Greece, Athens and the Islands

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We spent just over a week in Greece, we had planned 2 days in Rome, 3 on the island of Naxos and 4 in Santorini.

After the overly touristy, pickpocket friendly Rome, it was a nice change to go to Athens. While there were still plenty of tourists the city felt a lot more comfortable.

We were staying in a cheap hotel in what was supposed to be a dodgy part of town but it felt safe and clean although it did feel more like Japan did than other parts of Europe. One thing we did notice in Greece were the number of stray (but well fed and content) dogs that would walk around the streets. While we had noticed this in Italy, especially in Pompeii, the dogs in Athens were noticably fatter and looked happier.

In Athens we saw the usual sights, going to the Acropolis and the temple of Zeus before getting up before 5am to catch the first train to the port and our ferry to the Islands. We had arrived at the ferry early to get a good seat outside as we are both less then competent sailers. But as time went by and the rain and wind started to beat down, we found that the ferry was cancelled due to rough seas. It did run the next day though and although we were expecting a rough crossing the ferry ride was pleasant. The weather was still pretty ordinary though and our remaining 2 days in Naxos were often rainy, and the famous beaches didnt quite have their appeal. The last morning however brought a fabulous day and the remaining 4 days in Santorini were in fine warm weather. Santorini was amazing, largely due to where we were staying and I will shamlessly plug Villa Maria Domigou, ask for room 3!We looked out over the caldera and the sunsets from our balcony, but could also look across to the other side of the island and it was only a 10min walk into the centre of the main town, Fira.

We spent most of our time in Santorini being lazy which was nice but did manage to leave our amazing room to catch a bus to the black sand beaches on the other side of the island. We were there at the very end of the season and it was quite noticable with few places open at the beaches and almost no people on the beaches.

From Santorini we flew to London, Via Athens and then Frankfurt (a long day!) Where our pleasent temperatures soon ended.

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Photos

Rough seas in a sheltered bay near Athens
Just as well the ferries were cancelled!

The view from our balcony
Santorini

Sunset from our balcony
Santorini

Sunset over a church
Santorini

Narrow streets and houses flowing down the hillside
Santorini

Comments

[Kate and Dave]

Wow! Awesome room with a view in Santorini!