Before I left for Greece, you guys sent in amazing advice, so I thought I’d return the favor. These places were the highlights of our trip.

Athens

Palia Taverna tou Psara
This was our first meal in Greece, and we returned for our last night as well. Overall, the Plaka neighborhood is touristy, but this place is tucked away from the gelato-wielding mobs. Our travel book called it the best fish tavern in Athens, and the fish is certainly fresh and simply prepared. The real draw, however, are the romantic outdoor tables winding up the steep roadside, and the glow of the Acropolis above. Had Aubrey not been busy feeding scraps to the cat under our table, she would certainly have succumbed to my advances.

The Acropolis
Climb to the top, if only to use Laura’s line, “This whole city is ruined!” High comedy folks. Tip your bartenders, we’ll be here all week.

Acropolis Museum
All kinds of artifacts from the Acropolis are on view, but the design of the museum itself is fascinating. The building is elevated above an Athenian city dating back to prehistoric times, which was unearthed during construction. Transparent panels in the floor and a large viewing deck reveal the ruins beneath. There’s also a tasty, reasonably priced restaurant on site, though after you’ve climbed the Acropolis, you’d probably give them your first born just to sit in an air conditioned dining room.

Santorini

Dream Island Hotel
We were looking for a nice, reasonably priced room near the bars and restaurants on the caldera, and this is it. We spent most of our time gazing out over the ocean while we read by the pool, but all the action is about a three-minute walk up the street, and there are no big hills between you and town. The rooms are comfortable, and cost about half of what many neighbors charge. Breakfast is included, as is a ride to and from the airport or ferry, and the proprietor is kind and helpful. Thumbs up.

Ampelos Wine Bar
Fabrica Center in Fira
This was one of the best meals we had in Santorini, where many of the restaurants rely more on crowd turnover than quality ingredients to keep the tables full. Good wine here too.

Franco’s
This is a splurge, but come on — a bottle of wine, a lawn chair overlooking the sunset, and a classical music soundtrack? That’s a quality evening. Don’t sit too near the speakers, or your conversation will be drowned out by the crescendos.

Taverna Katina
Ammoudi Port near Oia, Santorini
Our day trip to Oia was one of the loveliest days we spent on Santorini, and our lobster spaghetti meal at Taverna Katina was the best meal of the trip. Plus, you can’t beat that view. Look for the orange chairs.

Il Gelato d’Oro
Santorini
We had this handmade gelato nearly every day after lunch.

Then we chugged some bacon fat, and ordered some deep-fried cheese.

Naxos

Pension Irene II
This is where we stayed on our last-minute detour to Naxos. It’s a budget place, but it had a cute little pool (which I’ve made much more dramatic in the photo above). Also, a well-stocked kitchenette, if you like to prepare your meals. Great deal.

Maros
On Paparrigopoulou close to the court square of Hora Naxo
Everything here is good, but try the Naxos Sausage.

Sunbeam Toy Store
Also on Paparrigopoulou, close to the court square of Hora Naxo
I nearly cried with relief when I saw this store. It’s stocked with every kid-gift you’d ever want to bring home from Greece. Mostly wooden and handmade toys meant to spark imaginative play, but the reproduction tin toys are also magic. It was, I kid you not, open until 1 a.m., but I urge you to head in before you go out drinking. Aubrey almost bought a tambourine for the ferry.

Mykonos

Hotel Tagoo
Hands down, the best room (and pool) you’ll get for the price on Mykonos, but be prepared to join the community if you stay here. The owner wants guests to be acquainted with one another and to have a great experience on the island, so she hosts an orientation every evening to introduce everyone and share tips. If you prefer to be incognito on your trip, that won’t be particularly possible, but if you like lots of guidance from a local in the know, go for it.

Paraportiani
Agia Moni Square
A local recommended this place to us as “Yanni’s, with the green chairs.” We searched in vain, until a shop owner nearby finally told us that Yanni was the owner’s name. Ah! Worth the hunt. Excellent ingredients, everything made by hand. The vegetable soup was a tonic after two weeks of excessive Ouzo and gyro consumption.

My Do-Over Itinerary

While we were in Greece, we visited Athens, Santorini, Naxos (by accident when our original ferry was canceled), and Mykonos, all of which were lovely. We lingered too long on Santorini, and didn’t have enough time on the other islands. If I had it to do over, my perfect itinerary would look like this:

-Fly into Athens and take a half day or so to decompress if you’re coming from far away.
In the cool of the early morning, visit the Acropolis, then the Acropolis museum for lunch, perhaps a walking tour of the major sights in the late afternoon or the next morning.
-Fly to Santorini and stay either in Fira, or Kamari beach if you’re on a budget.
-Stay for three nights, and rent a car one of the days you’re there so you can visit Oia, and drive around the island.
-Ferry to Naxos, rent a car immediately, stay for two nights and see what you can.
-Ferry to Mykonos, two or three nights there enjoying life, driving around.
-Ferry to Athens the day before you have to catch your flight home.

