Greece, baby!

Well, I finally did it! I went on my first European vacation! Greece has always been at the top of my list of places to go. So when a couple of my girlfriends said they were doing it, I happily jumped on board. They had already booked their flights, so the time frame was set and I was able to book seats on the their flights. Whew, that is one big decision already made!

In the weeks before the trip we had a couple planning meetings to discuss the itinerary and strategize over things we wanted to do and see. Usually a planning sessions involved getting some Greek take-out from a local Seattle spot, or going to a Greek restaurant to get some "atmosphere". One of the restaurants we loved was Taki's Mad Greek in Ballard (15th and 85th). Such a fun place! We went on a Saturday night and so there was dancing, singing and a belly dancer! http://www.takismadgreek.com/ We even met the owner, Kiki, who gave us a lot of good info and lots of (free) wine! Kiki's husband Taki is the main chef there, and one of the entertainers too. It's a real family place!

In the planning sessions we basically decided which islands we wanted to visit, how many days to stay on each, and what means of transportation to use to get there. We had heard from friends and travel books that you didn't necessarily need to book any reservations on the islands. Hotel representatives would actually meet the ferries with brochures to sway you to stay at their places. Being a Professional Organizer this concept was a little hard for me to grasp. Go to Europe and not have reservations... what?! But "winging it" allows you full freedom to choose accommodations on-the-fly and negotiate rates with hotels to get rock bottom deals. So each of us 4 girls decided to pick one destination on the itinerary and research it more on our own. This way, at least one person in the group had an idea of the best areas to stay, what rates were considered "normal" and what kind of amenities we would require. (We did pre-book a hotel in Athens for our first night as we didn't want to get off the plane after 24 hours of travel and not have any idea of where we were going to stay. This proved to be a great idea because Athens is such a large city and soooo busy! It was literally like an episode of the "Amazing Race" trying to get out of the airport and into the city to find our hotel! I'll tell you more about that in a later post….)

It was true! When we would arrive on each island, we would be bombarded by hotel reps waving their brochures in our faces and shouting out their amenities. We asked questions about where they were located, how far from "town", and we negotiated some pretty great rates. Then they would put us into a van a take us to our accommodations. We definitely learned to ask more specific questions as the trip went on, and our accommodations got better and better with each stop! What an amazing trip! Our travel itinerary - and my final costs are below (not including food, drink, shopping, etc.). I will talk about each destination in a later post!

Day 1: Leave Seattle on a 6:15AM flight to NY. Leave NY on a 3:50PM flight to Athens.
Day 2: Arrive Athens at 8:55AM. (Greece is 10 hours ahead of Seattle). $1350 round trip airfare. Take Metro Train to Syntagma Square. 6 Euros ($9). Athens Cypria Hotel. 4 bed hotel room $215 (0r $53.75 each). Visit Acropolis 12 Euros ($18).
Day 3: Ferry to Mykonos. Blue Star Ferries @ 8AM. 21 Euro ($30).
Day 4: Mykonos Town. Studio Eleni. 15 Euro each x 2 nights ($45). http://www.studioeleni.com/
Day 5: Ferry to Paros. GA Ferries @ 10AM. 19 Euro ($25).
Day 6: Naoussa, Paros. Captain Dounas Hotel. 15 Euro each x 2 nights ($45). http://www.dounas.com/
Day 7: Ferry to Santorini. Blue Star Ferries @ 11:55AM. 19 Euro ($25).
Day 8: Fira Town, Santorini. Hotel Golden Star. 25 Euro each x 3 nights ($112). http://www.hotelgoldenstar.gr/
Day 9: Fira Town, Santorini. Car rental 1 day. (Can’t remember how much we paid?)
Day 10: Fly to Athens. Aegean Air @ 12:15) 79 Euro ($106). Athens Cypria Hotel. 4 bed hotel room $215 (0r $53.75 each). Visit NEW Acropolis Museum 1 Euro ($1.50).
Day 11: Cab to Athens airport 35 Euro ($52). Leave Athens on 11AM flight to NY. Leave NY on 5:10PM flight to Seattle. Arrive Seattle at 9PM…. or more likely 11PM due to flight delays getting out of NY!

Flight: $1350.00
Travel Transfers: $250.00
Hotels: $310.00
Total expenses: $1910.00

More about the trip to come! Check back!