Greece (Athens and the Cyclades)... the End

After our long journey from Siena to the Rome Airport, we finally arrived in Athens.  Due to the fact that we were unable to sleep the night that we traveled, we happily arrived at our hotel ready to sleep for the rest of the day.  Considering we only gave ourselves two days in Athens and one day was spent sleeping, we awoke early the following morning to see what Athens had to offer.

We began at the Ancient Agora, where Plato and Socrates would have spent their time philosophizing.  It was reminiscent of the Forum in Rome.  Ruins of the various buildings remained; the best preserved building was the Temple of Hephaestus on top of a hill.  The details that still remained on the top of this temple from the 4^th century BC were incredible.  From the Agora we could see the Acropolis on top of a hill (funny that Acropolis means top of a hill, probably no connection…).  After we had looked around the Agora for a while, we trekked up the steep walkways to the Acropolis, the most famous landmark in the city.

Temple of Hephaestus

Parthenon, with lots of renovation!

This elevated vantage point gave us a better perspective on the foreign city.  Athens is relatively flat, without large skyscrapers, and spreads out in all directions one can see.  There are a few mountains that stick up from the flat white image of the city that add a unique element missing from many other cities.  Within the Acropolis complex are the Parthenon, Temple of Athena, Dionysus Theatre, and other ruins of buildings.  As amazing as these sights were, it was a little hard to get past the renovations that were taking place on the Parthenon and interrupting the enjoyment of this influential building.  From there we took a quick walk down to the Temple of Olympian Zeus.  This again was an impressive display of ruins and Greek architecture, although there were only a few remaining columns.  If you go to Athens there is a ticket that gives you admission into all of these places mentioned for about 12 euro (6 for students).

Temple of Olympian Zeus

Yummy Yummy Kebabs!

We spent about 4 hours seeing the historic sights and we pretty much had had enough of Athens.  We found that Athens did not offer much more than these few sights.  We have enjoyed exploring all the cities we have visited, however we were not inclined to do so in Athens.  Everything, even the designer shops, is covered with graffiti which greatly detracts from the appeal of this city.  Beyond this, the streets are dirty and seem haphazard, and do not seem particularly safe after dark.  We did enjoy the Greek cuisine of kebabs and Greek salads while we were there, but we were ready to leave Athens and start our tour of the Islands!  Our tour consisted of spending two nights on four different islands.

As seen everywhere

We took a ferry from the port in Athens to the island of Mykonos.  We spent our first two nights in Mykonos in a tiny, plywood cabin right at a resort on the water.  Aside from our sleeping arrangements we had a pleasant time on this island.  The downtown area contained small, narrow whitewashed pedestrian streets filled with shops and restaurants.  This area was very picturesque and we dined at some great restaurants, breaking our tradition of only eating kebabs.  There was a beautiful area with a row of windmills where we watched the sunset one night.  The beach we were at was a little bit of a disappointment because it was full of beach beds that you had to pay for.  We of course went out and bought a beach towel (one beach towel for the two of us to share, a clear indication of our monetary status).  The sand was also very rough on our feet at this beach, but there was a very large rock that spanned the entire beach that housed some beautiful fish.  We were excited to be out of the hustle and bustle of the city life, enjoying the relaxation of the island life.

We then boarded another ferry that took us to the island of Paros.  We were greeted by our hostess at the port and were taken to our guesthouse.  It was quite the difference from our accommodation in Mykonos which we were highly pleased about.  We also decided to rent an ATV to explore the island.  We highly recommend renting an ATV or car when visiting the islands because it gives you more freedom to explore and find some great little beaches that are less populated.  We actually planned our trip well because we got to the islands at the beginning of the low season which meant that prices were better and it was much less crowded.  It is actually incredibly cheap to stay on the islands; the comfortable guesthouse in Paros was about $40 total per night!

Where we were able to jump off cliffs

Our ATV

In Paros we found beautiful beaches that suited us much better than those in Mykonos.  Our second day we took our ATV on the ferry to visit the smaller island of Antiparos (vacation home to Brad and Angelina).  We also found great beaches here and were able to go up the hills and see some amazing views.  Many people cliff dive here so while we were riding around we saw a small area with pristine waters where we could hike down to and then jump off.  Although it was a rough walk down through uneven terrain it was worth it.  That night we went back to Paros and had a wonderful dinner of traditional Greek food that had been recommended to us.  Like Mykonos there was a whitewashed downtown area that was very beautiful.

You can see the semicircle shape of the island

Our next destination was Santorini.  This is the picturesque island that everyone thinks of when they picture the Greek Islands.  It was truly breathtaking.  Santorini was formed by a volcano that erupted, so the island is a semicircle and you can see the volcano out in center of the bay.  The inside face of the semicircle terminates in a high, sheer cliff face.  It was a spectacular sight, and very different from the first two islands we had visited.

We rented an ATV here as well and set out to explore the most popular island in Greece.  Due to the volcano, some of the beaches have black sand.  They were beautiful and not crowded; another advantage of visiting after the end of the high season.  Along the beach there are volcanic rocks and once you get about 15 feet out into the water you are walking on smooth hardened lava, devoid of sand.  It is one of the most unique things we had ever seen.  In Santorini there was also a red beach that you could hike over to, however we preferred the black beaches of Perissa.

In Santorini we stayed right in the center of Fira, which is the main town on the island.  It was truly beautiful, with white buildings climbing the sides of the cliff.  There were paths that could be taken down to the water; however the return walk would have been extremely rough.  They use donkeys to take people down the steep cliffs, however we were advised not to because the treatment of these animals is not always very good (not that we would have wanted to anyways).  Our first night we went to the town of Oia on the tip of Santorini.  This is a place known for its sunset which was clear by the number of people jostling for a spot to look out.  We were lucky enough to find a restaurant to get a drink at and enjoy the sunset.  In Oia we also went down to their marina which was beautiful and had red cliffs in the background that contrasted nicely with the clear blue water.

The town of Fira

The town of Oia (on the hill) and its bay

Santorini is the most popular island for a reason and proved to be our favorite of the islands we visited.  Our opinions might have been different if we had gone a month earlier because even in the low season the towns were crowded with tourists from cruise ships that docked there (they actually docked in the middle of the water because the port is too small).  Our host, a party loving Italian named Corrado, told us that he swims until the first week in December so if you have a choice it would be best to go early spring or during the fall.

Our final destination was the island of Ios.  This is an island most known for its night life.  Therefore the center of town was not as nice as the other islands because it wasn’t very accommodating to the daytime crowd.  We did stay at a wonderful resort that was right on the water and offered water sport activities.  We passed on paying 30 euro for 10 minutes of water skiing or tubing though.  The hours spent on Keyser Lake definitely lowered our price point for that activity!  It was enjoyable to be in the relaxed atmosphere and spend some time on the beach working on our tans during our final days. 

The view from our resort in Ios

We were finally ready to start the second half of our world travels…in China!  Thanks to everyone who has followed us on our travels.  We truly had a trip of a lifetime.  Now we are excited to spend some time with Matt’s family and enjoy even more fabulous experiences!  See you in November!