Rosadon
Don and Rose in Greece fall 2008 Joined: July 20th 2006
Logged in: November 14th 2008
Logged in: November 14th 2008
Travel Blog Posts
View across the mountains from Delphi Site
This will conclude our 3-week Greece exeperience. Breathtaking at every turn it seems, this final leg of our journey left deep impressions. Perhaps the pictures can tell the tale. ... read more
Majot highway out of Athens
Our final 4 days would be spent with Chatours with about 18 people on a bit larger bus. Gianis would be our directore and guide. Adonis would be our driver. There seemed to be several hours a day driving from point to point with frequent bathroom and lunch breaks. But each stop along the way seemed to bring new levels of awe and wonder. ... read more
Donald the Greek
Our general feeling for Crete was that we needed more time to fully appreciate it. The impression is that it can be quite self-sufficient with it's resources and that the beaches and resting places for tourists need to be discovered by us. Alas, that may never happen but I think Crete might be a great vacation destination in and of itself. I've learned that some of my Hiraklion, Crete pictures were likely Chania. No matter, I'll let it stand and add a few new scenes here. ... read more
Hiraklion - lunch break & crowds
Our 2-hour dash on the Cat 4 Hydrofoil was a bit harrowing. In contract to the smooth journey between Mykonos and Santorini, this leg of our trip was rough. Rose, despite her good doses of Gravol, was quite green by arrival at Kiraklion, Crete. Apparently the sea was very rough in that dark trip and we must have run through some squalls. Anyway, we were very grateful for our hotels that night. Most of these photographs were traken in Hiraklion, the capital of Crete. We later drove to Chania (pronounced 'Hania') and I'm confused as to where I took some of these monastery and museum items. ... read more
Sunset on Santorini stay
I lost the thread of my blogging because some of the pictures failed to download. I won't attempt to regain my ground but will include some pictures that pertain to our last day in Santorini and the first day in Hiraklion, Crete. Some of our nicest pictures are here.... read more
Our hydrofoil boat
Our much anticipated hydrofoil boat trip from Mykonos to Santorini proved to be very smooth, fast, and enjoyable. Those powerful vessels are a marvel to me, carrying several hundred passengers with luggage in relative comfort, especially if you have reserved seats. Unfortunately, there is no exploring on the deck of the fast boat so one misses most of the beauty of the island stops along the way. On arrival, Santorini was one of the most beautiful spectacles of nature we would observe. The port is on the inside of the Caldera (shoulder or rim of an old volcano). From sea-level you see tour buses winding their way up a rather recently engineered swithback trail to the summit of cliffs far overhead. Once up on those rockey perches, one looks down on the most beautiful deep blue ... read more
Our twin ferry
We came to Mykonos by slow crowded ferry from the Piraeus Port by Athens on Sept 20th, Saturday. A cool weather front accompanied us and made the other-island stops along teh way less scenic enroute and couped us up inside most of the 5-hour journey. It will seem strange but I blame that crowded vessel and noisy Greek language all around for my slightly troublesome cold that devloped in Mykonos. The Greek language is hard to pick up and because they use a different 24-letter alphabet to write one must see the phoenetic spelling in English for all words. For example: thank you / epharisto is said eff harry's 'toe' with emphasis on the 'toe'. Normal conversation between two Greek people seemed they were angry but really not I understand - just fairly loud, fast and ... read more
Lufthansa treated us well
That title line is probably old and sick but I use it anyway. Unfortunately, we are home without having been able to post any blog information because we simply could not arrange the download of pictures that I would have liked. So, I'm going to build that journey in 2 or 3 day stages, by locale, as we visitied Athens first, then hopped islands, then returned to the mainland for a 2nd 4-day tour. In broad terms, Greece is everything you dreamed of and more. Sometimes the more is not as enjoyable as the dreams but for thousands of years it has been a stomping grounds for various civilizations and conquering nations. Thus, as we visited archeological sites and museums under the direction of excellent guides trying desparately to give us our money's worth, our heads ... read more
