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First International Sisters Trip is in the books! My sister Lori and I have traveled abroad separately (she lived in France for a while) but we never traveled together until now. Greece had been at the top of her list, so we decided to make it a reality by saving up and booking this trip last Thanksgiving.
Note: There is a difference between a trip and a vacation. In my opinion, a vacation is where you go to one place and relax. A trip is where you explore and travel from place to place. Because not all of Greece is connected, we were only in each place for about 3 days before venturing on to the next region. When you’re living out of a suitcase and in a different hotel that often, moments of relaxation came in pockets.
Our trip started with a 9-hour flight out of JFK; which I will NEVER fly out of again. NYC traffic is horrendous, and I have no desire to put myself in that chaos ever again. Our flight was delayed but we could not have met a more fun group of fellow travelers while waiting. We told stories, compared itineraries and laughed to pass the time.
Upon landing in Athens, the capital of Greece, we were both hungry and tired (7 hours ahead of Eastern Time) so we decided to get our first authentic Gyro. Upon receiving mine, the Greek cook asked where I was from. I told him to guess, and he said Argentina. Now, if you don’t know the story, I get that A LOT when I travel abroad. More on that later.
Athens was HOT but us farm girls are used to working outside in the heat, so we trekked up the steep hill to the Acropolis, which is an ancient citadel that sits above the city of Athens. It contains remains of several ancient buildings; the most famous being the Parthenon. This was built in the 5th century BC! As you might imagine, it has been through quite a lot: weather, wars, empires, fires, explosions, etc. The architectural wonder was impressive. Perhaps it would have meant more if we were into Greek mythology.
While in Athens we also visited the Acropolis Museum via a self-guided audio tour. We had a laugh-so-hard moment right in the center of it, as I had forgotten my headphones and had to use one of my sister’s earbuds. I have VERY small ears and it kept falling out onto the floor. Lori has made fun of my little ears since childhood. She refers to them as “toddler ears”. It’s as if they never grew with me. It’s why I don’t own earbuds and must wear over-the-ear headphones. Because of this childhood jest, we looked like fools laughing so hard I was crying.
Our last full day in Athens was another scorcher, so we looked for things to do indoors and oh the things we found… We went through the Museum of Illusions and had an absolute blast! They have employees to help take photos to really enhance all the illusions you experience while there. Some were freaky, some a science explanation, while others were just goofy and fun!
We then ventured on to PLAYCE: a fun café where you order food and a board game to play. They had over 1,000 board games collected from all over the world. My sister taught me to play, “Ticket to Ride” while we ate small apps, and I had a big cup of drinking chocolate. Whose life is this?! It was so incredibly fun! There were groups of people all around us playing games and having a good time. My favorite quote in the place read: “We Don’t Stop Playing Because We Grow Old, We Grow Old Because We Stop Playing.”
By day three, we were ready to get out of the city. We flew to the small island of Santorini with its picturesque, whitewashed buildings with the brilliant blue domes overlooking the Aegean Sea. It made for a gorgeous backdrop for our “flying dress photoshoot”. It was easiest to get around with a small rental car and when I say small, I mean SMALL. My sister drove like a local (the girl has a need for speed) but it allowed us to explore all the island had to offer. And to escape the throngs of people who disembarked cruise ships. We were not a fan.
On our way to a beach, I saw signs for the Tomato Industrial Museum. As a hard-core fan of museums, I exclaimed that we MUST go. My sister rolled her eyes at me, questioning why would we go to such a place while in Santorini? It ended up being right beside the beach we were going to. Lori ended up having a FANTASTIC time and we learned so much about one of the most popular crops in Greece as they are featured in the staple Greek salad everywhere you go.
