Back in Athens

Finally made it off the boat last night. Wasn’t any dock space left when we arrived so we kinda had to circle around and wait for a space to open up. Once we made it to the dock we were quite a ways from the bus going where we needed to go. Once we made it to the bus stop we realized we didn’t know which bus we needed to take so finally got a cab and made it home.

This morning…C O F F E E!!!!! Was So good. The rest of the day has been spent catching up on laundry…the Greek way. Just nice to be settled once again and not feel like you need to spend the whole day seeing what there is to see.

Wanted to catch up on the dirty laundry so tried my hand at using the French washing machine and hanging the clothes as is the custom in Greece. Finally got the machine figured out...well at least I think I did, not sure I got the detergent in the right hole, but the clothes smelled right when they came out.

Decided to take a trip on my own to the grocery store to pick up a few things…beer, chips, just the staples!!! First thing out of the door took the elevator to “1”…assuming that was the 1st floor. Got off and tried to get out of the door leading outside. Thought well, maybe I need to used the key to unlock it…luckily I came to my senses prior to inserting the key…something just didn’t seem right. Turns out it was the apartment on the floor below. I looked in the elevator again and “ground floor” is “0”!!!!

So…finally got out of the building and headed to the store. Looked around the first floor, found all I needed then me and my basket got on the elevator and went to the second floor…all done headed to the checkout. When I paid all my things were there in a pile with plastic bags piled on top of them…I finally got the idea I was supposed to sack my own…thought I was at Aldi!

Left the store, made one more stop and headed home. Went up to the elevator door…wouldn’t open, put my key in…wouldn’t work. Finally looked around and realized I was at the wrong building, so went to the next building over…tried to open the elevator door, wouldn’t work, tried to unlock it with the key, wouldn’t open…finally pushed the buzzer and got the door open from above.

Made it in the house, unloaded the groceries and found I was missing 5 items, so took my receipt and marched right back to the store. Three women hollering Greek all across the store but the outcome was…”sorry”. I thought well I’ll check the other place I stopped just to check…sure ‘nuff there was my bag sitting on the Pepsi machine, so finally got the whole purchase home.

It has been a BUSY day!!!!

Adio Santorini

Adio Santorini!!! Up this morning and gathered everything and got it all packed so we would be ready when the time came, and decided just how we were going to get everything to the bus station. Managed to get everything into one bag and two back packs “stuffed” except for the one plastic bag of snacks we are carrying along!!

After gathering things up and having chocolate milk and éclair, we boarded the scooter for a trip to Oia. The drive alone was worth the trip, but once in Oia…what a beautiful little town. The streets in the market center (narrow walkways like all other Greek cities) were all marble tile, lined with white Greek shops, restaurants (tavernas), and hotels. All set on a cliff at the end of Santorini.

We were only there a couple of hours, just to see the sights, then headed back to the hotel to get checked out. We had decided that we would be able to get the bag, two backpacks, bag of goodies, two helmets, and the two of us on a scooter and go to the bus station for a two hour wait for the bus to the port. I waited there while John returned the scooter and walked back to the bus station…then he took up guard of the bags while I did a little last minute shopping in Thira.

Now it was time to board the bus for Athenios port for a two hour wait for our boat to Pireus. We picked out a sidewalk café and ordered a beer, tomato balls, and chicken gyro plate. Once we finished eating, we again took turn watching bags while the other did some shopping in the port. When they announced it was time to load the boat we were first in line. We found our seats and settled in for the 5 hour trip to Pireas. We made stops in Ios, Naxos, and Parros, then on to Pireas.

If you ever wanna get around the Greek Isles, these Jet Boats are the way to go…comfortable and fast.

After the stop in Naxos we split a calzone to hold us for the evening. Once in Pireas we gathered out things and caught the bus and were finally back “home away from home”.

I have to hand it to Afroessa, the staff was great, especially Ioanna and Eddie…made sure we were comfortable in every way and took care of everything. Would recommend them to anyone coming to Santorini.

As for Smart sightings today…several…….

….and one Smart ass!!! ;-)

Santorini Saturday

Another cloudless day in Santorini, warm sun and cool air. Had crossiant and chocolate milk, then packed our bags for the beach.

