ok hears mine..
Good fresh local produce
excellent LOCAL beer wine and spirits {i drink Mythos /local red wine &
metaxa epta(7 star)}
in the main friendly people [ especially if you have a few words of the local lingo]
Better weather than the UK
Cheaper than the uk
and if you keep away from obvious resorts not too many Brits

{sorry to the majority.. but i feel terribly embarrassed at the dress and attitude of a lot of our countrymen/women

IMOP Brian

Unfortunately there are quite a few resorts with too many Brits but nowhere near as bad as Spain. Even in the notorious Greek resorts you dont have far to travel to find the real thing.

Sorry, went off topic there.
Put me down for the climate and Greek way of life and lack of crime. In most of the places we've stayed the locals leave their keys in the ignition when they park!!!

1. The Greeks - and everything that they are (friendly, warm, jealous, petty, loud, overbearing and FUN!) (amongst other things!)

2. Simple food served simply

3. Retsina and raki (ouzo )

4. Fitting a family and the dog on a scooter (oh, and the shopping)

5. THe pure entertainment of just watching the chaos go by.

(The weather, sky, sea etc are a given!)

I'm still giggling about Elenitsa's reply. Very nearly perfect but I'm sorry she doesn't like ouzo. It does taste splendid as an aperitif.
Warning to Wizard: don't drink any Metaxa above 3 star; even 5 star can be a bit sweet, especially now the Americans have bought the company.
"Watching the chaos go by". Wonderful, especially sitting by the harbourside with a Mythos or two. Can't improve on that.

Ouzo is a terrific drink mixed with cloudy lemonade (Fanta) and ice but only when the temperature is 28c plus. Its also brilliant with grilled octopus on the seafront in Naxos Town. Certainly one of the best things to come out of Greece

Believe me I've tried SO hard to like ouzo - but it's never going to make it into my 5 reasons for going to Greece!

Elenitsa,
must try harder

5 things..hmmmm! Ok, here goes, in no particular order!
1/ The weather, it's usually beautiful and warm and sunny but with a breeze so you don't feel you are frying too much....!
2/ The food - saganaki, gyros pita, soulavki, kleftiko, greek salads, feta cheese and all the lovely pastries, the bread, just love all of it!
3/ The scenery - is usually stunning, be it amongst the ruins in Rhodes Old Town, looking down the caldera in Santorini, eating at a beachside restaurant in Kos, the flowers, the sea, the blue and white buildings.
4/ The Greek people themselves, all very friendly and cheerful, most of them like to talk to you and love it if you try and speak a little Greek back to them!
5/ Ok....I have to say it.....the cats!!!!! I'm afraid it is one of the reasons why I love the Greek islands as undoubtedly I will fall in love with a few of the cats there (I fell in love with all 6 hotel cats in Kos) it makes being apart from our own cat a little easier.....aw!

Sorry Tinka, the cats are probably the only thing I don't like about Greece. Oh and the stray dogs in Santorini!

Just out of interest and slightly off topic!! Is Tsilivi overun by Brits? Is it all 'Oi Oi' and football shirts? No offence to anyone!

I felt compelled to answer.

1) 'No paper in toilet' signs.
2) Them small bum wooden greek chairs.
3) Rust bucket ferries.
4) Room mister, rooms, rooms, rooms, spesial price.
5) Sikinos woodlice.

My 5 favourite things about Greece

The people are so friendly and if you try to speak the language will do their best to help you.
The food tastes so much better, the tomatoes taste so good compared with what we get here.
The beer, we also drink Mythos and there is nothing better than sitting on the beach with a cold beer chatting with friends
Ouzo, I love Ouzo but I do get told off if I mix it with fanta, apparantly that is close to sacrilege.
The scenery, history and weather.

Most definitely the CATS
The locals and their way of life
The food, in particular, giros, saganaki, kalamari and oktopodi.
Watching the world go by.
Eating outdoors every evening.

Basically, it's all about the nature of the Greeks and their surroundings. Everyone seems to feel the same on this one!

Ginamc,
absolutely correct, if you're Greek it can only be mixed with water.
We usually adopt a cat, in Lesvos we had a mother and 2 kittens always waiting at our door when we returned after a day out.

personaly i dont like any of the anasets [perno/oozo/pastice] hey are the pendle witches drink and yes being british they all seem use to her having lemonade [pref not fanta]
i fing the mataxa tria[3star] a little harsh,as i drink a lot of cypriot and spanish brandy i can cope with the slightly sweeter smoother tast of the epta[7star]

having kept an eye on this thread since last week i think i have put on half a stone just thinking about our next visit

wizard

Here's mine (in no particular order) -

1) the locals
2) the scenery
3) the food - great, fresh ingredients served simply with no fuss
4) GMT - is there anything better than chilling out on Greek Maybe Time?
5) that lovely feeling I get each time I get off a plane in Greece - it's hard to describe but it's sort of like coming home, even if it's a new island I'm visiting (if that makes sense!)

Roll on July the 22nd....

Dawn

Ouzo - your 5 would have featured in my top 20! As would

11. (Now sadly gone) queueing 3 times in the bank to cash ONE travellers cheque, having been grunted at each time by the official at the desk.

12. Speaking Greek (mainly in Rhodes Town) and being given the "are you stupid?" look!

13. Going to the most beautiful spot on the island and finding a rusty fridge/tractor/car.....

14. "Amessos" - yeah, right!

15. Greek sheepdogs....

(And yes I do love all these things, because that's the real Greece to me!)

Elinitsa

you sum up Greece and the Greeks to a 'T'. It's all the "none normal" things and the quirks that make it so wonderful. I cannot ever envisage NOT going there.

PS Yes you must try harder with Ouzo but I must confess never heard of your drink.