Having traveled many places over the past two years in Europe, one place in particular was still on our list. A place that had been on our list for several years prior to moving to Europe and one that we finally were able to see on our recent two week vacation. That place of course is Greece!
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| Welcome to Naxos! |
Early this year when planning our summer we knew for sure that we wanted to do a low key beach vacation as opposed to a more high adventure on-the-go type of holiday. The Greek isles seemed to be the perfect place for just that and only a 3 hour flight away from Paris. So 10 days in total were planned, 4 on the island of Naxos, 4 on the island of Santorini, and the last 2 nights in Athens to check the box of a few of the sights there. Also as a bonus, my old friend Ron and his wife Lindsay were able to make the trip with us as well. Ron and Lindsay as you recall were last seen in the Rhone Valley getting purple mouthed and on a quest for cheese and cats. But that's another story.
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| The beach.... |
Starting off in Naxos, we stayed at a great little hotel with the two nicest guys running the place. This was our first introduction to the Greek hospitality, somewhat similar to Southern hospitality but with a lot more feta cheese. Eddie and Alex helped us understand where things were on the island, set up a rental car for us, gave us a great itinerary for a drive and suggestions on restaurants. All of which were helpful and fun. The hotel was right near the beach too which meant our first two days consisted of sitting on a lounge chair, which was exactly what we wanted.
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| The other side of the Island |
By the third day and looking for some adventure we rented a car and drove around the island to a few different villages including one "unexpected" stop where we were laughed at by locals, yelled at by an old guy, and almost hit a parked car. Ron's military training as an RIO (just like Goose) was of no help but after this slight detour we were back on track. Really enjoyed seeing the island, had a great lunch with a bunch of bees, and ended up at a great little beach / cove toward the southern end of the island. 4 days in Naxos quickly went by and off we were via ferry boat to Santorini. I would definitely go back to Naxos. It felt smaller, was low key, and was a more local European vacation spot as evidenced by the number of septuagenarians wearing speedos.
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| Dinner with the Tycer's |
2 hours on the boat and we arrived in Santorini. Upon arrival in Santorini one of the transportation options to get to your hotel is to take a donkey. Seriously. But figuring that four of us with luggage would probably be more comfortable in a bus or taxi we opted for a more modern mode of transportation. Traveling by bus up what seemed like 46 switchbacks to get up to the top of a cliff, we arrived at our hotel in about 15 minutes or so. I have stayed in numerous hotels both good and bad over the years and this one sticks out for all the right reasons.
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| View we enjoyed for 4 days steps from our hotel room |
Starting with the view. Step outside our room and you get an unobstructed view of the ocean and caldera (which I learnt is a dormant volcano) below. This was also the pool area with deck chairs and our breakfast table area as well. Worth noting that a champagne breakfast was served each morning which makes for a lovely way to start the day. From our perch overlooking the water we were also able to see the daily arrivals and departures of the many cruise ships. Whereas Naxos is a more local vacation spot feel, Santorini was definitely a more popular tourist destination, though that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing. Our hotel was a bit away from the main area of Fira which was nice, but close enough to all the various restaurants in the main area of town. One of our favorites where we went to multiple times was called
Lucky Souvlaki which served fantastic pita gyros. For about EUR 2, you get a great meal. One of many highlights of the trip. Santorini ended up being 4 days by the pool taking in the view and good meals at night. We did have a boat trip planned one afternoon which Ron and Lindsay went on while I stayed back at the hotel as Cleaver had a touch of the queasy stomach. I hear the boat tour was awesome but I didn't go and this isn't Ron's blog, so I can't really elaborate more than that. Guess it gives us a good reason to go back just to check it out!
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| Pita Gyros! |
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| Almost Sunset in Santorini |
Finally after 8 great days in the islands it was time to move on back to the city for our final 2 days in Greece which we spent in Athens. The plan for Athens was to see the main sights and explore the town a bit since our flight home to Paris went through Athens anyway and it made sense to stay a few nights and see what there was to offer. The primary attraction of course is the Acropolis sitting atop a hill in the center of town. Arriving in Athens early in the afternoon we actually decided to wait until the following morning to go to the Acropolis so that we could get there early to avoid the crowds. The mid day sun in Athens can make things quite warm as well, so another reason we figured better off to do that the following morning. So instead we went for lunch (McDonalds, seriously delicious!) and just wandered the streets. Impressions of Athens: Very touristy, a bit dirty and seedy in spots, very aggressive "restaurant greeters" for lack of a better term always telling you their restaurant is best, and mixed in were some very interesting ancient ruins. There were also a number of very cool modern restaurants too including a number of wine bar type places, one of which was close to our hotel that we visited twice.
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| Santorini looking down to the water |
The Acropolis and the Acropolis museum across the street were certainly the highlights of the sightseeing. It was very interesting to see what is left and the views of Athens are quite nice up there as well. The museum across the street which I believe is fairly new also had some neat artifacts and some of the original statues from the Acropolis on display. A really good sight to be sure. All in all Athens was (like Dennis Green thought the Bears were
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SWmQbk5h86w) what we thought it would be. 1 main sight and not a whole lot beyond that. It is worth going once, but don’t think I’ll need to stop next time on our way to the islands.
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| At the Acropolis |
And there it is, 10 days in Greece. A wonderful time was had by all, amazing views, weather, and food made for a great trip and I would without question love to spend more time exploring more of the Greek islands. Perhaps next time minus the old guy yelling at me. But we'll see….
