Blogs from South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 80

Well it's now only 19 days til I leave for Rhodes. Can't believe it's here - this trip has been nearly 2 years in the planning (& saving!). Looking forward to some quality "me" time, enjoying long walks, having leisurly beers and enjoying the fantastic weather. I'll keep you all updated of my time here!! (and make you all jealous of my growing sun tan!)... read more

Three flights later, after a long and exhausting day of travelling beginning at 4:00 a.m., and four airports later, we arrived on the gorgeous island of Santorini. (Yes, Jeanette, this is where Sisterhood of the Travelling Pants, as well as many movies that take place in Greece, was filmed.) Every little village is built down the side of a cliff; our hotel room in Fira was classified as a "cave" room. We enjoyed tons of amazing, traditional Greek cuisine all weekend. The church by our hotel had lots of festivities for the Greek Orthodox Easter weekend, which was the same weekend as our Easter this year. We were also in Santorini the day after the cruiseliner crashed and sunk just off the island's coast, the first time something like that has happened in Santorini's history, ... read more

I'm writing from Roma (Rome)! On Saturday, my travel girls and I left our island resort on Rhodes, which was absolutely gorgeous and I loved the Greek-ness of it all. Athens, on the other hand, has the cool ancient ruins and Acropolis, but is a noisy, dirty city where I didn't feel very safe. Thank God we're now in beautiful Roma, with the Colosseum just down the street and pizzerias and gelato (ice cream) stands on every corner... (Each day is compiled from the handwritten diary I'm keeping.) Sunday, March 25 Twenty-four hours ago (including losing 3 hours due to time zones and Daylight Savings) I was impatiently waiting in the Winchester McDonald's for the bus to take us to Heathrow. Now, I am sitting in a posh suit at a beautiful island resort in ... read more

....Obsidian and tourism...except of course in March. I was probably one of 5 tourists on the island and 3 of them seemed to be doing some sort of filming, so maybe they werent tourists at all...... Once i figured out that the buses would get me nowhere, especially on the weekend when NO buses were running, i decided to rent a car and was very glad i did. (but dont tell my aunt she worried about the drivers on the islands)..... in truth there were hardly any cars on the roads and they were not reckless. the Greeks I have found to be good drivers actually, just really aggressive. and the bus drivers are amazing how they maneuver their huge buses through the tiny streets without gaining a scratch is a miracle.... anyway, i digress.... ... read more

We pass botiques with fanciful names like "Extreme Wear" and "Water City", which seem ridiculous, as there is nothing extreme or wet about them. Dive Shops and Internet Cafes have papered over their windows. Freddy's Bar and Apollo Rent A Car have been deserted for months. They only activity inside of these former businesses is the annual winter overhaul and repair work crawling along. Only those businesses necessary to the locals survival are still open: Cava Mini Market and the all-inclusive Assos International Kiosk that sells everything from milk and beer to stamps and candy. Travel in the winter means moving without tourists. It brings you closer to the local culture and the real people who keep these towns alive. You sacrifice sun, festivals, and the party atmosphere, but in return you receive grossly slashed ... read more

I haven't posted in a while but I need to tell the world how excited I am about going to Greece this summer!!! Since my girlfriend wasn't able to get out of taking summer classes, I'm forced to go by myself. Travelling alone is something that I've wanted to do for a long time now. The fact that I've been to Rhodes many times in the past should make things go a lot smoother. The only problem that I'm running into at this moment is the fundraising effort here. I'm going to need to do something to make some extra cash before I go. Hopefully my tax return will be fruitful. My Greek aunt will be coming to the states next week so I'll be able to ask her if I can stay in the bedroom ... read more

I finally bought my ticket to Rhodes!!! Even though I used to go there every summer, I haven't been in about 10 years. I got a decent deal from Orbitz.com so I'm pretty happy about that. In the 10 years that I didn't go to Greece, I travelled all over the USA with a couple of drum and bugle corps. I'll be flying from Tampa, Fl to Rhodes, Greece on May 29th and returning on June 27th. Email me if you're going to be there!!... read more