Thanks for all of your help-we had a great time in Greece!

I wanted to thank all of the individuals from the Lonely Planet who responded to my questions regarding Greece. We just got back from our second trip to Greece in two years. On this trip, we went to Naxos, Paros and Sifnos.

The Greek people couldn't have been more welcoming. There were several times where we were walking through a small village, and somebody would walk up to us and ask us what we were looking for. In Sifnos, we took a bus to Appolonia and started walking around to find a hotel. The travel agent, who we had met just an hour before in the port, drove by us on her motorcycle and asked if she could help us. I told her that I was looking for Mrs. Dina's rooms, and she called the hotel and had them come and
pick us up!

I spent two months before the trip learning Greek with the Pimsleuer (sp?) program. In almost every situation, people were very happy to hear a tourist try to speak to them in Greek. There were siome people who just started conversing in Greek. I had
to tell them to slow down so that I could unsderstand them. When weot home, my wife and I decided to learn the Greek alphabet so we can read signs and menus (the ones that are not translated into English) on our next trip to Greecel

We were also very excited to see the ruins that can be found everywhere. One day, we walked from Appolonia (in Sifnos) to a ruin dating back to 500 BC. There were only two other people looking at the ruins. The view of the ruins and the Aegean Sea in the background was spectacular. On a trip to Paros, we saw a wall thyat dated back even further than the ruins in Sifnos.

We also were amazed at how inexpensive it was for loding and food. we paid no more than 35 euros a night for lodging. (I do realize that people pay more for lodging during the high season) We were able to buy lots of fres vegetables and fruits in the local markets. In addition, we ate dinner at several souvlaki stands, where we paid less than 4 euros for 2 delicious gyros.

My wife and her aunt once had a conversation about places in the world that you have to see. Her aunt said,"Greece is the place."
This is how I feel. I'm sure we will go back to Greece again as soon as we can.