Advertisement
Published: September 30th 2008
Edit Blog Post
After reading up on what islands had what to offer and where they were located the best and most interesting plan led to Santorini (Also known as Thira one of the more southern most islands towards Crete) The camper was to be left on Santorini, Packing up the night before and leaving the van at old port meant we slept the night there and woke up the next morning with enough time to walk around 2miles north east to the new port in order to board the ferry for Naxos. Naxos was similar to Santorini just bigger and a lot more laid back (not the party scene and less tourists) After Santorini we dropped off at the port of Santorini. This was quite different as there was nothing more than a bunch of very small tour/ferry agencies looking to pick the new people up and sell them accommodation. We found someone to organize some where to stay and a lift there. That same day I hired a car with which we drove into the main town named FIRA or Thira (this is the place to go for shopping and dining) By this stage the sun was getting close to set and
we had heard from the locals that everyone goes to the northern point Oia to watch the sun set. So jumping back into the car I drove up to Oia and witnessed one of the best sun sets along with hundreds of others. Once the sun had disappeared there was a large applause - few minutes of everyone chattering in their native tongues then everyone headed off. Once I made it back to the car I took the long road back to Fira and looked around at the more famous restaurants for somewhere to eat. We settled in a nice place overlooking the middle of Santorini, the steep cliffs and enjoyed some of their best local meals. The following day I did a full lap of Santorini visiting many beaches. From north to south, every beach has jet black sand. The water is surprisingly clear but the sand is red hot. Funny enough I did not find the beaches at all enjoyable. Some of the beaches at the shore line has turned to hard rock so it feels like you are walking on a semi slippery bed of uneven polished cement. (not fun when you are used to soft sandy
beaches) One thing that would be worth a mention is towards the south west end of the island are two beaches one named White Beach, the other Red Beach. Red Beach in particular was quite interesting, had it not been packed it would have been like something from another world except the cramped Homo-sapien seals lazing around the redish sand and strewn over the rocks.
So after the few days wandering or should I say rolling around Santorini our stay had come to an end and it was time to return to Mykonos and collect the van. The trip was pretty uneventful putting aside the scenery floating by which more than enough to keep me was entertained. We collected the camper van and made out voyage back to Rafina. A long drive through Athens along the coastal regions and through the mainland till we arrived back on the west coast of Patras with much more time to spare than first thought we enjoyed some of the night life that Patras has to offer.
I would recommend spending some time in Patras - the people were friendly the night life very laid back, happy and peaceful and trendy! Perhaps it
is overlooked by most international tourists. Before we knew it time had caught up with us, the boat was to begin boarding for our long trip back to Italy. Being in a camper van sometimes gives you priority so we were sent to the front and onto the vessel. The journey was slow and boring, as the minutes made hours. Those hours seemed like days till eventually we arrived at the port of Venice. Some quick researching had us heading for a caravan and camping ground on the north western side of the coast just off the island of Venice. The drive was surprisingly long as their terrain seems like a mass of large salt water pot holes on a map. We arrived to find there were no vacancies (it was after all summer and some of the more popular camping grounds book well in advance - some also have a minimum stay of 2 weeks!) We managed to find another ground 2 mins away which was far more to our liking. Instead of having the feel of a small city it was relaxed and homely so we spent a few nights, visited the beach which was just brown water
so I didn’t swim. I had been to Venice before so going again was not so interesting. I wandered the streets and acted the tour guide. Had a nice lunch followed by an even nicer dinner, watched the night life for a while then caught the last boat back. It was now time to leave Venice and head back towards the UK. I drove through Italy then into Germany, Stayed on the Rhine a couple of nights, shopped at Aldi or its competitor Lidl. Upon leaving Germany we then entered Switzerland and its majestic mountains. The place has so many tunnels and their infrastructure is up there with the best if not the best. The St. Gotthard Tunnel in Switzerland is the third longest road tunnel in the world (the longest is Lærdalstunnelen, which is 24.51 km (15.3 miles) It seems to go on and on and on with a reduced speed I think was 50mph or 80kmsh so it’s not for the claustrophobics. We stopped off a few times to trek into the wild life and take photos, throw snow balls and soak up the fresh clean air of Switzerland.
Next was Belgium to hunt down part of
Red Beach
Still on Santorini - this is red beach our family history. It was said that there are still a couple of mansions and castles standing so we visited a few towns till finally finding one. We didn’t speak to the current owners are more than likely it had changed hands. Belgium is a lot different to Switzerland in the geographical sense, much more level like you would expect to see in the low lands of France or England. The coast is reasonably flat so surfing is out of the questions (where I went anyway) and the beaches there were rather silted up, so brown that I did not find it at all inviting. My parents (the animal lovers they are...) had to say hello to some of the Belgium cows, Dad as you will see got quite acquainted. The cow here must be like pets because a short time later the owner came around, not saying a word jumped into the paddock with them and gave them all a hug and rub.... That's Belgium for you.
After Belgium we headed down to France to catch the ferry from Calais to Dover. Once back in England we stayed the night outside Dover Castle then headed up through England towards
Patras
The last glimpse Greece for now.... Scotland. The trip was reasonably uneventful so I don’t feel there much to mention.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.208s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 17; qc: 82; dbt: 0.1554s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb