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As morbid as that may sound, it’s true. What better spot for my body to be laid to rest since it is quite literally my version of heaven on earth. I mean there is nothing quite like unplugging from the real world (let’s be honest I checked my email a few times) but to escape into the paradise that is Greece.
Greece completely captivated all 5 of my senses: Sight, smell, hearing, taste, touch. And because as a designer I thrive on a little organization, here’s my trip as described by each of those senses. Just for a point of reference I’ll let you know up front that I visited Athens, Paros, Syros, and Santorini and the pictures below are just a little bit of each.
SIGHT
Being a designer, I may see the world a little differently than some. Give me color, give me funk, give me contrast in any way, shape, and form! Greece did just that and did it better than anybody else. First there are ALL the colors, everywhere. And well, really, that just equals pure joy.
Everyone expects Greece to be white and blue – which it is. However, some of what you don’t see is this, a complimentary color palette that you can design an entire house around. The contrast that TLD loves, adding a splash of the unexpected, a pop of pink, a dash of red with clean and fresh natural colors in the background; linens, whites, blues, you get it…
And of course, our tried and true, an all day every day type of analogous color palettes. I’d like to think that as designer’s we came up the concept that nature’s blues and greens make a person feel soothed, calm, and refreshed. But clearly it dates back much further than me.
And in Greece sometimes, no color is PLENTY. The forms and shapes of their architecture, down to the details are enough to make you swoon. The proof is in the pics.
SMELL
It might be weird to tell you about Greece by describing its smell but… the springtime flowers, salt air, and streets lined with orange trees were too memorable. And you heard that right, orange trees. I don’t know whose idea it was, but I’d like to nominate it as the SMARTEST idea ever. Using fruit trees as your run of the mill city landscaping. First, they smell amazing, second, they look gorgeous, and third, apparently, they are practical and the locals use the oranges as potpourri in their homes, in luggage, drawers, and even shoes. BRILLIANT.
HEARING
The best way for me to share with you the magic of all you hear walking through any part of Greece is to simply show you. Bells tolling to celebrate Orthodox Easter, a morning in Paros greeted by the birds, and what could be quite literally a scene out of “My Big Fat Greek Wedding”. It's all real.
TASTE
When I went to write this blog, I started by “bullet-pointing” the things to share and began listing food that I loved and that got way too long, so to only list what is pictured, you are looking at - Ouzo (a local dry anise-flavored aperitif) with Oregano chips and a better version of corn nuts, a REAL Greek salad (which to my surprise doesn’t come with any form of lettuce), and my happy place (a sample platter of local fried cuisine to feed a family of 6). These are the only decent food pics I got because, uh, I was eating. What sadly is not pictured, was my most favorite of all – fresh feta wrapped in homemade baked phyllo dough drizzled with local honey, sprinkled with black sesame seeds. TO DIE FOR!
TOUCH
And last but not least, the things you touch; the ground you’re walking on, the people that walked there before you. It’s enough to give me goosebumps just typing this sentence. Walking through Greece, whether its Athens or Paros, you are touching history. Pictured below are the steps that the apostle Paul walked when he shared Christ for the first time in this region, pottery sculpted by local artists trained by their ancestors whose sculptures lives in our museums, cats that lord over monasteries that housed monks escaping persecution thousands of years before us.
Long story short, I highly recommend a trip to Greece. That may be a given. But what I look forward to most is the renewed sense of passion for what we do and the ability to be able to bring back home to y’all inspiration and design ideas to use in your future projects.
GET THE LOOK
If a trip to Greece doesn't quite fit into your life at the moment, no worries, you can bring the look home!
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