Greece

WHERE ANCIENT HISTORY AND NATURAL BEAUTY COME TOGETHER IN A SINGULARLY ALURING EXPERIENCE

- Uzma Irfan

‘Beauty is truth, truth beauty,’—that is all Ye know on earth and all ye need know

When Keats wrote these lines in his Ode to a Grecian Urn, he had not visited Greece. Neither were the lines intended to describe that country. Yet, in that odd serendipitous manner in which time brings things together, today they may well have been.

Nestling in the Balkans, caressed by the brilliant blue waters of the Aegean and Ionian Seas, and kissed by the gentle Mediterranean sun, the historic cradle of Western civilization and cultural and intellectual accomplishment, is indeed one of the most pristinely beautiful places you can visit.

The family and I explored Greece recently and the experience was ode-worthy, to say the least.

Just stepping off the plane on to the tarmac was exhilarating. The very thought that we were treading ground hallowed by Homer, Socrates, Aristotle, Plato and many other great minds of their ilk was enough to set the pulse racing.

Greece has the reputation of being one of the friendliest countries in Europe and hardly a moment goes by when you don’t see a smiling face. The happiness is infectious and you will soon find yourself sporting a beaming smile as well.

Our first stop was, of course, the capital city of Athens, which is virtually a living museum, with magnificent ancient monuments standing shoulder to shoulder with their contemporary counterparts.