Greek Vacation Travelogue Part 1

Athens and Mykonos - a personal experience plus tons of help!

Photo by Jack Krier on Unsplash

This is the travel-blog portion of my two week trip to Greece. I’m splitting this up into two posts in order to keep them a little more “bite sized”.

If you want to read about the resources, mistakes, solutions, how I packed light, and more details about the ferries; check out my Greek resources post.

Travelogue Part 1 = Athens and Mykonos

For fifteen years one of my dreams was to visit Greece and I finally made that dream come true. While it wasn’t all roses and chocolate cake, I’m still glad I went. The best parts were the people I met, the delicious food and surprisingly (to me) the quieter (less popular) islands.

The Flight There

I’ll start with the plane because this is significant. I had to cancel a trip last summer using frequent flyer miles through AMEX because I broke my fingers. When I called to cancel (through AMEX) the woman who refunded the points told me I had a year to use them. Turns out I only had twenty-four hours. However, because of the unusual situation, AMEX honored the points and let me use them anyway. This limited flights to Lufthansa (obviously) and all I could find were two flights there on Austria Air with a long layover in Austria and two flights back on Lufthansa, with a four hour layover in Frankfurt.

The flight there was not fun. It took seven hours in air, from Portugal! The first flight was four hours and the second was three. I left my apartment at 8am and arrived in Athens at 10:30pm so it was an entire day of travel. Austria Airlines is awful and I will never fly them again. You had to pay for peanuts and coffee, LMAO. The planes were old and dirty. The seats were very uncomfortable. The flight attendants merely tried to sell us things.

Athens

I flew into Athens, intending to “island hop” from there. I ordered a ride from the airport using a friend’s suggestion through an app called Welcome Pickups. While it was a fantastic experience it was not inexpensive, around €70 one way, not including tip. I don’t know if a taxi (or uber) would have been less but I assume so. However, I didn’t want to deal with arriving so late and trying to find the uber pick up or not knowing if the cab was going to overcharge me. 

Even though it was expensive, I’m glad I chose Welcome Pickups (WP). The neighborhood, which I discuss in detail in the next two paragraphs was very dark and empty. It was quite late at night. The WP driver got out of his car, carried my luggage and waited with me until the airbnb host arrived two minutes later.

The airbnb itself was lovely, as were the hosts. But I did not research the district at all prior to arrival. It turned out to be Exarcheia, which is called the anarchy district/neighborhood. While there were positives and negatives to Exarcheia, overall, it was awesome! I’m so glad I stayed there.

One plus to Exarcheia is also a minus: the street art. Before seeing this neighborhood I was a huge fan of street art and while I still appreciate it, when it’s on every available surface, I found it overwhelming. The sheer magnitude of the art, in every conceivable color, genre and style made me feel very closed in. Even though you could still see the sky and there was a lot of greenery, I felt almost claustrophobic in an urban/concrete jungle.

However, there were still so many pluses and I was only there for three nights. The archeological museum was less than a ten minute walk. Omonia square, to catch the metro, was also a ten minute walk. The area has a university so it felt very safe, which is important to me as a solo female traveler. I went out at night with no issues. There are bars everywhere and the night-life, with students can stay loud until quite late. Luckily the airbnb I stayed in had double paned windows and when I closed them, it wasn’t nearly as loud. More huge pluses for me were all the amazing vegan restaurants within walking distance, the fantastic coffee shops and the proximity to pretty much everything I wanted to see in three days.

I found the dichotomy of all the high end health food stores, nestled among the street art interesting. All the coffee shops offered plant based milk. Most Greeks speak English. The men, which I was warned against by dozens (I’m not exagerating) of people before I went, were the most chivalrous and kind of all the men I’ve met in the world so far.

The Men (and Women)

I was initially told that Greek men were (insert negative slurs here) let’s just say macho and chauvinistic. And what I’ve learned in my travels through life and countries is that you can’t believe what other people who haven’t been to the country or city you’re going to, say. Or if they have been and it’s been ten years or more since they’ve gone. I ask everyone who says something negative about Greek men, “have you been to Greece?” and they all responded, “No but I’ve heard…”

From the moment I arrived and Greek men motioned for me to get into the elevators first, to the moment I left, 90% were absolutely lovely. I did have a run in with one or two angry men but, it was circumstantial. They were annoyed at having to deal with tourists all day or maybe they were just having a bad morning or got in a fight with their spouse. Overall, I’ve not met a nicer bunch of people, and that includes the women.

Almost every Greek person I met wanted to have long and interesting conversations with me. It was delightful. I spent an hour here or there, talking to store owners, airbnb hosts and meeting other solo travelers in restaurants, in ferry lines or on the ferries. While the solo travelers I met weren’t Greek, they carried the same openess that I found amongst Greek society (mostly LOL).

