When did you go there and it was so empty? This month? You know what if I get the virus and get immunity I am going to go there because it is the perfect time. It will be cheap and empty of the crowds. I can stay in the same place you stayed at with 500+/night for 40/night. I want to go here once in my life but it is so expensive and so full of tourists that it wasn't worth it. The bright side of a pandemic!
Noone of the public knows. There aren't any studies on what kind of strain is going around Europe, if there are more than one. These studies take at least a few weeks, and at the beginning or at the end of the peak where things are more relaxed it is easier to catch such cases too. At least the data hasn't been published yet. I am sure Angella Merkel has some preliminary data on this, on her desk.
We were there on the first week of September back in 2018. It was crowded if you ask me but probably not as much when it's peak season like spring and early summer. Only thing expensive is the hotel. I believe we pay $400 a night. We stay 4 there 4 nights. Everything else is like California expensive lol
Santorini was the highlight of our Greece trip last year. Went in May. Looks like you stayed in Oia. We stayed in Imerovigli because we were cheap. We walked to Thira pretty much daily, and even did the hike from Imerovigli to Oia. Rented an ATV and explored the island. Never went down to the docks. I liked the Akrotiri ruins. Athens was quite meh, but probably because we compared it to Rome.
It’s a bummer with how much history and been destroyed or neglected. There’s not much left in Athens unfortunately.
Really liked the time lapse sunset near the end, Coach. Went there in 1971 with a girl I traveled with for a while. It wasn’t nearly as crowded back then, and we didn’t see any big cruise ships (thank goodness). Really cheap, as well. It’s such a unique place with some truly spectacular views. The scale of the explosion around 1600 BC that destroyed the Minoan civilization, and likely changed the course of history, is easy to see. They are still finding layers of ash from Thera during archeological excavations great distances from the island. Waves generated by the blast likely were at least 40 feet high. Crazy! Greece was incredibly inexpensive in ‘71. The girl and I stayed on Mykonos for ten days, renting a room upstairs in the home of a Greek family. It had a balcony you could go out on and see the windmills and the Mediterranean. It was 50 cents a night. This was early in the spring, not the tourist season and too cold to swim. It could get chilly after dark. You could get a plate of roast chicken, potatoes, a village salad, and a carafe of wine for about a $1.50 at one of the taverns down the street. We went by boat to Delos on a day trip, the birthplace of Apollo, to see the ruins. I should have stayed there for a month, and could have. One of those things you later kick yourself for not doing. Thanks for making me remember it. Good times.
We went to Greece over 10 years ago, and it is definitely one of my favorite places. Athens is definitely kinda meh, but there are so many awesome places. Santorini/Mykonos for that relaxed beach atmosphere, and then tons of places to check out in the mainland for culture/history. Everything is so ancient. Also went to Delos, and since it's all just ruins, you kinda have to rely on those transparent slides to recreate how it would have looked in the past. We also drove around the mainland areas for 2 weeks back before GPS, and surprisingly rarely got lost. Towards the end we got pretty good about substituting the greek letters we learned in math class into destinations to figure out where we were going. For some reason it was sometimes hard to figure out what road you were on, and instead you'd have to rely on just following the sign towards your destination. Went to Delphi, Meteora, Nafplio, Monemvasia, and Gythio among other places.
Athens was a small village, around the Acropolis for like 1500 years, that's why. It only became a city after it was chosen to become the capital of the new state. Meanwhile all kind of damage was done to the monuments, from Christians, Ottomans and British thieves like "lord" Elgin who stole what he could rip off with hammers. There are other cities like the beautiful Nafplio, Thesalloniki etc, who were cities through the Byzantine and Ottoman years where there are more things preserved. You should go see Sparta. There is absolutely nothing the ancient Spartans left from their city state, because they didn't believe in making monuments, and they didn't believe in money. They thought it made them complacent. Santorini on the other hand is basically almost 100% built in the last 50 years. There was a 8 Richter earthquake in the 1950s that destroyed every single thing and killed hundreds. The people of Santorini became the poorest , and they left the island. It was a extremely poor, broken down island and almost deserted. If it wasn't for tourism and natural beauty noone would have heard of it.
Oh how beautiful is youth Which escapes nonetheless Let who wants to be happy be As there is no certainty of tomorrow - Text from Canti Carnascialeschi (Carnival Song) by Lorenzo de' Medici
A lot of good memories, as @GIGO referenced so well, from a 6 month trip to Europe, but the only memory from that year of Jim is the shock of his death. I saw the Doors perform in Houston in July of ‘68, which I’ve mentioned before. Their scheduled concert in April of ‘69 was cancelled, worst luck. I’ve always liked Morrison’s last poem, discovered in a notebook with him after his death in Paris. On the written page, “eat” is spelled “beat,” but the b was clearly added later. I prefer what I view as his original thought. I have a vision of America 28,000 feet and going fast I have drunk the drug of forgetfulness Leave the informed sense In our wake You be Christ on this package tour - Money eats soul - Last words, Last words out
