Back to the mainland

The day was pretty much spent travelling back to Athens. Breakfast comprised of pastries from the local bakery, we were driven from our balcony overlooking the Mediterranean sea by the heat and the glare of the sun streaming in. Another wild bus ride, this time down the switchback road inside the caldera to the port, the inevitable long waiting around that seems to be par for the course when travelling and then onto the ferry.
Due to time constraints and full economy class – we ended up on the high speed ferry (impressive machines – great billboards) in Business class. This was a treat as we were actually inside and in the non smoking section. Not up to economy standard that the airlines set – but at least we were not as uncomfortable as the people down the back of the boat.
Our sojourn back through the Pit proved to be uneventful – maybe because we were vigilant, maybe because we have overly zealous paranoia running through our veins, maybe because it was actually quiet for peak hour (Monday afternoons are apparently a designated quiet time in Athens). So we made it back to the same hotel (we had changed this from the planned youth hostel a week earlier after being ripped off on that side of town) and actually ended up in exactly the same room. With the same faulty shower head and the same dripping air conditioner. It all seems very homely.
Not letting a good tradition setting opportunity go by, we went back to the same roof top for drinks and traditional Greek nibbles before heading over to the other side of the Acropolis to see what it looked like under lights. The walk took 10 minutes, the wait for twilight to finish took 2 hours (seemingly). In the mean time we got to see some locals at play in their home space. The middle generations socialising in the cafe’s whilst the kids kicked balls around the street with the older generation standing guard.
This is just a stop-over on our way to the next stage of the history lesson – so it’s goodbye to the land of white concrete and cheap Gyros, tomorrow another country and a whole new language to learn.

On the busses

Getting up early to watch the splendour of the sunrise over the Mediterranean from our balcony window was – well somewhat disappointing due to the amount of cloud and sea mist around. It was nice though to be able to jump back into bed and grab a few more hours sleep. The ringing of the church bells was more of a lullaby than an alarm clock. After a slow start we had a big brunch of eggs & bacon etc. on our way to the local bus stop. This time we headed to Perissa. A very scenic drive through the various towns on the island revealed spectacular views of the caldera, old windmills and the boundless vineyards. White concrete buildings with dome roofs go without saying...

The beach was on the other side of the cliff from yesterday, so more black sand and clear, warm water and beautiful people lolling around on deck chairs, soaking up the warm sun – they have an ozone layer here- so it’s quite pleasant. We didn’t hang around the town this time – it was back on the buses (2 of) to get to the other end of the island and the town of Ia.
This is where all the postcard photos of Santorini are taken. Not wanting to be different we made sure we took lots as well. The towns we went to today are far nicer than the main drag of Thira – quieter and cheaper, however we are somewhat worried when we see the thousands of scooters and ATV’s that are sitting idle all over the island, awaiting the peak of the tourist season. They’d need a really good, big and effective hospital to cater for all the injuries that will occur when all these are out on the dangerous, narrow, twisting, crowded roads.

Curiously, the streets are lined with gum trees. Whilst we don’t paint the bottom of them white in Aus – it is a bit surreal to see them here. Perhaps there is some sort of exchange program going on that were not informed about. Send us a person – we’ll send a tree in return...

Yet more local fare was consumed in the private spaces of our balcony - we then headed out to a local restaurant to for dinner and afterwards back to the rooms where there was a surprise birthday cake (backpacking Santorini style) before we all collapsed, apart from the Blogger of course). Tomorrow we have the next big foray (incl. another trip into the Pit).

To the beach

Slept in missing the sunrise over the Mediterranean whilst listening to the ringing of the church bells– still, we had breakfast overlooking the sea with those mystical islands in clear view. A beautiful start to the day. We then trudged up the road to catch our bus to Kamari, which is nestled at the base of large mountains (not in the caldera) has black sand and pebbles, heaps of tourists, the inevitable tourists shops, selling exactly the same stuff as everywhere else.

