Hey everyone,
Kelly and I arrived back in Athens tonight after a 9 hour ferry ride! Whew. It was tedious but at least the ferry boats are really nice. We were a bit worried about being stuck here tomorrow since there is a general strike planned, however the airports are not suppossed to be affected. Its about 1 am here and we are doing some quick posts and then off to get some shut eye before our flight out tomorrow.
While we didn't get to share everything we experienced in the blog with you guys due to timing and internet access, we wanted to share some last thoughts with how much we enjoyed our trip. Driving back to our hotel tonight we saw another glimpse of the Parthenon. It's still as spectacular to me as the first time we saw it, and I can't imagine it would ever seem commonplace. Kelly and I have talked about it several times and we both agree that we have had some amazing experiences in seeing the Acropolis, walking in the same footsteps as those so long ago in Delphi, and even our "walking" trips that always seemed to turn into hiking through mountains or competing with crazy drivers of two lane windy mountain streets or staggering on the edge of a cliff. The bottom line is we have great stories that will last a lifetime. Thanks to everyone that followed the blog! We will be back in Chicago in less than 24 hours time . Woohoo! Hopefully we will post some pics to the blog so you all can see. Between Kelly and I am sure we took over 1000 ;)
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Red Beach
Hey everyone!
Its about 1 AM here in Greece and Erin and I just got to our Athens hotel. We took a 9 hr ferry ride from Santorini back to Athens today. Its funny the hotel receptionist must be more tired than us because he put us in a quad room. We have four twin beds and more than enough space. No complaints here!
Our last day in Santorini was nice. The weather finally improved. It was still a bit chilly but overall the wind was gone which was really nice. As usual, we woke up and ate a hearty breakfast (All our hotels include free breakfast so we stock up on the carbs and protein in the morning so we only have to buy dinner - so cheap that way :) ) WE then headed off to see the Red Beach. We hiked up a cliff of red rock to see this AMAZING view of the red beach. The cliff which surrounded the beach was made of large sheets of red rock. The beach itself was mostly red and black pebbles with some fine black and red sand. We then hiked through the red cliffs to get down to the beach. As per usual, we didn't think in advance about the possible hike and were wearing flip flops at the time. It was definitely not the best hiking gear day but after our narrow escape from the mountain on our trip to Oia nothing seems quite as bad. We enjoyed some R and R on the beach and read our books while trying to soak up some sun. The sea was way to menacing to try and go for a dip but we enjoyed its beauty.
We headed back to the hotel after a couple hours and got ready to reexplore the village of Oia (given our general lack of energy and/or enthusiasm on the last pass, we wanted to give it another go before leaving Santorini). WE ate dinner at this cafe that was, unfortunately, pretty bad. Erin had lamb in lemon sauce which served as no comparison to the same dish in Kamari. I had the seafood spaghetti which was generally lacking any flavor. It was kind of sad actually :( The worst part was that we stayed too long at dinner and got the edge of the village just to see the last part of the sun go down. We were pretty sad we missed the sunset but we still got some great pictures.
Well, thank you all for following our blog! We are excited to come home tomorrow :)
Kelly
Its about 1 AM here in Greece and Erin and I just got to our Athens hotel. We took a 9 hr ferry ride from Santorini back to Athens today. Its funny the hotel receptionist must be more tired than us because he put us in a quad room. We have four twin beds and more than enough space. No complaints here!
Our last day in Santorini was nice. The weather finally improved. It was still a bit chilly but overall the wind was gone which was really nice. As usual, we woke up and ate a hearty breakfast (All our hotels include free breakfast so we stock up on the carbs and protein in the morning so we only have to buy dinner - so cheap that way :) ) WE then headed off to see the Red Beach. We hiked up a cliff of red rock to see this AMAZING view of the red beach. The cliff which surrounded the beach was made of large sheets of red rock. The beach itself was mostly red and black pebbles with some fine black and red sand. We then hiked through the red cliffs to get down to the beach. As per usual, we didn't think in advance about the possible hike and were wearing flip flops at the time. It was definitely not the best hiking gear day but after our narrow escape from the mountain on our trip to Oia nothing seems quite as bad. We enjoyed some R and R on the beach and read our books while trying to soak up some sun. The sea was way to menacing to try and go for a dip but we enjoyed its beauty.
We headed back to the hotel after a couple hours and got ready to reexplore the village of Oia (given our general lack of energy and/or enthusiasm on the last pass, we wanted to give it another go before leaving Santorini). WE ate dinner at this cafe that was, unfortunately, pretty bad. Erin had lamb in lemon sauce which served as no comparison to the same dish in Kamari. I had the seafood spaghetti which was generally lacking any flavor. It was kind of sad actually :( The worst part was that we stayed too long at dinner and got the edge of the village just to see the last part of the sun go down. We were pretty sad we missed the sunset but we still got some great pictures.
