Day 111-122 Island hopping, Santorini, Paros and Mykonos

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At home we have a book called 100 places to see before you die. Lots of the places mentioned in this book are far flung around the world, like to Cook, or Galapagos Islands. One of the more do-able locations was Santorini, which is 3 hr ferry ride north of Crete. Santorini was once a huge volcanic island when an immense eruption blew a hole in the middle around 1450 BC. It is thought, that this could be a possible site for the lost city of Atlantis.
Today, Santorini is a stunning Island with white villages, clinging to the cliff edges. Although touristy, with many cruise ships, backpackers, and couples searching for that romantic place. The villages and the views - particularly at sunset, are a must see. It was here at one of the restaurants overlooking the caldera that we celebrated Kim’s birthday.
In search of history once more we set off to explore ancient Thira, this was the remains of an ancient Greek and later Roman city, perched on top of a rocky outcrop on the windy South-East of the island that goes back 800BC.

Going to our next destination Paros, we began to realise we were deep in backpackers territory. Hardly any cars, campers, or caravans shared our campsite. Backpackers were mainly our neighbours now. If they didn’t have their own tent, they could use small, and I mean small bungalows, that had just about enough room for two beds. Or, they could just put down a bedroll under the canopies - and just curl up in sleeping bags!
Paros is a delightful island with great beaches and sooo quiet. Our only excursion being a leisurely drive around the island and a boat trip to the beautiful bay of Krios, This island made a nice relaxing break ,between the crowds of Santorini and the around the clock partying paradise of Mykonos that was to come.

Ferries aplenty criss-cross the Aegean Sea and just to see the ferries charging and discharging their cargo, of cars lorries and passengers is an amazing sight. The quay is swamped with vehicles, passengers waiting to embark and people waiting for people to arrive. Harbour Police try to gain control with there frantic whistling but to no avail. While awaiting our ferry a strong wind developed. It was pretty scary to watch our ferry rolling around in the swell with ramp awaiting to touch down on the quay, but it must have been back on its way in under 20 mins.

As we’ve already said, we intended to sail around the med for our trip, I’m glad we didn’t, in the Aegean with its Meltemi winds, Approaching Mykonos the wind must have got up to force seven, our ferry was diving into the waves, you should have seen the sailing boats trying to enter harbour!

Seeking out a campsite to stay on the island was difficult, there are only two -one in one bay and the other in the adjacent bay, not a variety of location. On the website ‘trip advisor’ the Paraga Beach one had one star the other Paradise Beach camping had 3 stars, it was a no brainer. The only thing was Paradise Beach is numero uno partying clubbers location in Greece. Where music starts and well...never stops! The man on reception when asking for space for our camper, sort of looked at us over his spectacles as though we were a rarity. ‘Do you want electricity’ we nodded enthusiastically and promptly directed us to a car park where a few cable extensions were randomly scattered around .
At first we felt like a fish out of water, the DJ didn’t have any Kool and the Gang or Boney M, but with little alternative places to go, we decided we can party with the best of them.

Santorini, Paros and Mykonos are part of a group of Greek islands called the Cyclades, the reason for this is that they circle the island of Delos. Originally, like Olympia and Delphi, this island was a Sanctuary to the Gods, later a commercial centre around 2300 years ago. This small island lies off Mykonos and has ruins that not only cover a large area but some of the houses are partially intact with beautiful mosaics and frescoes. A statue of Apollo that stood 9 metres high would have been one of the first things the ancients would have seen when they approached Delos.

We leave Mykonos to arrive back on the mainland for the first time in 3 weeks, but we aim to squeeze in a visit to one more island-one that was to be the setting of one of the most successful films ever!

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Photos

Aegean Ferries
these ferries criss croos the greek islands

Santorini
One of the many Blue domed churches

Alison and Cat
One of the many stray cats in greece

Ancient Thira
Ancient Greek and Roman settlement