Greece to Germany
Up at 6. Pickup at 6:45. Online check-in for all our European flights opens 48 hours in advance, and luggage drop off, security, boarding was all a breeze. They even asked if we wanted to check our rolling carry-ons free of charge. We jumped on that to keep the Athens layover light.
One thing I will not miss about Greece: disposing of the toilet paper in the bins instead of the toilet. Surprisingly tough habit to break, but we got used to it. The piping is too old and toilet paper would clog. We didn't want to put it to the test so we obliged.
Last night we sat on our balcony after finishing the bottle of wine the hotel gave us for free, just reflecting on our time in Greece. Hard to believe we were there for two whole weeks. That time flew by. Maybe because we visited three different places? My honest review: I'd 100% come back. I thought it was beautiful. I still rank our time in Makarska, Croatia in 2018 as my number one. It was less touristy, we had more of a local feel. The only thing there is you need water shoes because the water is rocky and they have sea urchins. For that reason alone, I loved the beaches in Greece a lot more. Athens was great, probably because of the neighborhood we stayed in. Naxos was beautiful and chill. Loved the laid back beach town feel. It's definitely going to be overrun with tourists as the years pass and they build more. Would go back in a heartbeat.
And then Santorini. Maybe an unpopular opinion, but I think Santorini was overrated. The white houses built on the cliff with blue dome tops are only a few of them. It's not all over the island and it's not something that immediately stands out. Tourists lining up to get the perfect Instagram shot when in reality they waited in line and had a 30 second timer ticking before the next person steps in. Just feels so fake. The location of our hotel was less than ideal, the food was not the best we had in Greece but was the most expensive. If you're reading this and planning on visiting, Santorini is still worth seeing, but a few small tweaks to how we did it and I think you'd enjoy it more. It's one of those places you feel like you need to see. Just lower your expectations.
We arrived in Berlin and picked up our VW. Hit 176 km/h on the Autobahn and were still getting passed. We stopped by my aunt's grave in Berlin. Going to Germany this time around feels a bit different. She was always the one to send a birthday video (even to Chad, who doesn't speak German), came to our wedding, and would never miss the kids' birthdays. Fun fact: we share our wedding anniversary with her birthday.
Even flying within Europe, you can still rack up a 12 hour travel day. We finally got to my family's place in Dresden at 6:30pm. In typical fashion, they invited their friends and had a big dinner prepped for us. It feels like home when we're here. Everyone is so welcoming. The drive from Berlin to Dresden was great, too. Would have been perfect if Germany had made it to the World Cup finals. Watching Germany play the final while actually in Germany would have been an experience. Instead, we had to settle for Spain vs Argentina.