The water was warm and clear, so we all had a swim and then a wander around the shops and town trying to find the best place to have lunch (Gyros of course) whilst fighting off the spruikers trying to lure us into their “fabulous” establishments. Fabulous means expensive – The word from the locals is that the introduction of the Euro has made prices go up enormously, much to the dislike of the people not making more money from it. Tourism is booming although the GFC has apparently had an impact.
Our pension in Karterados is decent hike from the bus routes. On the way we get to walk past the police station. It’s comforting to see they have a guard out the front wielding a machine gun. Nice to know that someone is likely to attack the police and the best way of stopping them is hail of bullets. Victoria Police should get these instead of Tasers – it would make them far more effective. The flat price on the buses has Dad annoyed in that it costs 5.60 euro to get the family to the other side of the island the same as it costs to get them up to Thira which is 2 minutes away.
After our short bus trip to Thira, we walked around the narrow streets lined with (yep you guessed it) more shops selling tourist stuff. Admittedly some of these were pretty upmarket. We hung around and took the mandatory snaps of the town on top of the cliffs and had a drink watching the fading sun slowly change the colours of the buildings. The Caldera is huge – the explosion must’ve been awesome (somewhat bigger that the 5.1 earthquake we experienced last night).
On the long walk back to our village we got to see some traditional Greek folk dancing in the main square of Thira (no grap this time) and some not so traditional (for Santorini at least) traffic dodging. It really is chaotic and dangerous – much better when they just had donkeys - and drachmas’ to pay for them.

Another day - Another paradise

We felt a bit sad leaving our comfy studios and friendly staff at the Paros accommodation. We were happy to leave the mosquitoes there though. The trip to Santorini was long, yet interesting – we just wouldn’t want to do it every day... The queues waiting to get on the ferry were tiresome, hot and stuffy. The ferry itself was the same ship as last time – we ended up in the same area which was hot and yet again full of smoke from our health conscious locals. Ro spent pretty much the entire time on the wind blown, yet sun drenched deck. In actual fact the wind of 2 days ago has dropped off significantly, the sea this afternoon had mirror like sheen to it. And yet there is still some freshening gusts to cool the sweat off our brows as we walk around (it’s almost perfect weather – gloat, gloat etc...)..

Our new residence is not central to the “action” of the major towns of Thira or Ia, it does however, have a very local atmosphere, this time we have kids running around, playing down ball and screaming and yelling as they have fun after a long week at school. Everyone seems to know everyone else. The young waitress at our cafe was running late as she’d obviously been hangin’, out with her friends a bit longer than she should’ve been and was quite happy to share words with the locals as they wandered by. Our room is amazing – one room with a loft level (containing the girls’ beds) which has a low domed roof. The balcony downstairs overlooks the sea towards Ios, Paros and Naxos, whilst the one upstairs has a 360 degree view of the entire north side of the main island. The most significant noise here is the sound of scooters, motorbikes and ATV’s as they zoom around the place (or struggle up the hills under the pressure of overweight tourists).
As I type this I reckon we just had an earthquake. Maybe the sleeping giant is not so sleepy tonight...
It’s impossible to ignore that we are sitting on a volcano. The cliffs plunge into the water with a blaze of recently formed geographical colours from incredible heights. And the locals just seem to delight in building their residencies in most precarious positions. As they are all painted white – from a distance it looks like the mountains are snow capped.

Whilst Dad stayed up to watch the moonset over the town (and test the capabilities of the camera to its limits) – more earthquakes – maybe this is why they build everything with arches and domes and don’t go too high up ?

