"fat but happy" That's what Greece evokes to me--can't wait to hear more about the food!

K...we ate only local tavernas; no fancy dancy restaurants. We loved the stuffed peppers, stuffed tomatoes, stuffed grape leaves and a new one for me.....stuffed zucchini flowers!! WOW....I am stuffed! The yogurts with honey and fruit and nuts was super. At Niriida, the owner made a parfait of mushed up yogurt, avocado, apricot, and mango topping....sounded crazy but was amazing. Desserts and liquors and great home made wines....

Did you get to go to Knossos on Crete - it is one of the archaeological sites on my to do list and was wondering if it lives up to it's "supposed to be beautiful" reputation?

bonniejoy03, Great write up!

Sounds like everything went without a hitch and your 'layover' was a PLUS experience.

When we were in the Greek Islands, mainly in Lesvos, often we were ushered into the kitchen to see what dishes were cooking - that's how we selected our lunch! Sometimes in the the hill villages, little to no English was spoken, so to order our lunch, we would point to something on the stove!

The other thing we had plenty of while on the Greek islands was ouzo. In fact, there are 2 ouzo factories on the island of Lesvos - a large manufacturing facility and a small mom & pop operation that gave us a spontaneous down home tour. Did you drink any ouzo while there?

D...can you believe we passed on Knossos!! We had Phaestos (also called Festos) right near our house in Southern Crete. We actually drove through it on our way to the house at dusk. Kind of spooky with no one around!! (Festos is 2nd to Knossos and some say a better choice.) We mostly visited monasteries and less developed tourist sites such as the Roman Tombs/Caves at Matala. (tombs built into the mountain and used thousands of years ago.) Matala was funky to hear about the past history and then the recent history had hippies living in the tombs!! Joni Mitchell supposedly was a visitor.

J-no ouzo for us!!! Everyone gave us raki and ouzo. We did enjoy the Mythos beer and the local wines. No fancy wines; just locally grown and enjoyed wine...lovely!

Originally Posted by [email protected]

Did you get to go to Knossos on Crete - it is one of the archaeological sites on my to do list and was wondering if it lives up to it's "supposed to be beautiful" reputation?

Denis, yes, Knossos does live up to it's reputation.If you go, don't miss it. The museum is outstanding.
Alone the columns are noteworthy. They are large tree trunks, mounted upside down, so the larger part of the tree trunk supports the roof. The columns themselves are painted blood red, with actual blood from the bulls.

It was great reading about your Big Fat Greek Vacation. I've only been to Athens and Santorini, and I still remember the incredible food. One of the best things that I ever ate was a calamari steak prepared on the grill with some olive oil, garlic and lemon juice. My mouth waters just thinking about it.