Greek Islands
Trip Start
Dec 28, 2005
1
3
13
Trip End
Dec 2006
Mykonos, Syros, Santorini, Athens, Greece
Monday, April 17, 2006
Mykonos
Arriving in a deserted Mykonos airport, we proceeded to wait for our pre-arranged hotel transfer. We were feeling quite weary as it was now 8pm after enduring a nearly 24hour day of travelling and waiting for flights. We kept our eyes peeled for a minibus or large car of some kind. 45 minutes passed as we started to worry. We can't say our worry subsided any when a beat up little ford laser pulled in to the pick up area. The only possible way the owner would hang on to such a car is that he thought it may be of some value being the first model ever produced im sure. 'Stelios' spoke very little English and was eager to get going, so he threw our suitcases on the very rusted and fragile looking roof racks. At that point we weren't sure if we were ever going to see a new change of clothes whilst in Mykonos as Stelios obviously didn't see the need for securing the suitcases with rope that was non-existent. We were later to discover that the Greek's just do not care. Two near head-on's later, we arrived at our apartment. Leah's choice of apartment was spot on, providing us with prime position in Mykonos, and a lovely big apartment with large open verandah overlooking the port of Mykonos. During our 5 night stay on the island, we went shopping in the village, dined out at some lovely restaurants, and ate some self cooked meals on our verandah watching the sun disappear over the horizon. We hired a car and drove around the island visiting some magnificent beaches and villages. Leah was once again on guard, as she was in Paris, holding the fort that is Roys bum, obstructing many admiring gazes from the male crew that is Mykonos' famous homosexual population. All in all, we thought Mykonos was beautiful and a great lively party and shopping atmosphere.
On Friday 7th April, we were due to take a short ferry trip to Santorini. But true to form, things are never that simple. Experiencing the worst weather of the whole trip, the seas were too rough for the catamaran that services Santorini to operate at all that day. We were left with a choice - to wait it out possibly for up to 3 days until the catamaran could get in, or to catch a larger ship that was still running that day to Syros to sleep overnight and catch the ferry from there the next morning. Not being big gamblers and taking "Greek time" into consideration, we took the safe Syros option and after 5 hours waiting, boarded the ferry for Syros. True to form, Roy talked to everyone and anyone, and managed to get something out of it resulting in us being allowed to sneak into first class in the lovely lounge area with TV's.
Syros
Two hours later we pulled into the port of Syros. It is not a large tourist destination, but is a great set up with cafe's lining the port, and restaurants with some of the best shopping in the back streets. 30 Euro got us a room for the night right on the marina front. The next morning we waited for our 10am ferry departure. 10am became 11am, 11 became 12, and finally, we saw our ferry on the horizon at 1pm. Half as hour into our trip, Roy was starting to feel the massive 30cm swell. Leah saw the opportunity for vengeance on the mouth of the west, and took some holiday happy snaps of a green Portuguese man. (She also seized another opportunity in Santorini later on to capture Roy relieving himself in an abandoned house)- see attached photos.
At 1.30am Sunday morning (a killer 12 hours later), we pulled into Thira (the port of Santorini). We were relieved to find a car pick up waiting for us. When we got to our apartments, it was nice to finally get some rest. Opening our front door the next morning, we were gob smacked at the view. We were perched on the edge of a cliff a few hundred metres above sea level, overlooking the famous volcano of Santorini and down along the white houses spilling over the cliff side. We were staying in a traditional cave house that is carved into the cliff, and at a whopping 90 sq metres, it was fabulous. Our stay in Santorini was us endlessly wander lots of shops, and hire a car to visit the rest of the island. We went to Perissa beach and along the rest of the coast (which would be excellent in peak summer), and then took a trip to Oia, which is a tip of the island made famous for watching the sunset. Roy had a sizeable disagreement with a concrete wall, claiming it had jumped up and moved. Perhaps that is to become the most famous tourist attraction "the moving wall of Santorini". Well, if you see a wall now covered in yellow paint and possible fragments of car metal, then you can thank roy. Leah, the ever tactical planner, concluded we should drop the car off at nightfall and park it strategically up against the wall to hide the complete lack of the right side of the car. We literally threw the keys and ran. We also made a visit to the famous volcano via boat. After much climbing, the reward was a spectacular view looking back over the island. We then took a donkey ride up the side of the cliff which proved extremely amusing and so much fun. Roy was sweating bullets at the thought of getting on a donkey. Leah laughed, but was soon on the receiving end as her equestrian skills did not prove too useful giving great meaning to the phrase 'stubborn as a mule'. The donkeys stopped when they felt like it, ran your leg into a wall when they felt like it, and put you dangerously close to the edge when they felt like it (which is quite daunting on a near vertical cliff).
After 6 nights in heaven, we were sad to leave, with the consolation of having 2 nights in Athens ahead of us.
Athens
A half hour flights later, we landed in Athens. We got to our hotel to find we were conveniently staying in the centre of town near to Omonia Square. We visited the Acropolis and the Parthenon, and spent the rest of the day wandering the amazing street markets that were buzzing. The next day we took the tram down the coast, as strongly recommended by Chooki, to a place called Gryfardis. We sat at a yacht club watching all the spectacular boats and soaking up the sun. The coast of Athens is beautiful and a must-see for all prospective Athenian travellers.
Back to London
Yet another 4am wake up call, and on Sunday 16th April it was time to return to London. We were very sad our Greek trip had come to end, however we were somewhat relieved to arrive at Athens airport with our cab driver reaching a top speed of 175km/h. When we got back to London, we had Easter Monday to get settled back in, with Leah reluctantly returning to work on Tuesday. All in all, Greece was amazing, and we are eager to return in the not too distant future.
