The trip of a lifetime, complete with new foods, fascinating historical sights, and great people. Yes, friends, I went to Greece, and it was awesome. Here’s a breakdown of the trip, and then after this I’ll stop talking about it and refocus on life at home. Deal? Deal.
It took me 48 hours, a plane, a car and a ferry to get to the island of Naxos, where my friends and I then spent several days at the beach, enjoying a food tour, shopping, and snorkeling in the Aegean Sea. We visited the Temple of Apollo and the Temple of Demeter, which were both freaking cool. We drank a lot of white wine. We tried fresh anchovies and mussels and goat pasta. It was awesome.
Our guided food tour was one of the highlights of the trip. We walked through the main town in Naxos and stopped in different restaurants and bakeries. It turns out I don’t actually like olives that much, which is a shameful thing to discover while in Greece. But I do love cheese, so I was forgiven.
At one stop, we were given several different olive oils to try. We even downed a shot of olive oil. The man in charge explained to us that a spoonful of olive oil each day has been proven to reverse degenerative brain damage and improve longevity.
Now, he might’ve just been trying to sell olive oil. But I can totally believe that the Greek lifestyle — the midday siesta, the fresh food, the Mediterranean diet, and, yes, the olive oil — contributes to longevity. This was day one. While in Greece, I reasoned. I would commit to living the Greek way.
We rented a car to navigate the island, and our driver — one of my buddies — did a fantastic job swerving up mountains on our Mountain Roadtrip Day. But it was lowkey terrifying. I sat in the middle seat in the back, eyes closed as we zipped up mountains and through tiny streets in the middle of towns.
The towns we visited in Naxos were gorgeous. I sipped orange juice so fresh that I spat the seeds into a napkin. Naxian wine and cheese filled our diets. We shopped for handmade jewelry and painted pottery. Every building was gorgeous, blue and white.
We ferried up to Santorini for one night only and one incredible sunset. Santorini sunsets are world-class, and we had nothing to regret as we donned flowing dresses, sipped wine, and watched the sky melt.
Back in Naxos, we took a boat trip out to Rina’s Cave and snorkeled. I spotted several fishes, and then at lunch, I ate some of those fishes. I’m not really a seafood person, but the fresh fish was objectively amazing.
Then, we were off to Athens. Another ferry ride took us back to mainland Greece, where we rode up the world’s most terrifying elevator to our Airbnb. And then we went on a walking tour, led by my friend who had tasked herself with doing research about Athens so she could guide our group.
This is where I made my mistake. It had been raining. Apparently, it never rains in Athens in July; we were just that lucky. The narrow stone steps in the city took me out, and I landed hard on my back and fell down several stairs. Ow.
Now, I have a considerable pain tolerance, but this just about reached my limit. I winced my way through Athens for the rest of the night. (But felt much better by the time we had dinner and a little cocktail moment.)
The next day, we hightailed it up about a million steps to get to the Acropolis. We saw the Parthenon (2026 is actually the first time in about ten years that you can view the Parthenon without scaffolding in the way!) and the famous olive tree that the goddess Athena allegedly planted in her bid for the city against Apollo. It was hot and sweaty and dusty and I was sore from my fall and also it was so much fun.
We then headed to the Acropolis Museum, which provided a lot of context for what we had seen that morning. And then we walked through Athens, basically just enjoying being in a new place and checking out a major world city. It was fascinating and fun and we had dinner on a rooftop and rounded out the night with drinks and dessert.
And then we were back on a plane, back to real life. To soothe myself, I watched “Mamma Mia!” and pretended I was still in Greece.
It’s nice to be back, but I’d love the chance to return to Greece at some point in my life. My friends and I agreed we’re not waiting another decade in between big trips; we’re saving and planning and looking ahead to our next adventure. Italy? Vietnam? To be decided. But either way, I’m thankful for what I got to do and the people I got to do it with.
