Greece

---

What a horrible tourist trap Athens is. Actually it's not that bad. I've arrived during the Easter break so its alot quieter than I imagine it is usually, and clear, cool and sunny. I am a little stranded however, having waited a couple of nights for all the monuments to reopen, and now a couple more before I'm able to fly out on Thursday (to Munich of all places). Athenians are fleeing in droves so most flights are booked solid through the week, but not to Germany (I wonder why?). I spent a few very sad hours today loitering among the airline booths at departures with the naive hope of a 'last-minute' ticket to somewhere. Days of 'last-minute' it seems are definitely at an end (at least here).

The island hopping was very enjoyable. Santorini as many of you already know was as spectacular as I'd expected, and Naxos had a lovely old labyrinthine kastro (old town) which had me lost and disoriented on every corner. Travelling in low season definitely has benefits, but I did miss out on meeting more travellers for much of the Cyclades. Santorini had a traveller's hostel which connected me with a few Americans I continued with to Crete. Knossos and the partially reconstructed ruins of the Minoan palace was a bit of a let-down, but the extensive collection of artifacts in the museum at Iraklion was superb. I've seen a few ruins and museums now and am only just now beginning to appreciate how much time the ancient civs must have had to chip away at marble, stone, clay, pigments, metals, and so on. We are so lucky that their work is still here to admire.

Walking the Samaria gorge in west Crete is my Hellas highlight and will feature on the reel to follow later (this pc doesn't have any slots). It was great to finally get some exercise. The tones and colours throughout the landscape are quite breathtaking, especially the blues in the water. A ferry collected us at the end of the walk and connected with a couple of little postcard towns on the southern coast on the way - everything was stunning. Again the rich blue colour of the sea! Incredible.

Another lengthy ferry trip brought me here on Saturday night, and I'm staying at a really nice hostel in Plaka (old town) a stroll from the Acroplis et al. I took in all the main sights yesterday with a lovely English rose (Chloe), except the museum which I'll use to fill tomorrow in. For me the Acropolis was actually a bit underwhelming; the (incomplete) temple of Zeus I thought had alot more character - having been untouched, unrestored and unencumbered by scaffolding.

Apologies for the brevity of this log - I think a bit of traveller's fatigue may be setting in. I also haven't been overly inspired to photograph much of Greece, though maybe I'm not being entirely fair giving it only 13 days. I just can't be bothered with the arduous overland/sea journeys north or west so I'm going to give the travel another jump start to Germany then Czech and Slovakia I think... photos to come xx

---

Photos

Eeek!
Tasty.

Sunset at Oia
Not the best weather in the afternoon. The dog was great fun though.

Santorini
View from my room for rent.

Samaria Gorge
One of the best day walks I've had.

Public transport
Believe it or not, this bus took 20 hikers at the end of the day (don't believe it).

A friendly Cretian
And the guy riding it.

Acrapalypso
My book was more interesting.

Comments

[sb]

Its a shame you didnt get any photos.... Greece is spectacular in the sunshine! We arent great fans of falling decaying monuments. Much prefer natural beauty of Greece. Have a great time in Germany one of our fav. places and if you go to Prague, the buildings are fantastic!