Athens and Rhodes Workation Package

Athens is an incredibly vibrant and exciting city that balances its ancient history with a bohemian contemporary atmosphere. Your Workation representative will meet you at the airport and help you settle into the beautiful pre-screened accommodations with the necessary amenities you need for a successful trip. 

You may be located in the Monastiraki neighborhood, where Neoclassical houses easily connect to ancient sites and the open-air marketplace. Take your time to wander around the antique shops and enjoy the difference between the ideas of old in Greece versus back home. This is a great way to enjoy the local atmosphere of the city, including by strolling down the narrow streets and discovering the countless cafes and street vendors who add extra life to Athens’s vibrant pace.

Focus:
When walking through the Monastiraki neighborhood, you can pass by the Roman Agora. Close your eyes and imagine what the streets may have sounded like millennia ago. Does it mirror what you hear during your visit?

Suggestion:
For a great introduction to the flavors of Athens, you can sit in a cafe and order a Kataifi.

You have a full day to explore and enjoy Athens, especially the ancient history that draws so many travelers to the city center each year. It is better to visit with a guide for a more focused experience that also further explains the importance of each site while also pointing out hidden details you may have otherwise overlooked. 

You may start your tour by visiting the Temple of Zeus, which was one of the largest temples ever built in the ancient world with a statue of the god that stood over 42 feet tall. At the Acropolis, you can climb the hilltop and find the plateau paved with marble and punctuated by temples devoted to a litany of gods, from Nike to Poseidon, and especially Athena. The Parthenon remains the crown jewel of the historic designs and architecture depicting the city’s former glory as part of the bedrock of Western civilization. The 5th-century structure glows in the sunlight with 136 fluted Doric columns and images of gods, myths, and monsters.

Focus:
Look for the olive tree growing out of the Pandroseion. Does it make a sound? Does it have a smell? How does its presence affect the plateau?

Suggestion:
After a full day exploring Athens, enjoy a richer taste of the city by trying a local dish like saganaki or moussaka.

Another full day to explore Athens and its surroundings can take you to the exciting combination of contemporary- and ancient-world moments on the Peloponnese Peninsula. Visiting with a guide will help uncover more ideas about the beauty and evolution of the region as you tour the former 19th-century capital of Greece, Nafplio. 

The city is one of Greece’s prettiest, with wide marble walkways leading through Neoclassical architecture and a marina looking into the Argolic Gulf. Fashionable boutiques sit beneath the hanging walls of Palamidi Fortress. In Epidaurus, you can find remnants of a city devoted to the god of medicine, as well as a huge theatre carved into the mountainside more than 2,300 years ago. By the time you reach Mycenae, you will have a better grasp of the ancient layers you have traveled, resulting in the former kingdom of Agamemnon, who launched the start of the Trojan War.

Focus:
When in Epidaurus, stand in the center of the theater’s stage and listen. What do you hear? Does your voice echo when you talk? Can you hear the people walking around you? Close your eyes. Does it make a difference?

Suggestion:
Don’t miss the small museum in Epidaurus to see some of the ephemera discovered in the area over the centuries.

You will start your first day of work while in Greece and put in place a ritual that can help you quickly engage with your projects. This will set a foundation for your routine during your Workation package. When the day is finished, you can employ another ritual to disconnect from work getting you ready to explore all over again. 

You can visit with a guide for a more informed and focused tour. You may remember the Rechtheion’s Caryatids that depicted pillars shaped like muses holding up a temple on the Acropolis. Images of time are clear against the stone but the statues are impeccably detailed with sandals, belt, and pleats. When you reach the top of the museum, you can get a better look at the stories cast in the marble when seeing the Parthenon Sculptures.

Focus:
Stand on the upper floor to find the Parthenon Sculptures. What do you see? How detailed is each figure? Does it feel the same as when standing on the hilltop?

Suggestion:
Don’t miss the figures that made up the Parthenon’s south metope to see the striking details that once covered the temple. 

Remember to practice your ritual in the morning and find the best way to get into the flow state for work while away. Once the day is done, you can once more step out to explore Athens and the beauty of the surrounding region, this time visiting Cape Sounion and the Temple of Poseidon. 

