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Published: August 8th 2007
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Parthenon - Athens
Like most of the major sites on our trip so far, the Parthenon was also 'Under construction', but it was still very impressive After seeing Santorini and Athens we can say that Mykonos and Ios were our highlights of Greece. Santorini was pretty cool in that we hired scooters to explore the island but there were really no beaches that were that nice to swim or sunbake at. Athens was really too hot to appreciate how amazing it really is - although we met people on the islands who had been in Athens when it was 49 degrees (C) and most of the tourist places were closed because of the heat.
When we arrived at Santorini at about 1am, we passed on all offers of accomodation from the touts waiting for a tout who would take us to a back packers place...no such luck. We ended up stuck on the wharf with an American couple who were meant to get a transfer except their ferry was delayed. We shared a cab with them to Anna's Youth Hostel. Although it came highly recommended from fellow travellers, it was the first place we've been to without a 24hour reception. We decided to hike to the beach and have a night under the stars but along the way ran into a drunk guy who said we
Old Donkey - Fira
I think this old guy has made a few trips up and down Fira in his lifetime... could have some beds in the dorm at Anna's. We took him up on the offer and once we discovered how far the beach was the next day we were quite pleased with our decision. We did move upstairs the next day though to avoid another night in a REALLY smelly basement dorm.
Hiring scooters to get around the island was a great idea. Only 12 Euro per scooter for 24 hours! We found out that Paradise Beach (the beach near Anna's) was a beach of HOT black sand and slippery lava rock under the breaking waves. We also checked out Red Beach from a pretty good look out but again, not worth hiking down to swim at. We then scooted up to the main town of Fira which had some lovely cobblestoned walkways and a donkey path down to the old port. So many poor old donkeys waiting in the heat to carry people up and down the 600 numbered steps. Next on our stop was Oia, which is apparently the place to watch the sunset. It was beautiful but it had been built up way too much for us to be too impressed. We did take advantage
Sunset at Oia - Santorini
Picture postcard sunset. There were so many people filling the town just watching the sunset (like us) of the beautiful views offered by the terrace topped restaurants and enjoyed a special dinner of stuffed vine leaves, saganaki (fried cheese), souvlaki and a Greek salad. YUM!!! That was our special treat and a hard blow to our budget but we are staying in dorm rooms so we needed the special treat. Our ride home in the dark was a little tricky as it was too dark to wear glasses so the wind was in our eyes and the curves are narrow and the roads steep. We got home in one piece though and it ended up being a lovely day. After checking out the next day we headed back to Fira and while Lew spent time uploading the images for our last blog, I got my hair cut by a large scary looking woman with a beard!!! I even risked getting foils which was probably a mistake. I was already regretting it, and closed my eyes, as she plucked chunks of hair with her fingers to paint the bleach on. Looks like I already have terrible roots. Love the cut though - very hassle free. She even used clippers on my neck it's that short!!!
Athens was
Mean Machines - Santorini
Not quite a Harley Davidson but it was enought for us to zip around Santorini on another late night arrival but we managed to find a double room near the ferry wharf for 45 Euro a night. A bit of another splurge but it was either that or wander the streets of Athens without a booking or a decent map. Turns out the next place we stayed was 45 Euro as well for a set of bunk beds in a tiny room with a share toilet and shower anyway so we were pretty pleased with our gamble again. Athens has some amazing history around it. We were literally walking over it as we saw an ancient bathhouse that was dug up during the extension of the metro line for the 2004 Olympic Games. It has been preserved and covered and you can see that there is probably a whole little village down under the roadways and parks and buildings. Notwithstanding the heat, we took a walking tour of Athens as an easy way to navigate to the best sights to see and were suitably impressed with the history that was right under our feet. The whole Ancient Acropolis and surround area was quite amazing. From pretty much anywhere in the city you can see it's dominating
Red Beach - Santorini
It was amazing to see the different coloured sand on Santorini. From black to, as you can guess, red presence.
We left Athens on Thursday for another late arrival (we seem to love doing that) in London Gatwick and spent our third night sleeping in an airport this trip (2 in London)
We now have a week or so in England with Lew's family and family friends before taking advantage of some cheap flights to Ireland and Scotland. Hope to update again soon.
From Holly and Lew.
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