It's official: I'm going to Greece! (Update: short teaser Trip Report! :-) )

[sayhello]

OK, I just heard back from Kevin, and it's official: I am now doing the May 24th Adults Only Greek Odyssey trip!

Airfare is awful, but I'll probably have to pull the trigger soon anyways. Still trying to decide if I'll come in 1 or 2 days early; it really depends on how the flights work out. Staying one post-night in Athens. I'm doing the pre- & post-nights through DCL; it just seems easier that way. I like having all my transfers included (except for the flight back to Athens from Crete at the end of the trip).

Now I have to start thinking about converting money to euros, making sure I have an adapter for Greece, and figuring out what I want to do with my pre- and post-days.

OMG! I'm going to Greece!!!!

Sayhello

 

[Bobo912]

I'm so happy for you! Have a wonderful trip!

 

[dizneekrazee]

How exciting!!!!

 

[paddles]

I can't wait to hear how you enjoy the Greece trip! Its definitely on my bucket list. Enjoy!!

 

[Sarabi's Cubs]

Great! Time to start planning!!!

Laurie

 

[sayhello]

I'm so happy for you! Have a wonderful trip!

Thanks, Bobo912.

How exciting!!!!

I think so, too!

I can't wait to hear how you enjoy the Greece trip! Its definitely on my bucket list. Enjoy!!

It's been on my bucket list for a while. I'm still a little in shock!

Great! Time to start planning!!!

Laurie

Past time to start planning! Gotta haul out my book on Greek myths & start reading up!

Sayhello

 

[blearbear4]

Exciting!! Can't wait to hear about it and see all of your pictures! Have an amazing time!

 

[SingingMom]

OK, I just heard back from Kevin, and it's official: I am now doing the May 24th Adults Only Greek Odyssey trip!

Airfare is awful, but I'll probably have to pull the trigger soon anyways. Still trying to decide if I'll come in 1 or 2 days early; it really depends on how the flights work out. Staying one post-night in Athens. I'm doing the pre- & post-nights through DCL; it just seems easier that way. I like having all my transfers included (except for the flight back to Athens from Crete at the end of the trip).

Now I have to start thinking about converting money to euros, making sure I have an adapter for Greece, and figuring out what I want to do with my pre- and post-days.

OMG! I'm going to Greece!!!!

Sayhello

How wonderful! Happy planning!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[DisneyCruisin']

How awesome! Can't wait to see your pics and trip report! Have a wonderful time!!!

 

[2littlestitches]

Wow! I'm sure Greece will be such an amazing place to see. We were originally booked on the DCL trip which included stops in Greece for this summer. Booked that cruise on opening day when we heard about Greece being included. Cancelled it just last week for a lot of reasons (long story, but traveling with extended family and we couldn't all leave town at the same time due to my grandmother's health). Now I'm left searching for a replacement trip and I keep coming up short. The Greece ABD looks so awesome! Can't wait to hear about it when you return!

 

[sayhello]

Wow! I'm sure Greece will be such an amazing place to see. We were originally booked on the DCL trip which included stops in Greece for this summer. Booked that cruise on opening day when we heard about Greece being included. Cancelled it just last week for a lot of reasons (long story, but traveling with extended family and we couldn't all leave town at the same time due to my grandmother's health). Now I'm left searching for a replacement trip and I keep coming up short. The Greece ABD looks so awesome! Can't wait to hear about it when you return!

Thanks! Check out the Trip Reports thread at the top of this forum. There are already some great Trip Reports for the Greece ABD from this past summer.

Sayhello

 

[sayhello]

Hey, all! I am back from Greece! What an amazing, phenomenal trip! I'm going to post just a few highlights and a couple of pictures here until I can get started on my Trip Report. I'm going to try & get to it as soon as possible, but I have house guests showing up in 2 weeks , so I'm not sure how much time I'll have to write it until then!

Our Guides were Landon and Elena! Landon was one of the Guides for my Knights & Lights trip, and it was really great seeing him again! He was just as fabulous as before! Landon only did the one Greece trip this summer; he went to Barcelona after the trip for the Med Cruise pre-cruise ABD add-on. Then he's headed to Italy for the rest of the summer to do the 2 Italy itineraries.

Elena is just amazing! Not only is she a great Guide, but there were no step-on Guides for this ABD. Elena did most of the tour commentary for the trip, with help from Landon. Her knowledge and story-telling skills are just phenomenal! Landon & Elena made a fabulous team! She said that she and another Greek Guide will be alternating, and pairing with Kirra (I think that's how she said it's spelled) as the American Guide for the rest of the season.

