The land of feta...

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Irena Wrote:

Ahhh Greece...

We just left yesterday after spending 2 full weeks there. Parts of it felt much different than my first experience there 5 years ago. I don't know if I
hadn't noticed it before, but some places felt so touristy, it almost reminded me of a European Mexico. The restaurant owners, tour operators and sales people were so aggressive at times! Particularly in Athens. We could not walk down a street without the restaurant owners coming up to us, handing us their menus and telling us that the food was "very good, very cheap, you must sit". The food was great at first, and we never got tired of Greek Salads. i will miss them dearly. But, even souvlaki gets tiring after 2 weeks. Unless it is accompanied by heaps of tzatziki.

As with all of our traveling experiences so far, we had to learn a few hard lessons before we realized where to go, where not to go, and the many little tricks that the salespeople try to hoodwink you with! We had some really amazing experiences as well, and as we learned in Portugal, the best way to experience the Greek Islands is to rent a car, and do your own exploring rather than relying on the advice of the guidebooks or tour operators. The best beaches and hotels are the ones you need to hunt for!

Athens was extremely hot, and very educational. Its a good thing I have such a crappy memory, because visiting the Acropolis was like going there for my first time! It was also a great experience going with Darvin, the KING of history. We spent an afternoon checking out the national Archeological museum, super fascinating to see the tools, weapons, jewelry and handicrafts dating back as far as 2000 BC. There was a really interesting Egyptian exhibit there as well, which I particularly appreciated since I had just finished reading The Red Tent, set in the same time period so I could actually picture how the characters in the story lived.

After a few days in Athens we hopped on a superfast ferry to Santorini. We stayed at Perissa beach, which was on the south tip of Santorini island. although it was a bit less expensive here, it was an excursion to get around the island by bus. Perissa beach (although it sounds exotic) was actually a pretty crappy beach with black sand, and not the powdery kind. In comparison to the beaches we saw in Portugal, it just didn't measure up, and we felt like we were stuck in the wrong part of the island, paying more for taking buses than what we would have saved being a little closer. We kept ourselves busy with a couple of excursions to Oia, the town known for its legendary sunsets. It is truly the epitome of "greek island" feel, with whitewashed buildings, cute taverns overlooking the sea, tons of churches, and cats, cats everywhere! heaven! Oia is definitely charming, and for anyone planning to spend time in Santorini, spending a few nights in Oia would be a must. We had a reservation at a swanky hotel booked there for our final night, but by the time the day came to check in, we had sort of had our fill of Santorini and were just anxious to discover what else the Greek islands had to offer.

The soonest ferry out happened to be to a less known island called Amorgos, one we hadn't planned on visiting. It sounded like a good plan to take our chances and try something different! We decided to rent a car and do some exploring. At the car rental place we ran into a girl, Alexandra from
Switzerland, traveling on her own. We offered her a seat in our car and she took up our invitation and joined us in our day of adventure! Amorgos is a very mountainous island, and was pretty spectacular. The drive was gorgeous, the elevation was so high in some parts of the road that we were driving through clouds! We visited an old monastery that was built right into the rock face, the place was very narrow - no more than 6 meters deep at any point. i can't imagine the life of the monks who spent centuries there...with only tiny little windows facing the sea. It was a very strict monastery, ladies were not even allowed to wear pants, we were only allowed inside with long skirts, and shoulders covered, men could not wear shorts. Which is why I was surprised to be ushered to a sitting room and served shots of homemade liqueur and little liquorice jellies, both of which are made in the monastery! i suppose it's ok for monks to drink alcohol? it was really a great experience. We spent the afternoon driving down the coast and found some REALLY beautiful tucked away beaches, with the clearest water. They were tiny, and hidden, but they were really great gems with amazing snorkeling. In my opinion there is nothing better than laying on a beach with the sea in front and rocky mountains behind.

After a great day of sightseeing, we had dinner on the waterfront and then I met Alexandra for a drink afterwards. Let me tell you, it was GREAT
to have some girl time. honeymooning has been wonderful, but sometimes there is just nothing like good, old fashioned, girl time to talk about boys,
weddings, work, and life at home. We went out for cocktails and giggled the night away. And, made me realize how much I miss all my girlfriends at home!!

Amorgos treated us well, but we were anxious to get to Crete to finish off our time in Greece. Darvin and I both really loved Crete - we would highly
recommend it! We stayed in Heraklion, the capital, for a couple of nights and splurged on a funky hotel here, and savored the comfortable bed,luxury towels and wireless internet. the nightlife here was just insane! Bars, cafes and stylish people were everywhere! All of the clubs were super funky and modern, and everyone was dressed up and looking fine as they walked the streets, scoping eachother out.