Stopped by our regular ‘Quick Shop’ and picked up sandwich’s and drinks and headed to Perissa Beach. It is on the other side of the huge white rock and is an extended Black Beach like the one we went Friday. The sand was black and HOT, if you were going to be walking you sure needed shoes or flip flops to keep your feet from burning. All of the entrances to the beach have wooden walkways leading to the umbrella areas.

The street that runs along the beach is about two miles long and is all shops and restaurants up and down the beach. We stayed there till about2 pm…our white dog from the day before came to see us again…then we packed up and headed back to the hotel.

Stayed in and brought dinner in…Souflaki…and sat on the balcony and ate and watched the sunset. On the way back today we checked the bus schedules to go from Thira to the boat docks to catch our boat tomorrow afternoon. Will get up early and make that trip to Oia, then back in time to check out, run the bags to the bus station, return the scooter (just down the street from the bus station) then hop on the bus.

Santorini, for all you Headley’s, was named after Saint Irene…thus Santorini. So guess Irene (or Irean) was named after a Greek Island!!!

It’s been a wonderful visit with beautiful sights.

Santorini Friday

Friday morning in Santorini started as usual. No coffee…but had chocolate milk and rolls we brought in from the night before. A beautiful morning with fog or mist rolling in over the peak next to our hotel. Seems that is the only place it was. Took some pictures from around the pool then we packed our backpack and headed for the Red Beach.

We stopped at the market and picked up sandwiches and drinks to take to the beach then off our our journey that took us to the far end of the island. We finally found the Red Beach and parked to start our trek over the peaks to reach the beach by foot.

Once there we marveled at the sights of all the black boulders thrown from the volcano then were greeted by the sight of the ‘red’ beach. All of the cliffs overhanging the beach were red as was most of the sand and rock on the beach itself. It was a pretty sight, but kind of isolated. The pictures we took were still a peak away from actually setting foot on the beach, and as you can see there were no services available close by. So after further consideration we decided NOT to spend the day at this beach but to travel to the other end of the island to go to Monolith beach.

Once there this beach seemed to be a little run down and deserted, so back on the bike and return to the Black Beach. It was fairly busy and the streets running by are filled with café’s, bars, and shops, so we settled in next to an umbrella and broke out the sandwiches.

I have found a new color I think…Santorini Brown, that is the color I am now after several days at the beach. We stayed till about 4 then headed back to the hotel. We went out later to pick up gyros and a chicken Gyro plate to bring back to the hotel and have dinner on the balcony.

That pretty much took care of the day, tomorrow a trip to Oia is planned.

Double “Smarts” today!!! ;-)

Thursday Santorini

Up this morning after a sleepless night, worrying about Lee!!! Saw this morning where he won though….yeah!!!! No hotel breakfast here, so got packed for the beach and headed out. Stopped at a little deli and picked up some breakfast rolls, subs for later on the beach and chocolate milks….first morning in a while without coffee.

We packed our goodies in the back pack and headed out for the black beach. This is a beach on the other end of the island that was left with black sand and rocks after one of the earthquakes that have devasted the island over the years. When we arrived, not many people there but it filled up quickly. The water is still a little cold for me, but the sun was great.

We got there around 10 and stayed till around 4. Found a new friend, she was just happy to find someone to give her a drink. Finally decided it was time to pack up and head back to the hotel and get cleaned up for dinner…hopefully something light and stick around the hotel for the famous Santorini sunsets.

Went into Thira this afternoon to walk around and see all the shops and sights. Started to go on the cable car down the side of the mountain but the line was L O N G, so decided to try that another day. We started down the steps, but when I saw how far they went I said let’s go back to the main street and find a gyro and a gelato. Well first we stopped for a beer in a little bar overlooking the sea and pearched high on the bluff.

We finally made it back to the main street and sat down for our Gyro. It was then we noticed the sun was about to set so we hopped on the bike and think we must have gone 90 mph back to the hotel to watch the sunset and get some pics. You can see in this picture the island on the right and the island on the left form part of the circle of the rim, the other part being the half circle on which our hotel is hanging. The water is smoother than any lake I’ve ever seen, certainly smoother than Ft.Cobb lake where I used to go as a teen, and certainly smoother than Eagle Mountain where I used to pull the boys on tubes. This water is so smooth it looks like mastic for tile that has been spread at right angles.

