The time had come for our second genuine road trip post-retirement, so BOOM, Katia, and I pulled the trigger on destinations in Greece and Eastern Europe. Plans included round-trip tickets (MLB-Athens) to Greece and then it would be off to Romania, Bulgaria, Macedonia, etc. Plenty of time, money, and interest, as I’d never really traveled or worked in this part of the world. I read the books and did the meticulous internet planning, and at the time of departure, my biggest concern was whether 3 months was enough.
We landed in Athens, checked in and it was off to the Acropolis to “nibble” the high points of a Greek vacation. I figured you could see all you needed in Athens after 3 days, spend a few more days in Santorini, and then move on to another country to see the major attractions someplace else. What I didn’t plan on was the speed of the Omicron wave of the pandemic. While Greece had opened up for tourism and we’d been vaccinated, the second wave of the virus was rapidly overtaking Eastern Europe. Over the course of our first week in Greece, Bulgaria closed its borders, Croatia soon followed suit and the Greeks were telling me they were not sure if they’d let us back into the country if we went to “low vaccinated” Albania or North Macedonia. It became clear that my preferred habit of country hopping was out of the question.
I wasn’t going home, so Plan B was “full-time” Greek. I had never really understood the need for a 90-day visa. I could and have traveled to literally dozens of countries all over the world and seen, visited, and eaten all I wanted in the course of a few days or a week maximum. You “nibble” on the different cultures and highlights of a place, take some pictures, check the boxes, and then move on. It’s what I’ve always done and what I planned for this trip. Unfortunately, I thought seeing the Parthenon and Santorini wouldn’t take that much time, and our return ticket date was months away.
So, what to do? For the first time in my life, I started to read “page 2” of the guidebooks, even pages 3 and beyond. Wow, Crete looked really interesting, as did Sparta and the Peloponnese Peninsula. There were other islands in the Cyclades besides Santorini and Mikonos. Thessaloniki was Greece’s “Second City”, Macedonia in the north and Meteora and its monasteries in the middle. It looks good, I thought. Why not? We hit the road to see them all. There was plenty of time to burn in each location, which meant slower routines, time to wander, and new curiosity to find less obvious culinary delights and attractions. Instead of renting hotel rooms for a few days, I’m renting Airbnb apartments for a few weeks in previously unknown locations. There is plenty of time now for daily walks, impulse excursions, and trips to the markets, with no rush to “move on”. I’m starting to hang clothes in closets versus just pulling clean stuff from the suitcase. Naps in the afternoons, watch the local TV at night and log on to NETFLIX. After a month, it kind of feels like I’m “living in Greece.” I’ve shifted from first to third gear. Not going anywhere; don’t really want to go anywhere; no need to “nibble” then dash; plenty of time to take it all in and gormandize on all aspects of experiencing Greece.
What a wonderful people and country. Spending 3 months in Greece was one of the few upsides to the pandemic and one of the best vacations ever. Thessaloniki, in my opinion, is fantastic and not a “second city” by any means. Travel lesson learned and I will commit to spending an extended amount of time in any future country we visit to experience more than the superficial. Granted this new awakening is a luxury we now have post-retirement (time and money), but hey, we earned it.
What Next? 
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