Blogs from South Aegean, Greece, Europe - page 91

Well, it's seems forever since my last blog. Last I wrote we were in Meteora which was wonderful. From Meteora we headed back to Athens to finally mail our third bag to the states. Four times we lugged that damn thing to different post offices - Mark was very happy to see it go ;-) Luckily I had purchased a $50.00 (yes...$50.00!!!!) Lonely Planet from a bookstore that was kind enough to give me two big book boxes as the post office had no boxes for mailings. We packed up our tent, sleeping bags and two jackets plus misc. stuff and wrapped the boxes up in brown paper - kind of like Christmas really! The postal worker commented on my lovely wrapping job and I beamed while Mark was just happy he only had tape duty! ... read more

Mynokos was a great place to end our holiday. Although our first impression was not so good. The cabins we stayed at at Paradise beach was not really a cabin but a permanent tent- consisting of 4 walls, 1 window, 1 door and 2 little beds. Compared to a beach hut it was awful but compared to camping in a tent it was great! It was quite hot and stuff inside but everyone spent all their time outside. The beach is really nice, there are bars with DJs playing fucky tunes, cocktails, water sports etc. It was the beginning of the season so it wasn't that hot and it wasn't crowded. You had to hire beach umbrellas or sun beds for like 5eur/hour so we went to the shop up the road and bought these 2 ... read more

After a few days on the island we think we may have mastered the art of relaxation! This is such a unique place we are absolutely loving it here!! We arrived Sunday early morning after a 26 minute puddle jumper flight over here from Athens. Yesterday we hit up the beach and just swam and layed in beach chairs overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. As if laying on a beach isn't relaxing enough, here in Santorini they have BEDS and COUCHES with huge fluffy pillows right on the beach! It's a dream come true!! Our hotel is right on the Sea and our room has a balcony overlooking the Sea. We could get used to this. Today we went on a self guided tour of this island via a four wheeler. We both agree it was the ... read more

There are some moments in my life where I wish I had the ability to press the pause button. I have felt that way continually during my time in Mykonos. The Greek people are so warm and kind with their "is okaaay" attitude. I have made friends who have welcomed me into their homes, lent me their cars and shown me the 'secret' beaches that the tourists don't know about. Their generous spirit sparkles like sun off the beautiful waters. In turn I hope that I have offered them a positive view of US Americans. That we can be environmentally and culturally friendly travelers who show tremendous respect for the areas we visit. ... read more

Astyapalea was delightful and Amorgos was as beautiful as ever. We are continuing our travels through the islands and these two stops were especially nice. Both islands are a bit off the beaten path and exhibit a more traditional Greek life style. Astyapalea is shaped like a butterfly and has a fabulous castle ruin above the town of Pera Yialos, where we stayed. We hiked up to the Chora and walked through the ruins several times. The upper area of the Chora is like a ghost town, with doors slamming and hinges creaking as the wind howls through the deserted pathways. The houses surrounding the castle were abandoned in 1953 due to a major earthquake and now are padlocked and slowly decaying. The government is attempting to restore the castle and the surrounding village, but is ... read more