Greece - We're Back

After 20 hours of traveling, door to door, we are safely back. For some reason the travel back was much harder on me. Probably because I was drugged up on the flight out there and slept the entire 10 hours of the Athens flight. The trip back was brutal. A long metro to the airport, 10 hour flight to Philly, 2 hour flight to Charlotte, lots of begging to get us on an earlier flight, 4 movies, lots of pretzels, you get the picture. I have never been so excited to see my bed before in my life.

So the trip was GREAT! I wouldn't say it was what I expected, because I really had no idea what to expect. I can't really compare Santorini to Folegandros; we loved them both for different reasons. Santorini was beautiful, touristy and commercial. We were not too thrilled about the town of Fira there, but much preferred the more artsy town of Ia (where most of the pictures are taken when you visualize the Greek Islands) at the edge of the town. We were technically there in "off-season" it Fira was jamb-packed with tourists. It was a bit claustrophobic and I can't imagine what it would be like in July and August.

Ia was pretty magical. Quaint back alleys with low doors, flowers and a bit-run down architecture that captures a charm in a way that is indescribable. We only saw a sliver of the world famous sunsets, but it was pretty. We really enjoyed this island and had the most memorable two meals (Josh and I are split on which was our favorite) and an awe-inspiring hike here.

Folegandros is a remote island of only about 650 inhabitants (If I remember correctly). It took quite a bit of work to figure out the ferries and we only knew if we would have a ferry back, 36 hours before its departure. Completely worth the trek, though. Folegandros truly felt almost untouched by the outside world. I say "almost" untouched, because although you could feel the authenticity here, the younger men wore diesels and ipods were used at hotels to play the mood music.

Our time on Folegandros was quite relaxing. Our most difficult decisions of the day were usually which outdoor restaurant to eat at under the hanging lights in one of the five beautiful interconnected squares. We found our favorite beach on this island and had some great conversations with other travelers and locals.

I completely maxed out the space in my travel journal and I apologize in advance for how long my trip report will probably end up. I look back on my Costa Rica trip and love reading what I wrote then as it brings back memories of moments that I would otherwise have forgotten over time. Please enjoy and I hope that by reading about our travels, you will get the travel bug too.

I'm going to post them according to the actual days, so go all the way back to May 27th to start, then work your way up (to read it in order)!