I've been hiking in Greece a few times now. Actually most of it has been on the Greek Islands - Peloponese, Crete, Corfu, Cephalonia, Ithaca. My visits to the Greek mainland have been restricted to Athens and the area immediately around it. They haven't endeared me to the place. I love the islands and once you have left the city the area around Athens is fine but Athens itself I don't care for at all. It's crowded, noisy and dirty and the plumbing doesn't work. The perpetual roadworks just encourage the suicidal motorcyclists to ignore all conventional rules of the road and the only buildings that don't look as if they are falling down are the ones that have been standing for 2000 years. I always say that the best way to see Athens is from the air as you're leaving. Spend a day looking at the ruins then head out to the islands.
When the Ancient Greeks built something they built it to last. Which is more than can be said of the modern Greeks.
After twisting my ankle I spent a whole day in the vast metroplois of Feneos where no-one spoke any English and my total inability to even get 'yes' and 'no' the right way round in Greek resulted in a complete lack of communication.
The Drongorati Cave, Cephalonia
At Mega Spelaion the bus will deliver you right to your pavement cafe.
The two panoramas show fairly well why I love the countryside and hate the city. Actually from this distance Athens doesn't look nearly as bad as it does close up.
The Ayios Yiorgios Monastery where a Canadian Monk showed us round a Greek Monastery and gave us portions of Turkish delight so sweet and sickly they would have sent a diabetic into shock at a hundred paces.
Mountain view, Peloponese
Moni Kaisarini, near Athens, proving that out of the city there are some excellent sites to be found. To the left is a ceiling decoration from within.
The Lighthouse at Khania
Possibly the strangest ever location for a public toilet. The toilet drops vertically down the side of the cliff about two hundred feet which is bad luck for any small animal passing by at the bottom.
The things some people keep in their living room ! The bones and skulls of martyrs at Moni Arkbadi, Crete.
Hiking down the Samaria Gorge,
Crete
One of the beautiful narrow alleys of Khania, Crete.
One of the most famous archaeological sites on Crete is Knossos. For those of us who prefer our ruins unrestored it's a bit of a nightmare having been restored with sledgehammer subtlety with much use of concrete and red paint.
View of the monastery at Moni Arkbadi, Crete