Category Archives: Greece

Plaka

I’ve been in Peloponnese, on a similar drive tour about 31 years ago. Things obviously changed but not as much as I thought. It’s a charming land that connects deeply with our soul. Maybe this deep connection made me return.

Each times I’ve been in Athens before – three times – I climbed the Acropolis in the sweltering sun crowding with all tourists to take the classical photos. But this time I decided to skip and enjoy Plaka, the Turkish quarter at the base of the Acropolis of narrow stair-cased streets and winding alleys. It’s a charming place unfortunately plagued by hordes of tourists who march in formation through the tiny alleys.

Besides Acropolis, Plaka is the best place to be in Athens, enjoying a drink in the shade at a table perched on steep stair-cased streets. For the rest, Athens is crowded, noisy and oppressively hot even at the end of September.

Evnozes parading in Omonia Square, Athens, Greece

Oracle

The legend says that to find the center of the earth Zeus released two eagles, one from each end of the Earth. At the place where the eagles met, Zeus threw a stone that marked the center of the earth. The mysterious stone, known as the omphalos, or “navel stone” landed at Delphi.

Perched majestically on a rocky ridge beneath the towering Mount Parnassus, Delphi is a place that seems not to belong to this world. And actually it never meant to belong. It was a place for gods and their earthly emissary who, supposedly were able to connect the two worlds. By the 5th century BC, the Oracle of Delphi had risen to become the most renowned sacred site throughout all of Greece, eclipsing the other well-known oracles in Dodona or Didime and solidifying its place in history and mythology alike. It operated till 393 AD.

The Tholos and Temple of Hera in Delphi, Greece

The Pythia, also known as the Oracle of Delphi, was the revered priestess presiding over the sacred sanctuary of Pytho, dedicated to the Greek god Apollo. It was believed that she served as a conduit for the prophecies of Apollo himself, achieved through a mystical trance-like state. Originally, there was only one Pythia that channeled the god’s wisdom just once a year. But later with so many cities’ representatives coming for prophesies, as many as three Pythiai operated simultaneously. The cities’s representatives were looking for guidance related to various disputes and conflicts between different communities or advice in establishing colonies in foreign lands or starting a war.

For interpreting Apollo’s messages The Pythia descended into a unique chamber called an “adyton” beneath the temple. This chamber was filled with vapors from burning barley meal and laurel leaves on a sacred hearth called a “hestia”. Positioned at the center of the temple, atop the Omphalos, the Pythia would sit on a covered tripod cauldron positioned over a chasm. While in trance breathing the vapors coming from the chasm, the Pythia would channel the god Apollo. In the heyday of Delphi, Pythia’s responses were renowned for their profound ambiguity. Some have described her words as intricate riddles that demanded interpretation and their deliberate ambiguity underscored the idea that divine words were inherently unintelligible to mortals. Only 650 of these recorded prophecies survived.

Zakinthos

Zakynthos, a gem nestled in the heart of the enchanting Ionian Sea, stands as one of Greece’s most exotic islands. Here, nature has painted a mesmerizing canvas of stunning landscapes and dreamy beaches.

Once you leave the Italianate Zakinthos town, the island’s most enchanting feature comes into view, its spectacular coastline with white sands and emerald waters.

The coastline has an impressive collection of stunning beaches, each with its own unique charm, some serving as nesting grounds for the Caretta-Caretta turtles, who grace these shores with their presence every spring and summer.

The Blue Caves, a natural wonder along the northwest coast of the island, are a mesmerizing geological formation that stretches from Agios Nikolaos to the majestic Skinari Cape.

Their name, the “Blue Caves,” derives from the enchanting play of light and water within the caves that you can see only from one of the numerous boat tours offered in the island.

We preferred the boat trip on a calm sea but you can reach the caves between Agios Nikolaos and Skinari Cape also by car. After a scenic drive, you’ll come across a charming old mill from where, a descent of about a hundred steps will lead you to the coastline where these captivating caves reside.

The crown jewel of Zakynthos, known affectionately as Zante in Italian, is the iconic Navagio Beach, also known as Shipwreck Beach. Only accessible by boat, Navagio Beach unveils a pristine expanse of turquoise waters embraced by powdery white sands, all framed by towering, dramatic cliffs.

We were told that the wrecked ship was smuggling cocaine to Italy when it was spotted by the coastguard. The captain steered the ship toward the Navagio Bay and with help from a local fisherman was able to escape. After he made sure that the captain was safe and gone, the fisherman went to the ship, took the cocaine, sold it and, later, with that money started a legit business of shuffling tourists into the bay. “And now I am working for them”, ended up telling the story the guy who captained our boat….

Venetians

Pylos, due to its strategic location, has a rich history of conflicts involving Byzantines, Venetians, Genoans, and Ottomans that all built up castles that pepper the area.

The Methoni Castle stands as one of Greece’s most significant fortifications. It was built around 1200 by the Venetians after they conquered the region. It served as a crucial stopover for pilgrims en route to the Holy Land and for merchant vessels traveling along the East-West trade routes during medieval times.

Historically, Methoni has been linked to Pedasus, a vine-covered city offered by Agamemnon to Achilles in an attempt to appease his anger and persuade him to rejoin the siege of Troy.

The city was independent throughout the Roman times under the rule of Emperor Trajan and later, during the Byzantine era, it remained a vital harbor and served as the seat of a bishop. When the Venetians took control of the town in 1209, Methoni transformed into a bustling commercial center and a significant port of call for Venetian ships bound for the East.

A bit north is Nestor’s Palace, a Mycenaean marvel, that stands as a testament to its time. Much of it succumbed to destruction around 1200 BC, likely during the Doric invasion, but its ruins represent the only remains of a palace of the antiquity in the entire Greece. Homer mentioned Odysseus passing by this palace on his long journey home. The palace belonged to Nestor, known for his generous hospitality to travelers. It’s said that Odysseus’s son, Telemachus, fell in love with Nestor’s daughter, Polycaste, while she was giving him a bath in a particular bath tub described by Homer that is eagerly shown by the local guides. If you believe it or not, it’s on you to decide.

For sure this does not look Venetian or Mycenaean. But the obsession with the Eiffel Tower seems to be all over the world. The tower was built in 1960 with funding and backing from a Greek-American doctor, Haralampos Fournarakis. After so many ruins visited during the day, when you drive in Filiatra in the night it makes you stop the car and wonder what the hell was that.

Byzantines

Mystras is an enchanting architectural gem, a poster child of the grand tapestry of the Byzantine Empire’s ascent and decline.

Founded in the 13th century by Franks as a formidable fortress atop the rolling hills, Mystras’ influence extended in the area reaching to the neighboring Monemvasia.

In the middle of the century the Byzantines ousted the Franks uniting Mystras with the Byzantine Empire making Mystras the second most important city in the empire after Constantinopole. The Byzantines’ appointed rulers, named Despots brought in the city architects to build the Palace of the Despots, among many other constructions.

