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Hello All,
Well, Andrea and I have spent the last two weeks island hopping here in the Aegean Sea. We haven't done a great deal of sightseeing, mostly just relaxing and hanging out. Below is a short description of each island we've been to with some pictures. We're heading to Crete later this afternoon and after we spend a week there we're flying to Egypt!
Mykonos
We spent about four days here and had a good time. We stayed at a campsite in a bungalow with a beautiful view of the sea right out our door. The accommodations were primitive, but the view alone was worth it and the bungalow was a lot cheaper than any of the hotels. Mykonos is fairly expensive and has a reputation of being a place where people go to be seen. There were lots of big clubs that would throw huge parties lasting until 6am. However, since we're a couple, we felt no need to pay for expensive drinks in a meat market atmosphere. We mostly spent our days relaxing by the pool and hanging out with DJ and Amber, a very nice couple from New Zealand that we met. The beach
was crowded and part of it was nude (as opposed to the standard beaches where some women go topless) and let me tell you, the only thing worse than a big, fat, old guy in a speedo is a big, fat, old guy NOT in a speedo...
Ios
Ios is a nice little island with lots of activities but it's the real party island, nothing but twenty-somethings and bars/clubs. The entire island is one big meat market. So again, Drea and I didn't feel the need to go out much. We stayed in a great little hotel with AC and a pool, so we spent most of our time there. In the evenings we'd go out to a good restaurant (we found an awesome Thai place) and then we'd head back to our hotel before the real partying began. A restaurant nearby also made really good hamburgers - I know we should be eating local cuisine, but we've been in Greece for six weeks now and we've gotten tired of souvlaki and gyros.
Santorini
We've been here for about six days and have really enjoyed it. The island is a circular strip of land arranged around
a couple small islands which is the result of numerous volcanic eruptions over the millenia. All of the circular part is one big volcanic caldera, and the views are amazing. The main city, Thira, is expensive, but we've found a nice, if touristy, little beach community on the southern part of the island and it's just a short bus ride to anywhere else on the island. We have gotten out and done some cultural things, including a few museums and the site of Ancient Thira. Ancient Akrotiri is still closed after a deadly roof collapse a few years ago, which is a shame because it's another ancient city that was well perserved by volcanic ash, like Pompeii. We did see some of the wall paintings from the site at a musuem in town, and I was really happy about that because I got to see a miniature frieze depicting an adventure at sea. It was supposed to be at the museum in Athens, but it wasn't there. We also spent a day scuba diving, with one dive around the older volcano island and one dive closer to shore with lots of fish. I even saw an octopus making its way
down a ledge (Drea's upset that I didn't point it out to her - I tried, but I didn't want to turn around to get her attention and lose sight of it ;-)
So there's an update of the last two weeks. Hope you enjoy the pictures.
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Stephanie
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Fantastic!
Looks like you two are having a blast! Love the stories, Mark!