A quiet day in Paradise

After sleeping in, we continued to deal with the continuing lost property issues - thanks to Brian and Gabby – hopefully their efforts will get us on the road (so to speak).
After lunch from the local bakery, we went for another stroll through the old town to the Church of 100 doors. Apparently they can find 99 – legend has it that when the 100th is found something dramatic is going to happen. Louisa reckons she found it in one of the ancient archaeological excavations which are covered by glass on the floor of the altar, but as the apocalypse has not happened or Istanbul has not been returned to the Greeks we think she may have found door 101 – no. 100 still remains hidden. It was a very reverent place to visit – it’s nice that the locals allows us (seemly disrespectful – mostly through ignorance) tourists to wander around.
The girls swam in the pool for hours. We had pre- dinner snacks on our elevated balcony again improving on last night’s ingredients with fabulous olives, tomatoes with real flavour, less wind and the same provincial view. Tonight we spotted the locals tending their backyard vineyards, the rooster is still on Melbourne time (yay!) and the bird life tweeting in the background made the scene very pleasant and somewhat surreal..

Dinner to follow started off as a walk down to the waterfront, we sat down to have drinks to watch the sunset behind the old fort guarding the harbour. We caught up with Sneezy the dog - named as such because yesterday she sneezed on Dads leg as she decided to walk with us. She took (an obviously well founded) liking to Dad and together they watched the sun slowly head towards the horizon
We had to leave her there as we were on a mission to find the best position the watch the final vestiges of the sun disappear, whilst consuming the best Paros had to offer. And we did, the wine was crisp and clean the beer was cold the juice was, well.... a bit ordinary actually. However, the Gyros was great. The ambience with the new moon chasing the sun was fabulous.
So we didn’t really do much today, but it was very relaxing – stated a few times was that this place is so peaceful and relaxing we should have been here at the end of the adventure – never mind – tomorrow we jump on another boat and journey to another island in the Cyclades – hopefully it will remain dormant whilst we are there.

Another day – another form of transport.

Today started bright and early (luckily the rooster is either on Melbourne time or is already being served). A basic breakfast in the lobby whilst we continue the arduous task of dealing with stolen items. We then strolled in the increasing heat to the waterfront where we booked our remaining ferry rides. Across the road we purchased bus tickets to have a look around the island. First stop was the picturesque town of Nauossa which is built around an historic (and very small) port.

Here we strolled some more looking at yet more dresses and other items. It seems that the European union has had a few interesting impacts on the country, one of them is that all the shops selling to tourists are all selling the same stuff, and all at the same cost, and they look like they have been recently refurbished to the same standards. Even all the cobblestone streets and white walls look like they have been repainted over winter in preparation for the swarm of tourists who will invest the place in a months’ time. It does all look very picturesque though.
After lunch of Gyros, we hopped on another bus to get to the other side of the island with the aim of finding a suitable spot to swim in the sea. This time we rode in the front seats, much to the discomfort of Ro who thought the whole ride was a bit nerve racking and hair-raising, due to the huge bus, narrow roads, tight corners and wild driving. Needless to say her fears were well and truly founded when 10 minutes later we crashed into the back of a tray truck, shattering the windscreen, jamming the door shut and putting our overzealous driver well and truly in his place.
So there we were, big bus ½ full of tourists and locals sitting in the middle of nowhere wondering if we were ever going to get to our destination. Basically – we needed a new bus (and preferably another driver). Then the weirdest thing happened. We started off down the road again (windscreen creaking in the wind pressure) – about 1km further down the road – in the middle of paddocks – a bus depot. 5 minutes later a car came screaming in, out jumped our new driver, he started up a coach hidden in a garage and away we went. Time lost – who cares. Memories – priceless. Laughs – plenty (once we were away from our original driver of course).
Due to the strong winds we gave up on trying to swim in the sea and instead caught another bus back to Parika (though the middle of the island this time - so we had a very scenic drive).

After a spot of post theft logistics we finally got that dress purchased and headed home to snacks of crispy bread, olives, feta cheese and local wine on our balcony(after a swim in the pool). The girls have also had an after dark swim. Tomorrow is going to be minimalistic in terms of adventures (well that’s the plan at least...)

