Greece Sep 2015

Decided not to do the usual Greek Isles sailing trip and opted to stay settled in 3 places to enjoy the sunsets and the city at night.

We started in Athens and saw the Acropolis and Parthenon.  I can't believe we're standing in such a historical place!  'Acro' means the highest point and 'polis' means city.  It was built at the highest point in the city so everyone could see it and access it to make offerings.

It was also good to visit The New Acropolis Museum because it helped us understand the history of the Acropolis site.  Athens was named after Athina, who offered the olive tree to the people, whereas Poseidon offered a stream of water.  

Lycabettus Hill and Filapappou Hill, both had great views of the city; miles and miles of short white buildings.

Other ruins in the city include the Temple of Zeus and Ancient Agora.








It was an 8 hour ferry ride to Santorini.  We booked a tour that would show us all that this island has to offer and it was my favourite place of the trip.  The original name for the island is Thira, but people called it Saint Irene and it morphed to Santorini and it stuck.

We started at the archaeological site of Ancient Akrotiri.  It is 2000 years older than Pompeii.  The volcano exploded and buried the city under pumice and volcanic ash, making the ruins well preserved.  This left the caldera (crater of a volcano) and made 3 islands in its place.

Santorini has more churches than houses, more donkeys than people and more wine than water.

We stopped at a winery to check out the wine and the view.  It's just the pictures you see on the internet with blue domed churches and white buildings.


We went to the northern tip of the island of Oia for the sunset.  All the sunset postcards are from here.  We ate at a rooftop restaurant just to enjoy the view.  It was a great day.

We went to the Nea Kamani (meaning new birth) volcano the next day.  It was a short boat ride over and a steep hike up the rocky volcano to get to the view.  The hot springs were nearby, but part of the ocean and people had to swim in, not like the ones I've been to where they are mostly in caves.

After 4 hours on a fast hydrofoil, we were in Mykonos.  Mykonos is the name of Apollo's grandson.  Our first stop was the beach right down the street, Megali Ammos.

We went into town to see the famous windmills, Little Venice and the most photographed church in the world, Paraportiani.

We found a bakery that's been in existence since 1420!  That's the beauty of Europe, it's so old.








I love the narrow cobble stone streets.  So quaint, full of shops, galleries, etc.

This town is gay friendly and full of night clubs and bars, but we didn't party.  In fact, it was a great way to wind down at the end of our travels.















Food was great throughout the country.  Even with my food allergies, we could order tomato & cucumber salad, tried lots of mezzes (appetizers like lamb kleftiko, sausage, dolmades, seafood, hummus), fresh fruit and dried fruit and nuts.

I couldn't have the yogurt, but I hear it was good.


Food and drink was expensive, the same number as Canada but in Euros ($8 CDN beer was now 8 Euros), and our Canadian exchange was x 1.5!




















We also had beer and ouzo along the way.

Greece has so much to offer, I hope to go back again one day to different islands, they all have a different character.