Greece postscript

Sailing Greek waters met or even surpassed our expectations.

The people are notably friendly, helpful, and easygoing. We enjoyed stopping at quaint villages tucked in coves on the many islands where they live a simple and peaceful life largely unchanged for many decades. We saw a varied beauty in the scenery and found the many castles and fortresses a reminder that this area was the crossroads of great cultures and civilizations.

Jordan at Nafpaktos Castle

In some places, the architecture was proudly maintained in the Neo-classical style in blues and whites or simple earth-tone hues with cheerful coloured doors and shutters. Wrought iron work was also prominent. Plodding the cobblestone narrow alleys and streets was a nice break from the boat.

Old cobblestone paths

Thousands of tiny stones intricately placed

Seafood was in abundance. Our favourite was their way of doing calamari (especially at Rhodes Island!) And of course their delicious Greek salads and Greek yogurt and other specialties such as delectable fresh-off-the-vine olives were ever present.

We were surprised by the acceptance of smoking in public places and the number of smokers, but that's probably because we are used to such non-acceptance in our home town. Ripped jeans seemed to be the in-fashion even in hot weather.

Some places had little vegetation but as we progressed further north, the hills and mountains became covered with green trees and bushes. Birds, butterflies, and even cats were prolific. We didn't see many beaches on our route and the ones we saw were more gravel than sand. But that didn't stop people from taking pleasure in them.

Gravel beach!

We would have loved spending more time in Greece but our time is limited for the Schengen Group of countries. We hope to revisit Greece another time.

Happy at Ios Island