THE city of Athens in Greece is unarguably one of the oldest civilizations in the world. People – from Americans to Filipinos – are simply fascinated with Greece. Lately, the youth of the United States were introduced to Greece via My Big Fat Greek Wedding and the series that was spawned from it, My Big Fat Greek Life. Then we hear of Greek families in the United States who are preserving their unique culture. Filipino women are also fascinated with Athens and half a dozen Filipino movies have already been shot there.

Athens cuisine is yummy as well. The people in Athens are very health-conscious and their staple meat (which is lamb) is the healthiest land mammal meat in the world, healthier than beef. And usually they are sautéed with olive oil, another healthy ingredient. In Athens, they have this staple viand called souvlaki which is grilled meat with tomato slices. See? There is even a vegetable in the recipe. Now that’s real healthy. And then there is tzatziki which is yogurt with cucumber. A more popular similar food, shawarma, is also available here. Other yummy greats that can be found in Athens are Greek salad, merze, pastitsio and bougatsa.

Santorini is an island in Greece and it is located in the Mediterranean, it must indeed be paradise. The people there have some of the longest life spans in the world because they strictly adhere to a Mediterranean diet which is comprised mostly of seafood and olive by-products such as extra virgin olive oil. Olive as we know is arguably one of the healthiest fruits known to man.

Of course, it’s already hard to book a vacation to Santorini at this time of year because it’s already the holiday season. But going there in the months of January and February may not be a bad idea either as it would still be winter by the time there.

Santorini is actually a volcanic island but all the volcanoes here, some of them underwater, are already dormant. Therefore, there really is no hindrance to going to paradise in this side of the Mediterranean.
You can go there via conventional plane rides but to appreciate the serene Mediterranean view, why not take ferries. There are even cruise ships plying the place where rates are relatively inexpensive than the larger intercontinental ones.