To an island

The day draws to a close and we are confronted by a fresh, yet warm sea breeze washing through the elevated apartments open shutters. The background sounds of the crickets in the still evening are broken by the twilight barking of the local dogs and the occasional car or scooter drifting along the road leading to the town centre. Looking out of the porch we can see the imposing hills of Paros dominating the view, speckled by white house’s which now appear as twinkling lights in the darkness. This is now home for the next 3 days. Mission 1st thing in early morning is to locate that rooster to 1. Get a good night’s sleep 2. Chicken kebabs.
We started out the day early (5:15 am alarm) in order to get here on time. Breaking the early morning Athens calm with the sound of 8 suitcase wheels rattling over cobblestones, we filed our way down the deserted streets towards the train station. This time the wallet (now a decoy) stayed where it should as we caught the train to Pireaus. The bustling port was a stark contrast to the quiet city streets, we managed to negotiate our way onto the ferry and then off we sailed across the sapphire blue waters of the Mediterranean. Most likely following in the steps of many historical figures, minus the slaves with long oars (although as we were not privy to the engine room – you never know what they use for power these things...).
The jaunt across the sea was uneventful, eventually somewhat painful, due to the incessant smoking of the locals - sure is a different world here in that respect. We were collected at the port and duly deposited in our fabulous rooms and the girls finally got to jump into some water (yay!). Paros is a contradiction, it looks old on the outside (architecture wise), but every shop looks new inside. All the buildings are white, as are the pointers on the beach.
We spent a couple of hours walking along the shoreline and through the labyrinth of the old town – everywhere you look is a postcard photo opportunity. We had yet another fabulous dinner at a taverna around the corner, the weather is perfect, the rooms are amazing, and the mystic charm of the place will be duly explored tomorrow. ...

An eventful day in Athens

The day started out with a stroll up to the travel agent to book our ferry trip for tomorrow-no problem. We used our TravelCard to withdraw 450 eruo from the ATM. No problem. We caught the metro one stop to find on emerging we had lost our sense of direction – took a while to sort that out (no problem) but eventually we made our way up the highest of Athens hills to catch a cable car up the last 10%. Expensive tickets, a long wait, a crowded, cramped, stuffy wait for another 15 minutes when eventually it took off. 2 minutes later we’d travelled the 100 meters and we were at the top (yay!). The views were spectacular. The sun was hot, the wind was warm - yet refreshing as it was straight off the Mediterranean Sea. After waiting another ½ hour to catch the cable car back down we were thwarted by a large crowd and a faulty gate - and gave up and walked down the hill – ie. Problem with the cable car.
We then headed into Satan’s Pit (aka the Metro) in an attempt to get near some decent shops (the never ending search for the perfect summer dress continues). “The pit” is named as such by Dad – who upon exiting he realised his wallet had been stolen by demons, who are now in possession of a series of useless (quickly cancelled) credit cards, a drivers licence from Aus and the aforementioned Euros. Needless to say this cast a sense of gloom over the afternoon’s proceedings.
On the walk back we came across a new phenomenon. Greek Rappers – they had a huge stage, lot’s of equipment, a big sound, a big square – with surprisingly - no one in it watching – or seemingly interested. From now on this type of music shall be known as ”Grap”.
We now realise that even though the Plaka is full of locals ripping off tourists with extraordinarily prices, they are not at all like the criminals who frequent the subways . We will be having some fun over the next few weeks learning how to cope with our new found vulnerabilities. Targets we are – how to avoid being targeted is going to be challenging.



Disjointed, but determined to push on, we headed back into the Plaka and sat on a rooftop watching the setting sunlight slowly change the colours of the Acropolis whilst we drank wine and nibbled on Taziki and bread. This went some way towards healing the stress of the afternoon. It also helps being in the company of two bubbly personalities. We also discovered the wonderful financial healing powers of take away Gyros – great food – really cheap.
We now head off to the Islands – hopefully the trip to the port (via the Pit) is uneventful.....

