Right: We hike out of the Vikos Gorge (one of the world's deepest canyons relative to its width), beneath towering Timfi Massif, Zagoria (see Page 3).

Summary:
Our favorite parts of Greece are the spectacular mountains of Zagoria and northern Greece for great hiking amid crocus and wildflower fields, and romantic Santorini Island (Thira) for eye-popping whitewashed villages perched high above the Aegean Sea on the rim of an active volcano. I was also moved by our pilgrimage to the Acropolis and Parthenon, the awesome and classic symbols of early Democracy. We hiked a total of 170 miles  with day packs and stayed overnight in pleasant pensions and mountain refuges. Robinson Expeditions (this link goes to their page) conveniently moved our luggage each day to the next pension. Carol and I joined a group of friends from Seattle for a rewarding five weeks in Greece, from April 26 to May 30, 2001 (by way of Amsterdam, Netherlands).
     The cliff-top monasteries of Meteora are visually stunning and culturally important, but I recommend avoiding the overwhelming hordes of tourists by visiting in the off season (late fall through early spring). I was fascinated by the history of the island of Crete and loved the aromas when hiking through its wild herb gardens on the sunny southwest coast, but the modern reality of hundreds of tourists on the Samaria Gorge hike dampened my enthusiasm. Crete's relatively remote southwest coast was pretty, but for me the Turquoise Coast of Turkey offers more variety. In fact, if you are looking for a travel bargain that is more exotic, has taller mountains and greater variety than Greece, and also includes important Greek ruins & Christian history, I highly recommend visiting Turkey.
    If you plan a trip to Greece (or "Ellada", as Greeks call their country), I highly recommend reading up on Greek history, culture, and language before going, in order to enrich the sights, which are usually surrounded by familiar modern Western trappings and services. I was well rewarded after studying Greek language tapes for 10 weeks before the trip -- I could read and speak the Greek numbers, signs, and place names and felt a little closer to the culture.
    I love Greek food (closely related to Turkish cuisine due to Ottoman Turk occupation), and the food was uniformly delicious, though sometimes a bit heavy on the olive oil. After 4 weeks, however, the restaurant food grew repetitious (as was also true in Turkey). We yearned to replace the white-bread breakfasts with our favorite whole grain breads, oatmeal, and more fruit. Upon returning to Seattle, I'm always amazed by the huge variety of international foods available in groceries and restaurants. Due to the worldwide diaspora of the Greek people, you can find Greek food in Seattle that tastes as good as in Greece.

Athens:

Above left, The Acropolis ("High City") by day, and below right, by night. The Erechtheion sanctuary is the small building on the left and the huge Parthenon on the middle. In 1987, UNESCO declared the Acropolis to be a World Heritage Site.

Above Left: The  Propylaia, entry to the  Acropolis, was built in 437-432 BC, in alignment with the Parthenon.
 

Below: During our 2001 visit, the awesome Parthenon was being reconstructed for the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens. The Parthenon is the largest Doric-column temple ever completed in Greece. It was built in 447-438 BC as a treasury for tribute money moved from Delos Island, and was also dedicated to the worship of Athena, specially designed to contain a huge, 12-meter tall statue of Athina Polias (reproduced below) placed in 432 BC.

Left: Ionic columns grace this side of the asymmetrical Erechtheion on the Acropolis, Athens.

Right: Old building and balconies in Plaka (the old Turkish quarter), Athens.

The first Olympic Games were declared in 776 BC (for male athletes only) and ran every four years at Olympia in the Peloponnese Peninsula until 394 AD, when Emperor Theodosius I, a Christian, banned them as pagan. The Games were not reinstituted until 1896. The return of the Olympic Games to Greece in 2004 was a proud and triumphant moment for the people of Athens and Greeks worldwide. About 10 million people live in Greece, and about an equal number of Greeks live in other countries worldwide, scattered by a tumultuous history.

Ancient Art from the National Archaeological Museum, Athens (shown in historical order):

Left: Carved idol from the Early Cycladic era, about 2500-2000 BC.

Left: You can view this Athina Polias ("Athena of the city") statue in the National Archaeological Museum, Athens. This is a Roman model of the original Athina Polias, which was created 12-meters high in the Parthenon in 432 BC, and was one of the "wonders of the ancient world." Athena has Nike in her right hand, and a sphinx and griffins in her headpiece. Greeks built the Parthenon atop the Acropolis in 447-438 BC as a place to worship goddess Athena and also to store tribute money moved from Delos Island.

Left: This is a sculpture of Antinoos (or Antinous, who lived about AD 110-130), who was Roman emperor Hadrian's lover and best friend. Hadrian lived AD 76-138 and become one of the few exemplary Roman sovereigns. Hadrian fell in love with the boy Antinous, who accompanied him on his extended trips through the Empire. At age 20, Antinous was drowned, or drowned himself, in the Nile. Cassius Dion recounts that Antinous had learned from an astrologer that he might in this way add his life-span to that of Hadrian's. The sovereign mourned for his friend for the rest of his life. He ordered the foundation of a city, Antinoopolis, at the place where Antinous had died. He surrounded himself with statues and busts of Antinous on his trips, and even more so at his old-age residence, the "Villa" in Tivoli. A star or constellation was named after Antinous.
 
 

References:
 - Greece, by Lonely Planet Publications, February 2000.
 - The Greek Islands, by Insight Guides, APA Publications (HK) Ltd.
 - Helpful online guide: www.justgreece.org
  - Fiction: Voice of the Goddess, by Judith Hand (this link goes to her web site), Copyright February 2001. (Sequel: The Amazon Queen, Fall 2001.) Based upon archeological evidence expanded by imagination, this historical fiction and romance book brings alive the ancient era of the Minoans (whom are called "Keftians" in the book because the Egyptians of 1500 BC called Crete "Keftiu").
 

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