Under the illustrious reign of the Palaiologos dynasty palaces and lavishly adorned churches and monasteries were built becoming symbols of Byzantine opulence and courtly grandeur. That brought a flourishing in art, culture, and intellectual pursuits, luring behind its walls a plethora of scholars, artists, and theologians.

The fall of the Byzantine Empire marked the city’s downfall, the town being captured by Ottomans a few years later Mystras gradually fading into a melancholic tableau of ruins as its once-thriving population dispersed.

Visiting Mystras is like embarking on a captivating hike through time. The journey begins in the lower town, where you’ll wander amidst vibrant churches and stroll among romantic ruins. As you ascend towards the upper town, the path leads you to the remarkable Palace of the Despots, currently closed for renovation. From there, the exploration continues upwards, ultimately bringing you to the pinnacle of the hill where the majestic citadel proudly stands, offering breathtaking views.

Mystras is in the very close proximity of Sparti, a large town built on the original location of the famous city of the antiquity. Sparta’s war prowess that dominated the antiquity and fought numerous battles against Athens is today a bunch of ruble that still may suggest its original magnitude.

But not far in Ithomi was the old city of Messinae, a newer place built by the Theban general Epaminondas in 369 BC who defeated the Spartan military power and liberated the Messenia that was under Spartan control for hundreds of years. This stunning site lies in a serene valley, surrounded by the Arcadian Mountains and the Mediterranean Sea, a truly spectacular setting.

In spite of their magnificence, Ithomi ruins are the best kept secret of Peloponnese, few people venturing here to visit them. They were excavated way later than Delphi or Epidaurus and went for a long time under the radar in the tourist circuit.

Messene was designed and built in line with the Hippodamian style. At the time, the cities were built as labyrinths to make it harder for foreign invaders to navigate. Hippodamian fathered the concept of shaping a city in symmetrical rectangular grids, separating the center that had the government and sacred building, agora, theaters, etc. and surround it with a grid of streets that were private. Basically he invented the concept of “zoning”. The city is surrounded by a defensive wall through whose collapsed gate modern cars drive to surrounding towns.

Mani

Hidden amidst the rugged terrain of Mani, on the picturesque Peloponnesian peninsula, Vathia lurks in its shadows of abandonment.

The village is perched atop a mountain overlooking the azure expanse of the Aegean Sea. Wandering its quaint streets, you get transported into a realm that evokes the grandeur of a castle-fortress conceived to safeguard its inhabitants from relentless threats from the marauding pirates of the sea.

This village stands as a remarkable testament to the traditional fortification architecture that once graced Mani during the 18th and 19th centuries. Towering houses with intricate architectural details that have become the village’s hallmark were built in close proximity creating an awe-inspiring and enigmatic ambiance.

These distinctive houses, known as tower houses, typically rise two or three stories high, their windows purposefully small, once serving as defensive loopholes during turbulent times.

The earliest mention of Vathia dates back to 1571 when a Venetian diplomatic mission recorded it as “casale di Vathia.” Later censuses counted about 20 hearths and a maximum population of 212 individuals distributed among 54 families all grouped in feuding clans whose in-fighting raged for centuries.

All tower houses were in time abandoned by its people looking for work in the cities leaving the village and its surrounding an eerie realm of roaming goats and the tourists.

Just a bit north of Vathia are the Diros Caves where you glide the underground waters for 1.2 km through a subterranean realm of an otherworldly landscape, where the eerie illumination reveals a mesmerizing tapestry of stalactites and stalagmites. The boat steered by poles glides along, through passages so narrow that they barely accommodate your vessel eventually emerging into vast underground chambers.

Sunset towards Cape Matapan, the tip of the Mani peninsula. Peloponnese, Greece

Amidst the labyrinthine roads of the Mani peninsula, the erratic reception on our phones rendered us helpless in booking accommodation for the night but we kept pressing north towards Kalamata. Along the way, the picturesque villages of Mani unfolded before us like scenes from a postcard with their church squares bustling with animated conversations among the locals. And then, as if guided by fate, we arrived in Agios Nikolaos. We hadn’t initially planned to stay here, but the village’s enchanting ambiance, particularly the bustling port adorned with tables from nearby restaurants, captivated us completely.

Agios Nikolaos port, Peloponnese, Greece

However, our quest for accommodation hit a roadblock; there were no vacant hotel rooms in sight. But in a stroke of what we would later come to know as one of those classic Greek miracles, we decided to ask around. What followed was a heartwarming encounter that showcased the unparalleled Greek spirit. Through the kindness of strangers, we found ourselves welcomed into a beachfront house. It was a moment that spoke volumes about the generosity and warmth of the people we had the privilege of meeting on this unforgettable journey.

Monemvasia

Nestled along the southeastern shores of the Peloponnese, Monemvasia is the oldest continuously inhabited castle town in Europe.

The town is a labyrinth of cobblestones alleys traveled exclusively by foot where the medieval buildings have been lovingly restored and converted in boutique hotels, artisan shops, cozy cafés, and elegant restaurants.

Monemvasia’s tale dates back to the year 583 when mainland dwellers, seeking sanctuary from the tumultuous Slavic and Avaric invasions, found refuge on this island, encircled by the Myrtoan Sea, and connected by a 400m tombolo, creating a realm unto itself. The town’s name itself tells a story, derived from two Greek words, “mone” and “emvasia,” which aptly translate to “single entrance.”

Through centuries, the fortress’s sturdy stone walls have stood as stalwart defenders, thwarting the advances of Crusaders, Venetians, and ultimately, the Ottomans. After the fall of Constantinople in 1453, the despot of the Morea, Thomas Palaiologos, claimant to the Imperial throne, extended the hand of Monemvasia to the Sultan, ultimately sealing its fate by selling it to the Pope.

In the lower town of Monemvasia cobblestone lanes meander through an enchanting landscape aligned with elegant earthy-stone houses, adorned with arched doorways and vaulted chambers. The lower part of the town still cradle remnants of an astonishing forty temples and churches.

Walking the steps towards the upper town, Monemvasia, Greece

The upper town, once the domain of Venetian nobility is a harmonious blend of Byzantine and Venetian influences overlooking the ethereal Agia Sofia. Its octagonal dome clings tenaciously to the cliffside, an eternal sentinel gazing out over the boundless sea.

Napoli di Romania

It’s the name of a restaurant in Nafplio, the enchanting port town on the eastern shore of the Aegean Sea in the Peloponnese. However, this restaurant is neither Italian in cuisine nor owned by someone from Romania. What’s more, on the back of its menu, you’ll find the history of its name—Nea Poli, the “new city,” the city of mariners, later transliterated into Greek as Nafplio. It was a new city in a world once inhabited by Romans.

As a teenager, I came across old maps that labeled the land south of the Danube as Romania, which puzzled me greatly. What was that Romania, and how did it differ from the present one? The vast melting pot of the Roman Empire considered all its subjects as Romans, regardless of their origins or where they resided. They might have called themselves by various names, but from the empire’s perspective, they were all Romans. After the fall of Rome, history referred to the local inhabitants as Byzantines Greeks, or Hellenists to distinguish them from the Christians. From this terms came the current name of Hellas, the way the Greek called their land today. However, the people, especially those in the countryside, still referred to themselves as Rhomaioi or Romans, preserving this name through the centuries. In the eyes of their contemporaries, their land, encompassing all of the Balkans south of the Danube, was called Romania or Rumania, descendants of Rum, which was… Rome.

