A Bellinghamster and His Travels

Once you're in the airport and have gone through passport control (don't worry pretty much everyone speaks English), you'll want to get into town.  If you take a taxi, they cost around 40€. They're readily available at the airport although I've never taken one from the airport, only to the airport. If by chance you are traveling between midnight and 5am, there is a significant surcharge for this fare. Once you're in the taxi, say για σας (yia sas), or "hello," and show the driver your phone or hand them a printout of your hotel or destination.  Again, most speak English, but some of the these Greek names are very hard to pronounce. The Greek language is fascinating - I have been studying it for over a year - and am struggling. (But you'll hear more about the Greek language later.) There are also buses that will take you to the center of town. The X93 takes you to the bus station, but the X95 is the one I've taken into town, and drops you off (a...

  So you arrive in Athens, and chances are you'll need some money. It's always good to carry some cash with you (in my opinion), although credit cards can be used everywhere. I have a debit and credit card from WECU (a local credit union), and have used those mostly. I use the debit card for cash withdrawals and the credit card for many other things. But I am a bit old-fashioned, and like using cash primarily. And it's fun to transact in euros versus dollars. But first, notify your bank that you are traveling to Greece, and include any layovers that you may have in London or wherever.  But now that you're in Greece, if you are using ATMs, avoid the Eurobank ATMs. There are ubiquitous through Greece, but they also charge high withdrawal fees and offer crummy forex fees (assuming you are withdrawing euros and your bank account back home is in US dollars). I've also heard to avoid the airports ATMs, as the fees are a bit higher, but I usually wait until I get into Athe...

(A picture from Skopelos taken June 2022) So I will be going on a yoga retreat this October to Lefkada, Greece with a group from Bellingham. I told the organizer that I had been to Greece many times and I would give her some pointers and ideas that I hav about Greece. The problem is, I have many, and it would be highly unlikely that s simple email would cover the many topics and suggestions and experiences that I have taken away from Greece.  I thought that I would revive this blog in hopes of starting to write about the many places I've been around this round world, but for now I will concentrate on Greece.  I also wanted to limit myself to fifteen minutes of typing, since Ispend much of my working life behind a computer, and consequently find little enjoyment in spending my free time  looking at a computer screen.  But on to Greece. People have their favorite travel destinations in the world, At this point in my life, I settle on Greece. And New Orleans (but that's...