Blogs from South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 67

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Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini April 15th 2010

Thursday, we decided to make a quick day trip to Santorini—the island where they filmed Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants! The ferry schedule didn’t actually give us that much time there—only about four and a half hours—but this was long enough for us to do what we had come for…riding donkeys! We took the cable car ride down from the main town to the water (Allison and Denise were terrified) and then we rode some donkeys back up some 700 steps! It was fabbbbbbbbulous, although far less organized than we had been expecting. Basically we walked by all these donkeys that were just chillin’, then the guy helped me climb on one, and then my donkey just started going. I was a little concerned (should there be someone in front of me? Shouldn’t my donkey wait ... read more
Santorini
Me Riding a Donkey!
My Donkey Going to the Side of the Path to Eat

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Ios April 14th 2010

We woke up Monday morning psyched and ready to head to Ios—our little Greek paradise! After a 4 hour ferry ride, we arrived in Ios a little before noon. A man who looked about 35-40 wearing a Brazil jacket met us as we came got off the ferry, holding a sign for “Far Out” the name of our resort. We found out about this resort because last year’s BEF group had come here and had told us that it fabulous and cheap. So, without really researching other places, we booked it. The five of us piled into Brazil man’s van (his jacket had given him this name for the duration of our trip) and drove through the island’s largest town (which was tiny) on the way to Far Out. It was beautiful—right on the beach, a ... read more
At the restaurant at our resort!
Homer's Tomb
Church in Chora

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Paros April 8th 2010

From Mykonos the Flying Cat 4 takes fifty minutes to get us to Paros, the third and final island of our trip. Compared to our arrival at Mykonos two days ago, things at Paros are pretty low key. There’s no crowds on the port, and by the time the ferry is pulling away we look around to realise that we’re the only people still about. Best be on our way then. A short walk gets us to our hotel and as we check in the friendly clerk hands a hand drawn map and points out the key sites to see as well as the best local restaurants and cafes. After dumping our bags in our room, and now armed with local information, we head off on a walking tour. First up is the ‘Church with 100 ... read more
Greek coffee
Parikia's harbour front windmill in the late afternoon
Paros old town

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Mykonos April 6th 2010

Flying Cat 4 is making great progress across the Aegean. It feels like barely any time has passed since leaving Santorini and we’re already pulling in to Ios for a quick pick up before heading off again at high speed towards Paros. The next stop is ours and just two and half hours after boarding the super fast cat we’ve arrived at Mykonos. We want to slow things down a bit after a busy few days on Santorini and have booked two nights at a beachfront hotel on the opposite side of the island from the main town. A member of staff from our hotel is waiting for us at the port and drives us the 15 minutes across the island to check in. At our bargain rate, we had expected a garden view room but ... read more
Mykonos hotel upgrade
Mykonos town
Windmills

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini April 3rd 2010

Twenty five Euros for twenty four hours of car hire? Bargain - let’s do it. A quick word with our hotel owner and half an hour later there’s a little red Matiz hatch parked out the front of our Santorini hotel. After signing the obligatory paperwork with a friendly Greek bloke from the local hire company, we’re off. From our hotel we head north. The road skirts around the edge of the island’s main town, Fira, before winding (and we do mean winding) around the cliffs towards the village of Oia. The road on average is about one and a quarter lanes wide but luckily for us being Easter Sunday it’s not too busy. Oia is our first glimpse of postcard Greece and it catches us quite unaware. We’re negotiating our way through the narrow road ... read more
Oia, Santorini
Oia Windmills
Santorini Vineyards

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Mykonos March 31st 2010

Ella malakas (hello americans in greek) Been in Mykonos for 3 nights. The ferry from santorini to here was very interesting, was called the flying cat, one of the speed boats, same size as the slow ferries, except it looks and travels like a bathtub toy. the lady walking up and down the aisles with the sick bags was very popular, kids and adults spewing all around, i was ok somehow, stace struggled but made it ok. The place we are staying at Paradise Beach is very cool, got upgraded coz our cheap beach cabins weren't ready yet so we have an ensuite which we weren't suppose to. Most of the shops near our beach only open later in april when it gets busier so we've had to come into mykonos town (10 min on the ... read more

Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini March 29th 2010

As our ship approached Santorini, an announcement went out that the cable cars were not working and we had to take either the donkeys or walk up the donkey path. I was thrilled, as I wanted to ride the donkey, but Rajesh wasn’t so enthusiastic. The mallu group sat in the Aquamarine lounge and when they heard this announcement, several high pitched voices went ‘bling ding kading’.. and they decided not to go. Nuts! Their tour operator kept insisting they must go as it’s a spectacular island, but Anna said they had to consult Dr. Raju, their leader who was “dringing chaya” at the moment in the ship’s restaurant. Santorini is one of the most magical islands of Greece and has a dramatic beauty to it. It is a barren, rocky island just opposite a volcano, ... read more
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Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Santorini March 27th 2010

After a fantastic send off BBQ we jumped on the plane without any hiccups. Weird i know. Flight was going well until some guy deceided to get sick and he needed urgent medical attention so just a 2 hour stop over in Bombay and then a sprint to our connecting flight in abu dhabi then a smooth flight into athens. Went to see some of the sites in athens on the first day but they all shut at 3pm so we will have to do all that when we return. Santorini has been beautiful, really cold and windy the first 2 days but we managed. Hired a 4 wheeler which was awesom. We kinda felt abit like dumb and dumber because we had the bike flat out and cars were still streaming past us as we ... read more
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Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Patmos » Skala March 27th 2010

We arrived in Patmos and tender boats brought us to the island's pretty harbor Skala. Known as the Jerusalem of the Aegean, Patmos is a holy island of Christians, where the Apocalypse of St. John was written. There are 2 main attractions - The Grotto and The monastery. Many people from the ship boarded Mercedes tour buses for the shore excursions that cost a small fortune in euros. But we decided to take a cab. The chinki couple asked if they could share a cab with us and we agreed. The chinkis lived in SFO, she was from Taiwan and a pharmacist and he was from Hong Kong and a software engineer. A good blend of science & technology! I could imagine their kid becoming a doctor. After a winding, uphill ride in the Mercedes cab, ... read more
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Europe » Greece » South Aegean » Mykonos March 25th 2010

Mykonos is supposed to be a very exciting place and one of the top Greek islands to visit. Its known to be a gay island and no wonder Panos used to live there! Panos had bought all of us shuttle bus tickets to get into the capital of the island - Chora, because the ship docks far away. Chora was beautiful with its colorful harbor in which fishing boats nestled happily side by side with luxury yachts. We followed Panos for the free walking tour that he promised, along the waterfront into the cycladic village with maze like narrow paths framed by dazzlingly white washed buildings, all looking ancient. Rajesh kept taking lots of pictures, while I paid attention to the stories that Panos told us. He said that Mykonos was one of the most expensive ... read more
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