The staggering architecture stands on a cliffside with Doric columns dating back to the 5th century BCE. The site was part of the larger sacred triangle that included the Parthenon and Temple of Aphaia. The sea view looks over the crashing waves approximately 656 feet above sea level. At dusk, the bright colors that shine on the horizon reflect in the white stone making it feel as though you are surrounded by the sunset enhanced by the smell of the Aegean Sea.

Focus:
Sit in the nearby cafe, order a coffee or a pastry, and enjoy the view. Set your timer for five minutes. Don’t look at your phone at all until the timer goes off.

Suggestion:
If you have time, you can visit the remnants of the ancient town and fortress along the lower path of the archeological park.

You can start work early to get done at a comfortable time of day to travel to the airport and continue on to Rhodes. Your Workation representative will meet you at your accommodation and help manage your transfer. Once on the island, you will have another representative introduce you to the beauty of the Island of the Sun, because of its connection to the sun god Helios. 

Enjoy the rest of the day as you would like by walking through the narrow roads and cobblestone streets of the main town where Crusaders and Ottomans once lived. If the sun is still shining, you can visit the seafront at Eli Beach for a great view, aromatic breeze, and welcoming atmosphere.

Focus:
Pay attention to the smells, sounds, and feeling of the air. How is it different from Athens? How is it different from home? Find five details that feel specific to Rhodes.

Suggestion:
For an authentic welcome to Rhodes, try the local honey and olives.

After the workday ends, you can further explore Rhodes by visiting the Acropolis of Lindos. The ancient plateau sits 380 feet above the seaside. Fortress walls frame the historic space leading to architecture dating back to the 4th century BCE featuring narrow, free-standing buildings with a colonnaded front. 

The acropolis looks out over the sea and connects local life to ancient myth, including hiding foundations to the 9th-century BCE sanctuary. Visit the theater that could hold an audience of 1,800 people or the inscriptions on a rock where sacrifices were performed. The panorama itself is a reason to visit and enjoy the late afternoon.

Focus:
Head to the top of the fortress walls and enjoy the view. Take in the panorama and connect to it a sensory detail other than what you see. What connection do you make? 

Suggestion:
Don’t miss the tombs that show the history of the ancient world leading to post-Byzantine life. 

A walking tour of Medieval Rhodes will be a great way to end the work week and welcome the weekend. As a gateway between Europe and the Holy Land during the crusades, the island was a great seat of power and money for nearly two centuries. 

Follow a guide through the narrow cobblestone streets and let them peel back the modern world to show the castles, mansions, and hidden corners exemplifying the past. With plenty of gates to visit, looking at the Red Door highlights the intricate carvings over the entrance and the dry moat that once protected the outer layers of the city. The Street of the Knights of Rhodes connects the entrance to the palace, where doorways led to ins and before touching where the Colossus of Rhodes once stood.

Focus:
Visit the windmills for a picturesque view of the street, architecture, and coastline. Look at the picture and look at your surroundings. Does the picture tell an honest story of the moment?

Suggestion:
Visit the exhibits inside the palace for a little more information about the island and the castle’s history.

With a full day to enjoy Rhodes and its surroundings, you can visit the small islet of Symi to explore the different paradises connected to the cerulean water, golden hills, and seaside atmosphere. 

Once you reach the harbor, it’s easy to feel charmed by the colorful houses, Neoclassical architecture, and Old-World beauty coupled with the quiet museum galleries. You can take to the stone stairway connected to the alleyways to reach the quiet village of Horio. Villas spread out over terraces along the walkway both showing the wear-and-tear of time and refurbished opulence. The island’s archeological museum hides in the warren of streets in a town built to deter pirates.

Focus:
Visit the monastery on the edge of the island. The history and heritage results in unique sensory details. What do you smell, hear, and feel? Where does it come from?

Suggestion:
Give yourself time to walk around the harbor and enjoy the views.

Depending on the time of your flight, you may have time to take in one more activity before leaving for home. Visit the archeological museum at the Hospital of St John or trek to the top of Monolithos Castle. You may find one more surprising experience that exemplifies your Greece Workation package. Instead of heading home, you can extend your work-life balance with time on a different island or with another Europe Workation experience.

Focus:
Practice mindful breathing. Pay attention to the sensation of each breath. Where do you feel the intake and exhalation? How does it feel in your body? Do this for eight breaths.

Suggestion:
If you haven’t tried traditional souma, you should have a taste of the distilled grape spirit similar to raki.