We arrived in Athens after a short flight from Dubrovnik and our first impressions were somewhat shady. The taxi driver opted to turn off the meter and negotiate a price and the streets looked as dirty and crowded as advertised although we did get a glimpse of the majestic Acropolis and Olympic Stadium at sunset. Since we were only staying one night we had booked a hotel roomI am on the outskirts of town and as we stepped into the lobby we immediately started missing our cozy Airbnb apartments. After some confusion we finally got checked in, dropped our things in our rooms and headed out to find a place to eat. One of the guys at the front desk recommended a local taverna a few blocks away and setting our expectations low we headed out to find it.
Hungry, tired and probably smelly the #travelingcircus arrived to find a restaurant bustling with locals. The staff at Barbadimos could not have been more friendly: they pulled out and put together a new table outside for us, were super friendly to everyone, especially the kids, and even though they were extremely busy and shorthanded made us feel very welcome and comfortable. The only thing better was the food: A feast of local salads, meat and grilled kebabs coupled with fantastic house wine. V always talks about the energetics of food and you could really feel the love and positive energy emanating from the food we were eating. The “vibes” (a term Jude coined and uses profusely) were phenomenal. All in all this was one of the best meals we have had on this trip thus far: great food, positive “vibes” and overall great value (we’re not in Helsinki anymore :)). Somehow after the feast we managed to get back to our hotel, passing an unexpected street fair next to an old church on the way and get everyone tucked in bed.
In the morning Victoria came up with one of the best ideas: let’s pare our belongings down to one suitcase and leave the other suitcase in Athens. Luckily we found a Startup company called Baggagement that for a small fee came to our hotel, picked up our suitcase and delivered it back to us at a different hotel when we were back in Athens 3 weeks later. Dropping 50% of our carrying weight was extremely liberating, physically and mentally. You don’t realize how little you need until you get rid of almost all of your stuff and then realize that you could pare it down even more. A while before the big trip I watched a Ted talk entitled ” Less stuff, more happiness” which had a huge impact on how I think about material “stuff”. Having gotten rid of much of our “stuff” in New York I realize that you need even less. To our future traveler selves, or anyone embarking on a long journey we would recommend packing up the “bare essentials” that you may think you need on your journey, then get rid of half of them and only take that with you. You won’t miss what you left behind.
After paring down our belongings to only one suitcase, feeling much lighter and carefree, we took a quick (1.5 hour) ferry ride to Hydra. When I first discovered Hydra while doing research online, I was drawn to the fact that there are NO cars on the island and it sounded like a sleepy fishing village/island. At this point we had been traveling for over 2 months and I was looking forward to a quiet village island, where I didn’t need to shave my legs or rotate my limited number of dresses. To my surprise the island was much more happening than I expected BUT it was also quiet and sweet in the exact way that I was expecting. There are a lot of restaurants, cafes, bars, and small shops around the port. There are also many quiet streets and rocky “beaches”. Let me explain: You climb down some rocks to find a large flat rock and then you notice a metal latter leading you into the Aegean Sea. There you have it, the best beaches in Hydra. 
To be fair, there are some more typical beaches with really calm waters, CHEAP lounge chairs, and attentive service. 
Oddly enough our whole family preferred the rock and latter beaches. We drank a lot of espresso freddo, a ridiculously delicious coffee drink the Greeks drink all day long. It’s espresso poured over ice and then blended, using something similar to a milkshake maker. This results in a frothy coffee that is then poured over ice in a cup. YUM! We also ate a lot of Greek salads, fresh fish, and local burekas. The restaurants were casual, the wine cheap, and the island vibe just perfect for our family. E and I both agreed that we thought Hydra was an ideal Greek island for a week’s vacation. Unlike some of the other islands, which we later visited, Hydra does not have a scene. There is no cool beach club that you need to be at nor a restaurant that you can’t get a reservation in. This is exactly our style. We stayed at a really nice small Airbnb house/apartment. We were close to the port and the main town square, with sea views and an outdoor area. The kitchen was small, but we mainly ate out. The outdoor area was great and we meditated and had our breakfast and coffee out there. 
The week went by quickly. 
Before leaving the kids begged to get a ride on one of the MANY donkeys on the island and we happily obliged. 
And then we were off to our next stop. Returning to our honeymoon island 10 years later with 3 kids in tow and eager to celebrate our anniversary, J’s birthday, and Yom Kippur.