View over Nafplio port from the Fortress of Palamidi, Nafplio, Greece

In any case, I found myself seated on the beautiful terrace, savoring an Aperol Spritz, and gazing at the enchantingly lit Citadel of Bourtzi, the advanced lookout post keeping watch for invaders. Perched atop the hill in the heart of the charming town of Nafplio, Palamidi Citadel had served as the seat of government, a prison, and a refuge for the city’s residents in times of attack. Their ancient anxieties lingered through the centuries, scanning the horizons for invaders, oblivious to the hordes of the new tourist invasion that joined me on the promenade. They came ashore not with guns in their hands but nursing cocktail glasses, lost in reverie as they admired the serene waters of the gulf, gazing toward the illuminated citadel of Bourtzi.

Argolis

When you embark on a journey through Greece, you’re not just traveling through space and time; you’re stepping into the realm of myths and legends. Each footfall on Greek soil feels like a connection to the gods and their earthly descendants, whose presence is etched into the very landscapes and documented in age-old stories. Nowhere is this connection more vivid than in Argolis, a region nestled in the northern part of the Peloponnese.

Tiryns citadel entrance, Peloponnese, Greece

Tiryns, with its ancient stones echoing tales of valor and redemption, whispers stories of Heracles’ tragic madness and the quest for his salvation. In a fit of insanity, he committed the unforgivable act of taking the lives of his beloved wife and children. Overwhelmed by guilt and despair, Heracles sought purification at the sacred Oracle at Delphi where Pythia, the vessel of prophecy, revealed his destiny: twelve Herculean labors under the command of King Eurystheus of Tiryns, with the chance for redemption and, ultimately, immortality. Walking the ancient paths of Tiryns, you can almost hear the echoes of Heracles’ footsteps and feel the weight of his burden.

Argos, a city steeped in myth, is the backdrop for the legendary feats of heroes like Perseus, Bellerophon, and, again, Heracles. It’s also the birthplace of myths that ripple through Thebes, Crete, and Mycenae. Here, the story begins with Inachos, the river god, from whom all Argive people trace their lineage. His son, Phoroneus, stands as the “first man” of the region, akin to Adam in the biblical narrative. Phoroneus united his people after a catastrophic flood, imparting the knowledge of city-building, the use of fire, and the establishment of law courts.

In Nemea we have again Heracles who confronted and vanquished a terrorizing lion. This fearsome beast, an offspring of Zeus himself, met its end in the hands of the mighty hero who ended up wearing the lion’s pelt as a badge of honor. The Nemean Games established later were dedicated to Heracles for his first of his famous labor.

Corinth was also a dwelling place of the Apostle Paul. Here, he resided for eighteen months, fostering his ministry and forming lasting bonds with companions like Priscilla and Aquila. It was in Corinth that Paul faced the judgment of Lucius Junius Gallio Annaeanus, known as Gallio, on charges related to his teachings. Gallio’s reluctance to intervene in what he deemed a religious dispute among Jews left an indelible mark on this city’s history.

Acrocorinth, perched atop a nearby mountain, watches over Corinth like a silent sentinel. Its complex system of three fortified enclosures bears witness to centuries of history and invasions. The oldest dates back to the late 7th century BC, destroyed by Roman invaders but reconstructed by Julius Caesar in 44 BC, elevating it to the provincial capital.

Corinth Canal built by two Hungarian engineers in the 19th century

Epidaurus, the birthplace of Asklepios, the god of healing, has a history intertwined with the practice of medicine. The Asklepieion of Epidaurus, a renowned healing center of antiquity, welcomed the ailing and infirm from all corners of Greece hoping for miraculous healing. In modern times, Epidaurus is celebrated for its ancient theater, a testament to architectural genius. Built in the fourth century BC, its remarkable acoustics allowed audiences of up to 14,000 to hear even the faintest sounds.

So when you journey in Argolis or Argolida every step carries you deeper into a world where gods and mortals once walked hand in hand making you, maybe, a traveling demigod of the modern times.

Odes of the Goats

It all began in Mycenae, with a thunderous eruption of unimaginable brutality and violence: father killing his son and offering his body as a cooked dish to Gods, challenging their omniscience. The curse that King Tantalus put on the House of Atreus would be forever immortalized in the “Goat’s Songs,” a direct translation of the Greek word “tragedy,” with “tragos” meaning goat. This name was derived from the goat skin that draped the actors who performed these songs, recounting the horrific acts committed by the Atreides, whose tombs dot the heights of Mycenae.

And what remarkable tombs they are—Tholoi, with their semi-spherical ceilings, covering immense cylinders accessed through majestic access ways as impressive as the pyramids. Within these underground chambers, the main actors of the greek tragedies hoped to find their eternal rest after they killed each other, Agamemnon, Clytemnestra, Agaesthus, and all who helped them in their heinous deeds.

Inside of a tholos Tomb, Mycenae, Greece

Fratricide, in family spouses seduction, incestuous relationships, and the inconceivable sacrifice of their children offered as food to enemies, all for obsessive revenge so abhorrent that even the cruel gods turned away.

Arguably, these are the most intriguing remnants preserved beneath the earth’s protective shroud for countless ages. The palaces and houses have crumbled away, their remaining stones scattered upon the hill that once cradled the magnificent citadel. The sole testament to its former grandeur, the Lion Gate, stands as perhaps the most photographed relic from a place whose true legacy lives not only in what it left behind but in the collective imagination, fueled by the haunting echoes of the Goat’s Songs.

Around a Greek coffee in Bucharest talking about Greece

Bucharest Old Centre

Around a coffee in Bucharest is debated the future of Greece; so close to the Balkans in spirit and fact.
It’s interesting how the Greece crisis is perceived in various parts of the world. It happened that I spent these events in Bucharest, a country at the receiving end of the EU funding where traditionally everybody has an opinion. I read various articles in the American papers and in spite of different points of view many realize that Greece’s debt is un-payable. Surprisingly even the IMF stated the fact.
European Union was not a marriage of love and will hardly become one at least of acceptance for a long time. The centuries of disdain, suspicion or even hatred combined with the opposite mentalities had to make space in less than 20 years to love and understanding in a climate that is less affluent than in the second half of the 20th century. If you ask people from various European countries what their personal opinion about the European Union they mention more the divorce than the union. Of course none would want to lose the freedom of movement and some commerce facilities but the common currency is deeply hated, minus its convenience. According to them, from the French to the Greeks, euro brought poverty across Europe, but is really hard to pinpoint the role of the currency itself versus the new competition in the market that may be the real culprit. It’s hard not to be the king of hill after you have been one. Of course a lesser union would send the continent to a minimal role on the global market that changed way faster than the more relaxed European spirit.
The EU expansion toward the Eastern Europe was neither a humanitarian act nor a charity. The German and French economies needed new markets to absorb their products, poor markets that can be easily controlled politically. Their domination and their will is perceived as overburdening in Romania where the majority of supermarkets, malls and businesses that can bring jobs and good salaries comes from them. The persistent lack of business sense and attitude of the local population that is wideapread in these new integrated Eastern European countries made the foreign corporation task much easier, adding to them also an aura of beacons of civilization.
However the Greek PM’s speech at a time when the entire world listened made many aware of the profound anti-democratic way the continent is ruled. It is mind-boggling to understand that all the laws are generated by an un-elected commission, ruled by an un-elected president that are sending the packages to a “sort of elected” parliament who mainly rubber stamp the decisions. At least in Romania, the country allotted seats in the European Parliament are strongly coveted assuring their future politicians a salary that is unmatched in the local market. If you speak with people from various European countries all are complaining about this system that remind the Eastern Europeans of the orders coming from Moscow during the cold war.