Well, thank you all for following our blog! We are excited to come home tomorrow :)
Kelly
Monday, May 17, 2010
Misadventures in Greece/Beautiful and Dangerous
Hey everyone,
Kelly and I are getting back from a very long day so it is going to be a brief post. WE hiked the tril from Fira to Oia yesterday and it was beautiful, except where we got lost. Somehere after 5 km we got off the path, had to traverse the side of a cliff (which I seriuously thought we would not get through alive), and then walk the windy two lane roads throught he mountains for 2 miles before we got to Oia. I can't even descirbe in words how crazy the experience was. Bottom line, we are alive, got into town 10 mins before the sunset, and left 30 mins later with a gyro in hand.
WE dod the Volcano tour and hot springs today. The boat dropped us off about 200 m from shore so Kel didn't feel comfortable swimming that far since we aren't the strongest swimmers. We got great pics of the hike today andpics of the people adventurous enough to win the length of to the hot springs. We did some shoppping and spent the rest of the night exploring Fira. Tomorrow is our last day in Sanotorini and, even though the weather hasn't been great, we are planning on going all out. We want to see the Red and White beaches, see Oia a bit more in depth, and return to Kamari for dinner....We'll see how much we get done.
Erin
Kelly and I are getting back from a very long day so it is going to be a brief post. WE hiked the tril from Fira to Oia yesterday and it was beautiful, except where we got lost. Somehere after 5 km we got off the path, had to traverse the side of a cliff (which I seriuously thought we would not get through alive), and then walk the windy two lane roads throught he mountains for 2 miles before we got to Oia. I can't even descirbe in words how crazy the experience was. Bottom line, we are alive, got into town 10 mins before the sunset, and left 30 mins later with a gyro in hand.
WE dod the Volcano tour and hot springs today. The boat dropped us off about 200 m from shore so Kel didn't feel comfortable swimming that far since we aren't the strongest swimmers. We got great pics of the hike today andpics of the people adventurous enough to win the length of to the hot springs. We did some shoppping and spent the rest of the night exploring Fira. Tomorrow is our last day in Sanotorini and, even though the weather hasn't been great, we are planning on going all out. We want to see the Red and White beaches, see Oia a bit more in depth, and return to Kamari for dinner....We'll see how much we get done.
Erin
Sunday, May 16, 2010
Santorini
Hey everyone,
Kelly and I arrived in Santorini yesterday afternoon. It is getting more expensive for us to get internet cards so we havent been updating frequently. We took the ferry into the island and coming in was a beautiful view right into the caldera. Our hotel is sloped downward and has an amazing view of the volcano (granted the VIP villas have a much better view, we just walk a few feet and peer over the ledge :)) We went into Kamari yesterday and saw the Black beach. It was by far one of the best experiences for us both since it was so unique and like nothing we had ever seen before. After that we alked around for a bit and stumbled upon a cute local restaurant. We sat down and realized it was all local Greeks and we were the only tourists there. WE figure that was a good sign that it was a great local place. Surely enough, as time went by the place was crowded and more tourists came so we felt less obnoxious about not knowing how to order in Greek. We had the best white wine in adorable carafs and a meal that was so authentic. Kelly had the lamb in lemon sauce and I had to try the pork souvlaki before we left Greece. WE finished our meal with some baklava and ice cream. I couldn't help but laugh the whole meal b/c our waitor looked like the RA on Saved by the Bell the College Years except Greek, you know the big muscly guy. It was hysterical (maybe only to me). Today, we woke up to find out that our volcano tour and swin in hte hot springs was canceled b/c of the weather (Its CRAZY windy here) We couldn't even enjoy the amazing pools b/c its just too windy and cold. Sooooooooooooooo we decided to hit the wineries :) We walked to a place call SAnto wines and had twelve, yes count them twelve, flights of wine with some cheese and bread. Little did we know their version of flights are much different than ours at home. The glasses were half full, and we enjoyed every bit of it. The reds were not so great in our opinion but the whites were out of this world. We also tried their dessert wine called Vinsanto, which was interesting. Both Kel and I are not fans of dessert wines since they are so sweet, but these were definitely pretty good. We are planning to do a 6 mile hike from Fira (where our hotel is located) to Oia to see the sunset. We're going to pack a little picnic as well and hang out in the town for a bit. (FYI Oia is where they filmed Sisterhood of the traveling pants) We'll update soon! Back home Thursday and we AREN'T ready at all:(
Erin and Kelly