A long walk around Athens

After an early start by Ro (6:00am) and a late one by Neil (7:30) and a yummy continental brekkie, we headed off for a day’s trekking around sunny Athens. Starting with the changing of the guard at the tomb of the Unknown Soldier, we had a quick lesson from graduates of the school of Silly Walks before heading off to see the results of how to achieve grand building ambitions without steel re-enforced concrete and big cranes. Very impressive. It’s amazing what can be achieved with a hands-on, non-unionised workforce when you have the “appropriate” incentives. Definitely something there for the BLF to consider....
After reaching the top of the dominating Acropolis we were suitable awed by the majesty of the place. It’s great to see that nothing has changed in 18 years. Still lots of broken rocks, thousands of tourists and scaffolding covering most of the site. Makes you think though, that after 1500 years they would have actually got around to finishing the thing. Louisa was blessed with a butterfly landing on her head – which stayed for quite a while, bringing much joy to the other tourists who took photos and dismay to the vendors who were trying to sell butterfly hat clips.
Dad dragged everyone up a nearby hill (in the oppressive heat) to get more Griswald’s type photos before we lugged our weary, exhausted bodies back through the Plaka for a spot of R&R at the hotel.
Dad collapsed for 2 hours, everyone else went to the bar. Later on we went for a shop trying to locate the perfect summer dress for Isabel. This involves Dad standing guard outside whilst the women folk venture inside to annoy staff by be being interested but not actually buying anything. Dinner was traditional Greek food in the Plaka - including fries!! So whilst it was interesting having “traditional” Greek cuisine surrounded by T-shirt stalls - we reckon it’s better to get away from the crowds.
A free night time concert in Syntagma square lured us out of the hotel where we got to experience some modern Greek culture - Beatles music backed by a string orchestra, whilst the local youths practiced their break dancing on the nearby steps. And all the time in the background -the guards continue to practice their silly walk. We suspect they keep doing it all night long.....

Arriving in Athens

And so to Greece, land of ruins of temples built to worship the ancient gods and shoe stores built to tempt current goddesses. Our 6 hour flight was a doddle compared to the last one (either that or we'd passed a pain barrier).
Our taxi driver delivered us promptly to our hotel whilst informing us that they have really bad fires in Greece during summer. Apparently they are on a par with what happens in California! Hmmmm.. Their fires are lit in bushland by malicious property developers who then turn the burnt bush into housing estates (no one dies). I'm not quite sure he understood the difference between home and here in that respect. I guess when you consider the amount of noise made over the years around here about a single burning bush it's not that surprising.
Our hotel is a souvlaki throw from Syntagma Square, so once we'd showered away the stress of the 26 hours travel, we hit the streets with a sense of adventure (aka shopping, dinner and eventually bed). The temperature is a stifling 29 c, the people here are so stressed, they wander around in comfortable shorts and singlets, smiles on their faces, sitting cafe's, drinking and eating and talking as they didn't have a care in the world. They’re obviously up to something.....
And so after poking our noses into countless touristy trinkets booths we made our way up to the base of the Acropolis to have an authentic Greek cuisine dinner. No need to into details, except to say the dishes would have been superb without the ambience. Put 'em together and Woo Hoo !. A stroll home through the Plaka - to be attacked by a barrage of Spruikers trying to convince us that their tables are good enough for Alexander (TG) himself. We gave up trying to point out that ancient dead people don't actually care what their tables are like and just used the excuse that we'd already eaten to fend them off.
Curiously after all of that excitement all the females have gone to bed - and it's only 8:00 pm!

The First Step

They say every jounrney starts with the fisrt step, well in this case ours almost failed at the first step ! Apon arriving at the check-in counter at Tullamarine Dad realised he did not have his passport....Luckily a quick call to Gabby (you'll be hearing more about her later) resluted in a U-turn on the freeway and a scamper back to the airport to deliver the offending artical.Which had managed to fall out of the bag on the way there. (woops and phew !). So we got on the plane in time and 16 flying hours later we are in Dubai.Well the airport only - seeing the dry landscapes and fabulous arhitecture we have decided that this place deserves more investigation than hiding from the 35 degree heat in the airport.Another day, another trip perhaps...So with 5 hours to spend in the airport - we blogged, wrote journals and paid exhorbitant prices for a cup of coffee..