Unfortunately the solution for Greece is a no-solution, a process of kicking the can down the road, for the Greeks with a tragedy and for the EU with lots of patting on the back and congratulations that would be passed in oblivion when the next payment phase will come. Because is no way that the Greeks would be able to pay back a debt that is way bigger than the country’s mentality can ever produce.

Crete to Athens

Parthenon, Acropolis, Athens

We left the boat at 6:45am and went to the train that brought us to Omonia where we left our luggage in a storage box for E3 and walked to Monastiraki Sqaure. On the way we stopped at a breakfast stand for a last taste of pies, natural juices and frappe and continued to walk through Plaka, by the Roman Agora toward the Acropolis. We got tickets for E12/adult (kids free like everywhere in Greece), and we walked up with hordes of tourists that packed the place in a way not encountered in this trip. The hill was swarming with people and we visited the entire site in the incessant wind that made hard to set the tripod and shoot stable scenes. All nationalities were there but, like in most of the places we visited in this trip you had the feeling that you hear more East Europeans and Russians than westerners.

After the Acropolis we visited the Dionysus Theater that I was never able to visit in the previous visits, some cisterns and a foundry in the same area and went to the Greek agora, Hephaestus temple and the Ceramics Museum. We left the agora we went to the bazaar streets around Monastiraki and I took some shots at the Hadrian Library and the folk museum. Latter I left by myself for a 45 minutes in Plaka shoot but after spending days in the beautiful islands I did not find it so attractive. We returned in Monastiraki, bought train tickets for the airport for E6/pers or E10 for two and walked to Omonia to get the luggage. We got in the train and when we had to change at Sintagma I got out and did a quick shoot in the square. I got back in the train, arrived at the airport where we changed and repacked to check in two backpacks and ate in the end at McDonalds because no other place accepted credit cards.

We arrived in Frankfurt with a little delay being waited by a guy from Leonardo Hotel who brought us in 20 minutes to the hotel. We slept well; got a superb breakfast, the best in the entire trip, a German breakfast, and left for the airport with the same guy at 7:00 am and arrived at 7:28 at here we are back to JFK at 10:30am.

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Panagia Kera. Kritsa, Crete

We packed and got a receipt and left quickly the car being parked in front on some paid parking spots for which we did not have tickets. We left towards Agios Nicolaos following the road to Kritsa. The village is no big deal, touristy with people having their merchandise hanging on the street in front of the store. Laces, leather shoes, carpets and weavings. We left quickly after a short walk to shoot and stopped outside Agia Panagia. The church is renovated outside and does not have that old look but the frescos inside are amazing. Unfortunately no pictures are allowed and they even follow you inside to be sure that you don’t sneak any. They have also a nice icons shop, a great tradition in Crete. On the way back we stopped at an olive oil mill driven by donkeys, a museum that had an amazing shop on top full of natural products. When we wanted to leave and got in the car to leave, a man called us back and introduced to us Dora the donkey that turns the mill. He showed us the process of making manually the olive oil. Outside was a wine press and the rakki alembic. In the end he refused the entry fee of E1.

Ierapetra, Crete

From there we drove on the beautiful Mirabello coast and all the way to Ierapetra, a city of white houses with a beautiful promenade on the shore of the Libyan Sea and a Venetian fortress. I went to visit and take shots in the citadel with great views over the town. At the info center they advised us to drive to Heraklio on the new road on the coast, the same way as we came, this taking 2 hrs comparing with the one through Lasithi that may take 3 hours. So we drove directly all the way to Knossos following back the Mirabello Coast where we parked right near the ruins, the large empty parking lots speaking volumes about the lack of tourists. At the ticket booth we gave the last Euros, less than the needed amount for the entry fee, and luckily he gave us tickets for one adult and one for student. You rarely can pay by credit card in Greece and this makes life hard when you come with no Euros.

Knossos Palace, Heraklio, Crete

Knossos Palace is amazing. Now, at my second visit, I enjoyed it a lot, its reconstruction giving a better understanding of life in the palace. The rebuilding done with cement is imitating wooden beams. We spent almost 3 hours inside the ruins and left around the closing time at 6:30pm at the closing time, and went directly to get money from a nearby bank. At 7:00pm we arrived in front of Motorclub in Heraklio, parked the car and went for a walk, shot some video on a commercial street, went to the Venetian fort and stopped at a restaurant on the shore for a quick dinner of baby smelts and Greek salad. At 8:00pm we took the car and we were driven to the port by the guy from the agency to the ferryboat Festos Palace where we boarded and were assigned the cabin, 5-007. The boat was huge with 9 decks, a pool, Jacuzzi, discotheque, many restaurants, lots of shops and even one cinema. We stayed on the deck watching our boat leave followed by ANEK Lines that had the departure at the same time and followed us parallel the entire night. We slept all the way through Piraeus and we walked up when the boat got in harbor, at 5:30am hanging out longer in the cabin because we knew that the boat stays open till about 8:00 am.

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Malia Palace, Crete

The beautiful morning started with walk on the beach. I asked for a receipt and the owner, Dimitrios, a very spiffy gentleman, came and we followed him to another of his places, a bar on the beach, where he gave me the receipt and a business card with a mobile number. We followed the coast towards Malia where we went directly to visit the ruins of the Minoan palace. E4 entry fee. The palace is Interesting and quite large but not really great. It had some nice large pithos and beautiful walls to walk through. We went to the modern village of Malia for breakfast. We parked the car in the area of the clubs, very kitschy and probably a Zoo at night time, and we had a really great breakfast in a bakery, with cheese pies and spinach, frappe and kefir, etc.

Agios Nicolaos, Crete

We left towards Agios Nicolaos where we arrived around 1:00pm. We strolled on the shore and went to the harbor and asked in the info office what else is worth a visit. Agios Nicolaos is not large but it is pleasant to walk. Outside of the town are the village of Kritsa and the church of Agia Panagia that are worth a visit. We continued the walk on the shore to the public beach and went to the harbor and back into the center of the city and to the central lake where we took lots of beautiful pictures.

