In 2016, I was fortunate to take part in a twenty-three day trip to Italy. Not to let 2016 out shine 2017, Tonya and I decided a short two-week trip to Greece was in order.

Since December, I have been trying to find the best way to spend the two weeks. Initially I was hoping to get two condos, one in the south and one in the north of Greece and spend two weeks driving around the country, just like we did in Italy.  But, when the two weeks together were not available, I found a Greek Isle cruise for the second week. The first week we will be staying in a condo in Marathonas, Greece, close to one of those Greek beaches.   We will be about 45 minutes east of Athens.  The second week we will board the Royal Princess Cruise ship and spend a week cruising through the Greek Islands.

We will spend 3 full days in Athens exploring all that the city has to offer.  I found an Athen’s city pass online that will give us access to public transportation, Hop on Hop off busses and tickets to all the attractions.  The only thing left will be to figure out where to eat, which by the way is one of the things I am looking forward to, Authentic Greek food.  The other days will take us to Delphi and Nafplion, with other stops along the way, as we see fit.

The Cruise will have all the food we can eat, so no worries there.  At this point we only have two excursions (tours of the city and countryside) booked with the cruise line, not sure we will plan any more, though I am still looking into it.  Most likely we will just walk through the other cities and enjoy their ambience.  I am sure there will be plenty to see and do.

Going to Italy was a return for me.  I was familiar with the language and just had to do a bunch of refresher courses and once there, I was able to communicate.  Going to Greece will be all new.  No experience with the Greek language or the customs, though there are similarities to what we saw in Italy, from what I have read. I have begun a short study of the Greek alphabet and language in general.  I realize there is no way to study part-time for two months and expect to speak or even understand a new language, with a new alphabet.  I am hoping that some familiarity to the letters and language will help out.  As I study the Greek language, I find myself digging into the origin of language itself and the origin of all languages.  Greek is one of oldest spoken languages on the earth today and has a lot of history surrounding it.  Some of the oldest manuscripts are written in Greek.

I am looking at this trip as a new opportunity.  Italy was great and though I had been there in 1977 through 1979, it all seemed new to me again.  Since I have never been to Greece, I am anticipating this trip, just as much as I did Italy last year.  I have read about the drivers, since I will be driving for a week and found that they are pretty much crazy, just like in Italy.  No patience and you can expect to passed on any side.  So, driving in Greece looks to be just as exciting as driving in Italy.

The next adventure is about to begin.    To be continued….