Two Weeks in Greece

We traveled to Greece for our first time in late October and early November of 2021. We spent most of the two weeks on mainland Greece, but were able to spend a couple nights on the island of Corfu.

The core of this trip was Gate 1 Travel's "13 Day Greece, The Birthplace of Civilization" and we added an extra day in Thessaloniki at the front of the trip and a couple extra days in Athens at the end of the trip.

Further details and photographs regarding specific Greek sites and activities we experienced will be described in separate forthcoming posts:

• Thessaloniki (including Ano Poli)
• Edessa Waterfalls
• Ancient Pella
• Ancient Vergina
• Meteora and Kalambáka
• Igoumenitsa and Ferry to Corfu
• Corfu (Kerkyra)
  • Mornings at Hotel Corfu Palace
  • Achilleion Palace
  • Corfu Town
• Preveza
• Nafpaktos
• Delphi: Archaeological Site, Museum, and Town
• Rio-Antirrio Bridge
• Achaia Clauss Winery
• Magna Grecia Olive Oil Farm
• Ancient Olympia
• Cooking and Eating Greek Food at Touris Club (Olympia)
• Nauplion
• Mycenae and Corinth Canal
• Athens
  • The Acropolis and The Acropolis Museum
  • Areopagus Hill
  • Roman Agora and Hadrian's Library
  • Ancient Agora
  • Ayios Demetrios Loubardiaris Church, Pnyx, Filopappos Hill, and Socrate's Prison
  • The Panathenaic Stadium
  • Hadrian's Arch, Temple of the Olympian Zeus, Basil and Elise Goulandris Foundation, Bust of Melina Merkouri, Piano Stairs, Harry S. Truman Statue

This was not our first tour with Gate 1 Travel, but it was our first "Discovery" small group tour and there were a lot of things to like about it.

We enjoyed the small size of the tour group (18 people) and enjoyed being able to eat many fabulous multi-course meals in local restaurants that could accomodate that tour group size. We were also able to have plenty of room on the tour bus and participate in activities that would not support larger tour groups. It also helped that we had a great tour manager (Eva) who also served as an informative and interesting tour guide at the multiple sites.

We loved the food in Greece and tried several local dishes. We've eaten Greek salads at home in the United States before, but they are even better in Greece. We had at least one Greek salad as part of a meal each day and loved them! We also enjoy tzatziki at home and enjoyed it even more in Greece.

It's a good thing that we walked a lot in Greece because we ate more than we normally do as we tried new things.

We tried moussaka for the first time on this trip and tried it at multiple restaurants to see how it differs. Although it was often described as similar to lasagna, we felt like that wasn't the best description. Although it is layered like lasagna, it doesn't have the cheese or abundance of tomato sauce that a lasagna has.

Every hotel we stayed at in Greece included a large Greek breakfast and several of them featured deliciously seasoned large mushrooms that we really enjoyed.

We also enjoyed the sliced fruit with honey and cinammon or nutmeg and have been doing that at home since that trip.

Our first trip to Greece was a fantastic introduction to a beautiful country with so much to offer those who visit. It was worth dealing with the various requirements related to COVID-19 to experience a small taste of what Greece has to offer.