Information on Greece 2025
Αξιότιμοι συνταξιδιώτες (Esteemed Fellow Travelers)
And possible fellow-travelers:
It appears that we now have 15-20 more or less confirmed participants in the November trip to Greece. We have therefore contacted our Athenian travel agents, who own a hotel in Athens and provide buses and guides. We shall keep you informed of the progress in our planning and negotiations. This letter contains some advice on making preparations.
Resources
Although there will be no formal lectures (only brief presentations at historical sites) and no required reading, you may wish to do some preparatory reading. As a guidebook, the best is still the Blue Guide to Greece. The chapters on Attica, Central Greece (Delphi), and the Peloponnesus are available on Kindle. The readings for the Summer School should be helpful, and the lectures will be up on the website before too long.
If you have a general history of ancient Greece, the most relevant sections will be those dealing with the Bronze Age, the Archaic Age, and the history of Athens. Bury’s old History of Ancient Greece is still useful and quite readable, but his section on the Bronze Age is now quite dated, and, unfortunately, most of the books on the Mycenaeans are rather technical and tedious. I shall try to find a readable book to recommend. I shall update my old Traveler’s History of Greece and include additional information on the Bronze Age.
As for primary readings, Herodotus is also a good source for early Athens, as is Aristotle’s Constitution of Athens. Plutarch’s Lives relevant to Athens—Theseus, Solon, Themistocles, Aristides, Cimon, Pericles, Nicias, Alcibiades, and the Spartan general Lysander.
Of Greekk drama, you might reread Aeschylus’ Oresteia, Sophocles’ Antigone, Oedipus, and Oedipus at Colonus, Euripides Hecuba and Ion, and Aristophanes’ Acharnians.
Of the older books aimed at younger students, I can recommend Botsford’s textbooks. None of the recent textbooks, especially those aimed at Home Schoolers, are very useful.
Of course I am happy to make further recommendations, but please note: There is no “required reading.”
Travel Plans
Please check to see if your passports, if you have one, are in order and if you need to renew (which is now possible online) or apply for a first passport, begin the process now. It used to be possible for children to travel on a parent’s passport, but that is no longer possible. Please check the State Department’s regulations, forms, etc online. For children under 16, both parents must participate.
It is not too early to start checking on flights. The cheapest, generally, are on Turkish Air, which allows you to spend time in Istanbul without charging extra. In fact they will basically pay for a hotel room for one or two days, if you jump through their hoops. Otherwise, any major European airport—London, Paris, Munich, etc—has connecting flights to Athens. Some major airports in America—New York, Newark, Dulles, Boston, Philadelphia, even Chicago have direct flights, but this depends on time of year.
When you are considering options, please check with us before you book. We may be able to suggest something better or coordinate arrivals to arrange a pickup for the hotel. Venizelos Airport in Athens can be a bit hectic, and Greeks have never learned to form a queue. Andy’s Tours/Acropolis Select Hotel routinely provide cars and limousines of varying sizes.
If you wish to come early or leave late, let us know ASAP. At first we do not need details, just a general idea in order to warn the hotel. Gail and I will probably come early and depart later. We may even take a few days to visit some other part of Greece, such as the monasteries in Meteora or the island of Aegina.
Eating
I have been asked to suggest some dishes that might introduce Greek cuisine. Most American gyros shops sell pretty poor stuff, though there are exceptions. The most popular disk is Moussakás, a baked casserole made with layers of eggpant, ground or stewed lamb (beef is possible though less good) and a bechamel sauce.
Greeks are very fond of simple grilled fish without sauce but lemon at the table, roast and grilled lamb and pork, a sort of simple lasagna made with short pasta (pastitsio), souvlaki (more or les shish kabob, of lamb or pork or chicken on skewers). They love starters they confusingly ca;; salads, such as Tsatziki (cucumber, drained yoghurt, onion), miltzanosalagta (eggplant), and taramosalata (with cod roe—delicious but not for the squeamish). These are typically served family-style in the middle of the table. There is little formality and little worry about sequence of courses or which forks to use.
A favorite with nearly every meal is horiatike salata—country or village salad, with cucmbers, onions and tomatoes. The desserts are all quite wonderful.
Language
Most of the people you encounter will be waiters, deskclerks, taxi drivers, museum employees, who have to have a rudimentary knowledge of several languages. In Athens many people have studied some English, but it is not something you can count on, and outside the tourist areas, knowledge of English fades out rapidly.
One thing you should try to do is to learn the Greek alphabet and its modern pronunciation. You will find that even a little knowledge of ancient Greek will be enormously helpful, but if you are not that fortunate, just begin with learning a few bits of Modern Greek.
I am not going to offer a course on Modern Greek, but I will post a few things to help you read menus (though most places have English language menus) and road signs, etc. which are often bilingual in big cities but not so much in the country. Learning a few phrases like “is forbidden” in Greek will keep you from embarrassing mistakes. And whether in Greek or English, words like Excuse me, please, thank you, you’re welcome (=please), hello will go over well with people who are used to rude foreigners.
Clothing
Athens is a bit warmer than Rome, and the Peloponnesus, where we will be spending 6-7 days, is warmer than Athens. The average November highs in Athens are 65, lows 53, but extend this range by five degrees in both directions. Evenings are pleasantly cool, and afternoons are mild.
We always recommend layered outfits. Our dress code is, as usual, business casual during the day and jackets and ties for evenings. One big caveat: Be sure to bring sturdy walking shoes. Greece is basically all mountains, hills, and coastline. Even Athens has some steep hills with rough steps, and the Acropolis and Agora have some rough patches. Please, absolutely no high heels, loafers, or sneakers on walks.
I can’t help but notice that Pith Helmets are no longer explicitly forbidden . . .
It’s coming. And no fanypacks, name-brand water bottles, cargo shorts, zip off trousers…..