Back in November, Misha and I, along with my mother and sisters, took an off-season trip to Greece. Keeping with the tradition of this blog, I will eschew a day by day breakdown of our vacation and instead recount a few anecdotes and highlights. An aspiring travel writer I am not. Even if I were, it’s a little late in the blogging game to be offering advice on what to do in Athens and Santorini.
The trip started with Misha and I arriving in Athens a day before the rest of the family after an easy two hour flight from Tel Aviv. We started the night with dinner on a rooftop overlooking the Acropolis. Throughout our time in Athens, I found it nearly impossible to keep my eyes off the place, especially at night. Photos simply cannot capture the magnificence of the structure. Once done, we went in search of some nightlife. We settled on the oldest distillery in Athens, Brettos Bar, known for their liqueurs and traditional Greek spirits. It is located in Plaka, a fun neighborhood filled with tourist shops selling campy shirts, mythological trinkets, and phallic keychains. We would return to Plaka several times throughout the trip, as its central location made it a convenient place to go in search of a bar.
At Brettos, we met a British chap (complete with an ascot) named John sipping a glass of ouzo on the rocks. He told us about a must-try Italian restaurant named Amazing Grace next door to a “very cool bar” for a night cap. He was an interesting fellow, but apparently our conversation made him lose count of how many drinks he had imbibed. At one point in the night, he mumbled a goodbye and stumbled out of the bar without paying his tab. The next afternoon, after meeting my family and recounting the previous nights events as we strolled through Plaka, who do we see on his way back to Brettos? Why, John, of course, and looking decidedly less chipper than the evening before. We decided to take John’s recommendation for dinner and set out for a more appropriately European-timed meal and check out Amazing Grace. As it turns out, Amazing Grace is the name of the cool bar, and the Italian restaurant is the place next door, which is so popular that you need a reservation. Thanks John!
The rest of our time in Athens was spent visiting all the main tourist locations, plus a trip to Cape Sounion to see the Temple of Poseidon at sunset (photos above). The Acropolis, Temple of Hephaestus, Roman Agora, you name it. Photos of all are below. We even stumbled across a honey festival with vendors giving out free samples of way more honey than any one person should rightfully be having in one sitting. It worked out though: we were able to pick out a really great selection of meat, cheese, and wine for the next day’s picnic.
For our last night in Athens, my sisters and I went out bar hopping. We started with a few cocktails and distressed reactions to the licorice flavor of ouzo. From there, we went to a trendy bar called The Clumsies. We saw a bouncer hovering over what looked like a trap door. He let us down into a basement stuffed to its 30-person capacity to join famed French bartender Nico de Soto for a limited event. So limited, we found out from some locals, that the space only opens a few times per year. We tried both signature cocktails. One tasted like coffee while the other was like a liquid peppermint patty. I’d recommend neither. Try again, Nico.
Next, we were off to beautiful Santorini. Since we went in the off-season, there were no crowds anywhere. Getting around was very easy. However, it was also very windy, and the rooftop hot tub we hoped to take advantage of was more of a warm tub. Keep this in mind if you plan to visit the island in spring or fall. The further out we got from the main town of Oia, the more restaurants and shops had closed for the winter. Luckily, it only takes 20-30 minutes to drive anywhere on the island, so this didn’t affect us too much. We rented a car for only 40 Euros a day, a great value considering the 5 minute van ride from the airport to our Airbnb was 35 Euro. Lesson learned: don’t take taxis in Santorini unless you absolutely have to.
The highlight of the trip was a sunset boat cruise. It featured an open bar of excellent Greek wines, a traditional Greek dinner, and stops at two hot springs off the shores of islands with volcanic activity. Once again, the term “hot” was used loosely, but that didn’t stop us from jumping into the frigid Mediterranean waters. On the tour, we met a trio of young Frenchmen who fancied themselves partiers. Mid-meal, one challenged me to see who could shotgun a beer faster. USA-1, France-0. I finished my dinner, he went to the bathroom. 2-0.
We packed a lot into our time in Greece. Everyone we met was super friendly and always willing to help. The food was delicious. My personal favorite was moussaka, while Misha preferred the pastries. On top of it all, Greece was super affordable compared to everywhere else we’ve been recently. We’d love to go back during the warmer months and see what else Greece has to offer.
Lastly, while in Athens, I took and passed to Office Management Specialist Test (OMST), another step in joining the State Department. If interested in this position, look back to what I described in this post last summer. The Qualifications Evaluation Panel (QEP) is currently reviewing my application. If approved, the next and final step would be to take the Oral Assessment, a day long test taken at the State Department. Fingers crossed!
Beer and Diplomacy 
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