Maybe you have read my blog post about planning a trip to Greece? It was a wonderful trip to prolong the summer on two amazing islands: Sifnos and Milos, as well as a short but special stop in Athens. On that trip I used a prototype that soon after became the Travel Journal (both in English and Estonian).

But I haven`t yet shared our memories from the trip, so it is time to have a look: what did I write into the Travel Journal?

Before the trip, I wrote all the important practical information needed on the trip: flights, accommodation and transportation. On this trip transportation meant lots of ferry travel, so I wrote down when and where we are going:) Also marked down that I needed to do the check-in online before the trip, and after I had done it, I marked it done! The idea is to have all information in one place, and to remember to do important things like online check-in.

I also made a note that the plan was to use public transport in Athens (metro), and sometimes on the islands (bus). But as there was four of us I wrote a reminder for myself to also check taxi prices, as it was sometimes even cheaper (per Google Maps), not to mention more convenient (particularly as we had an early departure time for the ferry from Athens). On the islands the idea was to maybe rent scooters for a day or two to look around, but also look for walking as the islands were not very big, and particularly on Sifnos there were loads of walking paths.

On a ferry to Sifnos

There is a place in the Travel Journal to write information about the destination. This time the most important information for us was the size of the islands (Sifnos 73,94 km2 and population 2200; Milos 160,1 km2 and 4977) to have an idea how big they are to plan the transportation and what to do on the islands. Also, food I want to try, so we wouldn`t forget! In Greece I wanted to eat again dolmas, moussaka and souvlaki).

Some Greek sweets we discovered on the trip:)

Check-list helps you to remember the most important things to pack. Like passport/ID, credit card/cash or chargers. You can also add to the list. I added my Kindle e-reader, compression socks for the flights (my legs start to hurt otherwise), sunscreen and of course Travel Journal!:)

You can use the Travel Journal as you wish – I added to-do-list to the list of sights. The idea is to research before the trip what we definitely don`t want to miss! Both sights and for example, meeting up with my friend Dimitra (whose favourite is Sifnos!) in Athens or take a boat trip around the island in Milos.

Sights and to-do list

And we are ready for the trip!

First day, 4.09.2019

Plans:

- make it to the accommodation

- meet up with Dimitra!

- look around in Athens (Acropolis)

Practical information:

- 3:35 (7:00) flight Tallinn-Athens

- public transport (metro probably) to the accommodation, early check-in might be available (check with the host beforehand)

What happened?

1:45am wake up (luckily everything packed) and at 2:00am taxi to the airport (3,70€). At the airport lattes and water. There was a gate change (from 2 to 3) which was a little confusing as the plane was at the gate no 2, and people came off the plane through gate no 2. But we walked through the gate no 3 to the plane at gate no 2:)

On the plane we were given candy which reminded me of my last trip to Greece as it was also with Aegean Airlines, and I took the candy for someone who collects the candy from airlines! Soon we were served food, which is not bad for the price of 97€ per person for the ticket (both ways!). And it is a direct flight! (For those not familiar with Estonia and Tallinn, we are small and there are not too many direct flights. Though fortunately it is getting better!:)).

At the airport we found the metro (thank you Google Maps, though there were signs as well), but I was surprised at first that the price was 10€ per person! But realised soon that it is pretty common to have higher price for the public transport from and to the airport (not so in Tallinn luckily!).

Acropolis, Ateena

We were promised early check-in as there was no one staying at the apartment before us, and found the cafe to get the keys easily. However, the lady had the key but no information about the fact that we were supposed to get our key from her! Eventually, after some talking, she relented, and gave me the key. Apparently, our host was still sleeping:) But we were very lucky to get so early to the accommodation as we were tired from the night flight.

We had some rest, and went to look for food. Luckily, our accommodation had really good location - right across the Acropolis (with great price! 122,40€ for 4 persons one night in 2-bedroom apartment), and with lots of places to eat. We found a nice place for breakfast, and our waiter recommended to order local egg Greek style. He said his mother used to make it, and it was scrambled egg with basil, feta and tomato paste. It was really nice, and different.

Then we walked to a square to meet Dimitra and her mum. They took us to a place we would not have found on our own – with a wonderful view to Acropolis from the terrace on the roof. All the places in shade were taken, so we had to sit in the sun (it was very warm!), but after all it was a trip to prolong the summer after all:) We had some drinks and it was wonderful to catch up with Dimitra, and her mum!

View from the terrace of the cafe

After few drinks, we agreed to meet up again at the end of the trip if possible, and bid goodbye for now. We headed to Acropolis (10€). There was lots of people as you would expect, but the line for the tickets went fast and inside there was so much room for everyone. We went to the museum that was not that interesting somehow but worth a visit while there. Then to the souvenir shop (bookmark for me!), and climbing to the Acropolis.

It was really hot! Luckily we could buy water on our way up (0,5€ small bottle), and we were not in a hurry. It is definitely worth the climb and effort. It is an amazing place. Great views, and then ruins of the Greek theatre, and then the main thing – Acropolis temple. I had been once before, but it is a place worth visiting several times. It is impossible to explain why it is so special, you have to go and find out yourself! Absolutely a must do in Athens!

Greek theatre (there is the picture of the temple at the beginning of this post)

After the hike in the heat we had a rest at the apartment (which was really nice place), and then headed for the dinner. One of the nicest things while travelling is to taste different foods. That´s why it is important to eat out. We like to stay in apartments so we can make breakfast ourselves, but for dinner we prefer to eat out. We found really nice place that seemed popular, and the food was really nice. We ordered pork and white fish (name starts with a D:)). With the bill we were given delicious dark grapes! They were so good that we went to a small shop nearby to buy some more, and some local white cheese (mix between feta and halloumi). The cheese was a bit disappointing, but at least we tried the local cheese (I absolutely love cheese!).

Most exciting: Acropolis

Stay tuned for day 2 of our trip in Greece!:)