Athens.

Photo by Christophe Meneboeuf.  The photo was too gorgeous to display in any other format than its original panoramic width.  Use the scroll bar to pan to see the entire photo.

I've always wanted to come to Athens.  One of the oldest cities in the world, centuries of history.  Just up my alley.  We'll be arriving into Athens from the US and then immediately going on our road trip so we won't actually be in Athens until five days into our trip.  By the time we arrive, we'll have had a whirlwind tour of tourist sights and having a bit of downtime would be welcomed.   We'll only be in town for three days and I don't want it to be a rushed visit.  So, I've  pared down the list of must-see touristy places to the highlights, leaving plenty of time to to see and do whatever we discover along the way.

Santorini.

Photo by Scott Stulberg.  The photo was too gorgeous to display in any other format than its original panoramic width.  Use the scroll bar to pan to see the entire photo.

When my brother and I first talked about going to Greece, we were firm that we wanted to avoid the real touristy places and that included Santorini. But the more I talked to my friends who had visited Greece and all the "travel to Greece" websites I read, the more and more I began to change my mind.  Truly, all it takes is one look at pictures of the place - dozens of white washed stone buildings clinging to hillsides overlooking stunning blue water,  like the one that opens this post, and you realize that Santorini's villages, are the quintessential Greek seaside villages that make up our romantic notions of the Greek Islands.  We must see this place!  So much so that I'm now convinced that a trip to Greece would NOT be a good one unless we spent time visiting Santorini. It's now firmly back on the itinerary and in fact, we'll be spending more time there then in any other place in Greece!

The Acropolis.

The Acropolis. (Photo by Christophe Meneboeuf)

I've always wanted to come to Athens. One of the oldest cities in the world, centuries of history. Just up my alley. We'll be arriving into Athens from the US and then immediately going on our road trip so we won't actually be in Athens until five days into our trip. By the time we arrive, we'll have had a whirlwind tour of tourist sights and having a bit of downtime would be welcomed. We'll only be in town for three days and I don't want it to be a rushed visit. So, we'll be narrowing down the list of must-see touristy places to the highlights, leaving plenty of time to wander the markets and to just find a nice spot to sit and people watch and soak in our surroundings.

Kitchen Experiments. Glyko Karydaki.

A few years ago, at a party thrown by an Armenian colleague of mine, I tasted sugared young walnuts for the first time and fell in love with them. Later, the same colleague bought a jar of them for me at a market that sells Armenian food products. I finished the first jar and managed to find the same brand in a Mediterranean food market near my house.  Now, I may never have to buy the commercial stuff ever again!