Blogs from South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 116

The best way to describe Ios is just simply "awesome". After experiencing the expensive and slightly pretentious Mykonos, Ios was a great change. It was just so relaxed there every day. There was no need to do anything more than just sit by the beach or pool, reading a book. While not as pretty as some of the other islands, as far as the town centre goes, Ios has a lot going for it. We stayed at a hotel right on Mylopotas Beach and the hourly buses heading into the village and the port stopped right outside. Needless to say it was much easier getting around on Ios. The beach was absolutely amazing too, with beautiful crystal-clear waters. It wasn't hot enough to jump in for a swim, but it was comfortable enough to sit ... read more

After a light night out in the Athens hostel, we took to the sea early the next day. The metro system to the port was simple and there are plenty of people selling delicious “doughnuts” in the streets for breakfast right next to the port. Had some breakfast doughnuts, bought a ferry ticket, and jumped on that boat with anticipation of some famous Greek Island, Mykonos. Naturally the ferry ride was packed filled with sleep, card playing, and a little sightseeing. Upon our arrival, we were immediately struck by a man offering us somewhere to stay (like we have heard). He continued to tell us that he had a place on Paradise Beach for twenty euros a night. About two seconds later he was interrupted by a less sketchy woman that said hers was only ... 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