I did the touristic things in Athens. In addition to the Archeological Museum, I went to the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum. I walked around Plaka, one of the oldest neighborhoods which was more like an outdoor mall with gorgeous architecture. While I didn’t get to the beach at the beginning of my trip, I did at the end, and it was amazing!

There are lovely pedestrian only walking streets and as mentioned before, phenominal food. And, surprisingly, everything was affordable! A huge gyro was €6 in the most touristic neighborhood. Overall, I really enjoyed my visit to Athens.

From Athens I went to Mykonos. At 6am I walked to the Omonia Square Metro with my one small rolly bag and tiny travel backpack and took the subway to the ferry terminal where I grabbed a coffee. About thirty minutes before my ferry was supposed to leave I walked to the port. But there were two ferries and they were on completely opposite sides of the port, half a kilometer from each other. I didn’t know which one was mine. There was no information booth, these do not exist at the ferry terminals. But there were over a hundred people. Some were boarding the ferry closest to me. So I waited in line at the ticket counter which took twenty minutes even though there were only two people in front of me. 

When I finally got to the front and asked which ferry was mine, showing her my electronic ticket, she pointed to the ferry closest to me. I waited in a long line and boarded. The man scanned my ticket and waved me through but luckily I thought to double check. “This is going to Mykonos?” I asked. He cocked his head. “No, it’s not.”

FFS! I was so frustrated. I exited the ferry and asked a woman with an orange vest that was helping load the cars and she pointed to the ferry on the other side of the port. “That one’s yours.” 

This was my first ferry ride and I didn’t know all the “ferry things” which I go into great detail about in my resources post.

Otherwise I may have known this ferry was not the right one. Regardless, I wasted a full thirty minutes waiting in one line to be told to board the wrong ferry and then another ten minutes in line, boarding the wrong ferry. 

In retrospect I didn’t know how lucky I was to make it on to the correct ferry half a kilometer away, but I did. Barely.

Mykonos

I fell in love with photos from influencers who had traveled there. I wanted to stay in the old town to get the full experience and I’m really glad I did. Note that cars can’t drive in the old town so if you’re staying there and hauling a large suitcase or backpack, there will be walking involved.

My hotel/airbnb was a ten minute walk from the ferry port. I also didn’t know, or plan, that from the ferry, you must take a sea taxi to the town. Don’t walk along the highway. And there’s no need to hire someone to take you. The water taxi is directly across from the ferry and around €2 one way. I list resources so you can find out all of this information here.

While I loved the gorgeous old town of Mykonos, I wish I’d only stayed one night instead of two. It’s known as the “party island” which I did not know prior to booking my trip and I’m not a party girl. I’m a “go to sleep at 10pm girl”. I was traveling to Greece on as much of a budget as you can when island hopping in Greece, because no matter how you cut it, it’s not inexpensive.

Still, I did manage to find a very affordable single room in Mykonos old town with a share bathroom. 

The room had a separate entrance and while the bathroom and shower were around the corner, I only shared them with one other room and it was never an issue. My room was small but it had what I needed (a bed, counter space and an area for clothing and my suitcase). It even had a mini fridge that I did not use.

The cost of food on Mykonos is high. Not as high as it was on Santorini but still pricey. Lunch or dinner (at the only vegan restaurant in old town, which was delicious) ran about €20. A cappuccino was €6. A fresh fruit and veg smoothie was €9. These are less than California prices (San Francisco and Los Angeles) but still, IMO, not budget friendly.

I don’t know why but Mykonos, though beautiful, exhausted me. I ended up sleeping almost an entire day. In retrospect I wish I’d walked to the sea taxi ferry and jumped on a ferry to Delos. Delos is an archeological site and you can spend three hours there. The weather was lovely, around 20 degrees celsius (68f). 

Instead I walked around the town and while I’m glad I did, I had to get off the main street. The main street is littered with high end stores like Gucci and Dior, etc. There are dozens of over-plastic surgeon/ed (I’m not exaggerating) dyed blond women in their twenties who look like human cat dolls, posing and taking selfies in front of these high end stores. I don’t want to sound like a b&%$# but I’m from Los Angeles and left there to escape this type of behavior. I will say, it’s not for me, and yes I’m being judgy.

But off the beaten path, there were almost no people and it was even prettier. Lots of feral cats, the iconic white washed buildings and gray cobblestone streets. I prefer looking at houses and architecture over shopping. 

I did end up at the windmills on the sea at sunset, by chance. And that was a highlight. There weren’t too many people and there were gorgeous views. It even felt slightly peaceful.

In retrospect I’d either stay only one night or skip Mykonos altogether. But I can’t say I’m sorry I went because it really is a beautiful old town.

The ferries to and from Mykonos are not cheap. They’re €70 minimum, one way. Although I assume they’re less during off season.

