My 35-day European adventure began in Athens. Check out how I prepared for this trip here. Greece has a special place in my heart because of my first trip there that was an absolute blast. Our first night included a welcome dinner filled with traditional Greek food. It was a nice way to slowly start to get to know people on the trip…there were 40 of us, so we needed plenty of time just to learn everyone’s names.

That night Heidi and I took about half of the group to Six Dogs, a bar we went to last year that was a ton of fun. The next day was filled with sightseeing around Athens, including back up the mountain to the Parthenon where the views hadn’t changed too much and their awe-inspiring effect on me was still the same. Later that evening a few of us girls took a taxi ride over to Glyfada to see a different part of Athens. We arrived right at the perfect time to see the sunset on the beach and it was beautiful! We had dinner at Miller Food House where the pasta was amazing and the service was great. If I remember correctly, we went through 3 bottles of wine between a few of us girls. They even gave us free shots of Mastika just because they were happy to have us there!

We woke up early the next day to take a ferry to the island of Paros, where we went the last time I was in Greece. Pretty soon after checking into our hotel all of us headed over to Santa Maria beach for a fun-filled day. We drank, laid out in the sun, played beach volleyball and got to know each other even better. Heidi and I took a ride on a tube behind a boat and we almost died from laughing so hard. That night we went out to sing karaoke, which is one of my absolute favorite things to do…so naturally, I killed it. Almost all 40 of us squeezed into this small bar in Paros and other people came inside when they saw how much fun we were having.
Our next day included a trip on a boat around Paros. We got to swim, snorkel and stop on small beaches to swim up to and relax all throughout the day. The water in Greece is some of the clearest and prettiest water I’ve ever seen. I think we could’ve spent all day just lounging around on the boat and jumping in the water when we felt like it. We played our own music and turned that boat into a party boat in no time at all. A few of us went to dinner that night at a little pizza place called Noufaro, where the pizza was delicious and the owner, Marcos, was so friendly and loved having us there. Most shops and restaurants are overlooking the beach, so you really can’t go wrong with any place on the main strip with a view like that.

We headed back to Athens the next day for one more night before leaving Greece. That night some of us got to experience traditional Greek life up close with the Zafiro Experience. There were musicians playing Greeek music the whole time, we were shown how to make some traditional Greek food and they had dancers to entertain us while we ate and drank wine.  Towards the end, one of the employees grabbed a few of us to help her with a surprise…we were all unsure of what that included, but after a few glasses of wine, we were ready for anything. Next thing we know, we’re being dressed in their traditional outfits and led back out in front of our friends to dance. It was so much fun and a real highlight of the trip.

We ended our time in Greece with a fun night out at a bar just down the street from our hotel called Athina Bar. It was a cute small place that was completely empty until we arrived. We ordered a big round of shots to get the party started. The bartender and owner were thrilled to have us there, so that included free shots and lots of dancing and laughing.

It’s crazy how a group of complete strangers can come together on such a big trip and immediately begin bonding. Our first country made me extremely excited for what the rest of the trip held!

Have you ever been to Greece? Favorite spots along the way?

Happy travels! 🙂