Tag Archives: Greece

A Delightful Day Trip to Delos

27 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Greece, Mykonos

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This is post fourteen of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

Mr. Selfish and I weren’t too overly impressed with Mykonos. We felt that the crowd was too young and drunk for our liking. Nevertheless, if we hadn’t spent two nights in Mykonos, we wouldn’t have taken a day trip to Delos, which was awesome.

Mykonos 01

Delos is known as one of the most important mythological, historical and archaeological sites in Greece. According to mythology, it is the birthplace of the gods of Apollo and Artemis. Although Delos is still being excavated, a great deal of excavation has already occurred. Mr. Selfish loves ruins and was in heaven.

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Shots! Shots! ShotsShotsShots! Heading to Mykonos

26 Friday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Greece, Mykonos

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This is post thirteen of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

While researching the Greek islands, I discovered that Mykonos is known as a huge “party” island. Against our better judgment, particularly since we are not (and never have been) rambunctious party-goers, Mr. Selfish and I still decided to spend two days in Mykonos. It just looked so lovely in all of the photos I saw online.

Well, we were not let down. Mykonos is indeed as pretty as the photos but also full of young, loud, and drunk party-goers as its reputation would have you believe. Mr. Selfish will go over the party side of Mykonos in a later post. This post will focus on all things pretty in Mykonos.

Mykonos 01

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There’s a Meat Town in Naxos!

24 Wednesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Food & Drinks, Greece, Naxos

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This is post twelve of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

Fresher is always better when it comes to food. We know this, but at home it’s hard to beat the allure of convenience that a super market promises.

Restaurants have been quick to pounce on the rising foodie trend, however, with phrases like “locally sourced” and from “farm to table.” It’s both annoying that we have to use these phrases and a sad state of affairs that most of our food is actually imported from farms over half a continent away.

This is not the case on islands, where the food is often incredibly fresh since the economics of the island often force them took cook only what they grow there. I first noticed this during our Selfish Year trip to Tasmania, which consistently had some of the tastiest, freshest eats I’ve ever had.

So when I found out that Naxos had a town the locals were describing as a “meat town,” Mrs. Selfish and I immediately jumped in our car and headed there for lunch… and then dinner… actually I kind of want some now.

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It’s All Greek to Me: Heading to Naxos

23 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Greece, Naxos

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This is post eleven of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

When I was researching which Greek islands to visit, it was clear to me that we should visit the renowned islands of Santorini and Mykonos. Since both of these are very popular islands, I wanted to visit a lesser known island as well. I ended up settling on Naxos because it was easy to travel between Santorini, Naxos, and Mykonos and because it is supposedly the island on which the Greeks vacation.

Naxos ended up being my (and probably Mr. Selfish’s too) favorite island. It was so much less touristy than Santorini and Mykonos but equally beautiful. I’m not saying that you shouldn’t visit Santorini or Mykonos. But if you want to experience a more low-key Greek island, then Naxos should be on your list.

This is the view of Naxos as you’re approaching on the ferry from the water.

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Santorini’s Spectacular Sights: Part 2

21 Sunday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Greece, Santorini

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This is post nine of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

On our way from the airport to our accommodations in Oia, Mr. Selfish and I asked for recommendations from our driver. We were wary of the many tourist traps in Oia and inquired about any less popular restaurants. Our driver informed us that we had to go down to Amoudi Bay, where the hoards from the cruise ships typically didn’t go and the seafood was outstanding. We were glad we listened to him.

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Santorini’s Spectacular Sights: Part 1

20 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Greece, Santorini

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This is post eight of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

Since I’ve been frantically preparing for Baby Selfish, Mr. Selfish has taken on the responsibility of finishing up our 2014 trip reports, which was fine with me. But, then the other day, I heard someone refer to this blog as “Mr. Selfish’s blog.”  So, here I am, back to writing trip reports. There’s no way that this blog is Mr. Selfish’s blog!

The main reason that I wanted to visit Greece was to bask in the views of Santorini. I’ve never seen a bad photo of Santorini, and after having been there, I must admit that it is difficult to take a bad photo of it.

Santorini - Sites 2 005

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Oompa! Eating Athens

16 Tuesday Dec 2014

Posted by in Athens, Europe, Food & Drinks, Greece

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This is post four of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

Having recently eaten our way through Taipei, Mrs. Selfish and I were finally getting tired of Asian food, a rare feat in the Selfish Household. Fortunately, we were now in Greece and I was hungering for some Greek food.

Pitas! Gyros! Lamb! Feta! Baklava! Actually, that’s about all the Greek food I knew going in.

Apparently our offerings of Greek food Stateside are very weak and consists almost entirely of gyros, which is like going to a sushi restaurant and declaring you know Japanese food. We just don’t get the breadth of Greek food in the good ol’ USA.

Fortunately, Athens has a wide variety of Greek food types, so we set out to expand our palettes.

Munching down at Manh Manh

Athens Eats 001

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Starting at the Top: The Acropolis

15 Monday Dec 2014

Posted by in Athens, Europe, Greece

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This is post three of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

For our first day in Athens Mrs. Selfish and I headed to the Acropolis. The largest tourist attraction in Athens (and possibly in Greece), the Acropolis is a collection of four ancient buildings that sit on top of a flat rock a few hundred feet above the rest of the city.

Constructed in the 5th century, BC, the Acropolis is most noted for the Parthenon, which dominates the skyline. Since Athens was conquered several times over the last 2000+ years, the Acropolis has been burned and reconstructed many, many times.

Since 1975, however, the Greeks have made a serious effort to restore the Acropolis, which was ravaged by pollution, war, and poor restoration. Most notably, the Venetians (the jerks of the Adriatic, as we would later learn in Dubrovnik) damaged it with artillery fire back in late 1600’s and it never fully recovered.

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Greece Lightning: Heading to Greece

13 Saturday Dec 2014

Posted by in Europe, Greece

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This is post one of sixteen of our summer trip to Greece. Check out our other posts in the series here:

Man, what a year it’s been! I reported back on the first half of our trip to Taiwan and Greece back in September, and then skipped ahead to our trip to Korea.

Why? Chalk it up to preparing for Baby Selfish, too much traveling, or downright laziness, but the fact of the matter is that I broke up Taiwan and Greece because they felt like two separate trips. I mean, check out this map:triplethejetlagfor120000miles

Finally! A legit round-the-world trip.

So that brings me back to Greece. Mrs. Selfish and I visited Italy back in 2010, and Turkey earlier this year, but Greece had always been high up on our list.

Greece 001

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Triple the Jetlag to Taiwan and Greece!

23 Friday May 2014

Posted by in Accommodations, Asia, Europe, Greece, Hilton, Hyatt, Taiwan

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Over the last week we’ve been moving all the crap I never thought I’d see again out of a 16’ x 8’ x 8’ container into a space roughly 3/5 the size of our Orlando house. The amount of stuff we have has been so daunting, that we have to put our Tanzania trip report on a brief hiatus.

box o crap

Man, I hoped I’d never see this stuff again.

After living out of a suitcase for the last 20 months, it’s been a pretty draining experience. “Why do we have so much clothes? Why did we buy all of this stuff? Who bought this???”

So I’m really looking forward to our upcoming trip to Taiwan and Greece next week.

Yes, Taiwan & Greece. One trip. 2 continents. 3 bouts of jetlag.

We are literally flying around the world this time.

Triple the Jetlag for 120,000 miles!

Triple the insanity for 120,000 US Airways miles each!

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