Well that’s about it for today…if you can see the little town on the island on the right in the picture, that is where we are going tomorrow (actually I erred, that is not an island, it is an extension of Santorini) to visit, see the beaches, and check out the local restaurants. Oh....and that SUNSET!!!

Oh….and the Smart of the day!!!

Mykonos to Santorini

Up this morning and breakfast as usual at the hotel, a beautiful morning in Mykonos. After breakfast it was time to get ready for a travel day, gather all the stuff, repack, return the scooter and make sure we have bus tickets to the ‘new port’ to catch the ferry to Santorini.

The last bus was scheduled to leave at 12:45 and the ferry scheduled to leave at 2:55, so there would be a little time to kill at the port. Didn’t seem to be a problem, but once at the port there was really nothing to do except people watch and wait for our “Flying Cat” to arrive so we could board.

Prior to leaving on the bus we shopped a couple of stores for last minute items, then boarded the bus for the port. Once there we got something to drink and settled in for to await the arrival of the ferry.

Around 2:30 in the distance you could see the fast moving ferry skimming across the water headed our way. The port was rather deserted, but then how many people normally travel from Mykonos to Santorini on a Wednesday morning…it’s for sure we had no idea.

We watched as the jet boat got closer and closer, just when we thought it should be turning in our direction to prepare to dock, it kept going straight. This WAS the port we arrived at on Friday…where could the boat be going. All I could think of was flash backs to Berlin in 2006!!! It was then we realized the boat was going to the downtown port and here we were at the ‘new port’. We asked a woman at the concession stand and she said that boat leaves from the ‘old port’ and it leaves in about 10 minutes. We scrambled around and finally hailed a taxi to speed us to the old port in hopes of catching our scheduled boat. When we got there it was a ‘sea’ of people waiting to board, so we pushed our way through them to the boarding platform and luckily made it in time to board for Santorini. After that it was pretty much an uneventful ride with stops at Pharros and Ilios.

Once we arrived at Santorini we were met by a towering wall of cliffs and rocks and a van to take us to our hotel. It was some ride up the steep hills and across the island to Hotel Afroessa. Once there and checked in it was some walk down steep steps to our room perched on the side of a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean Sea. After getting settled in the room we took off on foot looking for transportation. I had a car reserved for the next day, but nothing for tonight, so we walked…seemed like 5 miles…and finally found a scooter so we would be able to park close to the room.

We finally booked the scooter then set out to find a place to eat. We went to Simos for dinner…nice little local restaurant…had a nice dinner, then stopped by a store to pick up some snacks for the room and made it back to the room in one piece.

The internet seems not to be working…maybe because I’m barely hanging on to the side of this cliff, so will have to post this as a connection becomes available.

Oh…and a couple of “Smart” sightings today!!!!

Elia

We were up this morning and down to breakfast in the hotel, then out by the pool for coffee. Only one more morning here before departing for Santorini.

After breakfast we packed the backpack and hopped on the scooter and headed for Elia beach on the other side of the island. Was a cloudless morning and about 75…not a cloud in the sky.

The ride to Elia was very scenic and cool. Lots of nice housed and rolling hills. Once at Elia we found our beach lounges and umbrellas and ordered our drinks and settled in for some sun.The water was SO clear you could still see your feet...well as far as I could wade!! Before you know it almost 5 hours had passed and it was time to head back to Ornos.

Got here, checked out the markets and see I’m losing my a__ back home, so said to h___ with it and gonna get ready to go out to dinner. Will be on a “Smart” outlook and continue shortly.

Went to a little local café around the corner…was nice, spaghetti and chicken gyro. Then a short walk till we decided that was it, stopped for the obligatory gelato, then started back toward the hotel.

Stopped to check the bus schedule for tomorrow so we can take the bus to the boat dock, then noticed the beautiful sunset for our last night on Mykonos. Off to Santorini tomorrow.
Oh yes….and though there were SEVERAL Smart ‘sightings’, only one recorded.

...and just so you know, you can click on any of the images in the blog and see them full size.

Monday in Mykonos

Monday morning in Mykonos…beautiful SUNNY day. Up early and breakfast as usual, then off to the beach. Found a really nice beach FULL of people…in fact I saw more breasts today than I’ve ever seen in my life!!! LOL

Got there around 11 am and stayed till 4pm…just now back at the hotel for a short rest, then out for a crepe and gelato. Is only 75 degrees, NO wind, and the sun is really strong…though I spend 5 hours in the sun I don’t feel like I got any at all…maybe tomorrow I’ll notice it.

