Greece!

Greece!

I wasn't quite sure what to write about so I decided to write just about the things that have caught my attention.

People: the people are quite nice but some can be a bit grumpy if you interrupt their siesta time (a time in the afternoon where the natives take a few hours to relax, take a nap, and do absolutely nothing at all); since we're clearly American, people act a little different with us. Sometimes it's a good thing and other times not. In tourist towns a lot of people speak a little English, which is nice but some see our American-ness as a chance to make a quick buck which can get a little annoying. Overall the people are friendly enough even if every so often there's a judgmental person or two.

Climate: its been pretty chilly with rain here and there. Some places are different than others but its been pretty much the same, cold weather with occasional sunny days.

Beaches: the temperature of the water is pretty warm everywhere. I'd say so far, Kalamata has the warmest water on its beaches. Its genuinely luke-warm when you dip your hands in, its wonderful. the sea water is pretty clear which is trippy since the water of the beaches on the Californian coast are dark and a little murky. Since its off-season its not crowded and its more comfortable. Overall I'd give the beaches in the Peloponnese an A.

Food: so far the food has been excellent. They may be over-priced sometimes but all in all pretty good. The Greek salad is my favorite. It consists of big chunks of fresh tomatoes, cucumbers, occasionally green peppers, red onions, and a big slice of almost creamy feta cheese and has no greens whatsoever. On top they drizzle a mixture of olive oil, dried oregano and pepper. It's pretty much the only thing that is consistently great. A lot of the restaurants have really good traditional Greek food and some American stuff too if you crave something familiar.

Accommodations: we tend to stay away from fancy hotels because they're a lot more expensive and we don't really need all the fufu rufu. We, basically, we just park the car and walk around looking for places. Then: going in, asking a price, haggling a bit and moving on to see if we can get a better price somewhere else. Sometimes we run into a perfect place for us out of nowhere.

Places we've been so far: Sparta, Gythio, Monenvasia, Pakia, Areopoli, and Kalamata.


Well, that's it for now.


-Cynthia Nayeli Moncada