I’m not much of a traveler. Taking our family to Greece for 2.5 weeks was a big step for us, though my wife was the driving force behind the adventure.

I learned some things in Greece, most of them not very useful in my everyday life at home, but a few of them mildly interesting. Following are some observations made in Greece (your experience may differ.)

Greece is hot. Greece is exceedingly hot in summer. They told me this was an unusually hot summer, but seeing all the habits Greeks have developed over the centuries to avoid the summer heat, I’m thinking Greek summers are always going to be hotter than I can stand. Also, air conditioning is marginally effective when all the doors and windows are thrown wide open.

There are lots of hills in Greece. You can’t fail to notice this when you are walking in 100+ degrees Fahrenheit. Just about everything you want to see is on top of a big hill.

There are lots of neat things to see in Greece, amazing, ingenious, beautiful things. If you survive the walk up the hill, you can see them.

Ounce for ounce, bottled water is the best beverage investment you can make in Greece. It is inexpensive, which is good, because you will need gallons of it. Beer can be purchased anywhere, from a vending machine in the laundry mat to a kiosk on the beach. I found this form of liberty refreshing. What I found less refreshing was the beer. There are many varieties, from Greece and elsewhere in Europe. Almost universally, I found them to be the continental cousins of Bud Light. If you love Bud Light, you’ll find many beers to like in Greece. Otherwise, bottled water.

The kids could not find any lemonade that wasn’t carbonated (as the locals said, “with gas.”)

Athens is noisy. Traffic is a never-ending game of chicken: the one traffic cop I saw was smoking a cigarette; it would have seemed more humane if they had also offered him a blindfold. There are lots of stray cats. The pigeons don’t give the cats a second thought. Greek bus drivers have nerves of steel.

Island villages are more peaceful, but drivers will still park in the middle of the street to run to the ATM.

Beach can mean a place with sand, or a concrete deck with ladders down into the water.

Greek landscape is beautiful. Greek people are friendly.

I can’t tell if Greeks are whispering sweet nothings or screaming bloody murder at each other. The hand gestures and voice volumes look and sound exactly the same to me. Maybe that’s how they keep Americans from knowing their business.