So here is why everyone should love to Greece ...
5. They live closer to nature than we do.
Flickr: 63391301@N00 / Via Leezard
A man tenderizes a freshly caught octopus on a rock.
8. The Romans really loved it here.
Flickr: 27382580@N02 / Via Mateus Pabst
Hadrian’s Arch built for the Roman Emperor in Athens in 131 A.D.
9. As did the crusaders.
Flickr: jlascar / Via Jorge Lascar
Palace of the Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes built around 1309.
And the Turks… well, let’s just say they overstayed their welcome.
The 18th-century mosque of Gazi Hassan Pasha on the island of Kos.
11. Eighty percent of the country is picturesque mountains…
The White Mountains on the island of Crete.
12. …but the beaches are absolutely…
Flickr: imagea / Via imagea.org
Porto Katsiki beach on the island of Lefkada.
and like this…
Corfu (Kerkyra).
14. The Mediterranean diet is from here.
Horiatiki (village) salad with tomatoes, feta, Kalamata olives, peppers, oregano, and olive oil — never lettuce. EVER.
15. Greek food is so much more than souvlaki and gyros.
Flickr: pazavi / Via Flickr: avlxyz
Clockwise: Grilled sausage and meats on the spit; fresh grilled sardines; Greek meatballs in tomato sauce with yogurt; loukoumades (honey doughnuts); portokalopita (orange pie); horta (boiled greens with lemon); and grilled squid with olive oil.
17. Freshest. Seafood. Ever.
Fresh sea urchin roe on the island of Amorgos.
19. Breakfast in Greece is something special.
Greek yogurt with pine honey and toasted nuts.
22. Athens is one of the most underrated cities in the world.
A dog looks out over Athens to Lykavittos Hill.
23. Athens’ nightlife goes on till the wee hours every day of the week.
Metamatic:taf art space and bar.
24. Athens’ central market is a wonderland of delicious food.
25. The Exarchia neighborhood in Athens will never gentrify and never surrender.
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Athens street protests 2011 spilling out from the leftist Exarchia neighborhood.
26. Greeks leave paradise intact, unlike their Mediterranean neighbors.
Flickr: southbayer / Via Alexander Besant
28. Most of Greece is hard to reach and that’s a very good thing.
Catch a ferry to Greece’s far-flung islands but don’t expect to be able to book online.
29. From May to September you’ll almost never see a cloud.
The island of Sifnos.
31. This unsuspecting island village is home to an even more debauched party scene than Mykonos. Any guesses?
Via janwillemsen
This village parties like it’s 1999 (every night). Photo circa 1975 but not much has changed.
32. Folegandros is one of the most enchanting places on Earth.
The main village on the island of Folegandros built along a cliff to stave off pirates.
34. Crete has more history and landscapes on one island than some large countries have.
Flickr: theo_reth / Via Theophilos
Rethymnon, Crete.
35. Mount Athos is still mysterious nearly 1,000 years later.
The nearly two dozen monasteries dating back to the Middle Ages hang precipitously from the peninsula’s cliffs. Sadly, women are not allowed in the area.
36. The acoustics at Epidavros will blow your mind.
Built in the 4th-century B.C., the theater seats 15,000 people.
37. Rock climbing on the island of Kalymnos is some of the best there is.
38. Yes, yes, that famous sunset from the village Oia on the island of Santorini (Thira) is OK too.
Good luck finding a free place to stand or sit.
39. The mind-boggling monasteries at Meteora.
Meteora’s Byzantine monasteries date back to the Middle Ages.
40. The Greeks saved Western civilization right here.
The burial mound of the 192 Athenians killed during the Battle of Marathon against the invading Persian army in 490 B.C.
41. This WAS Sparta.
The ruins of ancient Sparta with modern Sparta in the background.
43. Zeus once ruled the world from up there.
Flickr: 33284937@N04 / Via Nikos Koutoulas
Mount Olympus in Greece’s Macedonia region.
44. The oracle worked its magic up here on Mount Parnassus in Delphi.
Flickr: ejs76 / Via Emilio J Santacoloma
The oracle at Delphi.
45. …and Poseidon from down there.
Temple of Poseidon in Sounio, just south of Athens.
46. Icarus would have seen this beautiful place just before he crash-landed.
Flickr: 86813892@N00 / Via Woody Wade
The island of Ikaria, named after the mythical figure.
But the truth is while we worried about them, maybe they should have been worried about us instead.
