Falling for Greece, the land of Gods and not only...
Thinking about Greece I recall the Land of Gods, ancient history, a wonderful country and travel destination surrounded by the Mediterranean, Aegean and Ionian sea, scenic islands, endless white beaches and legendary mountains, traditional Greek cuisine and appealing seafood, bouzouki music, breathtaking landscapes... and many more...
Regardless of my very old and pale Greek roots, and the odd feeling that sometimes my paths in life were as for Zorba's the Greek, the country that I dreamed to visit since my childhood was Greece.
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| Greece the land of Gods - Pixabay Cari R. |
My thoughts about Greece were leading especially to the amazing and impressive Greek ancient history and all those genius minds coming from this impressive ancient land - philosophers, mathematicians, architects, musicians and so many other amazing people and personalities - that managed to boost our knowledge to new horizons.
Have you ever been to Greece? Do you know about Zorba the Greek and Zorba's spirit?
Greek holidays - Greece one of the best Mediterranean travel destinations - an intriguing and (all senses) captivating European country always worth to be visited, offering a mix of ancient and modern, stunning views of Greek ancient temples and sculptures, white and blue houses dotted with bougainvillea, windmills, sparkling turquoise sea and yachts, a maze of winding cobbled paths, delicious food, magical sunset spots over a glass of champagne, chic nightlife places...
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| Greece the land of Gods - Pixabay Dias12 |
Traveling to Greece…
Greece to me was the first country visited after Romanian Revolution (1989), so, first getting out to a so said “wonderland” for a simple citizen from “Eastern block” – as we were labeled at that time…
There, I had a great opportunity to travel around the main part of the country (excepting Northern side), the peninsular area, and few spectacular Greek islands: Aegina – Hydra – Poros, Evia, Andros, Santorini, Mykonos, Rhodos, and Kefalonia (where was made the movie “Captain Corelli’s mandolin” – with Nicholas Cage).
I regret that I went to Santorini (please feel free to read my other lens The magic of Santorini island) and had no idea at that time about the Minoan ancient site built on the island but, no doubt, that will be added as the main point for one of my future traveling plans there!
Regarding the main part of Greece, I was fascinated with the beauty of Volos area, Makrinitsa, Karditsa, with the outstanding suspended monasteries from Meteora, Prespes Lake, Ioannina, and for its peninsular part I consider Monemvasia being one of the most exciting places (a well preserved medieval city and not so famous yet for tourists), Epidavros Ancient Theater (one of the most impressive “acoustic” experiences that no one should miss in a lifetime) and Nafplion (a scenic place combining mountain and sea landscapes, all in a rich pallet of colors, sounds coming from a variety of birds chirp, the pale wind playing thru the leaves and turquoise sea waves, and everything surrounded by delicate scents).
Really remarkable that at every single step around one could see a temple, an ancient theater, a piece of wall or a fountain built thousand years ago or a simple piece of rock stubborn to assist from its passive place the inhabitants' evolution over centuries, as well as a, blossomed tree connecting your mind somehow with shadows of heroes from our ancestors' mythology and history.
Having all these in mind, to me Greece will be always one of the best Mediterranean travel destinations – rich in history, culture, music, gastronomy, antique markets, golden beaches, windmills, lush green olive, and lemon groves, stylish nightlife yet somehow well preserving the old traditions.
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| Greece the land of Gods - Pixabay Ioannis Ioannidis |
First contact with Greece
At my first contact with Greece, I couldn’t believe it’s so much green! Plenty of colorful flowers in every single corner of nature (and buildings, as well), the Mediterranean Sea with hypnotizing clear water bright turquoise, entire nature combined so smoothly and wild, in the same time, wonderful beaches with fine sand and rocky mountains “topped” with joyful goats wherever was a tiny bush, plus the mixture of appetizing flavors coming from traditional Greek coffee, ouzo (their traditional drink made out of aniseed), cigarettes (too many, though), olive oil, calamari, Greek salad made of fresh ingredients, souvlaki, spanakotiropita and oranges having some Greek bouzouki music as background…
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| Greek salad - Pixabay Claire05 |
For the whole this genuine beauty and past history, Greek ancient history, with a touch of Byzantine and Roman civilizations, I consider this country a wonder of nature on Earth and still one of my favorite places to visit in the world.
