EUROPE WEEK 2: 8 WAYS TO TRAVEL IN GREECE ON A BUDGET

 

Since we are in Europe for two months, we can’t afford to spend lavishly on lodging and food every day, so here’s how we have been able to travel on a shoestring budget in Greece!

1. TRAVEL DURING LOW SEASON. Visit Greece in late spring or early fall when the weather is mild and balmy, lodging is half the price, and you don’t have to deal with hordes of other tourists. Just don’t go past mid-October when the weather turns cold and windy, half the hotels and businesses are boarded up, and many inter-island ferries stop running or get canceled at the last minute.
2. RENT AN APARTMENT OR HOTEL WITH A KITCHENETTE.  While eating the local cuisine is a big part of the cultural experience, when you have the option to cook, you can save a lot of money by not eating out at every meal. On Santorini, we rented a studio apartment at Hotel Antonia that comes with unlimited free wine and coffee. On Mykonos, we stayed at Marietta’s Apartments which has a roof deck for unobstructed sunset views. Both are only 35€ a night (half the regular rate), very clean and excellent places close to town with free wi-fi, great customer service, free pick-up/drop-off, and most importantly, allowed us to cook.
3. LET THE HOARDING BEGIN. If you can’t find an apartment to stay in or are only there for a couple nights and don’t feel like cooking, try to book a hotel that offers free breakfast.  In Athens, we stayed at the Novotel for 59€ a night with free breakfast (offer through Trip Advisor); even though it is in a bad neighborhood with hookers and heroin addicts, it is a nice and modern hotel only 10 minutes away from the Omonia metro station. We wisely invested in a set of Tupperware for 3€ and the ROI has been more than ten-fold. While eating our free buffet breakfast, we stuffed our Tupperware with bread, cheese, eggs, tomatoes, cucumbers, pastries, and fruits to save for lunch. We were able to make two meals out of our breakfast for four days (I know – so Chinese!)
4. SKIP THE LONELY PLANET. Why lug around those heavy Rough Guides or Lonely Planet books when wi-fi is so accessible these days? While they do provide a lot of information and Lonely Planet does offer a smaller pocket guide and an iPhone app, everything you need to know about every country is available online for FREE. Trip Advisor has been a tremendous resource for finding hotels, restaurants, and things to do on every budget.
5. EXPLORE ON YOUR OWN. Don’t waste your money on bus tours, sunset cruises, and other sh*tty tourist traps. We hired an ATV for 20€ a day (plus 5€ for gas) and had a fantastic time exploring the entire Santorini island and getting lost.  We also did a moderate three-hour hike from the town of Fira to Oia to enjoy the famous postcard sunset there and rode the bus back for only 2€.
6. CHECK OUT FREE OR CHEAP EXCURSIONS. Some museums and historical sites like the Acropolis in Athens offer free or discounted visitor days. Other sites like Ancient Thera on Santorini only costs 2€ a person. Doing a little research ahead of time to schedule your sightseeing accordingly can save you some mullah for happy hour!
7. DRINK MORE WINE. Believe it or not, it is actually cheaper to drink the house wine than coffee or juice or beer at most bars and cafes (e.g., 3€ for wine vs. 4.50€ for hot chocolate). Tap water on the islands is not safe to drink, so stock up on bottled water as it is very cheap to buy at grocery and convenient stores but three times the price at restaurants.  Opa!!! 
8. SAVE YOUR LAUNDRY. We made a colossal mistake of having our laundry done on Santorini as it turns out there are no self-serving laundromats. Unlike New York City Chinatown where laundry is cleaned, dried, and folded for 5 bucks a pound, it cost us a whopping 12€ per load. We painfully squandered 24€ for two very small loads of laundry. Good god! Well, at least our underwear were rolled and tucked into very neat squares, but who the hell needs that?!?

