Greece Travelogue Part 2
Paros, Santorini and Crete
If you want to read part 1 of the travelogue (Athens and Mykonos) click here. If you want to see the resource page and learn how I packed light and my experience with the ferries plus some recommendations, click here.
—Buckle in, this is a long article!
The third stop on my trip was Paros island. Paros is one of the Cyclades islands and it was my favorite.
Paros
This is what I had hoped for when I booked the three Cyclades islands. It was calmer, quieter, much less expensive, less touristy and the people living and working there were happier.
I met amazing people on Paros, forged instant connections and friendships and even celebrated my birthday!
Paros was a dream.
The walk from the ferry port to the airbnb was only fifteen minutes and most of that walk was flat. As I talk about in my two previous articles, I packed light and had a rolling 11 kg bag plus a small backpack. This helped me time and time again throughout the trip and I wouldn’t do it any other way.
The airbnb was lovely and the owner was absolutely delightful. The room was large with a private bathroom and balcony. This was helpful as there was a clothesline on the balcony and I was able to hang out my wet clothing from Mykonos. While I was on Mykonos it was overcast and my hand washed clothing didn’t dry.
The owner told me a few things to see and where to go on Paros. After a short lie down, I headed out to explore. I was relatively close, just a few blocks, from the old town and I found a lovely forest trail to get there. Once in the pedestrian only old-town area I knew I’d found my happy place.
Paros is similar in style to Mykonos but in contrast, the streets were virtually empty. White washed buildings, lovely cobble-style roads and some shops. However there was no high end Gucci, LV, Dior et al, which is not my jam.
My plan was to find a specific restaurant on the water. It was recommended on Happy Cow and had vegan options. I took my time walking through the adorable old-town and even stopped in a few shops to peruse. I got lost, found again and lost again. When I arrived at the restaurant I asked to sit by the water and picked a table next to another woman dining solo.
We struck up a conversation and ended up talking for several hours. She was from Germany and it was her second time to Paros. This time she did what I hope do in the future. She was staying on Paros for two weeks, and making day trips from there. It was a fun and lively conversation as she was also a solo female traveler with a lot of experience and passion.
The dinner itself was delicious. They make a vegan moussaka and I had a few more dishes including a dish of Greek olives, which are not to be missed. The waiter took a liking to me and there was some joking along with his flirting. As mentioned in my other post, Greek men are amazing. They are the most chivalrous men I’ve yet to meet in all my travels, including in the US. In my experience, they were respectful and kind.
I had only planned to spend two days on the island, which in retrospect, was a mistake but I wanted to get a flavor for each place.
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Birthday Celebration - Unplanned Delight
The next day, which was my birthday, I had the option of going to a beach on Paros, taking a quick ferry ride to Antiparos or taking a little longer ferry ride to Naxos. After asking the opinions of others, I decided on Antiparos. The ferry ride was less than thirty minutes and there were no issues. The Aegean Sea is a color, or colors, I’ve never seen before. A light, pale green with swirls of darker and lighter blue. It was like a fairy tale.
Antiparos was just okay. The old town was similar to Paros with wider streets and more shops that charged more for the same items. But I did find a fabulous restaurant off the beaten path where I sat and wrote long-hand for an hour in my journal. The food was fantastic and it was so peaceful, under a canopy with wild cats wandering about and lots of lush plants and flowers.
This was the highlight of Antiparos for me. I’m not a huge ‘lie on a beach’ person, otherwise it would be a great place for that. There are also some cool caves on Antiparos but they were a far walk from the ferry port and it was too hot at that point to walk.
Still, I spent a few hours there and then took the easy ferry ride back. In order to get to and from that ferry port on Paros, I did have to take a bus but it was super easy and my airbnb host explained how to do it.
When I got back, I changed into my nicest outfit, and walked back to the same restaurant. The German woman wasn’t able to join me, she was on Naxos for the day and eve. The waiter remembered me and I chose a table by the water next to a young, solo male.
The waiter wished me happy birthday and the guy at the other table swiveled around and asked, “today is your birthday?”
“Yes,” I said.
“It’s my birthday too,” he responded with enthusiasm.
What a crazy small world it truly is.
His name was Keirnan and we joined forces—dinners and birthdays. He was so interesting and I was in complete awe. He had just turned twenty-two, finished studying abroad in Italy and knew what he wanted to do with his life. Keirnan had plans and clear strategies for how to achieve them. He’d already partied and experimented with drugs and felt that was behind him. I learned so much from my brief interaction with this person.
After an hour, another man, Jonathan from the UK, approached us. He immediately made his intentions clear. He was gay and interested in Keirnan, who let him down easy. Jonathan was a blast. He was quite drunk, but I suspect he’s a blast whether drunk or straight. Jonathan had zero filter and was the yang to Keirnan’s yin.
