A Taste of Greece

I don't remember exactly when we started country counting. At some point, we realized we'd been to quite a few and perhaps we should start keeping track. And we also entered into a competition, of sorts, with our younger daughter Christie. We've visited quite a few more countries than she has, but she always seems to have one or two on her list that we have yet to see.

It started in the summer of 2002, when she went on a People to People trip to Europe with a group of fellow junior high students. It was an amazing trip that started in Athens and ended in London. She'd been to London once before, accompanying me on a business trip when she was 9. She quickly acquired a taste for new experiences, and the People to People trip sealed the deal for her. She's been an eager traveler ever since.

And her trip included Greece, which was on our wish list! And thus started the "competition."  Finally, in 2009, we sailed on an eastern Mediterranean cruise that started in Rome and ended in Athens. At this stage, we were still more tourist than traveler (focused predominantly on the sites and some history, more than the people and the culture). And we hadn't yet discovered the joys of small ships and, even better, small groups on the ground.

We fell completely in love with the blue Med and the bright white and blue of Santorini, despite the incredible heat. We learned that in the future, we should take advantage of not being tied to summer vacation months. The "shoulder season" so valued by retired folks features cooler weather and smaller crowds. (As a side note, I've lost 25+ pounds since that picture was taken.)

Speaking of crowds, we experienced them at their worst in Athens. Our day tour included a visit to the Acropolis. It was so crowded that they periodically closed the gates to prevent people from entering until others had left. In the meantime, we were crushed against the gates and nearly stampeded when they finally reopened. So we did see the Acropolis, an important monument and bucket-list item, but the crowds definitely diminished the pleasure of the experience. I can see why many European cities are discussing options for reducing crowds without damaging tourism too much. Of course, they might find that COVID-19 takes care of their crowd problem for the foreseeable future. 

In the midst of that enormous crowd, we lost track of our tour group. We felt a bit panicky as we raced down the hill to arrive -- hot, sweaty, and breathless -- at our lunchtime meeting place. Fortunately, we squeezed in a few minutes after lunch to visit a lovely gift shop and acquire an iconic vase to commemorate our short visit to Athens.

 




Overall, the trip was enjoyable and memorable. And we learned valuable lessons for future travel: shoulder season, small ships, small groups. And as far as the "competition" with Christie... We're still way ahead on total count, but she keeps adding a few unique destinations. She got to South Korea in 2009. We didn't get there until 2019. She's been to Brazil, and Jim hasn't. She's been to Israel, which was part of the trip we just canceled because of COVID-19. She got to Colombia a few months before we did. And this year, she added Indonesia, Singapore (which I've visited but Jim hasn't), the Philippines, and Kenya. We can thank Christie for adding to are ever-growing bucket list. Game on!