We left at 5:00pm towards Elounda and continued to Plaka on the Spinalonga peninsula and found out that the last boat to the Spinalonga island leaves at 5pm; E8. We chat with a guy from a restaurant who said that there are very few tourists and mainly few Americans and asked me if this might be related with the looming recession. I told him that is related with the $ exchange rate mainly. He regretted their absence because they are considered very good tourists, paying well and consuming a lot. We left towards the lighthouse at the end of the peninsula but the road was a dirt road so we gave up and continued on the paved one. We saw some nice villages where chickens were roaming the alleys. In other village men were hanging out in the main square for an evening chat.

Elounda, Crete

We returned to Plaka for a late swim and we drove back to Elounda, 4.5 km to get a hotel and eat. We stopped at Marin who offered an apartment for E50 after a long show and wait and, as the restaurants in Elounda were not on the shore, we returned to Plaka at Taverna Ostria, right on the pebble beach and had a great dinner of mushroom and fish soup with Ouzo and finished with some Cretan rakki, in a restaurant filled with cats. During the night a Brit came drunk, spoke loudly and left his door opened that banged in the wind all night. The island is a vacation spot for Brits.

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Red Beach, Santorini

Lazy morning with a swim in the pool and a longer breakfast followed by a stay on the beach chairs on the black sand. Gave the phone card to the guy at the hotel. Called Thrifty to tell them that I would like to bring the car around 5:30pm and they agreed with no fuss and no extra charge. It is an American company but still it is operating in Greece!

We left at 10:00am to buy tickets for the boat to Heraklio and to my surprise there were cheaper than the prices quoted the day before. There is only one slow boat in the middle of the night but not every night, and 1-2 fast boats leaving late afternoon, 17 45pm, that take 2 hours. Price is E36, as they repeatedly told us, but they sold the ticket for E24. We left at 11:00am to the Red Beach and took a bath in a super crowded and not so clean sea. From there you are able to take a boat, the only access, and go to white sand beach but we did not do it. We left the crowded beach that is really red from the red stone surrounding the area and stop for a beer and some pies at one of the stands near the beach. These stands that abound in Greece are a blessing with fresh cheese and spinach pies and cold beer, frappe and ice cream at relatively low prices. From there we drove around the end of the island and arrived at the lighthouse, beautiful but very windy. We returned at the hotel and spent some time on the black sand beach where the heavy wind that started in the morning was blowing everything away. The wind was present all the time in the islands and it was a blessing toning down the scorching July sun. The previous day was a windless day and it was almost unbearable hot. But starting this morning the wind began to blow wildly and the sea was extremely choppy, a bad day to go with the small boat to the islands.

We left the Blue Palace Bay hotel and drove to Athonis Port on the winding road going down the caldera. We dropped the Matiz that had no AC or no inside lights to the guy from Baltimore who said that for E25 it was OK this way. Used car salesman attitude! This is the price on the entire island but the advantage of getting the car from the harbor is that you don’t have to take another bus to return to the boat. The boat was delayed because of the rough sea. Another boat came, going also to Heraklio, but is hard to know all your options when you buy a ticket. .Many times are more than one boat at the same time and prices vary. I had a Greek coffee whose price jacked up 5 times since I was last time in Greece. I got some info about boats coming back from Heraklio to Piraeus in an agency in the harbor but the price that I got the night before in the agency in Fira could not be found on the charts. A cabin for the night ride is around E65.

Kokini Beach, Crete

Finally the boat arrived and left with more than one hour delay and after a smooth ride in spite of the choppy sea we arrived after 2 hours in Heraklio together with a large group of Romanians. After some confusion regarding the location of the boat in reference to the city center and a quick discussion with a cabbie who wanted to drive us to Agios Nicolaos, we got on the main street and we bumped in the first car rental place, MotorClub, where we rented a Hunday for E40 per day, double than prices in Agios Nicolaos, bought tickets for the returned boat to Piraeus, and drove on the coast to Kokini, about 20 minutes out on the coast on a highway that did not look for a while to have any exists. In Kokini we stayed at Marilisa apartments E45. We had dinner at a nearby Greek taverna of fish and wine ending with Cretan rakki that no matter that they say is not strong, it definitely is. I took a pleasant walk on the beach, located one block away from the hotel, before going to bed.

Santorini2

Pyrgos, Santorini

After a quick breakfast preceded by a swim in the pool we left to explore the island. First stop was at a traditional settlement, Megalohori, a village with narrow streets with its stones having the ribs painted in white. It was extremely hot, the first day with less wind that forced us crawling close to the walls hoping to get some shelter in the central church unfortunately closed. Old ladies were peeking from behind the blue gates offering a shy kalimera. The village is small and it took probably 1 hour max to cross it back and forth.

From there we continued to Pyrgos, an old fortified village, whose streets are circular ending on top on fortifications. Everything is sparkling white with blue window shades and it looks like is repainted every year. We walked the fascinating labyrinth of streets till the top where is located the castle, a fortification from whose top the views over the islands and over the inside churches are spectacular. At the entrance in the castle was an old man with a donkey who was posing for tourists. He was selling also tomatoes, wine and grapa. After Pyrgos we planned to go to Gonia Episkopia and Vothonas but we took the road to Kamari and went directly to the old citadel of the island, Archea Thira. The mistaken road proved to be a savior because it was already 1 30pm and the archaeological site was closing at 2 30pm. It is no entry fee to the site, though but the gate closes. After you enter Kamari, a resort similar with Perissa, you start climbing on a hair spin road like you won’t believe. It takes about 15 minutes to get on top considering that you stop for incoming traffic, and you park the car and start walking up the hill, getting right away to a 6^th century basilica and continuing on stairs guarded by trees bent by wind to the main complex. The site is well dug and interesting but the best are the view over both sides of the volcano. It takes about 1 hour to visit it at a relaxed pace and at 2 30pm we were escorted out and they locked the gate after us. We descended to Kamari and stopped right away, just outside of the village, at the Gonia Episkopi, an old church founded in the 11^th century by Alex Comenus. The thieves attacked the church and stole all the valuables but the frescoes and the remaining icons are still beautiful.

Oia, Santorini

After that we drove to Vothonas where we tried to locate some sunken houses but nobody knew exactly what we were talking about so we gave up and we drove all the way to Oia on the coastal road. Oia is very different than Fira. Less people, relatively less stores imprint a more traditional atmosphere. Obviously this is relative, Santorini being the top tourism destination in the Cyclades. It is only one street on top of the crater with some occasional derivations going down. The main street is full of shi-shi restaurants and bars and art stores. The blue domes of the churches stick out of the white of the houses. When you reach the end of the street the view is stupendous. It is not the avalanche of houses from Fira but a smaller and I would say much nicer view welcomes you. If you have time is worth exploring all the alleys that descend and ascend and have on them traditional houses. .Windmills, churches and houses covered with flowers abound. The sunset is a major tourist event in the Greek islands and people congregate in unbelievable numbers to see it. They get their seats one hour in advance and you can watch how the all the places that have sunset view are getting literally packed. People watched a beautiful sunset and in the end the entire crowd applauded ecstatically the beauty the miracle of nature. From there we left to have dinner at â€œSeagullâ€, a restaurant overlooking some blue domes of a church and hanging in the caldera. After dinner I had a chat with an Polish artist who was living in Santorini and had his art exposed at one of the galleries. He told me many things about the dynamic of the island, about his buyers, still mostly Americans, and obviously about the prices in Euro that jumped even 7 times since the Drahma was replaced. After the evening ice cream, we did not forget to buy water and a cell phone card for the Romanian guy working in the hotel.