As an acupuncturist, I like using examples such as these. If you are unfamiliar with yin and yang I’ll offer up a brief explanation. Though yang is known as male and yin is known as female, they’re not quite that. Yang is movement. It’s fire, heat, forceful energy, and excitement. Yin in contrast is calming, water, flowing. It’s the waiting energy where yang is the doing energy. Yang would be summer, and yin winter.
Jonathan was a bit of a tidal wave and I immediately asked him to join us, much to Keirnan’s chagrin. But we made a balanced trio and it worked. Jonathan regailed us with stories of his previous night on Mykonos, which he couldn’t fully recall. He remembered only that he drank far too much, partied and danced and then blacked out to wake up in bed with not one but two hot guys. He was interesting and funny and also traveling solo.
I spent much of the next hour, sitting back and watching their interactions. Though when Jonathan tried to encourage Kiernan to stop being practical and instead, live life to the fullest through partying, I had to jump to Keirnan’s defense.
Eventually three women approached our table. They had met Jonathan earlier and the four of them had been drinking together. The women were also super nice and fun. We all talked a bit until they successfully carted Jonathan off for more bar hopping.
I’m a planner, a practical person. Not as much as Keirnan, though I sometimes wish I was more like him. And I’ve been the out of control partier, like Jonathan too, before I got clean and sober over a decade ago.
It’s really challenging for me not to make plans, and instead go with the flow and trust in the universe. Yet, every time I do, I’m pleasantly surprised. I mention this because last year I planned my birthday. I invited a friend to stay with me in Portugal and made a reservation at a restaurant I’d been wanting to visit since arriving. But the friend, who I hadn’t spent enough time with one-on-one before, was a nightmare. Not only did he forget it was my birthday, he was completely passive aggressive. The dinner was terrible. When the server brought me dessert with a candle and sung “happy birthday” the friend looked at me, angrily and said, “when’s your birthday?”
I responded, “today.” And he rolled his eyes.
Needless to say, we’re no longer friends. And while it was a good learning experience, it made for a really crap birthday experience.
I can’t remember when I stopped traveling on my birthdays, but years ago I used to. And now I’m going to reinstate it. Each year, I will go somewhere I’ve never been before, even if it’s close by and I can only go for the day.
Jonathan did buy Keirnan and I desert and the waiter put candles in our cakes and sang happy birthday in Greek. Then the waiter, who I suspect was slightly drunk, kissed my cheeks and whispered in my ear that he was in love with me. I loved this because he was still respectful, and it was very flattering, especially since he was close to my age.
The next day I walked through the town again to treat myself to a present. I love buying affordable, hand-made jewelry when I travel as it’s small and easy to bring back. I stopped in two shops and had a lovely and interesting long conversation with the owner of the first one about her adorable kids, who popped in for a visit. She lived on Paros year-round and I was able to ask a lot of questions about what life was like for her and her children there.
In the second shop I met a lively, young woman and we really hit it off. We spoke for an hour about traveling and living in Greece. When I told her I was heading to Crete she told me that’s where her significant other lived. The longer we talked, the more she confided until she finally told me her significant other was a woman she had not yet met in person. Being queer myself, I was super excited to run into another queer woman who was Greek. For all the queer readers, it’s a good thing to know that Greece is super queer friendly!
Santorini
From Paros I took a ferry to Santorini. And while Santorini did not meet my expectations, I’m still really glad I went. I fell into that trap that I see happen to so many people who haven’t been to California. I thought it would be like the Greece I see in the movies.
For my entire life, I’ve mostly traveled for architecture. I’m a fanatic. I know almost nothing about it, but while I’m not knowledgeable in the area, I truly appreciate it. It’s the same with art. I always say, “I’m not an artist, I’m a patron of the arts”.
This is not completely true since:
Writers are considered artists in Europe and I’ve written thirty novels.
I paint, not well, but I do paint.
I am a ceramicist. I’m also not great at that, but I’m good enough.
I used to be a professional mask maker and by professional I mean I started my own business and sold my masks world-wide for a pittance. In the end I was earning fifty cents an hour, but they were pretty damn cool looking (see pic below).
Still… I’ve never formally studied architecture and half the styles I look at, I don’t have names for or know the years they were built. But they do illicit deep emotion. In my younger years, I spent a lot of time in Paris because my older sister lived there. I would stand on the sidewalks, look up at the buildings and cry. My sister made endless fun of me. And I always say, “as long as you’re laughing, even if you’re laughing at me, it’s still a good thing”.
I mention my passion for architecture because it was my reason, excuse for wanting to go to Santorini. However, there are problems with going to a high-traffic tourist destination. I did go on the shoulder season, the second half of May. But it was still so crowded starting from 10am through sunset that you had to wait in line to walk down the main street. I write extensively about this in my resource post here.
