Read in
Greece
The islands of Greece are sublime, the means of exploring them versatile. In Greece you are reminded that beauty, intellectualism, pleasures, and relaxation can all coexist, without one canceling the other.
Corfu – 2024
Santorini – 2024
Polite Phrases in Greek
Καλημέρα (Kaliméra)- Good morning
PΚαληνύχτα (Kaliníkhta) – Good night
Ευχαριστώ (Efcharistó)- Thank you
Corfu
Corfu is one of Greece’s more cultivated islands. An island that was never occupied by the Ottomans, it has a Greek and European flair. It is an elegant and dense island that feels more lived-in, with a social life that seems like an everyday lifestyle. There are spaces designed for sitting, observing and reading.
Recommended readings
The Odyssey by Homer
Middlesex, by Jeffrey Eugenides
First Love, by Ivan Turgenev
The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fiztgerald
Letters to a Young Poet, by Rainer Maria Rilke
See Blog Post Titled: “Why You Should Read These 4 Classics in Greece”
At a glance
My reading experience in Greece
The clear skies, blue waters, hills and heights of Greece bring clarity that helps you read deeply. What I found is that those sustained moments of reading felt artful instead of effortful.
There was peace, nature, architecture, yes, but imagine reading alongside ancient ruins, Byzantine churches, weathered villages. Imagine words quieting your mind enough to observe donkeys, yes, donkeys, transporting people up hundreds of ancient steps in Santorini.
Reading in Santorini. The sea, silence, and endless skies that seem to follow you in Santorini help you clear space for introspection. This vastness helps you ignore the crowds that sometimes overtake Santorini. Rilke’s letters do the same. They calm the noise and nudge you toward your inner life. I enjoyed Letters to a Young Poet for their simple profundity and poetical advice on writing, love, and life.
Reading in Corfu. Corfu, with its Venetian streets and elegantly layered Old Town, is great for atmospheric reading with layered depth. Pair it with a great 19th century novel, like First Love by Ivan Turgenev. Like Corfu, nothing in this short novel is overstated. It is intense, measured, poetic, and has scenes that move with quiet intention. I love reading Turgenev because he takes you through storytelling in a beguiling way. And just like First Love, when you walk the streets of Corfu, the different layers take you through storytelling in an intriguing way.
Reading in Mykonos. Mykonos parallels The Great Gatsby‘s mood of nightlife and glamour. One of the reasons I like Gatsby is because it elucidates how beauty and glamour sometimes mask fragility. This quintessential novel of the Jazz Age is fast-paced and daring. With so many diverse beaches in Mykonos, this could be an entertaining read between swims and beach hopping. The book matches the vibrancy and nightlife of Mykonos.
For more about reading in Greece, see: “Why You Should Read These 4 Classics in Greece”