Whatever your budget is, definitely make Greece a part of your European itinerary. Santorini is absolutely stunning and perfectly romantic for honeymooners. Just about everything is painted in white with blue accents adorned with overgrown pink blossoms - Greeks must use a lot of white paint! We also had the best Greek food there. (You must try the baked eggplant, saganaki, fava beans, and grilled octopus at Mama's House, felafel pita sandwich at Lucky's Souvlaki, and baklava and hot chocolate at any cafe.) Mykonos is a wondrous labyrinth of alleyways to get lost in by day and ideal for party goers by night. And even though we were stuck in Athens for a few days due to the austerity strikes, it was an adventure we wouldn't trade for all the ouzo in Greece.

Next stop: Barcelona

EUROPE WEEK 1: STUCK IN ATHENS

Reporting live from Greece...After relaxing in India for a month, we have embarked on our next adventure - "backpacking" through Europe for two months. I use the term loosely because our idea of roughing it is staying in a less expensive hotel, not rooming with four Aussies in a hostel. Our first stop is Greece. We arrived in Athens on Sunday, planning to spend only one night there and then visit one of the most romantic Greek islands, Santorini, by ferry boat. When we got to the port after dragging our luggage all over town, it was completely empty.  We realized our timing couldn't be more impeccable as ferry employees have just announced a 48-hour strike from Monday 6am to Wednesday 6am. Disappointed, we went back to our hotel, the Novotel near the Omonia station, and stayed a couple more nights, hoping to catch the next ferry on Wednesday. Luckily we were able to visit the Acropolis, the Acropolis Museum, the National Archeological Museum, the Agora, and some other ancient sites on Monday and Tuesday.  Then by Wednesday, a general strike was called for all employees in both the public and private sectors to not work for two days in a protest against the Greek government so we were stuck in Athens until Friday. They even shut down the Acropolis! In case you have been living under a rock, you would know that the Greek Parliament was set to vote on a set of austerity measures to cut wages and pensions while increasing taxes and laying off employees in order to secure a huge loan from the IMF. Some 70,000 protestors turned up all over Athens, crippling the capital. Garbage has been piling up for 20 days as they have not been picked up. We couldn't walk down the street without tripping over trash on every corner or tasting the pungent smell it in the air.

As soon as we left our hotel to meander to the Plaka (major tourist trap), there were hundreds of demonstrators holding up signs and walking from the Parliament to Syntagma. The energy was tense but there was no violence from our standpoint. What you have been seeing on the news was the worst bit that only happened in a few isolated places. Most of the businesses were closed except for various small shops who couldn't afford to. But quite a few cafes and restaurants remained open and were packed with protestors grabbing a bite and having coffee. We watched so many protestors walk by as we were having lunch and everyone seemed to be in good spirits. I wanted to join the protest and meet the locals, but Justin, the ever prudent husband, kept me walking in the opposite direction and out of harm's way. It was not until we got back to our hotel and turned on the news that the protest became violent, with flaming balls thrown at the police and tear gas unleashed at the crowd. After resting for a bit and flipping the TV channels for anything in English (who the hell watches "Legend of the Seeker"?), we ventured out for some dinner. As we were walking around in the aftermath of the protest, only a few cops were patrolling the streets but the tear gas was still thick in the air stinging our eyes. We quickly walked back to our hotel passing by all the hookers and heroine addicts shooting up right in front of us (not the greatest neighborhood but the Novotel is really nice for the cheap rate and offers free American buffet breakfast through Trip Advisor).

By Thursday, we couldn't take it anymore as it was already four more days than we wanted to spend in Athens. We went to a travel agency to see if we could book our ferry tickets for Friday. Unfortunately, the ferry union called for a third 48-hour strike! We are for the masses but come on! If only the ferry employees would just stay open for one goddamn day for us to leave town! So we decided to book a last minute flight to Santorini rather than wait until Sunday for the small chance that ferries will run. Even though it costs 100 euros more per person, it was so worth it. We were able to leave Athens Friday morning (thank god the airport was open) and have happily arrived in Santorini. It really is so beautiful, just like the postcards! Unfortunately for the Greek citizens, the Parliament just approved the unpopular austerity measures despite the violent protest.