Therefore, in this post I’m going to focus on the positives.
I was able to find a very reasonably priced (for Santorini) airbnb that was basically a hotel with separate bungalows. It was a private room and bathroom with a kitchen and living room for $77 a night. They even had a pool and the grounds were gorgeous. It was right in the heart of Oai, which is the picturesque town on Santorini where you see the white houses on the hill with the blue domed buildings, of which, in reality, there are only two.
It really is a beautiful town, there’s no doubt. Though it’s hard to see during the day and it’s hard to walk around during the day or eve and it is filled with tourists and overpriced shops, even all of that doesn’t negate its beauty. I recommend getting up at 6am, which is what I did (not by choice, I’m an insomniac) and exploring then. Even before 10am, the city is pure magic.
But what made Santorini for me was another lovely human I met there. After I checked out of my hotel, I asked the host where I could sit out of the hub-bub to read for a few hours before catching the transport back to the port. He led me to a youth hostel they owned next door and gave me the door code.
Inside was a tranquil courtyard and a young man sitting at a table. I asked if I could join him, not to talk, but that’s what we did. He was, not only fascinating, he actually changed my life.
In his late twenties, he was from Iceland and spent six months out of every year traveling. He would go back to Iceland and work really hard at whatever job he could find and save enough to hit the road again. One thing that struck me was that his parents were very supportive and encouraging of his lifestyle. He had a degree in philosophy and I asked him about it.
He explained the concept of “there’s no such thing as free will” and it completely blew my mind. I’d never heard of this before and asked him more. He recommended the podcast Within Reason by Alex J O’Connor and specifically interview #55 with Robert Sapolsky.
In a nutshell, the concept is that everything that’s happened to us throughout our lives, every experience, determines the choices we will make. It’s not that everything is predetermined as much as that everything we choose is somewhat predictable or at least, understandable. I’m not explaining it as well as he did because the concept is still new to me. But I love it!
I love learning new things and I love (with a capital L) talking about anything philosophical.
I also asked him about his travels and favorite places so far and why he was in Santorini. He was there to go scuba diving. He loved to dive around the world. Conversations like these and the ones I had with Keirnan, the Greek shop owners, my airbnb hosts and the wonderful German woman I met all enrich my life in ways that cannot be measured.
Thus, I left Santorini with a spring in my step. Until I boarded the next ferry—which I also talk about in detail in this post.
Crete
On my mistakes list was booking an airbnb in Chania, Crete before fully researching that the ferry arrives in Heraklion and it would be a 3-4 hour car ride to Chania after a long ferry ride.
I canceled the first airbnb too late and was only partially refunded, lessons learned the hard way. But the place I ended up renting in Heraklion was awesome. It was my favorite airbnb because it was huge, comfortable and clean with an enormous bathroom. All of the places I stayed in were great, no complaints, but this one was the most comfy and felt the most like home. I could have easily stayed there for a month.
Crete is the largest of the Greek islands and while it’s not as big as Hawaii’s main island, it’s still quite large at over 3,000 square miles (over 800 square kilometers). Here’s a great chart to compare it to the size of other islands.
I spoke to a few locals and they assured me that due to the way the roads are (or aren’t) there, even lifelong citizens in their fifties or older have not explored it all. I was told the best way to see Crete was to spend at least two weeks, or better yet, a month exploring just a single region. But this advice was given from someone who wasn’t raised in California, which is fifty times larger than Crete. We are used to driving many hours each day just to get to work and back or to visit a friend. Still, it gave me a great perspective on all the things that Crete has to offer.
It stayed in a part of Heraklion that had pedestrian only walking streets, a vintage clothing store, fantastic restaurants and a lot of charm. I didn’t know what to expect from Crete but had only heard and read positive things. And it was fantastic. It was a lot more urban than I expected but I know it depends where you go on the island and I was in the biggest city.
I found a fantastic vegan restaurant right near where I was staying that served the best salad I’ve ever eaten in my life. It’s fun and kitschy, called “Tiny Rebels”. I highly recommend it. Everything in Crete was affordable, which was another surprise after Santorini’s €50 dinner for one without alcohol.
I went to the archeological museum, walked down the picturesque pedestrian only streets, and got to spend part of the day at the Minoan Temple of Knossos.
The following day, I had an afternoon flight back to Athens.
Athens at the Beach
Since I had to check out of my airbnb early, I wanted to at least dip my feet in the Aegean Sea. I hadn’t done that throughout my entire trip and was afraid I’d miss the chance. I for places to leave my luggage on google and tried two, dragging my suitcase down the streets. They don’t really have sidewalks in Heraklion, which made me appreciate the miniscule sidewalks in Portugal!