During my short stay I did meet end up inviting two lovely Korean girls to dine with me but other than that, I didn’t really connect with anyone.

I am a nervous traveler. I realize this doesn’t match with my, get up and move to another country solo without ever visiting first personna but it’s true. My anxiety stems from worry about missing a flight, which, it turns out, also extends to missing a ferry. Thus I woke up at the crack of dawn to get to the harbor an hour before the sea taxi arrived. It worked out since it was peaceful and I found coffee and even breakfast at a nice restaurant, sitting outside.

While I’m mainly vegan, I do allow exceptions while traveling to vegetarian. I don’t love eggs so the only thing on their menu that sounded okay enough to eat was the Greek yogurt with granola and fruit. It was €20 and the best Greek yogurt I’ve ever had in my life which is no surprise as… I was in Greece.

I was so nervous about missing the sea taxi that I had walked to the harbor the night before to purchase my ticket. There was no need for that, but it made me feel better.

Once we arrived at the ferry port, I was dismayed to find my ferry was delayed. There were hundreds of people waiting and I was caught in the throng. I could barely move. This was before I learned that I could watch my ferry’s approach from the Ferry Hopper app. So I waited, and waited, and waited, and waited—standing room only, amidst throngs of people. I couldn’t even move. After ninety minutes there was an announcement that a ferry was arriving but I had no idea if it was the correct ferry and assumed it was. I waited until people finally started moving out of the confined space we were herded into. And then I asked someone near me where the ferry was going. Turns out it was the wrong ferry!

I looked along the harbor and half a kilometer away was another ferry. Sound familiar? I pushed my way through the throng as best as I could, going at a snail’s pace and then ran when I finally broke free. Just as I approached, the ferry door started to close. I reached a dock worker and almost started crying. After all, by this time, I had been waiting over three hours for this ferry. “Please, can I get on?” I begged. 

The Anomaly

And this is the one Greek man I encountered who completely lost his mind. He began screaming at me, at the top of his lungs. There was no compassion. No humanity. Certainly no empathy. Just pure, unadulterated RAGE. I stood there, dumbfounded as he berated me at a level ten. I was so deflated and exhausted that I just stood there staring at him. Then I calmly said, “there’s absolutely no reason for you to scream at me.”

He muttered a few obscenities and then told me to go buy another ticket, storming off.

I went to the ticket counter and told the woman that I missed my ferry. I explained that there had been no announcement. She was incredibly mean, saying there had been an announcement but I hadn’t heard it. I wanted to argue. I wanted to ask, “how did I hear the second announcement clear as day then?” but I was too tired. She told me, in the nastiest way possible, that I would have to wait another two hours and buy another ticket, this one costing nearly €100 one way.

I had no choice. And of course I didn’t. This is one of the many ways they get you! They can charge hundreds for a one way ticket because you will have to leave and your choices for departure are limited. There are airports on several of the Cyclades islands (including Mykonos and Paros) and also on Crete. I highly encourage you to check the prices as they’re often less expensive than the ferries but if you travel heavy, the flights may cost more.

So I bought another ticket from the angry woman and sat down to wait for another two hours. Yes it took me five hours of waiting for a ferry to leave Mykonos.

While I was waiting, and seething, a couple approached.

And this is where the “magic” of the situation unfolded. They were amazing and our conversation was rich and meaningful. They travel all over the world, six to nine months a year; a platonic traveling couple in their late sixties. A crazy coincidence was they were both from the last tiny county in California that I lived in for twenty years. Most people have never heard of it, let alone lived there. And here we were, across the world, meeting in Greece!

They talked about their travels to Greece for the past thirty years and what had changed. They told me about their favorite places in Spain and the conversation was both helpful and thought provoking. The woman said, “there comes a point in life where you have more money than time.”

I told them that perhaps the bigger picture “reason” for missing my ferry was to meet them. They were traveling to a different island than me and they explained the ferry system and helped when mine arrived. 

From them I learned that each ferry has a specific name, in addition to the company. It’s listed below the company name on your ticket and on the ship. They explained that the ships often arrive on either side of the port, the only place to ask for information is at the ticket counter (although when I did that in Athens I was given incorrect information), and that once they start boarding you’d better hurry along because they leave quickly. They told me most ferries aren’t late and if they are, they board even quicker to make up for the lost time. And they suggested purchasing your tickets for your next destination as soon as you arrive on whatever island you’re going to.

But mostly what I learned from them is that traveling for six to nine months a year when you’re close to seventy, is not only doable, it’s a blast! And they were light travelers to boot, like me!

Once on my ferry, I was also surprised (and delighted) to meet another amazing person. A German sailor, also in his late sixties. We had a fantastic conversation all the way to Paros.

Stay tuned, next week for part 2!

If you want to read about the resources, mistakes, solutions, how I packed light, and more details about the ferries; check out my Greek resources post.

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