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Sunrise in Perissa

When you are sleeping in a hotel located an eastern side beach would be sacrilegious not to wake up one morning to see the sunrise. I woke up at 5:30 and went to the black sand beach in front and watch a magnificent sunrise. It did not look like one but it ended up being a perfect picture sunrise. Latter on, a dive in the pool and a quick breakfast kicked off the day.

We left before 9 to Accordo travel where we bought tickets for a day trip to the three other islands in the Santorini volcano caldera after that going quickly to do some shopping at the supermarket and pharmacy. A bus came at 9:00 and picked us up from the agency and dropped us at Athinos port where the boat was waiting outside of the harbor. The harbor was full and the boast could not come to the shore so we waited more than one hour in the reassurance of the guide that this would not shorten our trip. So we passed our time trying to make some international calls but it did not work so easily. Finally some ferries left and the boat came to pick us up and we started to sail to the island in the middle of the caldera.

Nea Kameni, Santorini

The island that we visited first, Nea Kameni, is a national park with an active volcano in the middle, it was formed between 1570-80 in a completely empty caldera. It came out of the sea and the volcano is still going strong today, being spots in its middle when the sulfur presence can be smelled making the ground around green. If you dig a small hole on top it is so hot that you can obviously boil an egg inside. The entire island is looking like a giant dug it from the lava that flowed many times in recent history. The trip on the island last for about 2 hours, on top the guide giving us a entire presentation about the geological and social history of Santorini. From there the boat took us to the older of the two islands in the middle, Palea Kameni, formed in an eruption at 49AD that has in one of its gulfs hot springs at the shore of the sea. The boat cannot get closer to the shore because of the rocks and you have to swim quite of a distance to the shore where the hot springs are. A nice white chapel is located on the shore near the springs. After about 45 minutes we left to the third stop, the larger island of Tirassia, that closes the circle of Santorini. The island is nice and its shore became recently, because of the tourist boats, full of restaurants in spite of the lack of real beach. One of the restaurants has also a remodeled windmill in operation. From the shore, one of the attractions is to mount on a donkey for E5/pers and climb the hill to the top village that is not interesting but commands beautiful views of the shore. You can also walk up in 15-20 minutes arduous walk. The views are stupendous and they justify the stroll or the donkey ride. The boat stays quite long, almost 2 hours, docked on the island giving you enough time to eat and do the uphill hike.

From there the boat goes to Oia and dropped the tourists who want to spend the sunset in Oia, part of an extended trip and returned to Athinos port from where the bus picks you up and brings you back to your hotel. We grabbed the car and went back to Fira, parking in the same top parking, for another night stroll and a well deserved dinner in one of the hanging restaurant at Fanari. Great dinner and great views! We were amazed how you can eat hanging over the caldera.

Naxos-Santorini

Potamia, Naxos

We left at 8:15am and we continued the tour of the northern part of the island passing through picturesque villages with white houses hanging on the mountain slopes We stopped in one village, named Apiranthos, and we had our typical Greek breakfast with coffee and pies having a pleasant walk on the village winding narrow streets deserted at that hour of the morning. During the walk we entered an interesting sort of antiques/souvenir store situated in a picturesque square. In the cafÃ© the lady tried to convince me that the water is good that she drinks it for 23 years, a fact that definitely did not convince me to try it. Picturesque old men were having their coffee with a Greek chat in the silent morning. After breakfast we left the village and stopped in the nearby one where we parked and followed the sign to an 11^th century Byzantine church. The stroll to the church was magnificent, through olive and fruit tree orchards, yellowed by the heat of the mid summer. The whole landscape reminded us of St Remy in Provence. The church is looking like it was taken out of a story, the most beautiful church we saw in Greece in this trip, surrounded by olive trees and covered inside by frescos. We took too many shots of everything around, including the charming road to the church. Naxos is a very green island compared with what we saw before, a green that contrasts very nicely with the white house on the slopes or the white chapels hanging in the top of the hills.

At 12 50pm we arrived in Naxos Town, after we passed Halki and we stop for a little while in Potamia. The Blue Star ferry was in the port so we rushed to return the car, got tickets and we boarded the ferry to Santorini. On the way to the ferry I was able to grab some pictures in the harbor, including one with the locals offering domatia and I was scolded by one of them who said that is illegal to shoot video with them and they may call the police. I could not figure out why but I don’t think they were very serious about the incident. The ferries are here like trams but with a very intense and precise schedule. When you see their huge size you cannot imagine that they can keep such a tight schedule on, sometimes, rough seas and they are almost all the time on schedule this being totally unlikely for the trains in LIRR. It was always like this but now you feel that things are way better buttoned up than before, only the prices went up several times, especially after the Euro replacing the Drahma. But comparing with the Western European prices, I can tell that Greece kept a lot of prices at comparable levels, irrelevant of the complains that we kept hearing from the locals we spoke with. Especially the food, slightly more expensive now than before is not as the far cry level of pricing like in Cote d’Azur or Tuscany. And it’s better and tastier! Of course, you do not take in consideration the exchange rate of the US$ of US$1.6 to E1. Eventually he gave us a Matiz for E25/day that is the going price in the island, acting like he did us a favor, but it was not the case. Probably we could have got a much better car for the money.

Santorini

We went to the nearby agency to get a hotel and after looking at the offers the guy decided to show us several so we followed his car to a place that it was obviously not on our liking and we ended up on Perrisa’s black sand, at Palace Bay Hotel where after some negotiations we got an apartment with breakfast for E110/night. The guy who came to arrange the beds turned out to be Romanian, and working relatively illegally in this transitional period till Romania get all the rights in the EU. Latter on he told us several things about how he got there and how things really are working in this business in Greece. We dropped the luggage and we drove all the way to Fira, the capital of the island, about 30 minutes away from Perissa that is located toward the south-east part of the island. .We arrived in Fira at 5:00pm and we were able to park right in the parking place of the upper town. This was surprising everywhere in Greece and was speaking volumes for the low number of tourists. It was July and we expected that everything would be booked, prices would be in the sky but we could find easily accommodation, restaurants at any hour and parking places wherever we went. In spite that we saw lots of tourists, the Greeks were saying that the number of tourists is low, asking us, like they did in Plaka, Crete, where the Americans are, their number being obviously depleted this season. They thought that the recession kept them home but we argued that we thought that mainly the exchange rate was the main cause of their absence. We walked in Fira, that it may be spectacular with the restaurants and houses literally hanging in the caldera of the volcano, but it is one of the touristy places I may have seen. Rows and rows of jewelry store, followed by art stores and many other gadget stores were sharing the main streets with restaurants. We stopped in a travel agency, the Black pelican, to check the schedule and pricing for the boats to Crete and we got conflicting information, but the bottom line is that it is not slow ferry except at 2-4am going to Crete so the main option are 2-3 Flyingcats that leave late in the afternoon. The donkeys caring people down the caldera were strolling in town. From there we tried to find a good vantage point to take some nice sunset shots with the blue domes of the churches in front and we were directed to the nearby village, Fira Stefani situated with Imerovigli, another village, a little north of Fira. So we walked to Fira Stefani where we stopped in front of the blue domed church, admiring a beautiful sunset. Latter, on our way back to Fira, we stopped on the way at a nice restaurant on the road for dinner and walked back in Fira. The view of the houses and restaurants hanging in the caldera is magical in the night when all the lights are on. Latter we took the car and drove towards Perissa where our hotel was located, where the night life was in full swing at the bars lining the shore.

