However, the more we spent time there the more we realized those places were everything but abandoned. The worn-down look of the island was only the result of the winter’s low tourism season. Everyone explained how business owners and hotels are slowly repainting their stores and cleaning up their swimming pools just in time for the summer season. “The restaurant might be open tomorrow,” one shop owner told us in the old town of Rhodes on our first night while we were desperately looking for somewhere to eat, “they say two cruise ships are coming in.”