When we were stuck on a Greek island and other stories

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Be warned - because we are escaping the heat in Athens by using the free internet in air conditioning, this blog is a biggie!

So it was sad to leave Turkey, but as soon as we got on the first ferry to take us to the Greek island of Samos I think we were already picturing ourselves swimming in the mediterranean. Samos isn't very far off the Turkish coast, but it is still expensive to get there (about AUD $50) and you have to go through customs and immigration at the port. Samos was beautiful and just like you picture greek islands to be like with the colourful buildings that come right to the water's edge, funky little cafe's lining the shore and big cruise ships in the harbour. We had four hours to fill in while waiting for the next ferry to take us to Mykonos, so we walked around and checked the sights and I think I nearly passed out from the heat.

The ferry trip took about 7 hours to Mykonos. It was fine at first, sitting up the top with the warm mediterranean wind in our hair, passing islands and being amazed by the blue-domed
white churches that sit perched on rocky outcrops without any living thing near it. The mind boggles trying to figure out how they get to it because the walk would be so steep and it seems so far from the village. Still, it's beautiful to see. As the trip went on, the swell picked up and it got very windy. I was happy to reach land! It was beautiful seeing the lights of all the buildings along the coast as we wound our way towards Paraga Beach, where we would be staying on the other side of Mykonos. People in our shuttle bus were talking about how they'd been out on Richard Branson's boat that day, and I don't think they were joking.

Our 'dorm' (in a shanty with hard beds) was the worst yet. But we spent most of our time at the beach anyway, so it didn't matter too much. For the one full day we'd planned to stay on Mykonos we walked the 5 mins to Paradise Beach, which was lined with beach umbrellas and sun lounges. We thought it was great until we overheard that it was 12 Euros just to sit under the umbrella.
We quickly ran away to a spare patch of sand! The sand was actually small pebbles, and the water was so crystal clear it was stunning. We spent all day there until the bars along the beach started turning up the music. You quickly get the impression that Mykonos is a party island for the young and attractive. Lots of bikinis and naked bodies. And that was fine at first too, but the next day when we were told our ferry to Santorini was cancelled due to windy conditions and we headed back to the beach, the party atmosphere started to lose its appeal. We changed hostels to one right on Paradise Beach and had our own two-bed tent which was a lot better.

It was nice getting to walk around the main town in Mykonos. You really could get lost in those winding alleys among the white walled buildings. It's like a dream come true for me and I was in photo-taking heaven! It was also our first sighting of octopi being dried in the sun, hanging from ropes tied to a boat. Very mediterranean.

We were quite happy in the end to leave Mykonos, and when we got to our hostel in Perissa on Santorini we felt a lot more at home. There was a mix of ages, (not just 25 and under) different body types, it was friendly, and everything was pretty much half the price we'd paid on Mykonos and there was more choice. Yay. We were pretty happy with our 6 euro a night dorm bed too, even if it was in a room with 24 others.

There was a really special moment when we walked down a little pathway in Santorini's capital, Fira, and saw the sea, volcano and white buildings perched on the cliff tops that you always see on postcards and brochures for the Greek islands. It took my breath away and I was so excited and happy. It was one of the sights I'd always wanted to see. Spectacular views that make you understand why so many people come here.

Because it was so hot, we spent our afternoon swimming at Perissa beach, a short walk from our hostel. The beach is black from all the volcanic sand, and there are lava ledges that extend into the water, which is very slippery and makes it hard to
get into the water. Kind of have to lay down and push yourself deeper into the water to save your knees hitting the rock when you fall! We were able to eat pretty cheaply by buying pastries from the bakery for less than 2 euro. I even had a gyros (that's our souvlaki) for 2 euro... and it was so good.

Santorini also provided what I thought was close to the best day on the trip so far. We went on a tour to the volcano eyelet (what looked like a volcano island is actually the caldera and centre of the volcano, while the island of Santorini is one side of the edge of the volcano). It was a pretty steep and hard walk in the heat, but it was really worth it. Our tour guide was very excited by the rocks, and told us to keep away from the black volcano rocks as they shatter bones for fun. Very impressive we thought. He also told us that within the next 50 years the volcano should erupt again, sending the cliff top buildings on Santorini crashing down and removing much of the water that makes Santorini an island. Our
next stop was thermal hot springs, and apart from the fear that the sulphur in the water would stain us and our clothes, it was great and the further you swam in towards the chasm the warmer it got.

Next our ferry dropped us on the island of Tharissa (also another edge of the volcano that just looks like an island). There was a small port at the bottom of a steep cliff that was dotted with small huts and restaurants cooking their fresh seafood and selling to all the boat loads of tourists that stop there everyday. It was stunning though, eating fresh kalimari skewer right next to the crystal clear water. It looked like what I imagine a traditional greek fishing village to look like. We were pretty happy with having 3 hours to swim there, even if Emma kept stubbing her bleeding toe and I got sea anenome barbs in my foot. Beware of the dangers of Greece! To end our perfect day our ferry took us to Oia, the north end on Santorini where the world's best sunset is. Fearing for our lives, we braved the donkey ride up to the top of the cliff because let's face it, we wouldn't have been able to walk it. Spectacular views though. And Oia provided heaps more picture postcard moments while we watched the sunset with hundreds of others crammed into the small walkways overlooking the mediterranean. It was beautiful watching the huge round sun change the sky to pink and drop into the water. Such a good day!

Santorini's other great benefit that we discovered was cheap cocktails. Oh-oh. One night we were even tempted by 1 euro sambucca shots. We then proceeded to dance it off at some different clubs. It was heaps of fun having a boogie although we did have to use the old trick about needing to go to the bathroom in order to get rid of some guys trying to chat us up. We got over it pretty quickly the next day by relaxing on the Red Beach, so called because of the red cliff and rocks that meet the water. It was really beautiful and the water was filled with smooth, rounded small boulders, which also made it hard to enter the water. Especially when you run to get to the water because the black sand is burning holes in your feet! But lovely all the same.

We loved the relaxing time we had in the Greek islands and chilling on beaches but were ready to move onto Athens before heading to Italy. Today we went to see the Acropolis. We got an early start to beat the heat as yesterday it was at least 40 degrees and still 35 at 11pm last night. It's a steep walk up the hill, maybe 15 minutes from our hostel. You first walk in past the Temple of Athena Nike which is currently being reconstructed so there's scaffolding all over it. Still, quite incredible to walk through these temples from the ancient Greek days. Then walking out to the Parthenon was amazing. It's also something I've always wanted to see and it was beautiful and so big. These ruins are still in pretty good condition, but we did wonder why the ruins we saw at Ephesus don't get any attention because they are just as good as this. There are incredible views of Athens up the top of the Acropolis too. City as far as you can see. Walked further on to see the Temple of Zeus, which also is pretty
cool. You've just got to wonder how they managed to build those huge columns back then.

Athens seems a bit dirty, with rubbish lying in the streets. And people spit everywhere too. Also in Greece, they provide bins to put your toilet paper in because they don't want you to flush toilet paper. But at least lately the toilets have been the kind we are used to, not the holes in the ground. Eek!

We've managed to get ourselves a copy of the latest Harry Potter (in English, luckily) which will come in handy for our 14 hour ferry ride from Patras to Bari, Italy tomorrow night. So it will be so long Greece. You've been kind to us!

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