And that’s it. If you missed your chance to share Greece tips the first time around, please let us know about your favorites in comments. Thanks again for your help in planning my trip.

Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my Mighty Life List. They funded my trip to Greece so I could cross another dream off my list. Thanks, guys!

None of these photos have been Photoshopped. Greece is that good.

Before you arrive in Greece, they hose it down, and repaint everything.

Then they station thousands of men at three-foot intervals. These men wait for you to pass so they can tell you how lovely you are. You! With the gelato! Gorgeous. You! Near the novelty olive oils! You are beautiful. Beautiful!

And you are, of course. Because they sequester you at airport security to airbrush away your imperfections before you can enter the country. Such are the indignities one suffers for vacation photos like this.

In short, Greece is fictional.

Be glad I don’t have access to a slide projector and your phone number, because I have enough sunset photos to put the entire Flickr team into a coma.

I know many, many of you have Greece on your Mighty Life Lists, so in the next few weeks I’ll be offering ideas and urging you to go sooner than you otherwise might. Like tomorrow. How’s tomorrow for you?

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While you pack, we’ll talk about:

• Places I recommend,
• The super cute things I stuffed in my carry on,
• What Laura and Aubrey packed (bonus),
• Athens street art,
• Foods I tried,
• What you should taste while you’re there,
• How to make a comfort kit for plane rides,
• And how Laura Mayes and I were almost killed trying to watch the sun rise over the Aegean.

That last bit changed the way I think about my life goals. Profoundly, in fact. We’ll talk.

Here’s where I thank Intel, who funded my trip to Greece. It’s been a privilege to be part of the enthusiastic, helpful Intel team, many of whom have made their own Mighty Life Lists in solidarity — Dave Veneski wants to ride the three hardest mountain stages of the Tour de France, Bryan Rhoads wants to make wine in Spain. Their support has inspired lots of you to make lists too — Jennifer wants to feed a giraffe, Liza (who’s mini-list is on her old site) wants to buy glasses with colored frames.

If you’ve made your own list, please email me (maggie [at] mightygirl [dotcom]) with the subject header Mighty Life List. Eventually, I’d like to link to all of your lists on Mighty Girl, so we can start working on our lives together. With purpose! And community! And so forth! It will be rad.

In the meantime, I have about five more dreams to accomplish in the next month, so things will be looking fairly surreal over here. Won’t you join me? Please pick something accomplishable to do the next month and commit to it in comments. Yes. Do it! And keep us posted.

Watching the sunset in Santorini isn’t nearly as good as watching all the people watching the sunset.

I’m in Greece right now because Intel is sponsoring my Mighty Life List over the next few months.

Dear Greek Yogurt,

You smell great. Have I told you that? Man, you smell great. Whoa. I think I might still be a little tipsy from last night.

Anyway, let’s be straight. It’s not like the girls haven’t told me about you. I mean, you’ve been around, and I’m not an idiot. The bass player, the bartender, the Greek Yogurt, your exploits have become cliché.

So let’s not pretend here, Greek Yogurt. I know you’re all about waking up with a girl every morning (as long as she’s in Greece), and then dropping off the face of the earth the minute her plane lands back home. And whatever, it’s none of my business. I’m on vacation, and here you are.

And here I am.

Why don’t you throw an arm around me, and we’ll hit the beach? You are so soft. Seriously, what is that? It’s unreal.

-M

I’m in Greece because Intel is sponsoring my Mighty Life List. I’m bringing them back some yogurt.

Hi. I haven’t slept in a while, as I’ve been preparing for the next leg of this adventure.

As many of you already know, Intel is sponsoring ten items on my Mighty Life List. So far, I’ve:

1. Redesigned Mighty Girl.
2. Taken tap lessons.
3. Gotten a little closer to my goal of tasting 1,000 fruits.
4. Gone swimming with bioluminescent plankton.

The campaign has even inspired me to get moving on some of the more personal goals. On my own I’ve taken Hank camping, given him his first ice cream cone, and played with some sparklers on July 4.

So what’s next? Well, very shortly, Intel is putting me on an airplane to Greece. The country where they keep the Feta and the philosophers.

I’m feeling a little overwhelmed with gratitude as I type this, and honestly I’ve been weepy over the last few weeks whenever I think about any of it. That could also be sleep deprivation, of course, but let’s not split hairs.

I’ll be visiting Athens, Santorini, and Mykonos. If you’ve been to Greece and you have any tips, please let me know in comments. I know from reading all of your lists that lots of us dream about Greece, and I love knowing that. So if you’ve made your own Mighty Life List, please don’t feel weird about linking to it, because I like it when you do.

I’m traveling with Laura and Aubrey, who are both very fun, so that means no sleep in my immediate future either. Our main objective on this trip is to watch the sun rise over the Agean.

You guys, I have always wanted to do that.

Intel is making my site more interesting by sponsoring my Mighty Life List over the next few months. They’re paying for my trip to Greece as part of their Sponsors of Tomorrow campaign, and also because they are nice people in general.