I come from a family that’s really into travel. My grandparents loved to explore the world, and they passed that love down to my mom. She has been taking my family on trips for as long as I can remember, and every year for the past 3 years, we have gone somewhere over winter break. This year we went to Paris, Egypt, and Greece.
In Greece, we stayed in Athens for around 5 days total and branched off to Meteora and Santorini for a few days. The first major thing we did was visit the Acropolis. It was so beautiful, and the ancient history attached to it made it even more magical.
The overall city of Athens was breathtaking. I did not expect to love it as much as I did. Everyone there was very nice, and the food was SO good (gyros are one of my favorite foods now). Most streets were pretty narrow, and there was a ton of people out and about at night, but it honestly made the experience better. I felt so safe walking around, and the streets were ADORABLE. I loved this place so much it is now my top choice to study abroad in.
Next, we took a day trip out to Meteora, which, if you don’t know, is a bunch of Orthodox monasteries perched on top of stunning cliffs. There was a little town at the base of the cliff that we walked around that had a delicious bakery, and once again there were cute little streets. Also, a fun fact: we passed Mount Olympus on our way to Meteora!
Last up was Santorini. This was my favorite part of Greece, it was a small, isolated island. Going during winter time had its ups and downs, it was pretty windy and a lot of places were closed, but there was also practically no one there. It felt like it was our private island.
One prominent thing about Santorini is the wild cats. Wherever you looked, there was a cat. However, this was MY cat. Koda showed up at our front door the second we arrived, and we were literally inseparable the rest of our time. We left to go shopping for a couple hours, and he was there when we came back. He spent the night with us even after many attempts by my mom to kick him out (every time I did, he came back 5 minutes later). I miss him every day.