When we booked our trip we overlooked the fact that there is not a direct ferry from Hydra to Paros. Paros was the first stop on our honeymoon 10 years ago and we knew that we wanted to spend our 10 year anniversary there. After ruling out swimming, rowing, or sailing there ourselves and not making any yachting friends to hitch a ride with, we broke down and prepared ourselves for an afternoon and evening at sea: we would take the ferry back to Piraeus in Athens and quickly run to another ferry (more like a cruise ship) to Paros. The sea this day was a bit rocky, but we made the connection in time and a bit shaken up we eventually made it to Paros. A short taxi ride later, on a windy dark night we arrived at our Airbnb where our host Gabriel greeted us with a smile and some local bread, cheese and wine. Our Airbnb this time was magical. A little house set on a property behind the Magaya Restaurant near the port town of Parikia in Paros. The house is one of those houses that had a soul and a history. It is decorated with an amazing array of small intricate objects, and had books and small nooks and corners to play and read and think. The kitchen is well stocked and the dining room is outside. The property has a few houses where Gabriel and the chef and some staff from the restaurant live, a yoga Shala where Tassos practices and teaches, and a semi-private beach. There are also multiple cats that live on the property and became part of the family. There was Henry, whose house we were staying in and being the Alpha male he reminded us and all the surrounding cats constantly. There was “Fake Henry” who may have been his sister. There was “Sugar”, a mischievous new kitten that Myla would smother to death and various others who would come to visit. We got so used to the cats being part of the experience that Victoria even bought cat food and would feed them every day.
After settling into our routine and finding the local markets and supermarkets we were comfortable to be “back home” again (Sage’s name for every home we stay in. I am not sure whether she remembers where her original physical home is at this point:)). 
It was also our 10 year anniversary and staying true to our new found Danish souls we took the kids up on their offer to stay home and babysit their sleeping baby sister while we went “out” to dinner at Magaya Restaurant only a few meters away. We had a fantastic evening. 
We started out dinner outside overlooking the small bay as the sun set and eventually moved to the bar for Tequilla shots and dessert while bantering with the hysterical bar tenders and a couple of their old friends. The staff in Magaya all have something in common: They work hard all summer (May – Sep) and spend the rest of the time traveling the world. Every year they bring back experiences, stories and new food and drink innovations to the menu.
The period between Rosh Hashana and Yom Kippur is a time for self reflection, contemplation and setting goals and intentions for the new year. Our home in Paros was such a great place to spend this period. The inner décor, the books we discovered and the property all contributed to a very introspective and meditative space which perfectly fit the time and our mindset.
September 16 is Jude’s Birthday and our excitement and focus shifted into making it very special. The kids came up with a pre-birthday Olympic tournament which included multiple competitions the day before Jude’s birthday. Most importantly fun was had by all. 
The morning of Jude’s birthday we all celebrated with balloons, local baked treats and gifts of books. 
We had intended to rent a car and drive to the ferry to Antiparos in the morning, but due to a recently enacted law in Greece which requires an International Driver’s license to rent a car we ended up resorting to the more expensive Plan B: Taxi to Ferry and off to the island of Antiparos where we lunched at a local taverna and then took a bus to Europe’s oldest (45+ million years old) vertical underground caves. This was an amazing experience.
After the caves we took a taxi to one of the most beautiful beaches we have ever visited. 
After some swimming and beach walking we had dinner at Captain Pipinos where the fish is freshly caught and the calamari is sun dried. 
On our taxi ride back to the ferry we passed by Tom Hanks’ house and encountered some cows, goats and donkeys. The day ended back home with some more cake and Hygge vibes.
The day after Jude’s birthday was spent lounging around, reading, some yoga and just relaxing. True to the vibe of our surroundings our decomposition continued. Jude commented that his favorite part of the entire elaborate day was the morning spent with family and reading his books (while we scrambled to put Plan B into motion) and the evening treat. Note to future selves: “Less is more”
On Tuesday, September 18th we headed out to the Calamari Path :). The town of Lefkes is a historic town in the center of Paros. We reached it by a windy bus ride up the mountain. The town is nice but is famous for the Byzantine Path which is paved in marble and leads from town all the way down to the beach. 
We got a recommendation for a restaurant about halfway between Lefkes and the beach which was described as a very local restaurant with the best Calamari in the world. As the mid-day sun cooked our heads and the path seemed longer than we expected we dubbed it the “Calamari Path”. The restaurant, Taverna Tsitsanis, ended up as good as advertised — local, family run place with a nice garden where we had an amazing meal for 5 for under Eur40. The meatballs were better than the calamari, but all in all great. Recharged and rejuvenated we hiked down to Piso Livadi and swam and danced near the clear beach. 