Paros-Naxos

Paros

We arrived in Paros and we were brought by a â€œdomatiaâ€ guy in the harbor to a nearby hotel, Vila Stratos, kept by an American from Alabama. She moved here a short while ago, bought the hotel and was enjoying the relaxed atmosphere of the island.

We dropped the luggage in the large room that they were renting for E50/night and we left for a stroll in town, where the main features are the port and the old winding streets behind the kastro. The town has an interesting church that looks to be quite old, where we saw a baptism ceremony. Right from the square in front of the church it starts the old town, the main commercial street full of shops and some restaurants that winds all the way till the other part of the harbor. We went back and forth, took lots of shots and enjoyed a perfect sunset, maybe one of the best we saw in Greece. We checked the bus station to see how we can go the next day to the marble quarry and it turned out that it was a bus at 8:00am going right there in 10 minutes, so with this info fresh we went for a Greek dinner of fish with tzatziki, etc. with ouzo and wine. Latter I left for a late stroll and shoot in the port promenade where the restaurants aligning the sea shore where full till late hours in the night and returned way after midnight feeling that I was the first to leave the party. In the islands it does not look that the Greeks are going out less than before. In the morning after a quick taste of Greek coffee and tyropita took the 8:00 am bus to the marble quarries. The ride is about 10 minutes but the “marmaria” is not a big deal. However it offers a very pleasant walk in nature by yourself. The place was famous in antiquity, the Paros marble being used in most of the sculptures of the ancient world, Venus of Milo, being sculpted out of this marble. After one hour stroll that brought us all the way to a sort of power plant, we returned and hitch hiked towards Lefkes, a tiny village specked on the slope of a valley. The hitchhike worked only partially because the guy had to drop us not all the way in Lefkes so we stopped a taxi coming our way and for E5 he dropped us in the village. The village has charming winding streets and small squares that are full of restaurants and cafes that invite you for a taste of spanakopita of the cheese pie, or just to sip a frappe in the shade listening to the cycades. We took lots of footage and pictures and stopped in the middle of the village for a frappe and returned to the bus stop at 11:00 to catch a bus or a taxi that would bring us back to Parikia, the way Paros Town is called. It was almost impossible to get a taxi, all being busy and probably having a taxi stand that we did not know about, so we took the bus at 11:20am that dropped me at the stadium from where I walked to Stratos Villa to take the luggage. However, not being clear where the villa is I kind of lost my way and lost some time but eventually I arrived at the hotel where the goodwill American owner helped me to carry all the luggage to the boat and even found a friend with a motorbike to make the process easier. All things considered we missed the boat that was inching out of the harbor when finally I got on the pier and we found the hard way that the Greek ferries do not have any ticket refund for the missed boats. We checked the ferry schedule and luckily in two hours it was another boat leaving for Naxos, a slow ferry, bought tickets for it and relaxed in a harbor cafÃ© to rest after the events. Paros is the hub of ferry transportation for the Cyclades and here is the best place to switch boats to directions that are not on the main routes. If you check the ferry schedule here are listed the most boats than you would see in any other harbor. The boat came at 2:30pm and we boarded for the 50 minutes ride to Naxos.

Naxos

We arrived in Naxos and feeling weird I parked myself to a travel agency, whose nice host explained me everything is worth seeing in the island, more info than I was able to grab in my current state. We denied any offer of accommodations and we rented a car for E30, not an easy thing to do at 5pm in the evening where most of the cars are gone, and after we checked the ferry schedule for the next day boat to Santorini, we promised to bring the car at 1:30pm the next day. We drove all the way on the western coast of the island, passing nice gulfs, a white monastery and a ruined castle and we arrived after one hour in Apolonas, a tiny village/resort on the northern tip of the island where we got, after seeing another hotel in town, a charming apartment overlooking a bay in sunrise at Flora’s apartments for E60. Driving in the village needs some skills with its very narrow streets. Right near Apolonas is the statue of a kouros, young Greek that represents the god Dyonisos. We visited it and we settled for a 9pm bath in the sea followed by a Greek dinner at one of the restaurants on the beach owned by the locals that all of them are related to each other as Flora told us latter on.

Delos

Delos – The lions terrace

In the morning we walked up and started to pack at 7:00am. We went for the hot breakfast offered by the hotel and included in the room at 8:00am and we were the first in the dinning room. We called a taxi, a thing that we tried the day before with no luck, but now it worked and we left for the town with our luggage. We bought tickets for Delos for the 10am boat and for Paros for the 2:45 pm boat and we went to the ship for Delos with the luggage to see where we can drop them during our visit in the island. This is not such an easy matter, on Mykonos existing only one luggage dropping place that was closed that Sunday morning, and nobody could help us with an advice. The guys from the boats were very nice, such as Greeks usually are, and they offered to keep the luggage on the boat and move it from one boat to another if we decide to return with another boat, a thing that they did because we returned with the 1:30pm boat.

The boat ride to Delos takes 30 minutes. Delos is a unique place, a very powerful and important place of antiquity, where lavishing treasures were deposited and temples were built. A kind of Switzerland of antiquity, it was hosting the tax of the Delian federation, the name of the Cyclades coming from the circle these islands are making around Delos. The place was an important sanctuary to the god Apollo and it was a holy island where neither birth nor death could happen, the pregnant women and the dying people being evacuated as a precaution. The ruins have their romance and the entire island is full of them being extensively excavated but still being lots of places in need of more work. We visited the museum and hiked up on Kynthos Mountain, the highest peak of the island. We returned to the boat after nearly 4 hours of walking among the ruins and we continued to Mykonos where we boarded, after a longer wait caused by some delays, a FlyingCat that brought us to Paros in one hour. Hydrofoils are the new way for hopping between the islands. 17 years ago they did not exist and 8 years ago were very fast boat where you could find a spot to see the sun but they were shaking you senseless and sea sickness could happen easily on them but not on regular ferries. The new hydrofoils, the FlyingCats are very spiffy, completely sealed, moving relatively fast and having the advantage of offering a very smooth ride, comparing with the old hydrofoils. The travel time is not half but the price of the ticket is usually double than on a regular ferry. Inside you feel like in a plane and is no way to get outside, so it becomes just a way to move from one point to another and you cannot enjoy sun bathing on the deck or the sea view like on a regular ferry.