The entrepreneur who built the once robust production facility in the 1940s during WWII, used the water from the sea that is literally next to it, to wash and cool the tomatoes and the diesel engines that ran the place. The salt water also helped to preserve the tomatoes. It was a fascinating self-guided audio tour and ended with riveting recorded interviews from those who used to work there. Hours later we finally made it to the beach; but I was surprised to learn that the beaches really aren’t that great but then we took a ferry to the island of Mykonos…
THIS is where the beaches are, although we only had a couple days there it was my favorite part of the trip. I have never seen water SO blue, and I’ve been to the Caribbean a handful of times. I couldn’t stop taking pictures/videos of it. I had booked a Catamaran excursion on the sea and it did not disappoint. Other than being on the water, one of my favorite things about these is meeting the other people that join you. We met people from Italy, Mexico, New Hampshire, among others. The couple from Mexico conversed with me in Spanish and asked which part of Argentina I was from. After getting to know one another and learning what I do for a living, we swapped contact info and they put me in contact with others from Mexico. Making connections with others is one of my favorite parts of traveling.
I love history and have researched the Kennedy family extensively, including Jackie Kenney’s trips to Greece. I found a restaurant/bar named after her complete with one of her iconic photos.
To see the island of Mykonos, we learned renting an ATV was our best way to do so. We rode wherever the roads would take us, often with a breathtaking view of the sea. With little to no service, we’d stop at a stop sign and take turns guessing left or right. Along our travels we found great food and an abandoned lighthouse (and another cat!)
The last leg of our trip was Thessaloniki, which we needed to board another flight for. Once again, our flight was delayed (it seemed to be a theme) so we passed the time by line dancing at an empty gate in our terminal. We got some intriguing stares, but no one cared to join us at midnight, ha!
Thessaloniki is the second largest city of Greece. It is very walkable and scenic. One of my favorite memories from here was while we were visiting The White Tower (built in the 15th century and has a dark bloody past), we met two young German men also visiting the city. We learned that we all shared a love of travel, exploring new things, languages and meeting new people. I discovered the one guy spoke 5 languages! As soon as I mentioned I spoke Spanish, we conversed only in that language until we parted ways.
We enjoyed Thessaloniki much more than Athens, but these country girls were ready to see some fields! We had a scheduled day/bus trip to Pozar and Edessa to visit hot springs and a waterfall.
We had only been on the bus about 30 minutes when we started seeing irrigation in fields and tractor dealerships! We were so excited; we asked our awesome tour guide all about agriculture in Greece and this is what we learned:
· Popular crops grown: tomatoes, cherries, peaches, grapes, olives, wheat and barley
· Global leader in olive oil production
· Even though it’s a dry climate, tomatoes don’t need irrigation. They get the water they need from the morning dew.
Suddenly, our bus slowed WAY down and upon peering out the window, I saw a herd of Jersey cows meandering down the middle of the road. If you know my past, you know I had a whole herd of Jersey cows so I was literally jumping out of seat, asking my seatmates if I could invade their space to take some photos. Gosh I miss those brown-eyed beauties! (I went o post them but found I only took video).
You would think hot springs on a hot day would be awful, but they weren’t. They were very relaxing and are known to help relieve and alleviate rheumatism, skin conditions, respiratory and circulatory problems.
We then ventured on to Edessa to experience a beautiful waterfall and walk behind it! We were whooped by the time we got back to our hotel and had to leave in a few hours to catch a flight back to Athens, before we caught our 10-hour flight back to JFK.
Lori and I kept saying this was either going to be the First and Last International Sisters Trip or the First of Many. If you have siblings, you know how loving/frustrating/annoying/loyal, etc. they can be. I relish how close we all are (including our brother) but we are all very different and some things never change.
For example, I have always been an early riser, excited to take on the day. My sister? Don’t wake a sleeping bear. I had flashbacks to our days feeding calves. I have always gotten up with my first alarm; never hit snooze. I'd be walking out the door and my sister would still be in bed. I'd have to pour water on her to get her moving! I’m a planner but allow room for spontaneous adventures. My sister? No plan at all. Goes by the seat of her pants. She grumbled at me most mornings with, “WHAT are you doing awake this early?” I was usually having my tea or filtering water for the day’s adventures (you can't drink the water there); you know, being PREPARED! In turn, I often huffed and rolled my eyes at her last-minute ideas and tardiness. BUT we had a lot of fun, learned a lot and made forever memories...
After traveling through Greece together for 12 days, we still ended up talking about which place we should visit next. Where do you think we should go?
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