Travel series #1 - Greece Part 3

Finally it's time for another travel post about Greece. Sadly, this is the last one about this amazing place. However, in two weeks time Series #2 will start so stay tuned to see where the new series will be taking us!

If you missed the previous posts about Greece here they are: Part 1 and Part 2.

Starting off this post with one of the busiest places in Athens - Syntagma Square. The Greek House of Parliament, many public buildings, big luxury hotels and Syntagma Square itself compose the space where the heart of Athens beats. The area of Syntagma Square is the centre of the political life of the whole of Greece.

At the House of Parliament one can find the monument of the Unknown Soldier. This commemorates those who died during the war. Every hour there is the changing of the guards which takes about 10mins in total.

Close to Syntagma Square one can find the National Garden which occupies an area of 16 hectares. It became a public park to all in 1923 and has been a favourite place for Athenians to stroll and relax since then. The garden has many lofty trees and countless plants, duck ponds, a children's playground, a small zoo and a small botanical museum.

Now, let's jump onto the most exciting part of my whole holiday in Greece - a day cruise which took us to 3 Greek Islands ; Hydra, Poros and Aegina! We bought our tickets directly from our hotel and they offered us a good deal of transport to and from the port, the cruise itself and with food included. This was the company we went with and overall we were quite satisfied, the only complaint if you can classify it as a complaint, was that we had limited amount of time on each island and it wasn't really enough to capture each island's character and uniqueness. This of course is not ultimately the company's fault as it is just a one-day cruise so the time in itself is limited, however in my opinion they could have split up the time better or maybe make it a bit longer in terms of time - for example we arrived at about 7pm back to main land, this could've been shifted to 8pm so that we would have gained an extra hour. 

I forgot in which order we visited them so I'm just going to discuss them randomly, starting from Aegina. It is the largest island of the 3 and in my opinion the least favourite. The cruise company was offering excursions at an extra fee but we opted to explore the islands on our own. On Aegina however, we had a problem on exploring it on our own accord as it is quite vast and not manageable by foot. So we just went around the pier and explored a few streets there and then stopped and enjoyed a cup of tea while taking in the sea view. There still is an old feel to the island such as the coffee shop shown below but compared to the other islands it is the most advanced - maybe even the fact that there are cars affected my perception while comparing it to the other islands. 

Next on the list is Poros. It has one of the most beautiful ports that I have ever seen. While entering with the cruise ship you see these beautiful white washed houses with terracotta roofs and blue doors and windows surrounding the playa and it just captured my heart! Its charm is seen in its narrow streets, numerous restaurants and breathtaking views. We went around the closest part of the harbour by foot - as we only had about 40mins to explore it we couldn't go far so we kept as close as possible to the harbour. However it has such a unique feeling to it that it made me want to revisit as soon as possible and not just for a short time but for a whole month as least! 

Saving the best for last - Hydra! I cannot explain in words the love I have for this unique island which capture my heart in just an hour's time. You will see more donkeys than people - that is always a plus. They do not have cars and still use donkeys to travel and transport things from one place to another, if that does not amaze you, I don't know what will. The same white-washed houses and streets as Poros exist here. And the blue detail just makes things everything better. I wished I was born there so I could experience everyday life on this magnificent island and I cannot wait to get back for a visit! I'm going to leave a couple of photos below as they surely capture it's beauty more than my words ever will. 

With these spectacular views and photos I will end the first Travel Series. I feel sad that it's ending here and it has been a great experience sharing with you all my adventures and opinions on the breathtaking country of Athens! I do hope that you enjoyed reading it and if you are thinking about visiting Athens , I hope you found these articles useful. If you have questions or need to know something particular about Athens please feel free to send me an email on distortedpriorities@gmail.com ! I will send my best advice to you on Athens and travelling as a whole. Thank you again for sharing this first Travel Series journey with me! Stay tuned for in two weeks time a new Travel Series will begin. 

With love,

DP XXX

Don't forget to find us on social media for little sneak peeks of blogs before they are public, preparations, planning and more of Distorted Priorities!

'Like' us on Facebook: Distorted Priorities
Send us an email - we'd love to hear from you (could be from response to blog suggestions): distortedpriorities@gmail.com
Follow us on Twitter for regular updates: @distortedblogs
Follow us on our official Instagram and our personal ones too:
Official Instagram: distortedpriorities
Deborah's Instagram: deborahsaliba97
Yanica's Instagram: yanica97

Follow my blog with Bloglovin