I’ve always had a soft spot for Greece. Perhaps it was watching The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants one too many times or perhaps it was that AP Art History class I took/loved in high school, whatever the case, I’m a Greek geek at heart…even though I have zero percent in my blood.

We decided after the Camino to spend 10 days in Greece. Starting first with the big, ancient city of Athens. It was a bit of a mission to get from Santiago to Athens, but heck, if the Acropolis can be built in 495 BC, we can fly in 2016 AD.

Our flight arrived pretty late at night, so we grabbed a cab and ventured the 30-ish minutes to our Airbnb in the centrally located neighborhood of Plaka. Our cab driver should’ve been in My Big Fat Greek Wedding. So funny, welcoming, animated. A great first impression of Greece.

We got to our Airbnb feeling tired. But, luckily, there were tons of restaurants right around the corner, so we didn’t have to go far to curb my brewing hanger. And what’s the first thing we ate in Greece? Fried cheese of course. Saganaki, I love you.

Confession, we ate fried cheese pretty much every day we were in Greece. What? It was competitive research for Waistband University.

Our first full day in Athens, we took a walking tour. You know how much I love a good walking tour. While this one wasn’t free, it was amazing. Our tour guide, Stamos, had that sorta dry sense of humor where at first I thought this guy would be a bore, but he turned out to be awesome.

We saw all the things AND had Stamos to explain that what looks like a random pile of rocks is actually something super important.

We walked from the Temple of Zeus…

…to the Acropolis…

And soaked in the views of Athens, or as Stamos likes to describe it “a concrete jungle with green stains.”

It blows your mind that a city can have so much history, especially when you come from a place that considers anything “old” to be early 1900s.

Part of our tour included admission over the next few days into other archeological sites. So we rocked out at the Ancient Agora.

And Craig found his long lost twin.

We pretended to be Olympians and took a tour (and climbed the super-steep stairs) at the stadium where the first Olympics were held. Maybe stair-climbing was an Olympic sport?

And in typical Glennie/Feder travel fashion, we did as the locals, and drank.

We even visited a bar that was voted one of the top 10 bars in the world. I ordered a mojito that came with a minty treat, on a toothbrush. An alcoholic beverage a day keeps the doctor away, right?

After four nights in Athens, we were ready for some island time. So we hopped a 40-minute flight to Santorini. And, you know what? It was EXACTLY like the pictures..

We split up our six nights at two different Airbnbs on two different parts of the island. The first three nights we stayed in Imerovigli Village at the you-must-stay-there Hara’s House.

Not to be too forward, but I would put a ring on this place. We’re talking a huge diamond to show how much I love her. And then I would move in, stat. The views were insane, you felt like you were going to stumble off the cliff and land, hopefully gently, in the water below.

Every morning, I woke up giddy like a goddamn school girl and opened the doors and squealed “wow!” Craig loved this, I’m sure.

My horrendous tan lines aside, isn’t this view sea-sational?

During our stay, we just lounged on the balcony, super casual, not like assholes, at all.

And made friends with a local cat that greeted us every morning like this…

We named him Cornelius. And if you know me, you know I hate cats. But there was something about Cornelius that made me change my opinion, on this one cat.

In Santorini, we became the ultimate beach bums without ever stepping foot on the beach.

We watched some epic sunsets.

We creeped on some cruise ships.

We perfected our we’re-in-Santorini-don’t-hate-us social-media pose.

I highly recommend NOT visiting Santorini in the height of tourist season. We visited at the very end. Shoulder season all the way. The crowds were pretty much gone, the prices were cheaper and the weather was still amazing. Win, win, win.

We were able to have dinner at restaurants with gorgeous views…and sometimes we were the only ones there. VIP, all the way.

We also loved staying in Imerovigli instead of the clusterfuck that is Oia. Besides, you can do the hike that takes you from Fira to Oia, experience the iconic postcard views…

… and then head back home to equally stunning views.

After three nights, we headed to the old capital of Santorini, Pyrgos, to another Airbnb.

And similar to Imerovigli, the crowds were zero. Right up our alley. We chilled in our private, cave hot tub (that was more like a warm bathtub, than a hot tub).

We ate at small, local restaurants.

We saw donkeys hard at work.

And we visited a winery (Santo Wines).

After 10 glorious days in Greece, I’m a firm believer that the Greeks are some of the nicest, most-welcoming people I’ve ever come in contact with.

It was everything I hoped for, and more. Cheers to you, people of Greece.

But now…London is calling.