Edition 13 - Crystal Blue Waters

Greece was a pretty strategic decision for me. After working my way through many of the Balkan countries, it became very apparent that this area of the world was very meat-heavy and as someone who isn’t eating non-kosher meat, I found myself turning to carbs as a replacement. Enter the holiday of Pesach (Passover). During this 8-day holiday, many Jews do not eat anything leavened (anything made with yeast or any other rising agent) to remember the Jewish liberation from slavery in Egypt - this means bread, pasta, crackers, etc. are all off the table. I figured a more Mediterranean country like Greece would be the easiest place for me to observe the holiday knowing that I would be in this part of the world during the holiday. It wasn’t easy (especially with every tourist walking around with gyros), but it’s not supposed to be.

Anyway, now that we are all up to date on how I decided to end up here for this holiday… welcome to Greece!

Greece

April 21 - May 1

Athens

Solo/budget/not totally planned travel is not always glamorous. There are so many perks - freedom is one of the main ones. As a solo traveler, you truly get to do what you want. You don’t have to conform any of your days to do something that you don’t necessarily want to do to appease someone else. You also can switch what your route looks like at a moment’s notice. Meet someone you enjoy spending time with? You can easily alter your plans to travel with them somewhere else because well… you didn’t have any solid plans to begin with. The not-so-glamorous parts include having to take a 15-hour bus from Albania to Athens because it was only €40 compared to a last-minute flight that would have cost nearly €300.

With all that being said, I arrived in Athens the night of Sunday, April 21st after a 15-hour bus ride from Tirana. Honestly, the ride wasn’t as bad as I thought it might be. I took a bunch of baby naps because I was (somewhat easily) convinced by my friends in Tirana to pull an all-nighter and go to a karaoke bar instead of getting a measly 3 hours of sleep in the hostel before my 5 am bus. I got through a lot of podcasts that I had been meaning to catch up on. Granted, I had to pay a bit more attention than usual because every ounce of instruction was spoken in Albanian… but hey, I made it in the end!

Almost immediately after checking into my hostel in Athens, I clicked with an Aussie girl in my dorm. We essentially spent the next 48 hours together exploring the city, going on a walking tour, eating very well on a budget, and talking about subjects ranging from religion to relationships, to passions, to detrimental automatic actions of humans, and beyond. It was just one of those automatic connections. After she left, I also met two lovely girls (one from Georgia and one from London) in the hostel who I spent the rest of my time in Athens with. Connecting with other solo travelers has been one of my favorite aspects of this trip - hearing the stories of how and why people found themselves traveling and what they hope to learn about themselves or the world is astonishing and always sparks something inside of me.

Seders in Athens

Passover began on Monday, April 22nd at sundown. A large part of this holiday (aside from the 8-day-long additional dietary restrictions) are the Seders. The Seders (“seder” means “order” in Hebrew) take place on the first one or two nights of the holiday (depending on your background) and retell the story of Passover with a plate filled with foods to symbolize different aspects of the story. While typically all seder plates look the same, sometimes additional (and non-traditional) items are added for other forms of symbolism. I grew up with an orange added to our seder plate to symbolize the inclusion of gays and lesbians alongside other marginalized groups within the religion and customs. This year, some people opted to add an olive branch to their plate in hopes of reaching peace soon in the Middle East.

This year, I spent both Seders at the Chabad in Athens alongside some familiar faces. When I was in Edinburgh in early February, I met someone who was from Athens and mentioned he might be heading home for Pesach. Greece was already on my list of places that might be ideal for the holiday so this ended up working out perfectly. Another friend I met in Edinburgh was also in Athens for the holiday so it was really special to be able to spend the holiday with these friends when I am typically surrounded by family.

Spetses and Hydra

After the first two days of Passover, I decided to explore Greece a bit more and do some island-hopping. I specifically wanted to explore some of the smaller, less-touristy islands to get some time away, relax in the sun (with sunscreen on!!), and read some of my book in new, stunning settings. Mission accomplished! I stayed on Spetses from April 25th - 28th and took a little day trip to Hydra on the 26th for some new scenery and different experiences.

Patras

I spent my final two days in Greece in Patras. Candidly, this was mainly because I was leaving out of the Patras International Port for my next destination, but the city itself is very cute. While it is still a beach city, it is much less touristy than the islands and Athens. Throughout these days in Patras, I mainly just explored on foot. I walked around the town, through the archeological grounds of the fortress, and along the water.

Overall, here are some highlights from my time in Greece:

Meeting some truly wonderful ladies in my Athens hostel and exploring the city alongside them
Two meaningful and special Seders (one fully in Hebrew, one in a mix of Hebrew, English, Greek, and some other languages spread throughout) surrounded by familiar and new faces alike
Taking some much-needed alone time on the islands to simply just think, write, and read