Crete: Chania, Dramia, Georgioupolis and Plakia in Crete. Athens: Plaka, Kolonaki, Psyrri and Kerameikos neighborhoods.

Our first major travel post Covid lockdown was dedicated to exploring the island of Crete and the city of Athens.

We met up with family and friends at an airbnb in Dramia, Crete, about halfway between the island’s two major cities Chania and Hereklion. There we swam and ate, and drove west into Chania for luxurious dinners and shopping, and to the south to Plakia for tropical-like beaches and salt water.

In Athens, our hotel had a fabulous rooftop pool with views of the acropolis and its distinctive Parthenon. We ate at nearby tavernas and in the central market, shopped the galleries in Psyrri (with some glasses of wine and cocktails too), dined in the upscale Kolonaki neighborhood, and swam and sunbathed in the 90 degree heat.