It being Yom Kippur eve we hurried home to eat before beginning our fast.Yom Kippur day was spent in contemplation, meditation and walking around our beach. We ventured out to the neighboring beach and discovered the hotel where we spent our honeymoon 10 years ago.We broke fast at a wonderful restaurant in Parikia, Levantis. The food was as great and fresh as Gabriel described and the vibe was great. We met a very nice, young Irish couple and did not want the evening to end. What a wonderful way to bring in the New Year as a family.
The next day we headed out to Mykonos. Although this was a fairly short ferry ride (under an hour) the sea was very rocky and we all felt various levels of seasickness. It also cemented our decision to fly from Mykonos back to Athens rather than take another (long) ferry. From ferry to bus and off we were on the more sedate east coast of the island near Kalafati where our host greeted us and showed us to our Airbnb home. A nice 2 bedroom apartment above a commercial space with a HUUUUUGE balcony and the best views we have had thus far.
We put our bags down, changed into our bathing suits and quickly headed out to swim and enjoy the beach. We came to Mykonos during the last week of their summer season. The locals refer to it as a “party island” but having stayed on the east coast at the end of the season we only got a small taste of the beach club crowd (and did not like it).
We did get a good taste of the other Mykonos: Beautiful beaches, nice farm life, great food and seafood and very welcoming and friendly people.
We walk everywhere and on Friday we set out on a trek to the closest “town” — a mere 30 minute walk along the road. The town was lively and a had a great supermarket where we stocked up on food. We then headed out by foot to Vioma, an organic bio-farm where the kids played with the animals and we enjoyed a wonderful, fresh lunch feast.
After an afternoon dip we had a home cooked dinner on our beautiful balcony as we marveled at the magical sunset and the almost full moon. Saturday was mostly spent on another nearby beach and in the evening, after putting Sage to sleep we went out to date night. Downstairs from our apartment was an underrated but fantastic farm to table restaurant. The food was original and fantastic, simple yet flavorful and having this time for just the 2 of us was very nice. As luck would have it this was also their last night in service before closing out for the season.
On our last evening in Mykonos we had planned to go to the cute and chill Italian restaurant by our apartment which had a foosball table, but they closed for the season after lunch service. Plan B came into force and we went to a local fish tavern with low expectations. Despite mixed reviews on google Plan B once again ended up being delicious. The fish was fresh and the entire experience was very “hygge and good vibes”.
Our last morning in Mykonos was windy and we were extremely glad to have booked a flight instead of the ferry. 40 minutes (instead of 4+hours) after take off we were in Athens. We chose to take the train from the airport instead of a taxi. Our hotel, Estia Boutique Apartments, was fantastic. This small hotel opened only 4 months ago. The reception was very welcoming, the rooms were immaculately clean and detailed (we stayed on the Crete floor which was decorated with that island’s décor), and the location, in a “hipster” neighborhood but only a short walk from old town and the historic ruins was awesome. Our receptionist recommended a restaurant for lunch: Rakor Restaurant . We liked it so much that we ate lunch there, we then came back for takeout dinner from there for the 2 evenings we spent in Athens.
Staying true to our “Leger World School” we booked a walking tour of the Acropolis through Athens Walks tour company. The weather turned unseasonably cold overnight and we had to endure some windy conditions (better than the heat), but well equipped with Moomin sweaters and hats we were able to climb the Acropolis.
The more challenging part was beating the crowds of tourists that swarmed all around us.
The tour itself was extremely informative and very much worthwhile. We learned a lot about Greek Mythology and Athenian history and we met a sweet young couple visiting from California on their honeymoon.
We had lunch at Mavro Provato where the meal started with Raki and was very delicious. We spent the afternoon exploring the Acropolis Museum and the city streets, before picking up dinner at Rakor and getting to bed at a reasonable time as flight the next morning was very early.
We really enjoyed our time in Athens. Yes, it can at times be dirty and crowded. Yes, you can see some evidence of the hard hits it took and the very slow recovery from the financial crisis ten years ago. But you are walking on ancient streets with stories all around, the people are friendly and there is a new life of entrepreneurship, fresh food and renewed energy which can be felt in the air. Even the new airport (built by the Germans) is extremely modern and efficient.
All in all our 3 week Greek adventure was a fun adventure. We had planned it out as an end of summer “vacation” and it turned out to be that and much more. On a side note: the hardest part of the Big Trip thus far has been missing Lucy…
