Back from my Greece trip!

[kirispupis]

Hello everyone,

I've actually been back for a couple of weeks now, but I thought I'd share a couple photos that I've processed so far and provide what I learned from the trip.

Itinerary:
- One week travelling myself across Attica, Phokis, and the Peloponnese
- One day in Athens by myself at the beginning and one day to meet up with my wife
- Three days in Santorini together
- Three days in Mykonos together
- Three days in Kefalonia together

I visited the following ruins, most of them myself.

• Various sites around Athens
• Sounion
• Corinth
• Acrocorinth
• Delphi
• Olympia
• Temple of Apollo Epikourios at Bassai
• Mystra
• Sparta
• Messene
• Napflion (castles)
• Epidauros
• Mycenae
• Tiryns
• Agiosthena
• Eleusis
• Delos (near Mykonos)
• Akrotiri (Santorini)
• Same (Kefalonia)

The following are things I felt worked well.

• Every site I either hit the first thing in the morning or late in the afternoon. This did wonders for thinning out the crowds and most places I either practically had to myself or literally had to myself.
• I stayed close to the action, so many places were just a walk from the hotel. 
• I did research before I went and was already aware what I wanted to photograph

In terms of my favorites, I liked Corinth, Olympia, and Messene the most. Corinth was easily the most photogenic while I loved how nature has grown into Olympia. Messene gave the best indication of what an ancient city actually looked like. Delos was also very interesting. Delphi was pretty, but somewhat of a letdown since it's kind of like "ancient Disneyland". 

Some things I did realize fully were:

1. The places written as 'top things to see' aren't necessarily the "top things to see." They're just what the tourism board wants you to see.
2. Humans are a herding species

On the first point, take the temple at Bassai. It was completely awe inspiring. I visited it during the middle of the day, during the peak crowds, and there were only two cars in the lot. This is because the windy roads and distance from Athens make it difficult for buses to reach it. Similarly, Messene was easily the top site in terms of condition of the ruins, but it's too far from Athens so isn't advertised as much.

In terms of herding, this was nowhere near as apparent as Santorini. There are literally sites online that detail the top Instagram spots. At each one, there are long lines of people waiting to get the exact same photo. For sunset, those same sites say that you need to be in a particular area of Oia. So many people herded that way during sunset that I found all the popular IG locations empty, so I took all my photos of those spots at that time, which also happened to be when the best light was. 🙂 

Overall, it was a great trip. I'd certainly love to go back and see northern Greece. There were also spots in the southern Peloponnese I simply didn't have the time to reach. Finally, there are a ton of islands I still want to see.

Here are a few photos from the trip. I'm nearly done processing the lot, after which I'll work on the pile of coins that has accumulated on my desk. 🙂 

Corinth

 

Delphi

 

I'd expect even your cat to know where this is

 

Acrocorinth

 

Bassai

 

Corinth

 

Olympia

 

[CPK]

Wow!!! Those are incredible photos @kirispupis, thanks for sharing!

Sounds like a delightful trip!

[AussieCollector]

Amazing photos @kirispupis!

I should probably post my trip from December 2019 at some point.

In terms of ancient Greece, Delphi was my favourite.

[Ryro]

Damned good photography, my man!

Mark me peanut butter and jealous. Yours looks like a vacation for the ages... or over the ages. 

Thank you for sharing these.

[Sulla80]

1 hour ago, kirispupis said:

Delphi

 

Thanks for sharing the photo's and itinerary - looks like an amazing trip!  This image in particular is awesome!

[Severus Alexander]

Fabulous photos from a fabulous trip, thanks for allowing us to live it vicariously!

My cat is dumb, I showed him the photo and he said "Meowcenae." 😾

Apparently this coin design from Terina is inspired by sculptures from the Parthenon:

[kirispupis]

1 hour ago, Severus Alexander said:

My cat is dumb, I showed him the photo and he said "Meowcenae." 😾

 

Maybe your cat will like these photos of cats I took on the trip. There are so many of them!

[Severus Alexander]

10 minutes ago, kirispupis said:

Maybe your cat will like these photos of cats I took on the trip. There are so many of them!

I confess that I don't actually have a cat any more... I miss him dearly!  But I imagined what he would have said...  (Sadly I'm allergic so it doesn't really make sense to have one. 😢)

In any case, the excellent cat photos are much appreciated.  (I get a cat calendar every year.) I especially love the first photo!

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Fabulous trip and photos!!!

With regard to the cats, I have never seen as many as I did in Alexandria where they basically have the run of the City. Well, after all the city was of Greek origin.

 

[Qcumbor]

Gorgeous pictures, thanks for sharing !

Q

[Jeremy]

Your photos are amazing - well done! It sounds like you had a great trip. I'll be visiting Athens and Naxos in a couple of months and can't wait.

[kirispupis]

Thanks for all the kind words! Thought I'd add some photos from the "non-ruinous" parts. 🙂

Santorini

 

Mykonos

 

Kefalonia

 

[El Cazador]

3 hours ago, kirispupis said:

Thanks for all the kind words! Thought I'd add some photos from the "non-ruinous" parts. 🙂

Santorini

 

Mykonos

 

Kefalonia

 

Really nice images

[Ancient Coin Hunter]

Great pics. I am so envious I could turn green. Need to get out of the rainy conditions we've been facing here. 

[expat]

Looks to have been an amazing trip. And some fantastic, stunning images as a reminder. Thanks for sharing your experience