We’ve been wanting to go to Greece ever since we had to cancel our Honeymoon there due to COVID. Chaperoning a high school trip there wasn’t the romantic trip we had initially planned, but a free trip to Greece is a free trip to Greece.
Our journey started in Athens with a day at the Acropolis and the adjoining museum. The Acropolis was a bucket-list item for both Elyse and me, and it did not disappoint! All of our art history classes came flooding back, and we were geeking out over Greek temple terms. The Acropolis Museum was one of our favorite museums we’ve ever been to—it housed many of the original sculptures, including the Caryatids, with the top floor oriented to present the original frieze and pediments with a beautiful view of the Acropolis in the background. That night we took an overnight ferry to Crete.
We hopped off the boat and were on our way to the Spinalonga Fortress. The fortress is on a historically rich island that most recently was a leper colony. We then got a whole afternoon of beach time! This was a sign this trip was going to be equal parts chaperoning and vacation. The next day we visited the Knossos Palace, had a wonderful Greek cheese tasting, and wandered the streets of Heraklion. Our hotel on Crete had a beautiful pool and was next to a grocery store - such an easy combination for the kids.
From Crete we took a speed ferry to Santorini. Once off the boat we were on a bus to the ruins of Akrotiri - an incredible archaeological site similar to Pompeii but not nearly as uncovered. We then had lunch with equally good food as views in Fira. From there we checked into our hotel which also had a wonderful pool and was a 3-minute walk to a black sand beach. The whole next day was a beach day - can we say vacation! Our last day on Santorini had us going to Oia for an adults only wine tasting while the kids explored. We flew from Santorini back to Athens for a nighttime (very touristy) Greek meal, before flying back home the next day.
This was such a different trip than our one chaperoning Italy. The pacing was relaxed and we had a great group of kids - at times it felt like a vacation. Auggie did a great job at home, splitting his time with Elyse’s and Chris’s parents. It was a fantastic way to start Summer.