In Athens, for any curious or traveler, it’s worth to take a long walk throughout Monastiraki and Plaka areas, especially for the subdue way of preserving the spirit of ancestors with daily crowds of people browsing around the ancient market (agora) searching for best bargains while following the ancient roads among olive trees and laying their humble prayers for a dozen gods inside those perfect temples erected everywhere around, while nowadays everything is projected into another time and different dimension, showing you a cosmopolitan world passing by Karaghiozis Theatre (a sort of satire show of Muppet made out from cartoon), following same old paths enriched with plenty of art crafts and souvenirs stores, the velvet scent of tasty Greek coffee and, sometimes a bouzouki sound, daring to follow you out of taverna to open your eyes and make you use of all 5 senses (or even more!) to “breath” the beauty of the place and feel the history under your skin, and I like more Thisseon area from where you can go up on Acropolis, Philopapou hill, The Ancient Theatre or Socrate’s cave and enjoy the scenic landscape.
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| Meteora - Pixabay Christo Anestev |
In the old part of Athens is a very popular and cozy tavern (I don’t remember its name now), at the edge of Plaka – Thisseon, few meters away from Theater for amateurs actors, with a panoramic view right above ancient site and The Tower of Winds (known also as Horologion or Timepiece, located near the Ancient Roman Agora).
I used to drink Irish coffees there, read “Athens News” and spend some time thinking at all those mastermind architects and artists, their humongous knowledge of mathematics, physics, anatomy and astrology sciences, and spectacular creations, shading humans’ vanity and our ephemeral existence.
Moreover, if we consider Homer’s notes (if I’m not wrong) about mysterious Atlantida and its inhabitants, the Atlants, I may say (as ignorant in this domain) that Greece has all the main items from Genesis till nowadays: history, traditions, myths, secrets, proper natural environment, great ancient characters, passed throughout all types of political systems and was marked enough by all kind of hypocrite rules imposed by self-named servants of God….
"In many ways, we are all sons and daughters of ancient Greece." - Nia Vardalos
Flashbacks - thoughts about traveling to Greece
Sometimes I have flashbacks of some friends’ comments thrown right before going to Greece – “why to waste your time visiting that arid country and see only rocks!?” Isn’t it interesting how people's minds are functioning, when they have no clue what they’re talking about?
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| Old Greek man's memories - Pixabay Lukas Bieri |
at my escapes taken years ago I’d like to get born once again (prior some wild minds may take other weird decisions and vanish whatever treasures are still left on Earth), in a wealthier stage, settle and implement some compulsory rules to limit worldwide waste (all kind), sponsorship several true companies helping African states (schools and medical system), then travel around, especially to areas not invaded by regular tourists or very easily accessible trails, as:
Brazil (to have an extreme experience along Amazon river, jungle, ancient temples and see in real all those famous fossils), Tibet (first have to read more from Krishnamurti, prepare me for 5 years with a disciple of Dalai Lama and, eventually, learn some fighting movements from Steven Seagal :)) ), Costa Rica, New Zealand, and South Africa (for their spectacular beauty and natural reserves),
Egypt (for going beneath the real ancient temples, not the ones visited by tourists, and mostly to give my full support for searching that famous library from Alexandria) and, also in Africa, to pay a visit to Dogon Tribes (in Mali) to see with my own eyes their ancient shrines and astrology tools and try to understand how was possible thousand years ago (without nowadays technology) to see all 3 Sirius planets, all those savage places that I haven’t visit them yet and, of course, to buy a simple house in Firostefani (Santorini Island, Greece) with sea view, take care of my own goats, discover a new recipe for rocky-volcano red wine, rent Dalaras (famous Greek traditional singer – included among my notes playlist) for one week-private concert, had a weird combined meal consisting out of tasty Kalamata olives, delicious calamari grilled on charcoal (not fried!!!), souvlaki, tirokaftheri (local specialty, spicy creamy cheese), traditional Greek pie recipes + Mythos (beer – instead of ouzo) and get the drive and strength for scuba diving from there till Read Sea coral reefs checking for Atlants ruins along the way…
… Still there or already fall down from the chair reading all these thoughts about Greece?
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