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Published: July 17th 2008
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Friday 27 June - Tuesday 8 July 2008
We booked our Greek Island hopping through ATB Holidays, a group Sean found on the internet, and picked out the Poseidon Package. It included an overnight ferry from Athens to Crete, 3 nights in Crete, 3 nights in Santorini, 2 nights in Paros and 2 nights in Mykonos. All of our hotel and ferry bookings and shuttles between ports and hotels were taken care of and it was so nice not to have to do any planning for a couple of weeks.
In fact, the highlight of Greece was the hot weather and being able to cool off in the crystal clear waters. The Islands themselves were pretty much as I’d imagined them and Sean said the landscape reminded him of arid northern WA. It was great just wandering around the maze of cobblestone paths and narrow alleys and seeing all the white and blue cubed houses. The food was also a highlight. Daily fare was pitta bread, served with grilled meat, tomato, tzatziki and chips, the most delicious Greek salads ever and Lemon Iced Tea. It was all so fresh.
On arrival in Athens we had a four hour
wait at the ferry terminal, so were absolutely cheering when we boarded and discovered that our upgrade from chairs was actually to a luxury cabin, complete with three windows with views over the bow. The ferries have a quick turnaround and boarding and disembarking is truly an experience. The ferry doors are already lowering as it berths (stern to the wharf) and as soon as the door hits the wharf, swarms of people all jostle to be the first ones off (intermingled with the cars and trucks). Embarking is a similar experience, with everyone pushing to be first on to get the best seats. Most of the ferries we travelled in were also car carriers and had large decks with tables and chairs, outdoor areas and lounges, but we also travelled twice in the high speed Vodafone catamarans that just had rows and rows of chairs inside.
We arrived in Crete without any real plans and spent the first morning searching for information on things to do. You had to laugh, because while there were lots of travel agents selling ferry tickets, there were hardly any tourist brochures or travel agents offering things to do in Crete. In the
end, we hired a car and drove around part of the island for a day, stopping for lunch and a swim at the secluded Preveli beach. We probably should have forked out the extra 5 Euros though and got a car with air con, because at 38 degrees with no breeze inland, it was stinking hot.
Another full day was spent at Water City, the largest water park in Crete. Our first slide, which we picked at random, ended up being the most hair raising slide in the whole park, and set the scene for the day. Other highlights were the Double Cyclone (where we went down a slide together and were spat out into a bowl with water spinnng us around and around) the Side Winder (shaped like a skate ramp) and the Speed Slides.
Our cultural fix was obtained with an afternoon at the ruins of Knossos, which are remnants from the Minoan Civilisation. The British archaeologist responsible for excavation actually rebuilt quite a lot of the ruins in the early twentieth century, building multiple levels based on his opinions of what the ruins would have looked like and decorating the place with paintings. The ‘excavation’
Zaros
Spring water is sourced from the mountains and bottled here. is fairly controversial nowadays, but Sean and I reasoned that at least we had something to look at.
We stayed at the Irini Hotel, smack bang in the middle of Heraklion (the capital) and I have to say, the nightlife is amazing. Tiny pedestrian-only alleys are lined with the trendiest, most decadent cafes and lounge bars I have ever seen. They are completely deserted during the day time, but jam packed with people at night. Music blared from the cafes, while people sat back in their comfy lounges smoking and drinking wine or espressos.
Our second port was Santorini, where the main town, Firo, is built on the edge of cliffs that drop sheerly to the water, hundreds of metres below. Santorini is one of the most popular islands and the cliff side was covered in infinity pools, decks and hotels. Hotel Margarita, where we stayed, also had a pool, so a lot of our time was spent jumping in and out and reading under the umbrellas. One evening we went for a sunset cruise around the islands in a tall ship, stopping for a walk up the volcano and swim in nearby hot springs. The sunset was
Preveli Beach
Access only via a steep, dirt track. spectacular and reminded us of the beautiful red sunsets you see off Darwin.
Paros was my favourite island because it was a little quieter and the main town, Parikia, had a beautiful crescent shaped beach lined with restaurants and cafes. Also, the High Mill Hotel was awesome. Our room had a balcony with a view over the ocean and huge swimming pool.
Sean’s favourite hotel though was the Alkyon at Mykonos because of its amazing view over the town, ocean and modern-looking, very deep, infinity pool. Mykonos was the most expensive island and is renowned for wild parties and beautiful beaches. We can’t comment on the wild parties (except to say the guys next door regularly came home at 6.30am), but we did hire out a quad bike and zoom around the island in search of the perfect beach. All of the beaches were calm and clear, but at most of them you had to pay 12 Euros to use a chair and umbrella. The best by a long shot was called Panoramas and was on the North side of the island, away from all of the other beaches and where an umbrella was optional.
The Greek
Islands are the sort of place you would go if you felt like getting away from it all. Every day is bright and sunny, the water is warm, food fresh and delicious and shops abundant (although expensive). Coming from the Four-Seasons-In-One-Day United Kingdom, it was exactly what we needed......
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Michael
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Favourite island
I hope you liked my home island of Paros. You can vote for your favourite Greek island here: http://www.squidoo.com/Best_Greek_Island