Got a new Diesel hat to cover my head…it is burned from Delos yesterday. Bout it for so far today, will add more after dinner.

We took a stroll on foot again down through the market place again, found a neat place for a Gyro. Decided to eat light again…if a gyro is ‘light’, then from there walked on down to the harbor area and had a Gelato and watched the kids playing and the people walking by.

After that a walk by the windmills to watch the sunset and take some pictures, then a stop by the store to pick up ‘staples’ (beer, coke, and chips), then back to the hotel to finish the day.

Looking forward to another beautiful day tomorrow and a day at the beach in Elia.

No Smart car sightings today, or at least no Smart car pictures!!!

Day in Delos

After a beautiful sunset and a good nights sleep, were up early this morning for our complimentary breakfast and off on the scooter to the harbor area to catch a boat to the Archaeological Site of Delos. Although only 5 Km long and 1.3 Km wide, it is one of the most sacred places in ancient Greek history because Apollo and Artemis were born there. Cleopatra also had a ‘mansion’ there.

We caught the boat and after 30-45 minutes arrived and began our tour (self guided) of the ruins. This island is uninhabited with only archeologists allowed to stay on the island. It was settled 2500 BC and at it’s largest was home to 35,000 residents with theaters, water delivery canals, stadiums, and home to the largest trade port in the Mediterranean.

You can see samples of tile work on the walls and floors that have survived the centuries and examples of early “pier and beam” construction.

It was very interesting to see the narrow streets of homes and shopping plazas of such an ancient civilization.

After our time there we boarded the return boat to Mykonos and returned to the hotel for the afternoon rest period. Will go out later for fresh seafood and to witness Sunday night life in Mykonos!!!

Struck out on foot deciding to go ‘healthy’ and have just a salad for dinner. Stopped at three different restaurants looking for ‘just the right thing’ and finally wound up at Nikos Taverna. Had a small Greek Salad and Mousaka then headed for the nearest Gelato place for a dip of Nutella and a dip of Cheesecake in a waffle cone!!! UM-UM Good!

Ran into another ‘old’ friend while walking the streets, so had to get another picture. It was the pelican!!!!

Now for that long walk back up that hill through the winding narrow streets of Mykonos. While is was cool and only 70 today, certainly got some sun on my hairless head!!!

Settled in for a nice evening in the room and planning a trip to Elia beach tomorrow. Thoughts of Lil Girl and missing her!!!

All pics can be viewed at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/26606370@N05/sets/72157623999970753/

Saturday in Mykonos

Well day 1 Mykonos began with breakfast in the hotel, was very good. Had breakfast inside, then coffee on the patio. After that it was time to decide how we were going to get around the area so we walked across the street and got a scooter. It is a fun way to run around.

Was a little cool this morning, but after we went to a couple of beaches we went downtown Mykonos to stroll the streets and shop. Actually it started to get a little warm, but we just kept walking and looking.

We ran right into the middle of a Greek wedding in the little church by the harbor, then checked out trips to Delos…an uninhabited island with only ruins remaining. Thought it might be educational.

Then as we continued we saw what I guess is the pet pelican and of course had to stop for pictures of that as well.

Then we went to a restaurant we had looked at earlier and had Souflaki and Lamb kebob. Was very good, but did start to rain while we were there. We were on the patio, but it was covered. It started to get really cool again…in fact after we got back to the hotel the Greek TV stations were talking about what they were calling the Greek Winter because it has remained so cool so late.

Well full and tired, we headed back to the hotel for a little rest before heading out later tonight.

It rained a little more this afternoon, so decided to go out on foot rather than the scooter. Headed down to the market area and up and down the narrow streets again. We accidently found this Italian restaurant Dr. Brownlee had told me about, where the guys are making pasta in front of the restaurant. We walked up just as someone was leaving so got a table right away. Ordered fresh handmade ravioli and wine…was a great dinner. After dinner we walked around a bit more then had gelato for a nitecap…um-um good!!!

We headed back to the hotel after realizing we had walked to where we just HAD to have a scooter to get to earlier, but it was a long walk back….all uphill!!! Oh well, had a great time and came back and watched the European Cup before going to sleep for the night.


Oh yeah, and ONE “recorded” Smart Car sighting today!!!