One thing I have to say about this ABD that's different from a lot of the ABD's I've taken is that the food is incredible on this trip! Most of our meals were in smaller Tavernas, and we were well fed in all of them! Tons of fabulous authentic Greek food! Landon kept reminding us that the meals were a Marathon, not a Sprint. They just kept bringing out more & more wonderful dishes, and *then* they'd bring out the main entree!!!! If you're looking for a culinary trip, I'd definitely suggest this one! Yumm, yumm, yumm!

And Greece itself is amazing. The sheer age and history of the place just boggles the mind. You think about Pompeii, and that it was destroyed (but preserved) by a volcano in 79 AD. Seems ancient. Then you go to Akrotiri (the Pompeii of Greece) and it was destroyed and preserved by a volcano in 1600 BC! The age is just mind-boggling! I can't imagine how many years it takes Greek kids to learn the History of Greece!

There is just a timeless beauty of the place!

Here's a few "random" pics:

Our Olympic Race at the Panathenaic Stadium in Athens!

The Parthenon on the Acropolis.

The group at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi

The Village of Oia on the Island of Santorini

The Venetian fortress on the Island of Spinalonga off of Crete.

Our fabulous Guides, Landon and Elena!

More soon!

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[acndis]

So glad to hear that Elena was back this year. She was amazing and no one is better than Landon. This was such a great trip. Seeing your pictures took me back. I hope you had as much fun as we did!

 

[SingingMom]

Looks absolutely beautiful!!! How was the weather? How did you feel, both with the bronchitis and with your stomach and all that delicious food?

As someone with a delicate stomach, I always worry about eating in different settings. I always DO EAT, but sometimes I suffer later! I am hoping Germany is good to my system. Lol

Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures ! Was this "adult only"?

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[sayhello]

So glad to hear that Elena was back this year. She was amazing and no one is better than Landon. This was such a great trip. Seeing your pictures took me back. I hope you had as much fun as we did!

Landon & Elena were truly spectacular! I'm pretty sure I did have as much fun as you!

Looks absolutely beautiful!!! How was the weather? How did you feel, both with the bronchitis and with your stomach and all that delicious food?

As someone with a delicate stomach, I always worry about eating in different settings. I always DO EAT, but sometimes I suffer later! I am hoping Germany is good to my system. Lol

Can't wait to see the rest of your pictures ! Was this "adult only"?

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

The weather was, in general, really nice. We had a lot of wind on Santorini, and it was cloudy for most of the time in Oia, and it was too windy to do Kamara Beach. But mostly it was sunny and warm, but not humid. My post-day in Athens, the weather was spectacular! I think we really lucked out with the weather!

The bronchitis was a pain in the butt (along with the cough medicine) but once that was mostly out of my system, the cough wasn't *too* bad, and improved daily. My stomach was mostly OK. The tavernas were all really careful to get me food with no tomatoes or green peppers. A couple of places had to improvise, but it was all delicious. The only problem I had was the last day, flying back from Crete. Something I ate at the Farewell Dinner the night before did not agree with me, and it was such an early morning. But by mid-day the meds had kicked in, and I was fine besides that.

And yes, this was an "Adults Only" trip.

Sayhello

 

[SingingMom]

Still count the Cowboys trip your favorite?

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

 

[sayhello]

Still count the Cowboys trip your favorite?

"SingingMom" ....Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Hard to say. Greek Odyssey is definitely giving it a run for it's money!

Sayhello

 

[dizneekrazee]

So glad to hear you had a great time!! You're photos are great, especially the shot on Santorini!!

Now, for the important question, which ABD next?

 

[sayhello]

So glad to hear you had a great time!! You're photos are great, especially the shot on Santorini!!

Now, for the important question, which ABD next?

Thanks, disneekrazee!

I have to say, I'm actually not sure which ABD is next. After all the flying with the Greece trip, I'd told myself I was NOT flying to Europe again next year, and would just do something domestic like "Quest for the West" next year. But it's not inspiring me. I haven't had a chance to look at the new Central Europe trip yet, but I saw a video on Facebook that looked intriguing... And I'm waiting to hear from the folks taking the first Scotland trips.

So basically, "I don't know". I'll let you know as soon as I make a decision!

Sayhello

 

[glassslipper2004]

Sayhello - hi there! I haven't been on the Disboards in a while but I'm now trying to get ready for our Med cruise (non-Disney) and I remembered that you had done the Disney cruise with many of the same ports. Now I see that you might actually have just gone to Greece! If you have any suggestions for our Greece ports (Mykonos - can we do it on our own? Explore the town/see a beach?) and Athens, I would love to hear them. I will also try looking for your trip report, I'm sure it has lots of great ideas. But if over time you have some specific top tips (best restaurant in Barcelona? etc.) I would love to hear them. Thanks.
Sandy