But the luggage places were fake, looking to take your money online, which, thankfully I did not fall for though you’re only out €2 if you do.
After returning to Portugal, a good friend told me about bounce TK, which is real and had I know about that, I would have left my luggage using that app. But I didn’t, so I dragged it down to the water and walked alongside the shore until I saw a small inlet where a few people were swimming.
It took a little maneuvering down a dirt path but I found a safe enough looking place to prop my suitcase against a wall and proceed down to the water. It was a lovely day and I was able to sit on the rocks and dangle my feet in the beautiful water for the better part of an hour.
The airport ride was an affordable taxi since they don’t have Uber in Crete. It was half the price to fly from Crete to Athens (€67) as it was to take the ferry. And, the flight was fifty minutes while the ferry took nine hours. It was a no-brainer, however, if you travel heavily you’ll have to pay for a bag on the flight. Mine was small enough that it was included. It was 2kg over the weight but luckily they didn’t weigh it or I’d be wearing a lot of extra clothing.
In retrospect, I should have flown back to Portugal directly from the airport in Athens but again, I didn’t plan well.
Instead I booked an airbnb close/ish to the airport without realizing the metro did not go there! The metro in Athens is really great, but it doesn’t go everywhere. So I paid the airbnb host €20 each way, to pick me up and take me back. He advised against taking a taxi because he said they overcharge. I thought maybe he was just trying to get more money by driving me, but after meeting him, I changed my mind. He was incredibly nice and accommodating, helping me navigate his little town. And the town was in the middle of nowhere, about a thirty minute drive from the airport. In my tiny county in San Francisco, that drive one-way would have cost $200.
His airbnb was really great and comfortable. A studio apartment with all the amenities including a large shower. But what was so cool about the area is that it was a few minutes walk to the beach. He told me where to walk for dinner. I sat along the water, and fed the feral cats. The food was really good but the service was more difficult than anywhere else I ate because no one spoke English and they didn’t understand that I was vegan. Still, we got it sorted and I had a lovely walk there and back, next to the sea.
The next morning I walked into town for coffee and then to the beach. And this was one of the highlights of my entire trip. He had told me which beach to go to and it was almost empty, a horseshoe shaped inlet with calm water. There was an area of the beach with free chaise lounges and thatched umbrellas. It was what I always imagined a high-end, empty resort to be like. Not that I would actually know.
I was able to leave all my belongings, without worry, on the chaise and swim in the Aegean Sea. The only other people were a few older, local Greek folks. I stayed there for two hours, going in an out of the sea and people watching. It was amazing, a perfect ending to the trip. Peaceful, comfortable and I always felt completely safe. This town really is a hidden gem and I could imagine renting a little, affordable place for 1-3 months at a time there to write a novel and swim in the sea every day.
For my return each flight was delayed at least two hours, and it took all day long to get home. But at least the flights were on Lufthansa and I chose business class with my frequent flyer miles, which wasn’t as good as I’d imagined it would be. It was my first time flying business.
We did get a lot of food (meals and snacks) coffee and non-alcoholic beverages included in the price, our own bathroom (which I thought was overkill), extra leg room and a warm towelette (also overkill IMO).
The thing that confused me was in Frankfurt where I already had a four hour layover, they held people back from boarding for an extra two hours because they had oversold the flight. This makes no sense to me, why do airlines do this? Then they had to pay people €€€ to give up their seats. It was ridiculous. In the end there were seven open seats in business class that those extra people could have used. Seems like a huge waste of time, money and resources but airline business is not my area of expertise so…
Conclusion:
While I definitely overspent a lot on my trip, in the end I’m glad I went. It’s taught me to look at future travel a lot differently. This was the first time I’ve spent so much money for such a short trip and I really can’t justify doing it again. In the futue I will definitely plan better, which is what I’ve done in the past.
I talk about this in my other two articles, but will reiterate it here. When I return to Greece I will spend 1-2 weeks on one island and take day trips from there. I will spend 1-2 week on Crete. I will look into using Home Exchange or something similar since accomodation is the most expensive part of travel. Airfare within the EU is usually affordable if you book with a low cost airline in advance, but there’s also the option to use frequent flyer miles.
As always, thank you so much for reading (or listening). I know this was a long one! I hope you learned a lot and were entertained :)
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Very comprehensive overview of your trip, the highs and the lows. I too love Greece. And Crete was really something.
My daughter and I were just in Crete for a week - definitely not long enough! We were in a resort near Heraklion and also visited the town and Knossos Palace. I wish I’d read your article before as we wasted a while looking for a restaurant that had a vegan option!
I had been before many years ago with her dad where we did hire a car for a while and see more of the island. It certainly does have a lot to offer 💚🇬🇷