A one hour ride to Paros costs E20/person, but sometimes prices vary in ways we could not figure out. Besides it turns out to be more companies that you can find out at the booking offices, so if you are looking for a cheaper ride or for a different hour ferry, you have to check more than the regular Blue Star and Hellenic Seaways offices that are a feature in every harbor.

Mykonos2

Mykonos

After breakfast we pondered upon what to do in order to take a boat to Delos (3 times a day, 9,10,11 am, E12 RT/person). We left for the town and the boat but we barely dragged our feet so we arrived in the harbor right when the last boat to Delos was leaving, in spite of the fact that the original plan was to get the 9:00 am boat. So we changed plans and went to get a bus to Piati Gyalos, a beach village close to Paradise. The village, a typical vacation village, is full of vacation rentals, but very picturesque on the blue of the Aegean Sea. Shot video, took pictures and took a bath, hiding from the sun that was quite intense. We had lunch at a restaurant on the beach and took more pictures, walks and dives in the sea. At 5:00 pm we took a bus back into town and we started scouting for a good vantage point for a sunset shoot and walking in areas that we did not cover the night before, getting into churches and squares with fountains like the better known Three Sisters square. We walked down from the bus stop to the windmills and to Little Venice, a strip of houses that are right in the water, getting splashed by the surf when sitting at a bar table close to the water. The best vantage point for sunset found out to be the mills that are on top of the town, old ruined mills, one of them still almost intact and transformed in a Folklore Museum. Took a shot of the sunset in a very serene atmosphere, far away of the hustle and bustle of the main commercial streets of Mykonos town, got back in town, bought some stuff from the market and grabbed a cab, this time waiting in line at the taxi stand and got back to the hotel in 5 minutes where we took a shower and I walked back in town for a stroll by myself. I entered an art gallery and I chatted for half an hour with the British artist/owner about everything in the world, and about Mykonos and how it got this way. Continued the stroll, on the main commercial avenues that after a while make you tired of shops and windows and walked back to the hotel around midnight where I watched the Mykonos night sky from its terrace for a while before going to sleep.

Mykonos1

Mykonos – Paraportiani Church

The subway was not so full in the morning and brought us in 25 minute to Piraeus and after getting a frappe, the famous coffee specialty, and some snacks for a quick bite we bought tickets, E29.5/adult, kids half, and boarded the boat that will bring us in 5.5 hours to Mykonos. We are on the boat to Mykonos. Two Blue Star ferries are leaving in the morning, one to Mykonos and one to Santorini. Besides them is a full plethora of fast boats, the Flyingcats, operated by Hellenic Seaways, very slick, but you are completely isolated and sealed inside like in a plane, and obviously far away from a Greek island experience. The boat was packed and we hardly found a seat in the 3 deck boat that was full of vacationers who were talking on the phone continuously; in Greece you don’t loose reception on the mobile phone like you do on LIRR….The boat is full of young people that go to party in Mykonos, mainly Europeans or local Greeks, for whom the Greek islands are similar vacation destinations like the Caribbeans are for Americans. Well, they have the cultural value that is missing in the Atlantic. The young boys and girls are dressed in beach attire and they lay down in chairs to absorb as much sun as they can. Cameras flash, a drink here and there, a Greek coffee with lots of sun surrounded by the blue of the Aegean Sea. The ship stopped in Syros and then in Tinos, the most important place of pilgrimage in the Aegean Sea. Many of the youngsters that were looking that geared for the wild parties of Mykonos, disembarked in Tinos pointing that the appearances are always deceiving. Tinos is close to Mykonos and is on the route of the grand ferries, so it can be easily visited.

At 1 pm we arrived in Mykonos where the locals congregated in the harbor to offer accommodation, domatia, at relatively reasonable prices, of E100/night/apartment. I am sure that it can be negotiated down from that. Greece is more expensive now than 8 years ago but is still much cheaper than any other country in Western Europe. It turned out that the only way to get to our hotel was to grab a taxi, a highly prized mode of transportation in the island. There are a total of 31 taxi in the whole island so after we waited for about 30 minutes we asked a guy with a pickup truck to bring us to the hotel, who for a three times higher fare drove us on the 7 minutes winding road up the hill to Thomas Hotel, that we had booked on Octopustravel.com. The hotel is isolated, all the way on top of a hill, but superbly positioned. We dropped the luggage and left on foot to the city, on a combination of roads and paths that bring you right in the harbor in about 20 minutes. The first thing to do in the city is to get info about the boats. In the middle of the harbor that is the heart of Mykonos town. We stopped at Paraportiani Church, the famous church of the island, and walked to the emblematic windmills. We stopped for a first bath in the Aegean, on a beach located in the back of the windmills. On the way we got to sample the town with its multitude of shops of all sorts of kind walking all the way till the end of the town, close also to the windmills from where we hopped in a bus to Paradise Beach, the place of the wild beach parties in the island. The parties were on at Cavo Paradiso, with music and dance all day and the dance floor/tables being full with girls dancing on posts. We shot lots of footage at the parties and after another quick dive into the sea we had dinner in a restaurant on the beach. We took reluctantly the bus back into town where we got a long walk in a town flooded in light that you don’t need a flash to take pictures. All stores were open and the ice creams stores were doing remarkable business. The taxi stand is right in the middle of the city, in its main square, but we did not find out this till the next day, so all our desperate efforts to stop a cab being useless. The car access in town is limited, being guarded by a barrier. We kept trying to stop taxis at the barrier with no luck, till the guard at the barrier offered to give us a lift after 10 minutes when his shift was over. Nice guy, and one of the first incidents of nice encounters with the locals. I was wondering if in France anybody might have given you a lift at 11:00pm. He kept his word and we arrived safely in no time in our beds.

Athens

Lycabetes

July 2008:The plane we got last night from Bucharest, through Vienna was delayed and we landed at 12:00am, hopped in a cab and arrived at the Aristoteles Hotel in Omonia Square at 1:00am. Athens was empty and, when I told the driver that I was here twice before, darted back that the Greece of today is way different from the Greece of the past because people do not afford going out because of the Euro. This is something that I got used to hear in Europe, everywhere I went but this was out of the blue and it was the first of the many conversations I had with people in the Greece and one of their preferred subject of conversation. He was saying that before people were out almost all week and now barely twice a week. Hard to believe, still.Athens built a new highway for the Olympics in 2004 from the new airport to the city, about 40 Km away that makes the ride into the city a breeze, well late into the night. Taxi cost E45 to center city that includes the tip and an airport and night surcharge. During the night the ride takes 25 minutes. During the day is way faster and relatively cheaper to take the train, that runs from the airport directly in the Athens subway system, It costs about E6/person or E10/couple. But no matter what you take from the airport, you will continuously see a jungle of concrete ugly buildings. It is hard to say that Athens is a nice city. The hotel was OK for $100/night and went to sleep right away and got up at 5:30am to be sure that we can make the ferries of 7:35am. This was actually the plan in advance, because from Omonia to Piraeus is about 30 minutes by train that leaves right from the square.

Roaming the world

FLYING MONK