Kelly and I arrived in Santorini yesterday afternoon. It is getting more expensive for us to get internet cards so we havent been updating frequently. We took the ferry into the island and coming in was a beautiful view right into the caldera. Our hotel is sloped downward and has an amazing view of the volcano (granted the VIP villas have a much better view, we just walk a few feet and peer over the ledge :)) We went into Kamari yesterday and saw the Black beach. It was by far one of the best experiences for us both since it was so unique and like nothing we had ever seen before. After that we alked around for a bit and stumbled upon a cute local restaurant. We sat down and realized it was all local Greeks and we were the only tourists there. WE figure that was a good sign that it was a great local place. Surely enough, as time went by the place was crowded and more tourists came so we felt less obnoxious about not knowing how to order in Greek. We had the best white wine in adorable carafs and a meal that was so authentic. Kelly had the lamb in lemon sauce and I had to try the pork souvlaki before we left Greece. WE finished our meal with some baklava and ice cream. I couldn't help but laugh the whole meal b/c our waitor looked like the RA on Saved by the Bell the College Years except Greek, you know the big muscly guy. It was hysterical (maybe only to me). Today, we woke up to find out that our volcano tour and swin in hte hot springs was canceled b/c of the weather (Its CRAZY windy here) We couldn't even enjoy the amazing pools b/c its just too windy and cold. Sooooooooooooooo we decided to hit the wineries :) We walked to a place call SAnto wines and had twelve, yes count them twelve, flights of wine with some cheese and bread. Little did we know their version of flights are much different than ours at home. The glasses were half full, and we enjoyed every bit of it. The reds were not so great in our opinion but the whites were out of this world. We also tried their dessert wine called Vinsanto, which was interesting. Both Kel and I are not fans of dessert wines since they are so sweet, but these were definitely pretty good. We are planning to do a 6 mile hike from Fira (where our hotel is located) to Oia to see the sunset. We're going to pack a little picnic as well and hang out in the town for a bit. (FYI Oia is where they filmed Sisterhood of the traveling pants) We'll update soon! Back home Thursday and we AREN'T ready at all:(
Erin and Kelly
Friday, May 14, 2010
Paros
Hey everyone,
We are safely in Paros. We took a high speed ferry over yesterday afternoon. When we arrived, we immediately went to check in to our hotel. Definitely not our favorite of the trip so far, but the owner is a cute old man so that makes it a little more bearable. We took a bus to Naoussa, a small fishing village, yesterday and saw on old Ventian fortress there. We met some New Zealand friends who were traveling as well and talked to them for a bit. After that we had dinner at a restaurant called Barberossa's. My lobster and shrimp ravioli was my favorite dish so far! Kelly had the grilled calamari with cheese and basil, which I thought was good as well but she wasn't a huge fan. The restaurant was ery nice, and we have now decided to scale down the dinners and go for large breakfast and late lunches to save on the dinner prices here! We just ate some gyros this afternoon while walking the streets of Parikia and they were fantasitic and so cheap! (well if 3 US dollars is cheap :)) We went to Andiparos this morning and saw the caves, which were spectacular. Truly there is no way to describe it, they are beautiful. We have one more night here in Paros so we are going to take the bus to Lefkas this afternoon, which was their original capital and we're told has a very historic feel. Tomorrow morning we head to Santorini. I'm super excited since everyone keeps saying it is amazing there!
Erin and Kelly
We are safely in Paros. We took a high speed ferry over yesterday afternoon. When we arrived, we immediately went to check in to our hotel. Definitely not our favorite of the trip so far, but the owner is a cute old man so that makes it a little more bearable. We took a bus to Naoussa, a small fishing village, yesterday and saw on old Ventian fortress there. We met some New Zealand friends who were traveling as well and talked to them for a bit. After that we had dinner at a restaurant called Barberossa's. My lobster and shrimp ravioli was my favorite dish so far! Kelly had the grilled calamari with cheese and basil, which I thought was good as well but she wasn't a huge fan. The restaurant was ery nice, and we have now decided to scale down the dinners and go for large breakfast and late lunches to save on the dinner prices here! We just ate some gyros this afternoon while walking the streets of Parikia and they were fantasitic and so cheap! (well if 3 US dollars is cheap :)) We went to Andiparos this morning and saw the caves, which were spectacular. Truly there is no way to describe it, they are beautiful. We have one more night here in Paros so we are going to take the bus to Lefkas this afternoon, which was their original capital and we're told has a very historic feel. Tomorrow morning we head to Santorini. I'm super excited since everyone keeps saying it is amazing there!