We were really excited to check out the ancient ruins of the Minoan settlements. We went to the archeological museum, these people were seriously advanced for their time. The detail in the artistry of their tools, jewelry, sculptures, etc. was mind boggling compared to what we saw in Athens, and dated back to 2000 BC. After checking out the museum which housed all of the excavated findings from the palace, we headed to Knossos, where the palace ruins themselves sit. We took a guided tour and was well worth it as we learned things we never would have seen without a guide. It was definitely an incredible history lesson, and as nerdy as it sounds...Darvin and I both agreed that those Minoans are our very favorite ancient civilization!! Go Minoans!

Crete is a huge island, and we were excited to rent a car and do some exploring. Again we were led astray by the Lonely Planet. The two "spectacular" beach towns that they recommended were total dives. they were practically barren, it felt like we were in the desert in Nevada, with sand whipping our faces and no where to hide, and dumpy shacks for hotels. fortunately we could just climb back in the car and keep driving until we found someplace that spoke to us. we then drove the craziest (ie scariest) coastal highway...just a 1-lane road (and I mean 1-lane for BOTH directions, really you only get half a lane, so when an oncoming vehicle speeding towards you pops out of nowhere, you have to brake and squeeze over to the side). Darvin did a great job driving, but not only was I carsick from the windy road, I was also terrified of driving off the cliffs (no guardrails of course.) We also drove through the teeniest little villages, tiny little settlements that were so cute and just tucked into the countryside. It was a beautiful drive, and we finally made it to our ideal destination - a cute beach town called "Paleochora". According to the guidebooks it used to be an old hippy town, settled in the 60s. there wasn't really anything hippy about it, but it was super cute, had a great waterfront with really good restaurants, and several beaches. It was also the perfect base for exploring the Samaria Gorge - Europe's biggest gorge!

We took a 1.5 hr bus ride from town and were dropped off at the top. We then started the 6 hour descent, it was spectacular! I felt like we were in the mountains of Yoho - they were HUGE! The last thing I expected from Crete was to be surrounded by rocky mountains! The valleys were massive and the descent was steep. The entire hike was downhill (my legs are still hurting, 4 days later), and it did actually take us 6 hours and we were going at a good pace. When we finally got down to the gorge it was at the heat of the day, with the sun blasting us from above. The narrowest part of the gorge, called "The Iron Gates" was only 3 meters across. When we finally reached the bottom we jumped in the sea for a swim, and had just enough time to buy a couple of cold beers from the grocery store before catching a ferry back to town. All in all, the Samaria Gorge is a must see! it was definitely a spectacular hike, and really the coolest, most unexpected terrain in Greece.

We took our time driving back through the centre of Crete, stopping in an adorable little village for coffee and getting treated to Cretan hospitality - we could not go before doing a shot of something out of the little granny's freezer that tasted a bit like vodka. We then stopped at a really beautiful beach with killer waves for a quick dip in the sea, where we met some fellow Canadians who were going sailing with their sons and wives. i personally think this would be a great way to spend a vacation! Hey gang - for our next "group trip" who is up for renting a sailboat, hiring a skipper, and sailing around the Greek Islands?

We spent our final night in Greece at the little beach hotel, and woke up early in the morning to drive the rest of the way back to the city and catch our morning flight to Belgrade. Our time in Greece was complete and it really ended on a high note! We feel so lucky to have found such incredible places in Crete...it was truly a highlight!

We are off now for the Eastern European leg of our journey, and will keep you posted on our adventures!



Darvin Wrote:

Greece for me was a bit of a dream come true. I have always been fascinated with ancient history and all things military so finally getting the chance to see the "birthplace of western civilization" was a huge deal. I have always had a very vivid imagination when it comes to trying to place myself in the shoes of those who lived in ancient times, thinking about how they managed to accomplish so much and overcome such immense hardships, all the while under the constant threat of invasion. A part of me was sad to see such incredible things as the acropolis in Athens in a such bad shape after so many years of abuse, but I was also excited by the restoration and preservation efforts that were taking place. There were many moments when we were looking at items in the National Archeological Museum in Athens, or even when we were walking through the ancient ruins around Greece that I recognized them from the photos in my texts from an ancient civilization university course I took years ago, and looking back that was some of the best money I have ever spent on an educational course.

Highlights for me from our time in Greece:

- The Acropolis in Athens, even more stunning as I hoped it would be.

- The cliff side towns of Santorini, those Greeks are living on the edge in style for sure. =)

- Amorgos, the whole island is magical and the cliff side monastery along with the stunning little beach below it have been highlights of my time away from home so far.

- Crazy Crete! Touring Knossos and learning about the Minoan Civilization (THE coolest ancient civilization EVER), driving in Crete was the most insane I have ever experienced (Woo Hoo!), our hike down the Samaria Gorge which made us feel incredibly tiny, the hidden remote beaches and the quiet little villages tucked away in the interior, all in all Crete was the perfect way to end our time in Greece.

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Photos

Well Earned Beers
After hiking down the Samaria Gorge (1200 meter descent, 16 km trail, 6 hours in the blistering heat) we had a few beers on the ferry ride back to our lovely oceanside digs.