Summer of ’58
This year, I had the good fortune to travel to Greece. I don’t know why it took me so long to visit this stunningly spectacular country. When I returned home, my mom was so eager to see my photos, hear my stories and compare them with her own.
She visited Greece some sixty years ago, when she was just 16. She and my grandparents went on a two month sojourn in the summer of ’58. They started in the Netherlands and traveled through Germany, Austria, the former Yugoslavia, before reaching their final stop in Greece. Bear in mind, this was before many parts of the country had major highways and paved roads.
She loves to write, and daydream about travel — just like her daughter — so I thought I’d share her memories with you.
This is her story.
Summer 1958. It rained all the way from Nis Yugoslavia to the Greek Frontier. The road was full of potholes and large rocks that ricocheted under the car. I remember fearing that one had pierced a hole in the gas tank. We took a turn down a winding road, hoping it would lead to the Greek border in a few short miles, but it didn’t. Turning the car around was difficult because the road was incredibly narrow and the torrential rain hindered the visibility. After about an hour, we finally reached Greece. At the border patrol station, two guards were intently playing cards. It was still pouring down rain, so they just waved us through without checking our passports.
The first city we entered in Greece was Niki, followed by the town of Florina. We got a room at a small hotel and then headed to a restaurant where we met a local family and their friends. After getting acquainted, we all went to a café for a little dancing. The café crowd was lively, drinking ouzo and smashing plates against the wall yelling OPA. It was unlike anything I had ever seen. We danced into the night, reveling in the fun. When we finally left headed back to the hotel, it was 3 a.m.
The following day, we noticed the car was very low on gas. Upon closer inspection, dad realized that there was indeed a hole in the gas tank from previous night’s potholes. Without a garage anywhere in sight, he did something ingenious and filled the hole with a piece of the soap from the hotel room.
We ventured on to Thessaloniki (Salonika). The roads from Florina to Salonika were very good. In Edessa, we passed by many old whitewashed stucco homes with one outer wall painted the royal blue, like the Greek flag.
We stopped off for a bite to eat at the Green Coast Café, where men were dressed in traditional costumes playing melodic Greek music and waiters joined hands with the patrons to perform Greek dances on the outside patio. In Salonika, we got a room at the Rex Hotel. The hotel’s restaurant served giant shish kebab skewers, heavy cream soups with lemon, and decadent flaky Greek pastries.
The next day, we climbed three mountains, the smallest was 3000 feet in elevation. We drove by Mt. Olympus, home of Zeus. The winding unpaved roads snaked for miles and the altitude constantly shifted, leaving me with a horrible case of car sickness. Finally, after driving through Lamia and Larissa, we reached Athens. I couldn’t have been happier to get out of the car.
I learned that Athens was named after the Greek goddess Athena and I was so excited to explore the city. We braved the summer heat and hiked to the Acropolis to visit the Parthenon. The word Acropolis is derived from the Greek word ἄκρον which translates to “highest point”, and that it was. The panoramic views from the ancient citadel perched high above Athens were breathtakingly spectacular and to this day, some of the best I’ve ever seen.
After a couple of days in Athens, we headed to the final stop on our magnificent two month adventure. Tucked into the southeast corner of Greece, we arrived into Sounion, a sleepy seaside retreat on the deep blue Mediterranean Sea. Our tiny hotel was located right on the sea with views of the Temple of Poseidon.
We heard gunshots in the early morning hours, and later we were served dinner plates of small birds, complete with wings, heads, and eyes, the result of the morning’s hunt. Fishermen sold enormous whole fish for $5.00 American dollars, or $4.75 without the head. It was completely foreign to anything I had ever experienced. And it was magnificent.
After three weeks of sunbathing, swimming and total relaxation in Sounion, we returned to Athens where I said goodbye to my parents, boarded a flight and headed back to the United States.
To this day, I vividly recall the memories of my time in Greece.
I truly loved the country, its wonderful people and amazing ancient villages.