Erin and Kelly
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Crazy Cats
Hey Everyone,
Kelly and I had a great day at Delos. We went on a 30+ min ferry ride over to the island. Its completely uninhabited and the old community of Delos is surprisingly quite intact. We spent an hour and a half touring just the highlights. WE could have easily spent two or more days just seeing everything but considering there is no shade on the island (it was Apollo's birthplace and he is the God of light, hence no shade) it was too hot to stay for very long. This is saying a lot because Kelly and I are pretty much troopers when it comes to weather when we are determined to see things. We went back to the town of Mykonos in the early afternoon, and spent the rest of the day by the pool (it wasn't working the past two days, so we finally got to lounge around by it!). Tonight we went back to dinner at the same place we went last night. We had such a great experience that we decided to go there again. Tonight, I had the swordfish and kelly had the Mousaka?? not sure if that is right. We also had some cheese called hamil recommended to us by the owner. It was very interesting (tasted like salty chicken). Anyway, this Mousaka looked like the Greek version of Lasagna minus the pasta with zucchini and potatoes instead. I made the mistake of mentioning this to the owner when he stopped by to see how we liked everything he recommended to us. He took a step back like I punched him after I mentioned the "Greek version of lasagna". Oops, I think I really offended him by that comment. We ended up complimenting him more later so I think all was forgiven. WE ended the dinner by getting some complimentary glasses of a cinnamon tasted alcohol called Tentura. It was so good we went to the market after dinner and got a bottle each to take home :)
Erin
PS - We had to get a picture with the owner b/c we had such great times there, and he proceeded to come over with his cell phone and get his own picture as well. It was quite funny. All in all, good times! Headed to Paros tomorrow :)
Kelly and I had a great day at Delos. We went on a 30+ min ferry ride over to the island. Its completely uninhabited and the old community of Delos is surprisingly quite intact. We spent an hour and a half touring just the highlights. WE could have easily spent two or more days just seeing everything but considering there is no shade on the island (it was Apollo's birthplace and he is the God of light, hence no shade) it was too hot to stay for very long. This is saying a lot because Kelly and I are pretty much troopers when it comes to weather when we are determined to see things. We went back to the town of Mykonos in the early afternoon, and spent the rest of the day by the pool (it wasn't working the past two days, so we finally got to lounge around by it!). Tonight we went back to dinner at the same place we went last night. We had such a great experience that we decided to go there again. Tonight, I had the swordfish and kelly had the Mousaka?? not sure if that is right. We also had some cheese called hamil recommended to us by the owner. It was very interesting (tasted like salty chicken). Anyway, this Mousaka looked like the Greek version of Lasagna minus the pasta with zucchini and potatoes instead. I made the mistake of mentioning this to the owner when he stopped by to see how we liked everything he recommended to us. He took a step back like I punched him after I mentioned the "Greek version of lasagna". Oops, I think I really offended him by that comment. We ended up complimenting him more later so I think all was forgiven. WE ended the dinner by getting some complimentary glasses of a cinnamon tasted alcohol called Tentura. It was so good we went to the market after dinner and got a bottle each to take home :)
Erin
PS - We had to get a picture with the owner b/c we had such great times there, and he proceeded to come over with his cell phone and get his own picture as well. It was quite funny. All in all, good times! Headed to Paros tomorrow :)
Tuesday, May 11, 2010
Delos
Hello All,
Kelly and I had a wonderful dinner last night at a restaurant that we do not know the name of! WE walked down the street by our hotel and found a cute little taverna overlooking the beach. We split the seafood salad plate and the fish of the day (which the owner literally took me over to see the fish before he cooked it) It was excellent and we finished off the meal with a chocolate souffle and a shot of ouzo. Then we headed back to the hotel, played some cards and got some sleep. We just ate breakfast (Kelly had a croissant with nutella and bananas) and now we are headed to do a guided tour of the island of Delos (Apollo's sanctuary)!!
Erin
Kelly and I had a wonderful dinner last night at a restaurant that we do not know the name of! WE walked down the street by our hotel and found a cute little taverna overlooking the beach. We split the seafood salad plate and the fish of the day (which the owner literally took me over to see the fish before he cooked it) It was excellent and we finished off the meal with a chocolate souffle and a shot of ouzo. Then we headed back to the hotel, played some cards and got some sleep. We just ate breakfast (Kelly had a croissant with nutella and bananas) and now we are headed to do a guided tour of the island of Delos (Apollo's sanctuary)!!
Erin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
